For a while now, VoCA hasn’t been trotting off to art fairs the way we used to. This year, the New York Amory almost went unnoticed to us. But then we noticed that some people, curators, dealers…are choosing to remain home this year, too.

New York’s Armory Show. Image: thearmoryshow.com

Is it the end of the art fair?

A new non-fair, called the Independent, is on from March 4 - 7 at the Dia building in New York, and is billed as a “hybrid model and temporary exhibition forum.” It is the subject of THIS fascinating article in the Observer.

The article states that “New York is going through a moment right now—that the glitzy, frivolous culture of the boom years is giving way to a new era of intellectual engagement and open-minded community among art lovers.”

Johan Lundh’s evening of critical discussion at Fillip’s offices. Image: firtheaglandlundh.net

That same “new seriousness” can be found, here and there, in Canada, though our market wasn’t as deflated as that of the U.S. in the recent economic downturn. Nonetheless, upstart journals such as the excellent Fillip Review from Vancouver and Toronto’s publication Hunter and Cook, run by artists Tony Romano and Jay Isaac, show us that the art world wants to talk. Also, galleries around town are working discussion into their programming. The Toronto Free Gallery is a not-for-profit space that has long been doing this with events that express their mandate to provide a forum for social, cultural, urban and environmental issues.

The Toronto Free Gallery’s executive director, Heather Haynes. Image: photojunkie.ca

New festivals, like the Flash Forward photography festival (coming next fall to Liberty Village in Toronto) aim to blend exhibition opportunities with lectures, workshops and public art - in short, to provide a place for artists and the public to learn, and engage with art in a new, real, hands-on way.

This is also echoed by the Young Patrons groups sprouting up in this city. At various price levels and interest points, they range from the AGO’s NEXT, to the ROM’s Young Patrons Circle to the Canadian Art Foundation’s New Contemporaries (which - disclaimer - I help organize), all of which aim to generate interest, engagement, education and discussion about arts and culture.

Finally, the recent interest in art criticism that is blossoming in Toronto, particularly, in both serious and less serious ways, (and that took off with THIS VoCA post) is heartening.

Tomorrow, Sunday, February 28, in Toronto, the Canadian Art Reel Artists Film Festival will host the first tribute to the legendary Swiss art dealer and founder of Art Basel, Ernst Beyeler, who died Thursday at his home, aged 88.

Ernst Beyeler in his gallery office, 22 May 1982. Image: beyeler.com

Continue reading →

In the midst of promoting the Canadian Art Reel Artists Film Festival, which opens this Wednesday night, Feb 24th with a big gala screening and then to the public from Friday Feb 26th to Sunday 28th in Toronto, there are three under-the-radar highlights that you should know about:

A wallhanging by El Anatsui at the Venice Biennale. Image: artradarasia.com

1. Fold, Crumple, Crush: The Art of El Anatsui is the world premiere of a film on the amazing African artist whose wondrous metal wallhangings took the Venice biennale by storm several years ago. He will also have the world premiere of a retrospective of his work at the ROM in Toronto coming up later this year.

Click HERE for more info on the film.

Continue reading →

You may remember, if you’re in Toronto, or Calgary, that the Canadian Art Foundation screened the excellent documentary, Herb and Dorothy, at last year’s Reel Artists Film Festival.

Megumi Sasaki’s touching documentary, Herb and Dorothy. Image: now-movies.com

The film tells the extraordinary story of Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, who managed to build one of the most important contemporary art collections in history with very modest means.

In the 1960s they began devoting all of Herb’s salary to purchase art they liked, mainly the emerging practices of Minimalist and Conceptualist art, and living on Dorothy’s paycheck alone, they continued collecting artworks guided by two rules: the piece had to be affordable, and it had to be small enough to fit in their one-bedroom Manhattan apartment.

Continue reading →

Edward Dolman, Christie’s International chief executive talks to the Financial Times on art world recovery, the shift eastwards and whether art is still reliable as an asset class:

Click HERE to watch the short videos.

It’s also interesting to note the relationship between the Rolex ads preceding each clip and the (Rolex?) watch that sits prominently on Dolman’s wrist.

Presentation House Gallery
Vancouver, British Columbia
The Malcolmson Collection
October 1, 2009 to December 20, 2009

Gustave Le Gray, The Great Wave, Sete, 1857. Image: canadianart.ca

Do not miss seeing these extraordinary vintage photographs from the collection of friends-of-VoCA Harry and Ann Malcolmson.

Over the past twenty-five years, the Malcolmsons have assembled a rare collection of vintage and historic photographs that span the history of the medium. Highlights include nineteenth and twentieth-century classics by famous photographers Eugene Atget, Julia Margaret Cameron, Charles Marville, Tina Modotti, Man Ray, Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Margaret Bourke-White, among others.

For more images and information on a number of artist tours and events, please click HERE.

Continue reading →

Apparently, the art market has returned.

Andy Warhol’s 200 One Dollar Bills. Image: nyt.com

After a year of caution on the part of collectors, recent sales in New York and London have shown a dramatic return.  The other day, Sotheby’s New York sold Andy Warhol’s huge 1962 canvas 200 One Dollar Bills for $43.7 million (U.S.) – more than triple its pre-sale estimate.

Continue reading →

Now that the contemporary art world has reached a point where even Damien Hirst seems tired of his own hype (he recently was quoted as saying “I don’t like conceptual art in the end…I’ve always thought that being a painter was better than being an artist or a sculptor“) and with the recent financial upheaval, we predict a turn away from art that’s all wit and hype and toward the authenticity for which we’ve longed for quite some time.

Nikola Nikola, Containing or Contained. Image: Alisonsmithgallery.ca

VoCA has become less interested in ‘emerging’ art, which can feel limited and underdeveloped, and more interested in work from outside the artschool-gallery-artworld scene.

Continue reading →

…In London:

Sales were up at Frieze art fair in London apparently, but collectors are bargain-hunting. Artists continue apace, and you’ve got to hand it to Swiss artist Christoph Buchel for bravely exhibiting a pair of his old, worn socks on the floor of Hauser & Wirth, for sale at €20,000. Not sure if they sold.

Christoph Büchel Socks, 2009. Image: artfagcity.com

Editions are big news. White cube gallery in London exhibited as White Cube Editions at the Zoo art fair, offering affordable but highly branded prints and multiples by artists.

One of Damien Hirst’s Blue Paintings that are being slammed by critics in London.
Image: slamxhype.com

The latest trend seems to be blatant piss-taking (Hirst on Francis Bacon, Elmgreen Dragsett on Giacometti, the Korean artist Gimhongsok on Jeff Koons, or one of Stephanie Syjuco’s artists who have copied Gimhongsok’s copy of Koons.) This seems to point to a lack of creative inspiration among artists, perhaps a fatigue of having to create new, inspiring artwork. It’s as if they are creating lesser, imitation editions of great work and it’s an interesting trend to keep watching.

In related news, in THIS op-ed in the NYT last week argued that today’s conceptual art will go the way of the dodo bird. It’s craftsmanship and technical skill that will serve art in the long term, not “witty” conceptual ideas. VoCA thinks the writer certainly has a point.

…and in Canada:

Continue reading →

Just found this on Luxist.com:

Louis Vuitton’s new book: Art, Fashion and Architecture. Image: luxist.com

“A seductive anthology of the famed French fashion house’s collaborations with an international group of elite artists, architects, designers, and photographers, including Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, David LaChapelle, Annie Leibovitz, Takashi Murakami (whose updated LV monogram is featured on the cover) Richard Prince and Stephen Sprouse.”

Continue reading →