Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Bjarne Melgaard - The Night Within Us! - Guido W Baudach - Berlin


through January 14th 2012

Bjarne Melgaard has curated a number of themed group exhibitions this year, and his own installations have consistently formed their spatial and thematic nucleus. Apart maybe from the bright orange carpet laid out on the otherwise grey floor of the gallery, one’s first impression of The Night Within Us! is that of a conventional Bjarne Melgaard solo show. There are a total of four paintings, all of them expressive abstract portraits executed in Melgaard’s characteristically light palette, ranging from light blues and pinks through oranges, while darker shades are employed only for the contours of figurative elements and the integral lettering of the images. All paintings are in a horizontal format that explodes the given proportions of the cabinet-like exhibition space. Distributed across all four walls, the paintings engender a physical presence that is almost claustrophobic in its penetration. Most of the heads in Melgaard’s portraits are painted against scenic backgrounds and here they are tilted to the side as though this were their only means of making any room for themselves in the spatial situation of the gallery. Bjarne Melgaard once again tests the limits here; both of the given space, and of the portrait genre.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Richard Hawkins - Smoke-Smoke, Salome - Galerie Daniel Buchholz - Berlin


through January 7th 2012

A primary interest, for many years, has been Gustave Moreau’s “Salome Dancing Before Herod”. Intrigued by the fact that Cindy Burlingham at the Hammer Museum has been working on an exhibition focusing specifically on Salome and been given rare access to the Musee Moreau’s extensive archives, I have been peeking in on her research, sharing reading material and picking her brain for months now.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Graft Architects - Distinct Ambiguity - Haus Am Waldsee - Berlin


through February 12th 2012

The emerging team with offices in Berlin, Los Angeles and Beijing creates architectural hybrids which take up current cultures of taste and debates on method and reflect on political as well as aesthetic issues. What appears to be contradictory is reassembled in new and surprising ways. GRAFT are particularly receptive to future realities, in fact more so than most comparable architectural firms operating today.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Francis Picabia - Late Paintings - Michael Werner - NYC


through January 14th 2012

Michael Werner gallery is pleased to present an exhibition of late paintings by Francis Picabia. The exhibition will focus on the mid-1930s through the 1940s and beyond, a time when Picabia experimented not only with a range of imagery but with the methods and materials of painting itself.




Saturday, November 26, 2011

Painting show - group show - Eastside Projects - Birmingham


through February 25th 2012

Curated with artist Sophie von Hellerman, Painting Show is an exhibition as an act of painting. Questioning and utilising the function of painting as an essential element of forming a space for art, a grouping of exquisite moments of ‘painting’ are brought together, supported by a customized architecture for painting, newly installed to a square and triangular grid.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

TIMUR SI-QIN - Societé - Berlin



through December 10th 2011

Monday, November 21, 2011

Cosima von Bonin - LOOPS OF THE LAZY SUSAN SERIES - Museum Ludwig - Cologne



through May 13th 2011

Cosima von Bonin's exhibition at the Museum Ludwig is the final chapter of an exhibition series connecting four European cities. Conceived as a work in progress - similar yet totally different in each location -, the cycle began in Rotterdam, continued to unfold in Bristol and then in Geneva. The cycle ends with a big bang where it all began: in Cologne, the artist's home base. Cologne thus forms the final "loop" in this circular exhibition concept, as indicated in its title.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

BRICKHOUSE 7: Dowling&Page - Family - N/V_PROJECTS - London


through December 15th 2011

PRIVATE VIEW: Monday, November 21st / 6 - 8 PM

'Family', the first collaborative body of work by Aislinn Dowling and Christopher Page, is a social grouping of friendly things - "Birgit", "William", "Liliane" et al. Promiscuous objects, they solicit touch, use, but are only to be admired. With colours both executive and soothing, these works of art shine in the home, the office, the hospital, the prison and the gallery. Using steel, wood, foam and paint, Dowling & Page transform the humble studio into the grand factory, producing items with the assurance of the standardized, and the status of the unique.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Liam Gillick - Sit in the Machine - Air De Paris - Paris


through December 3rd 2011

Liam Gillick’s exhibition at Air de Paris comprises two new films and a series of new structures. The first film is derived from a filmed tour, in idealised form, of the Kalmar Volvo factory, shot in the early 1970s. The second film is developed from a short clip of a group of car workers sitting inside a metal machine press, having to bend over each time the press bears down on the metal forms they repetitively place into the mechanism. In contrast to the idealised vision presented in the Volvo film, the car workers in this case have literally become part of the mechanism of production.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Rania Stephan - MoMA P.S.1 - NYC


through January 2012

Rania Stephan (Lebanese, b. 1960) has been working with film for the last two decades. Stephan's body of work may at first appear perplexingly heterogeneous—ranging from video art to raw documentary—yet its underlying coherence stems from her country of origin, Lebanon, which stands at a crossroads of cultures and influences, East and West, and remains a place of both exile and return. Stephan focuses on what she calls "the archaeology of images, identity, and memory."

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Minimal and Beyond - Kunsthalle - Hamburg


through June 2012

The emergence of Minimal Art in the 1960s radically changed the concept of the artwork. Elementary forms, serial arrangements and the use of industrial materials and fabrication methods are key characteristics of this art movement, which originated in the USA and whose leading exponents include Carl Andre, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Sol LeWitt und Robert Morris. As "specific objects" (Donald Judd) in real space, Minimalist works are purged of all illusionism, symbolism and metaphor: the work is what it is. For all their self-referentiality, however, the artworks are not thought of as self-contained entities, but instead are viewed in relation to the space around them.

Artists: Carl Andre, Hanne Darboven, Isa Genzken, Félix González-Torres, On Kawara, Kitty Kraus, Robert Morris, Bruce Nauman, Cady Noland, Gregor Schneider und Andreas Slominski.


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Arte Essenziale - group show - Kunstverein - Frankfurt


through December 1st 2011

The exhibition "Arte Essenziale" presents sculptures and large-scale installations by eight international contemporary artists from Italy, Great Britain, Georgia, and the US. All artists were commissioned by the Italian Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia to produce new works for the exhibition. "Arte Essenziale" was first shown at the Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia and is now being presented at the Frankfurter Kunstverein. The term "Arte Essenziale" provides the exhibition its title and also serves as its conceptual framework. A concept formulated by the Italian philosopher Federico Ferrari, it attests to the need to identify at the end of the postmodern era a gesture of a new beginning in contemporary art. Central to his considerations is the search for the origin of artistic practice, with particular regard to the essence of the artistic gesture, its necessity, and meaning. For Ferrari, the artistic medium and the particular materiality constitute a definite approach: the essence of the artwork is manifested at the point where the material emerges out of itself to become what it is.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Plamen Dejanoff - The Bronze House - Kunstverein - Hamburg


through December 30th 2011

In his work, the artist Plamen Dejanoff often uses marketing strategies from related fields and creates desire by means of sleek and glossy surfaces and stage-setting principles borrowed from the world of consumerism. His approach to these strategies that are apparently foreign to art is a friendly one and can be tied to a lineage that includes artists like Andy Warhol—who must surely be considered the trailblazer—and Jeff Koons. He is, in fact, closer to the latter, as far as the creation of objects and the treatment and handling of their fetishistic character is concerned. Dejanoff is among the artists who deliberately adopt consumerism, economics, media marketing and comprehensive network strategies. He uses their principles and potential to pursue his own goals, but without turning them into their opposite. Instead, his work is informed by a great trust in art, because he does not need to isolate it from other social and economic processes. It can confidently take its place in their midst. Dejanoff’s is an art of action that tries out new ways and possibilities. Affirmative, and all the more effective, revolutions come to light in his work. His projects are often long-term and cannot be looked at outside of the "Dejanoff System."

Monday, November 14, 2011

why i never became a dancer - Goetz Collection - Haus der Kunst - Munich


through April 12th 2011

“why i never became a dancer” is the second exhibition in the cooperation between goetz collection and haus der kunst. ingvild goetz will use the 13 chamber-like rooms of the former air raid shelter to show a selection of her broad collection of film and media art. “why i never became a dancer” presents 15 video works by international artists who deal with the topic of youth culture in the broadest sense. artists like doug aitken, rineke dijkstra, tracey emin and rosemarie trockel analyze forms of socialization, behavioral patterns and conditioning of young people at the social and personal level. they not only look at today’s youth culture, but also at modern youth culture of the past twenty years. “each generation has its own cult figures, its own language, music, fashion, and expressions. until the generation has found itself, it tries out everything: from a particular lifestyle, to drugs, all the way to the virtual world of the internet.”

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Peter Riss - Galerie Andreas Grimm - Munich


through December 10th 2011

Peter Riss' paintings, wooden works and installations are distinguished by an almost excessive aestheticism: glassy lacquer surfaces reflecting the environment (including the viewers) as well as golden skeletons and fawns are all part of Peter Riss’ imagery. At first glance this kind of aesthetic might seem rather self-indulgent and vain, but, it is precisely in the moment of embracing vanity that beauty reveals its inherent self-destruction. In an almost Dorian-Gray-like-manner Peter Riss unmasks the Apollonian beauty by carving images of despair and loneliness into those glossy lacquer surfaces. This dualistic concept of Apollonian beauty and purity and the Dionysian destructive forces can be found throughout Riss’ works: chaotic organic forms collide with stern cubist lines, algid abstraction collides with exuberant figuration. By moving between those two poles, Riss constitutes his very own artistic creation.

Jonathan Lasker - the 80ies - Timothy Tailor Gallery - London


through December 23rd 2011

n a career spanning over thirty years Lasker has addressed the question of how painting might progress after Minimalism. Through his distinctive approach to abstraction, the artist chose to stand up to the finitude of Modernism at a time when painting was under attack. Lasker’s particular commitment to the medium and its history, coupled with an optimism for its future, has proven hugely influential to younger generations who have been similarly reluctant to leave painting for dead.

Friday, November 11, 2011

LOVETT / CODAGNONE: TRACE - September - Berlin


through November 26th 2011

In their video works, performances, and photo projects, Lovett/ Codagnone combine elements of gay SM subculture with literary, cinematic, and discursive quotes that explore the latently violent dynamics of desire, dominance, subjugation, and resistance. Important theoretical and aesthetic influences are Fassbinder’s anti-theater, Antonin Artaud’s “Theater of Cruelty,” and the works of Pier Paolo Pasolini and Jean Genet.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Jeronimo Elespe - Eleven Rivington - NYC


through December 4th 2011

Eleven Rivington is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new paintings by Spanish artist Jeronimo Elespe, on view from October 30 - December 4, 2011. The show will feature recent small-scale oil paintings, all on aluminum panel. The artist will be the subject of a major solo museum exhibition, opening January 2012, at Centro de Arte Contemporaneo (CAC), Malaga, Spain.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Merlin Carpenter - TATE Cafe - Simon Lee Gallery - London


through December 21st 2011

Simon Lee Gallery is proud to present TATE CAFÉ, an exhibition of new works by Merlin Carpenter. TATE CAFÉ follows Intrinsic Value (2009), the artist's first exhibition with the Gallery and the fifth iteration of the series The Opening. Occurring in a diversity of venues, from galleries in New York, Zurich, London and Brussels to a Mercedes-Benz showroom and a fashion boutique in Berlin, The Opening demonstrated Carpenter's interest in undercutting both the fetishisation and valuation of art objects. All of the paintings included under the collective title The Opening were produced in the midst of each exhibition's preview; and, in line with the artist's attitude toward institutions, bore slogans such as "BANKS ARE BAD", "Kunst = Kapital", and "DIE COLLECTOR SCUM".

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Emma Hart - TO DO - Matts Gallery - London


through November 20th 2011

n a new piece for Matt’s Gallery Emma Hart calls on the potential for a camera to precipitate an event, and not simply record it. Developing previous live works into a sculptural video installation that performs itself, Hart requests the audience to do likewise: to step up, instead of hanging back in contemplation.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

On Value - group show - Seventeen Gallery Basement - London


through November 12th 2011

From consensual verification to dissenting opposition, fashionable reference to obsolete currency, there is a constant fear of being judged and at the same time a fear of judging. Yet, judgement itself, having an opinion, is also having a voice. Resignation - the giving up of opinion or avoidance of judgement - does not necessarily change conditions for the better but rather perpetuates existing ones. To value without pre-validation, is, in some sense then, to take a radical and also potentially shameful position. One that is less about being right or even wrong but more about speaking up for something that speaks to you.

curated by Gil Leung


Friday, November 4, 2011

An extended exhibition for a transition function - group show - Hillary Crisp - London




through November 12th 2011

Mathieu K. Abonnenc, Rossella Biscotti, Kajsa Dahlberg, Nicoline van Harskamp, Graham Hudson, Lisa Tan

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Claire Fontaine - Working Together - Metro Pictures - NY


through December 10th 2011

Claire Fontaine “Working Together”Paris-based collective artist Claire Fontaine presents “Working Together,” her first exhibition at Metro Pictures. Founded in 2004 Fontaine lifted her name from a brand of French notebooks and stationery to develop a practice largely based on the elaboration of existing forms and materials. In an attempt to identify the transformed position of “the artist” Fontaine conceived the “ready-made artist,” which considers the contemporary artist as equivalent to the urinal or Brillo Box. Examining society’s visible and invisible cooperative systems, `Working Together´ focuses on the delicate balance between independence and complicity.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Jack Strange - All Fish - Tanya Bonakdar Gallery - NYC


through December 22nd 2011

In the entry space, U.S. $1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and $100 bills have been cut and reassembled into quirky creatures, evoking questions about value and the quantification of our world. We commonly encounter symbolic characters in everyday objects, but in these works and throughout the exhibition, Strange finds such characters lurking in more obscure, unlikely places. Given the minute scale of the currency collages, the artist urges us to get close and be drawn in. This act of drawing the viewer in is continued in Staring into Seeing, where the audience is encouraged to put on headphones and follow instructions about how to stare at the blank white wall. What feels like an exercise is meant to focus our attention on the act of seeing, including the mechanism of the eyes and the involuntary actions of our bodies.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Ian Law - Co- - Laura Bartlett Gallery - London


through November 18th 2011

Laura Bartlett Gallery is delighted to announce Co-, the first solo exhibition at the gallery by British artist Ian Law. Manual are works made from photographs reconfigured into arrangements that utilise the snapshot nature of the original image and create documents of a handheld process. Within the exhibition these works function as indicators to the spatial relationships between other works within the gallery.