Art21 “Exclusive” Video, Year 2
What a year it’s been! We’re taking a look back at the 42 Exclusive videos that premiered here on the Art21 Blog, and subsequently on YouTube and iTunes. We hope you’ve enjoyed this new feature for 2009 and, as always, look forward to your comments.
What’s our New Year’s resolution? We’ll be premiering more behind-the-scenes moments with contemporary artists such as Beryl Korot, Shahzia Sikander, Allan McCollum, Julie Mehretu, Cao Fei, Florian Maier-Aichen, and many, many more. Check out what happened in year one.
Weekly Roundup
Jeff Koons, "Triple Hulk Elvis I", 2007. Collection of William J. Bell. © Jeff Koons. Courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (via White Hot Magazine).
In this week’s roundup of Art21 artist news you’ll read about a forty-million dollar art collection in Las Vegas, a major exhibition of work by Korean and Korean American artists, an installation made of yogurt caps, a massive concrete sculpture in Canada, and more:
- On December 17, Season 5 artist Jeff Koons will sign copies of his book Jeff Koons: Hulk Elvis at Gagosian Shop in New York City (988 Madison Ave). The 2009 publication features Koons’ painting series, Hulk Elvis, in which he creates large works of the Incredible Hulk, inflatable monkeys, geishas, birds, and the Liberty Bell; a text by Scott Rothkopf, and an interview between the artist and Hans Ulrich Obrist. The event begins at 6pm. Contact Gagosian Gallery for more information.
- Faces & Facts: Korean Contemporary Art in New York commemorates the 30-year anniversary of the Korean Cultural Service of New York (KCSNY). The exhibition of more than 60 works by 54 Korean and Korean American artists — including Art21’s Do-Ho Suh (Season 2) and Kimsooja (Season 5) — is spread across three venues: the Sylvia Wald and Po Kim Art Gallery, KCSNY’s Gallery Korea and the Queens Museum of Art (QMA). Faces & Facts is on view at the first two venues through February 19, and closes February 21 at the QMA.
- Grey Area, the Deutsche Guggenheim exhibition of new paintings by Season 5 artist Julie Mehretu, has been reviewed by art critic Brian Dillon of The Guardian. Dillon writes: “It’s easy to conclude that Mehretu makes history paintings of a sort, intricate tableaux of the recent geopolitical past. But that would be to ignore her commitment to painting as such, and to miss the extraordinary graphic transformations that her source images undergo.” Read the entire article here. And to watch a video (produced by Vernissage TV) of Mehretu discussing the works in Grey Area, click here.
- CityCenter in Las Vegas, a new 67 acre luxury complex on the Vegas Strip, boasts the first major permanent collection of art in Las Vegas to be integrated into a public space, as well as one of the world’s largest corporate art collections in existence today. Works by Art21 artists Maya Lin (Season 2) and Jenny Holzer (Season 4) are included in this collection that, according to USA Today, amounts to roughly $40 million.
- Works by Allora & Calzadilla (Season 4) and Richard Serra (Season 1) are on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art S.M.A.K. (located in Ghent, Belgium) in the exhibition The Artists in their Own Words. The show is entirely dedicated to Gagarin, the first international magazine of artist’s texts, and brings together the zine’s entire oeuvre with a selection of related works from in the museum’s collection. The editorial lay-out of Gagarin is based on a quote by Season 5 artist John Baldessari: “Talking about art simply is not art. Talk can be art, but then it is not talking about art.” The Artists in their Own Words continues through March 14, 2010.
- Serra’s outdoor sculpture Shift has been granted heritage status by the Township of King, located just north of Toronto, Canada. This early 1970s sculpture consists of six concrete walls, each five feet long and eight inches thick but of varying lengths. It spans two hills and encompasses more than 15 acres. Serra has said of Shift, according to Yorkregion.com: “When you walk it measures your distance in relation to the landscape so it allows you to understand the shift in elevation as you’re walking because there’s no set horizon there. The boundaries of the work became the maximum distance two people could occupy and still keep each other in view…The intent of the work is an awareness of physicality in time, space and motion.” The sculpture’s new status was declared in response to a development proposal by Hickory Hills Investments, owner of the land on which it is located, that threatened its safety. Read the full story here.
- On December 10, The New School (in collaboration with Aperture Foundation) will hold a public talk titled Confounding Expectations – Photography in Context: The Projected Photograph. Paul Pfeiffer (Season 2) and Krzysztof Wodiczko (Season 3); George Baker, Associate Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Vice-Chair of UCLA, Department of Art History; and Andrea Geyer, artist and Assistant Professor of Fine Art at Parsons will discuss projection and installation strategies used by contemporary artists to create immersive and cinema-like experiences. The program begins at 7pm and is free and open to the public.
- More Mergers & Acquisitions at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center is a continuation of the Center’s earlier exhibition, Mergers & Acquisitions (December 2008 – January 2009), which brought together works by modern masters and contemporary artists. The second installment is organized into four themes: Figure-Ground, Collaboration, Un-Natural, and Familiar Faces. Work by William Wegman (Season 1) is included in the latter, a variety of funny or disturbing head shots of, for instance, Osama Bin Laden, Farrah Fawcett, the Man in the Moon, and artist self portraits. More Mergers & Acquisitions runs December 10 through February 14, 2010.
- Building on a Cliff at Sikkema Jenkins & Co. features work by Arturo Herrera (Season 3), Matt Connors, and Merlin James. The exhibition title is taken from a painting by James and meant to reflect the works on view. “These three artists,” according to the press release, “work at the edges of abstraction and modes of representation to create bodies of work that are both familiar and unsettling at the same time.” Herrera’s steel sculptures based on ink drawings; large wall works from small found photo images; and collages will be on view. Building on a Cliff opens December 10.
- Gabriel Orozco (Season 2) and yogurt lids were the focus of a recent article in The New York Observer; read it here. Orozco’s retrospective exhibition opens at the Museum of Modern Art, New York on December 13.
Arturo Herrera | Failure
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EXCLUSIVE: In his Berlin studio, Arturo Herrera discusses the importance of accepting failure in order to be able to learn and grow as an artist.
Arturo Herrera’s work includes collage, work on paper, sculpture, relief, wall painting, photography, and felt wall-hangings. Rooted in the history of abstraction, Herrera’s playful work taps into the viewer’s unconscious, often intertwining fragments of cartoon characters with cut-out shapes and partially obscured images that evoke memory and recollection.
Arturo Herrera is featured in the Season 3 (2005) episode Play of the Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS.
VIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller and Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera & Sound: Terry Doe and Leigh Crisp. Editor: Jenny Chiurco. Artwork Courtesy: Arturo Herrera.
Arturo Herrera | Assistant Jeff Bechtel
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Arturo Herrera’s assistant Jeff Bechtel describes the process for translating one of the artist’s complex drawings into a refined monochromatic paper collage. Filmed in Herrera’s New York studio, Bechtel discusses how cartoon sources and stock imagery become abstracted into larger systems.
Arturo Herrera’s work includes collage, work on paper, sculpture, relief, wall painting, photography, and felt wall-hangings. Rooted in the history of abstraction, Herrera’s playful work taps into the viewer’’s unconscious, often intertwining fragments of cartoon characters with cut-out shapes and partially obscured images that evoke memory and recollection.
VIDEO | Producer Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Eve Moros Ortega. Camera: Mead Hunt. Sound: Roger Phenix. Editor: Jenny Chiurco. Artwork Courtesy: Arturo Herrera. Special Thanks: Jeff Bechtel.
Weekly Roundup
William Pope.L, Sketch for "Yard Reinvention" at Hauser & Wirth New York, 2009. Ink on paper. Courtesy of Hauser & Wirth. © William Pope.L
- On September 23, Hauser & Wirth will open its first gallery in the United States with a reinvention of Allan Kaprow’s 1961 environment Yard by artist William Pope.L. Described as “a veritable mountain of black rubber auto tires and tar paper-wrapped forms through which visitors jumped and crawled,” the installation/happening will take place at 32 East 69th Street in Manhattan, the site of the work’s original creation and the address of the new Hauser & Wirth Gallery. Josiah McElheny (Season 3) and Sharon Hayes will each create their own versions of Yard at public sites in downtown Manhattan and Queens.
- Works by Kerry James Marshall (Season 1), Kara Walker (Season 2) and other artists were lost in a tragic fire at the home of collector Peggy Cooper Cafritz, who is said to have amassed one of the most important collections of African American art.
- A 2007 black-and-blue collage by Arturo Herrera (Season 3) is one of the many pieces from the collection of the defunct firm Lehman Brothers that will soon go on auction.
- The weekend of August 15-16, get a sneak peak of the publication Walton Ford: Pancha Tantra (Taschen Books) at the Norman Mailer Writer’s Colony and The Provincetown Art Association and Museum. Ford (Season 2) is being honored by both organizations. The popular edition release of the artist’s book will be available nationwide on September 10.
- Through August 21, works by Robert Ryman (Season 4), Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol Lewitt, and Robert Mangold are on view at Andrea Rosen Gallery. An exhibition of works on paper by John Currin runs concurrently.
- Vandalog and Juxtapoz both report that Alleged Press–the publishing company of artist, writer, musician, film director and independent curator Aaron Rose–will publish a Barry McGee (Season 1) monograph this Halloween.
- Also in October, works by McGee, Raymond Pettibon (Season 2) and Lari Pittman (Season 4) will make their way to Gagosian Gallery in New York City as part of the Stages exhibition, organized by cyclist Lance Amstrong.
Arturo Herrera | Powerful Images
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EXCLUSIVE: In his Berlin studio, Arturo Herrera discusses his relationship to creating abstract collages and images. Herrera takes the process of abstraction a step further by photographing fragments of his collages, such as in the work “Untitled” (2005), a series of 80 black and white photographs. He submerges the undeveloped film in hot and cold water, coffee, and tea, creating unpredictable results when printed. Editing the photos into a grid of images, Herrera creates a work that‘s greater than it‘s individual parts.
For Arturo Herrera, abstraction is a language rooted in the practice of assembling and composing fragments. Herrera collects illustrated books, comics, and paint-by-number paintings, cutting and splicing them into new forms. He also creates his own source material by fragmenting drawings, watercolors, and shapes made by applying paint directly from the tube. Herrera collages all of these elements together, pasting them together to create a new whole.
Arturo Herrera is featured in the Season 3 (2005) episode Play of the Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS.
VIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller and Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera & Sound: Terry Doe and Leigh Crisp. Editor: Jenny Chiurco. Artwork Courtesy: Arturo Herrera.
Arturo Herrera | Music
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EXCLUSIVE: Filmed in his Berlin studio, artist Arturo Herrera discusses themes of subjectivity and abstraction while drawing connections between his love of music and his hopes for how audiences come to appreciate his visual work.
For Arturo Herrera, abstraction is a language rooted in the practice of assembling and composing fragments. Herrera collects illustrated books, comics, and paint-by-number paintings, cutting and splicing them into new forms. He also creates his own source material by fragmenting drawings, watercolors, and shapes made by applying paint directly from the tube. Herrera collages all of these elements together, pasting them together to create a new whole.
Arturo Herrera is featured in the Season 3 (2005) episode Play of the Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS.
VIDEO | Producer: Wesley Miller and Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera & Sound: Terry Doe and Leigh Crisp. Editor: Jenny Chiurco. Artwork Courtesy: Arturo Herrera. Special Thanks: Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York.
Open for Babble, ArtBabble is Live!
Art-Bab-ble [ahrt-bab-uhl]
noun; verb (used without object) -bled, -bling
1. free flowing conversation, about art, for anyone.
2. a place where everyone is invited to join an open, ongoing discussion – no art degree required.
At Art21, we have been burning the midnight oil working on Season 5 of Art:21—Art in the Twenty-First Century, but we are in good company with the Web/New Media departments at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. They are the creators of ArtBabble, which launched today! We mentioned the site a few weeks ago on the blog. And the New York Times seems to think it’s cool too.
So what is ArtBabble?
ArtBabble was conceived, initiated, designed, built, sculpted, programmed, shot, edited, painted and launched by a cross-departmental collection of individuals at the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA). It is intended to showcase video art content in high quality format from a variety of sources and perspectives.
ArtBabble was created so others will join in spreading the world of art through video.
Sounds good, right? We thought so too when Daniel Incandela and Rob Stein at the IMA invited us to be a contributing partner to this new project, we said, “YES!” We could not turn down this invitation to be part of a Web community that showcases videos about art and dedicates itself to open dialogue and accessibility.
The design of the site is fun and quirky and the interface allows us to add tabs with notes. Through ArtBabble, Art21 can provide you with behind-the-scenes commentary, fun facts, and additional information about artists and sources for their inspiration.
Art21 showed up with 19 of our own Exclusive videos, 13 of which are premiering on ArtBabble before they will be available on iTunes, YouTube, or the Art21 Blog. Watch the new videos on artists Arturo Herrera, Ellen Gallagher, Jessica Stockholder, Richard Tuttle, Laylah Ali, Ida Applebroog, Josiah McElheny, and Oliver Herring.
Also as part of this launch, we wanted to give you Art21 aficionados an extra secret sneak peek into Season 5 (coming in Fall 2009). You think you know which artists will be featured in the new season? See for yourself!
“I do that.”
I tend to be very impressed with how the Museum of Modern Art presents artwork to elementary aged students. The museum educator picks images based on a theme, they lead the students through guided inquiry-based discussion of those images, students create sketches of ideas that are being presented to them, and they conclude the day by creating a work of art in the educational studios. MoMA has always been willing to make the tours as individualized as possible, so I always ask them to conclude the tour in the galleries displaying contemporary artwork.
Ms. Berry’s fourth grade class was recently led into the current exhibit, Here is Every: Four Decades of Contemporary Art, and the tour concluded with examining Arturo Herrera’s A Knock (2000). There is always something a little more exciting happening when students view contemporary art. It tends to lend itself to the natural sensibilities of children—a sense of fun, the whimsical nature of play, and a reflection of the world around us. When students encounter this work there seems to be a little more engagement on their part, possibly because the work genuinely reflects some of what they are thinking about. When the class sat in front of Herrera’s work and excitedly uncovered the many layers that exist in the piece, they began identifying the shapes and forms hidden within his cutouts and slowly realizing he used comics as his source material.
Personally, I have loved Herrera’s work for quite some time. But I was pleasantly surprised when our tour finished with A Knock because I knew that I could share Herrera’s Art:21 segment as a follow-up. My fourth graders loved seeing Herrera work in his studio and explore the different materials that he uses, especially the photo based work. Seeing the studio practice of artists can demystify the artistic process. Not only does it give a student the chance to say that “I can do that” but it gives them the chance to say “I DO THAT!”
What is so impressive about Herrera’s creative process is that it truly embodies how fourth graders create. Watching Herrera play with the images for his collage is the exact approach my students take….they re-contextualize the visual imagery in front of them to create some type of meaning. When students are presented with the question, “What does it mean for a work of art to be a portrait?,” they are now meaningfully engaged in the same type of questions that contemporary artists battle. Children have a wonderful ability to represent their reality in a way that offers terrific surprises in the same way Herrera uncovers in his work.
Collage created by Emily, age 9, Hillside School, New York.
Touring Prospect.1 (Part 5), the Warehouse District
Roughly located between New Orleans’ Business and Garden Districts, the Warehouse Arts District was a major concentrations for Prospect.1 displays. Dominated by warehouses and old industrial spaces, there is little of the ornamental architecture that gives the rest of New Orleans its distinct flavor.
While there were a few works scattered in warehouse and neighborhood non-profit spaces, the vast majority of art was on display at the city’s Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) which is located near many of the city’s other museums, including the World War II Museum, the Children’s Museum, the Civil War Museum and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art.
A modern and spacious building, the CAC was expertly curated with dozens of works that felt like a biennial in and of themselves. The Warehouse District may have been a starting point for many biennial visitors but I chose to end my posts with a jaunt through this post-industrial neighborhood.
Jacqueline Humphries, installation view at Ideal Auto Repair; work on the bottom: Soft Machine (2008)
Born in New Orleans, Humphries chose a site that evoked the fact that her family once owned a auto repair shop. Using auto enamel and oil, she created five large gestural works that came alive in this naturally lit space full of grays, browns and dirty whites. The metallic pigments seemed to absorb the subtle light and I could’ve stayed for hours to watch how the light created subtle changes in the work. There was also a curious backroom to this exhibition which included picket-like forms painted in the same manner as the larger works. They were unidentified and posted in a dark room. I could only guess they were studies for the larger panels.
Robin Rhode, Kite (2008) at CAC
One of the funniest and most poetic works in the biennial, Rhode’s work included a video component (which is hard to identify in the photograph) that displayed the sky behind the imaginary kite. Hands on another canvas held the kite into place. The work creates a mood of nostalgia and loss. Place in a darkened corner of the museum, you sense you are experiencing a very private and intimate moment.
