Art of the 1960s at the Blanton Museum of Art
Two new exhibitions opening September 28, 2008 and running through January 18, 2009 at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas explore an overlooked chapter in regional art history. Reimagining Space: The Park Place Gallery Group in 1960s New York and The New York Graphic Workshop: 1964-1970 are meant as counterparts in the investigation of this period.
According to the press release, Reimagining Space “presents a groundbreaking exhibition of work by artists associated with the Park Place Gallery, a prominent artists’ cooperative space in 1960s New York. With their commitment to space, the group was often at odds with the predominant aesthetics of many artists of the era, and as a result, their work has largely been ignored in chronicles of 1960s art.” The exhibition features approximately 40 works by this group of artists, including Mark di Suvero, Peter Forakis, Robert Grosvenor, Anthony Magar, Forrest Myers, Dean Fleming, Tamara Melcher, David Novros, Edwin Ruda, and Leo Valledor. It is comprised of major works, as well as photographs and documents, not seen since the era in which these artists worked . The group was connected to Texas both through its members as well as its patrons. The exhibition’s guest curator is Linda Dalrymple-Henderson, David Bruton, Jr. Centennial Professor, Department of Art and Art History, College of Fine Arts, The University of Texas at Austin.
The New York Graphic Workshop: 1964-1970, in the words of the press release, “examines the Conceptualist movement of the 1960s and ’70s through the printmaking practices of the New York Graphic Workshop (NYGW).” The workshop was founded in 1964 by Luis Camnitzer, José Guillermo Castillo, and Liliana Porter, three Latin American artists living in New York. Included in the exhibition will be 70 prints, drawings, and mixed media works by Camnitzer, Castillo, and Porter, as well as Michael Snow, Max Neuhaus, José Luis Cuevas, and Salvador Dalí, because the workshop produced some of their work as well. Curator Gabriel Perez-Barreiro, Director of the Coleccíon Patricia Phelps de Cisneros and former Curator of Latin American Art at the Blanton comments, “the New York Graphic Workshop represents a key moment in the history of both American and Latin American Conceptual art, yet this is the first comprehensive exhibition of the group since it disbanded in the early 1970s. The exhibition will provide a unique opportunity to understand the important contributions of this group of artists, and their pivotal role in the history of art of the 1960s in New York. It will also be the first time many of these artworks have been shown in over three decades.”
If you find yourself in Austin, don’t miss what look to be very exciting and compelling exhibitions at the Blanton. For further information about the exhibitions and for related programming please visit the Museum’s website.
Agitators Collective at Jersey City Museum
Be sure to catch a glimpse of the newest Agitators Collective installation, Be Wary (Evil Eye), on view at the Jersey City Museum in the Atrium Gallery from September 18 through December 21, 2008. “The colorful ‘evil’ eyes, a play on superstition, will protect the Museum from evil and guard the precious art inside” (from the exhibition press release). The evil eyes are vinyl and will be adhered to the Museum’s front windows.
Agitators Collective, founded in 2006, is a group of artists who have made it their mission to beautify the urban locales that have fallen into neglect or dereliction in Jersey City. In the words of the Collective “Dostoevsky once proclaimed that beauty will save the world, to which Mayakovsky replied, ‘Ah, but who will save beauty?’ The Agitators Collective accepts Mayakovsky’s challenge: ‘We will save beauty!’ “ Guerilla-like and spontaneous, the Collective creates installations that engage local audiences, often documenting their responses to the work. They use materials as diverse as candy, balloons, Christmas lights, paint, wood, and found objects. To view some of the Collective’s other installations visit their Flickr link.
Conflux 2008
From Thursday through Sunday, September 14th, Conflux, the art and technology festival for the creative exploration of urban public space, will present a number of art installations, street art interventions, interactive performance, walking tours, bicycle and public-transit expeditions, DIY media workshops, lectures, films and music. Headquartered at The Center for Architecture, Conflux will include the participation of over one hundred local and international artists. Now in its fifth year, the festival is hosted by Christina Ray (founder of New York art space Glowlab) and a team of New York-based curators.
Helmet Piece, by artist Maya Suess, is an example of one of the interactive performances. It was performed early in the festival, but if you missed it there may be other opportunities to see the work at a later date. A group of performers wear solid, spherical helmets with a stethoscope headset at the front that allows audience members to hear “a composition of subtle internal sounds made by the performers.” The artist deals with issues of interior and exterior as the internal sounds of the performers are broadcast through a simple medical instrument to the city’s urban environment.
Conflux fits right in with many of the other events, exhibitions, and happenings related to the street this fall. Given its temporal nature, be sure to catch the last few days of the festival and its programming. For scheduling information visit the Conflux website.
RADIO APARTMENT 22: GWANGJU 2008
Last Sunday, September 6th, Nicole Caruth posted information about the 7th Gwangju Biennale. As a compliment to the events and festivities surrounding the Biennale, Abdellah Karroum will present RADIO APARTMENT 22: GWANGJU 2008. One of the Position Papers curators for the Biennale, Karroum founded Radio Apartment 22 in 2007, which is Morocco’s first exclusively art and culture radio station and is a component of L’appartement 22, founded in 2002. From September 1 through September 9, the online radio station is broadcasting a variety of live and recorded programs from the Gwangju Biennale, its participants, and the surrounding environment.
R22: GWANGJU shifts the usual mode of discourse associated with biennials, such as panels, presentations, etc., to the airwaves, making it accessible to a world wide audience. Visit R22 on the web where you can currently listen to broadcasts from the last 8 days of programming including: interviews and discussions with Okwui Enwezor, artistic director, and other Gwangju Biennial curators, critics, and artists, as well as presentations, performances, events, and formal and informal gatherings related to all aspects of the organization and realization of the Biennale. Log on, tune in, enjoy.
