levignedelladuchessa agritur.key

LADDOVE STA PER NASCERE IL PARTITO DELL’ARTE

La Polonia è la vera risposta alla Vecchia Europa in affanno. Dieci anni fa la Francia se la faceva addosso per l’ingresso in Europa di un Paese che avrebbe tolto il lavoro a tutti gli idraulici d’oltralpe. Oggi dalla Polonia nessuno parte verso ovest e il Paese chiama a sé cervelli e direttori (italiani) di museo...

pubblicato giovedì 10 febbraio 2011 Negli ultimi anni l’agenda artistica internazionale ha visto la presenza di svariate mostre di artisti polacchi, sia personali come quelle di Artur Zmijewski(prossimo curatore della Biennale di Berlino), Zbigniew Libera, Miroslaw Balka, Paulina Olowska, Pawel Althamer, Monika Sosnowska,Katarzyna Kozyra, Piotr Uklanski, sia collettive come Polski Express III, Early Years ai KunstWerke di Berlino o il Polska Years in Inghilterra. Come nasce questa scena era la domanda a cui volevamo rispondere, e per poterlo fare ci siamo recati in Polonia. Varsavia è una città ancora defilata rispetto ai centri più consolidati dell’arte internazionale, ma la scena è realmente interessante: al di là degli spazi istituzionali, l’atmosfera informale che si respira nelle gallerie indica la volontà di creare un nuovo collezionismo privato tutto da inventare. Tenuto conto anche della storia politica del Paese e della sua giovane e vitale economia capitalista, che la fa essere in questo momento una delle "tigri" della Nuova Europa. Ed è questo dinamismo a renderla una promessa per gli art lover dei prossimi anni, che potranno scoprire qui una diversa vitalità. Iniziamo con le istituzioni pubbliche. Sono il Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Castello Ujazdowski, Zacheta Galleria Nazionale d’Arte, e il Museo d’Arte Moderna di Varsavia. La più anziana è Zacheta. Nasce nel 1920 per ospitare l’arte d’avanguardia (di allora) grazie al sostegno della società di belle arti Zacheta; nel 1950 è nazionalizzata e nel 1990 la collezione storica è trasferita al Museo Nazionale. Ciò le permette di votarsi unicamente all’arte contemporanea e di promuovere mostre di artisti polacchi all’estero. Il Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea nasce invece nel 1985 con l’obiettivo di presentare non solo mostre, ma anche cinema, musica e live media. Ha una ricca collezione di opere di artisti internazionali, un programma di residenze, un archivio sull’arte polacca, pubblica libri e riviste tra cui Obieg. Fabio Cavallucci è da qualche mese il direttore del Centro, dopo la direzione ventennale di WojciechKrukowski, storico dell’arte e regista di Akademia Ruchu, celebre gruppo di performer. Il Museo d’Arte Moderna, infine, nasce nel 2005 con un’intensa attività espositiva, nonostante non abbia ancora una sede definitiva, che inaugurerà nel 2014 in una location straordinaria nei pressi del Palazzo della Cultura e della Scienza, sorta di Gotham City stalinista di cui parliamo nell’articolo a fianco. Oltre alle istituzioni, un lavoro importante in Polonia è svolto da gallerie e fondazioni private come Foksal Gallery Foundation, Raster Gallery, Czarna, Profile, Leto, Krytyka Polityczna (che non è proprio una galleria, ma un club/centro culturale/casa editrice che organizza concerti, presentazioni e performance), oltre alla nascente scena che si sta sviluppando nel quartiere Praga. Qualche storia di questi spazi che hanno cambiato faccia all’ex sonnacchioso paesone agricolo dell’Est. Raster magazine nacque nei primi anni ‘90 da un’idea dei critici d’arte Lukasz Gorczyca e Michal Kaczynski. Una decina d’anni dopo decisero di aprire una galleria, una delle prime e più importanti gallerie polacche, che partecipa a fiere internazionali come Frieze, Art Basel, Fiac. Raster nel 2006 ha organizzato l’evento Villa Warsaw: dieci gallerie, tra cui Zero... di Milano, Jan Mot di Brussels e Hotel di Londra, hanno presentato per una settimana performance, eventi e incontri. L’ultima edizione si è tenuta a Reykjavik la scorsa estate. Foksal Gallery Foundation è stata fondata nel 1997 da tre curatori - Adam Szymczyk (ora direttore di Kunsthalle Basel), Joanna Mytkowska (direttrice del Museo d’Arte Moderna di Varsavia) e Andrzej Przywara - per conservare l’archivio della Foksal Gallery, galleria pubblica d’avanguardia fondata a Varsavia nel 1966 con un programma concettuale in tempi di repressione comunista. La fondazione funziona anche come spazio commerciale con mostre degli artisti più amati dai curatori, tra cui Althamer, Sosnowska, Anna Molska e Robert Kusmirowski. Segue inoltre il programma di The Avantgarde Institute, l’ex casa-studio degli artisti Edward Krasinski e Henryk Stazewski. Vi è contenuta un’installazione permanente creata da Krasinski dopo la morte di Stazewski, composta da una linea di scotch di colore blu che suddivide orizzontalmente lo spazio, su cui è intervenuto ancheDaniel Buren quando ha visitato lo studio nel ’74. Pur mantenendo inalterata l’installazione, Foksal ha creato un innesto (un padiglione vetrato con una straordinaria vista sulla città) dove si svolgono concerti, conferenze e interventi artistici in collaborazione con studenti dell’Accademia d’arte e artisti emergenti. E le gallerie giovani e di tendenza? Di certo non mancano: ricordiamo Czarna, curata dall’affascinante Agnieszka Czarnecka-Wiacek, Leto e Profile. La primaespone, tra gli altri, Olaf Brzeski e Tomasz Mroz, artisti che propongono progetti bizzarri e surreali, lontani dall’approccio politico e concettuale dei nomi più conosciuti come Zbigniew Libera e Artur Zmijewski. "Non è solo attraverso messaggi di dissenso che si delinea la scena artistica polacca”, racconta Marta Kolakowska di Leto Gallery. E aggiunge: "La generazione di Wojciech Bąkowski, Konrad Smolenski, Maurycy Gomulicki e Bianka Rolando preferisce allontanarsi da una rappresentazione diretta per confrontarsi con i new media, l’animazione, la musica”. Laura Palmer Foundation è invece un progetto non profit creato nel 2007 da Joanna Warsza, che propone azioni, mostre e performance in spazi pubblici come lo stadio di Varsavia, che da vent’anni ha smesso di funzionare come tale per assumere le vesti di fantasma post-comunista, mercato e spazio multiculturale per immigrati vietnamiti e commercianti russi. "Nel corso degli ultimi due decenni si è formata una generazione di artisti straordinaria”, racconta Fabio Cavallucci, neodirettore del Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Castello Ujazdowski. "Una scena che ho seguito con particolare interesse invitando artisti polacchi alla Galleria Civica di Trento (quando ne ero il direttore) e alla Biennale di Scultura di Carrara, dove ci sono Grzergoz Kowalski,docente dell'Accademia di Belle Arti di Varsavia, maestro di Zmijewski, Kozyra,Althamer, e le più giovani Anna Szwajgier e Zorka Wollny. Una scena nata spontaneamente per la reale necessità di fare arte, e che all’inizio non si sapeva neanche come chiamare”. Neanche per similitudini? "Beh, potremmo avvicinarla a quella inglese quanto a vitalità, con la differenza che non è stata determinata da un collezionismo privato e dal mercato”. Negli ultimi anni si è andati ancora all’arrembaggio o c’è stata una stabilizzazione? "Ora la situazione è diversa, vi è una maggiore consapevolezza, lo Stato crede nella cultura, la sostiene. Esiste in Polonia un’associazione indipendente formata da galleristi, scrittori, artisti che controlla la qualità dei progetti culturali. È un movimento che discute, dibatte sulla cultura”.In tutto questo come si innesta la nomina di un direttore italiano per un incarico così nodale? "È stata la prima volta che la gara per l’incarico a direttore di un museo è stato aperto a candidati stranieri. Questo indica la volontà di aprirsi al confronto, al nuovo”. La futura programmazione? "Penso di prendermi un anno per riorganizzare il tutto. Mi piacerebbe che i diversi linguaggi (il cinema i concerti, le mostre, il teatro) dialogassero più tra loro, che non ci fossero suddivisioni rigide. Il Castello Ujazdowski è sempre stato un punto di riferimento per me”. Di che tipo di struttura si tratta, qual è il dimensionamento? "È una macchina piuttosto impegnativa, vi lavorano più di 80 persone, penso di iniziare il nuovo programma nel 2012, non prima. Del resto vi sono già ottimi curatori che vi lavorano, io vorrei ritagliarmi un lavoro di regia”. Certo è che, viste le condizioni economiche del Paese e il contesto da boom, la sfida è ambiziosa e al contempo eccitante. Nei prossimi anni apriranno otto nuovi musei in Polonia: a Cracovia, Poznam, Wroclaw e Varsavia. I giovani non lasciano più il Paese per cercare migliori condizioni di vita e di lavoro altrove; vi sono invece artisti che da Berlino si trasferiscono a Varsavia, anche se Berlino continua a essere ben più economica. Non è da trascurare la scena di Lodz, antica capitale della manifattura tessile riconvertita in hub del terziario artistico. Oltre al Muzeum Sztuki (disseminato in tre diversi spazi espositivi, che ospitano esposizioni temporanee, le collezioni, e la sala neoplastica progettata nel 1947 da Wladyslaw Strzeminski) vi sono spazi non commerciali come la storica Wschodnia Gallery (fondata nel 1981 dagli artistiAdam Klimczak e Jerzy Grzegorski), la biennale d’arte e appuntamenti annuali come l’International Design Festival e il Fotofestiwal. Anche Lodz, al di là di tutto, conferma l’atmosfera creativa di vitalità artistica che si respira in questo Paese. E che non si limita solo a Varsavia. articoli correlati Anni ’80 polacchi a Cracovia lorenza pignatti *articolo pubblicato su Exibart.onpaper n. 69. Te l’eri perso? Abbonati! Info: VARSAVIA Castello Ujazdowski - csw.art.pl Zacheta - www.zacheta.art.pl Foksal Gallery Foundation - www.fgf.com.pl Raster Gallery Czarna - czarnagaleria.net Leto - www.leto.pl Krytyka Polityczna - www.krytykapolityczna.pl Laura Palmer Foundation - www.laura-palmer.pl LODZ Museum Sztuki - www.msl.org.pl Wschodnia Gallery - www.wschodnia.pl [exibart]

Carla Sozzani

Nel 1990, Corso Como era un piccola strada di edifici popolari costruiti al principio dell’era industriale, che ospitavano per lo più gente che emigrava dalle campagne per lavorare nelle fabbriche della città. Al numero 10, in un edificio industriale posto all’interno del grande cortile di uno storico palazzo milanese, aprono nel 1990 la Galleria Carla Sozzani e quello che, per anni, è stato l’ unico concept store di Milano: 10 Corso Como. In 20 anni, 10 Corso Como si è evoluto fino a diventare uno spazio multifunzionale, crocevia tra cultura e commercio, che attraverso il passaggio tra store, galleria, bookshop, ristorante e cafè riflette perfettamente la filosofia di chi l’ha pensato. Carla Sozzani è da sempre una delle icone del fashion world italiano, ispiratrice e anticipatrice di gusti e di stile. 10 Corso Como è il suo microcosmo, in cui prende vita tutto ciò che la rappresenta: arte, moda, fotografia, design, musica, oltre ad un Cafè e un piccolo Hotel. 10 Corso Como può essere definito un ‘magazine virtuale’, attraverso cui Carla Sozzani crea una narrazione volta non solo a creare business, ma soprattutto ad accogliere e coinvolgere il cliente in un’esperienza totalizzante di slow shopping. Il pensiero di Carla ha catturato in fretta quell’attenzione internazionale che ha reso 10 Corso Como un modello di retail ed estetica globale, esportato con successo in città all’avanguardia come Tokyo e Seoul. Attraverso 10 Corso Como, Carla Sozzani è riuscita a trasmettere il vero senso della creatività, affacciandosi positivamente e senza timore al panorama dell’irrazionale, dell’emozionale, del talento. Dal 1990 ad oggi, è riuscita a unire mondi lontani e arti differenti in uno spazio che si muove verso una sempre più moderna evoluzione mentale. I vent’anni di 10 Corso Como si chiudono con una mostra di Loretta Lux, giovane e talentuosa fotografa, a conferma della vocazione di Carla Sozzani di dedicare alla creatività, in tutte le sue forme, un tributo di generosa apertura intellettuale.

In 1990 Corso Como was a small street with council houses on both sides dating from the early industrial age, and mostly inhabited by country people who had moved to Milan to work in the city factories. In 1990 Galleria Carla Sozzani was opened at 10, Corso Como, in an industrial building located within the yard of a historical Milanese palace, for years the only concept store in Milan: 10 Corso Como. Over the last 20 years 10 Corso Como has evolved into a multifunctional space that merges culture and business, a space whose multiple identity of store, gallery, bookshop and café perfectly embodies the philosophy of its creator. Carla Sozzani has always been one of the icons of the Italian fashion world, the inspirer and forerunner of trends and styles. 10 Corso Como is the microcosm where all that represents Carla comes to life: art, fashion, photography, design, music besides a café and a small hotel, a space that can be defined a ‘virtual magazine’, through which she unfolds her narration, not only to create business but above all to welcome and involve clients in an absorbing experience of slow shopping. Carla’s conception in no time became one of international renown that made 10 Corso Como a model of global retail and aesthetics, successfully exported into avant-garde cities like Tokyo and Seoul. Through 10 Corso Como, Carla Sozzani has managed to express the true meaning of creativity, positively and fearlessly facing the world of the irrational, the emotions and talent. Since 1990 she has managed to merge far off worlds and different arts in a space whose constant changes suggest a more and more modern intellectual evolution. On 10 Corso Como’s 20th anniversary, the exhibition of Loretta Lux, a young and talented photographer, confirms the open-minded intellectual contribution that Carla Sozzani makes to all forms of creativity.

10corsocomo.com

paris- felice varini rectangle ellipse disques

Saturday April 10, 2010
Thursday March 31, 2011.

Swiss artist Felice Varini has been creating a body of work that situates itself on the frontier of pictoral creation for close to thirty years.  His work and his paintings develop beyond the canvas.  Urban landscapes and closed spaces with pronounced architectural features are his terrains of action, in which geometric figures are inserted in the space at regular and irregular intervals so that the work can be considered in its visual coherence from a specific point of view.
Felice Varini has created the installation rectangle, ellipse & disques for the galerie Xippas in its stairwell.  Except for a small number of projects, the monumental and emblematic stairwell remains a passageway that few artists have invested since the gallery opened in 1991.  The simple geometric forms of Varini’s installation dramatically change one’s perception of the space and counteract the complexity of its architecture.  

Even the title of the work makes reference to the complex relationship between forms and the space, that becomes the support of the œuvre.  The rectangle is the threshold of the stairwell that predates the work; the ellipse is the painted part of the work; and the discs refer to the empty zone in which the eye wanders and is lost.  Over the span of a year, the visitors of the galerie Xippas will be able to experience this vertiginous work, whose form accompanies our ascension into the space of the gallery’s temporary exhibitions, and which gives the visitor a consciousness of the proportions of their body vis-à-vis the surreal proportions of the space.  

As Varini writes, “Architectural space, and all that it encompasses, is my terrain of action.  These spaces are and continue to be the primary canvases of my painting.  For each project, I invest a different space in situ, and my work thus evolves with relation to the specificities of the space.  In general, I study the site, taking into account its architecture, its materials, its history and its function.  Working with these different spatial considerations, I choose one point of view, around which my intervention takes form.

What I call point of view is a point chosen with precision, generally located at my eye level, and if possible, located in an obligatory point of passage, like an opening between two rooms or a landing… However, this is not a prerequisite because many spaces do not have a determined circulation pattern.  The choice is thus often arbitrary.

The point of view functions as the point from which to read the work, a possible departure point from which to approach the painting in the space.  The painted form is coherent when the viewer is at the point of view.  When the viewer steps away from this point, the work encounters space, generating an infinity of points of view of the form.  Hence, I do not consider the work effective from the initial point of view; rather it is one point of view among multitudinous views that the viewer can experience.

Even if I establish a particular reference to the architectural characteristics that influence the form of the installation, my work remains nonetheless independent of the architecture that it confronts.


The point of departure for constructing my paintings is a real situation.  This reality is never altered, erased, modified….I am interested and enticed by the space in its complexity.  I work in the ‘here and now.’”

Felice Varini was born in 1952 in Locarno, in the Swiss Canton of Tessin. He lives and works in Paris. 

Among his numerous installations in public spaces, Varini’s interventions took place in the Swiss village of Vercorin (2009); at the Nagoya University in Japan (2008); in the French town of Saint-Nazaire (2007 & 2009); in the Bay of Cardiff (2007); at the MAC/VAL- Contemporary Art Museum of Val de Marne at Vitry-sur-Seine, France (2005);  at the Peugeot headquarters, Avenue de la grande Armée in Paris (2002); and at the Société Générale headquarters in la Défense, France.
In 2009, he participated in the Niigata Water and Land Art Festival in Japan, and in 2008 he participated in the Singapore Biennial. The Maison rouge/Fondation Antoine de Galbert in Paris exhibited his work in 2007, as well as the Osaka Art Kaleidoscope and the Musée Antoine Bourdelle, Paris, in 2006.  Varini made an installation in the Orangerie at Versailles for the Nuit Blanche in 2006.   Also in 2006, realized Sept droites pour cinq triangles (Seven straights for five triangles) on the rue Ambroise Paré and the Gare du Nord, both in Paris.  This work was presented previously at the Place de l’Odéon in Paris in 2003 and was acquired by the municipality of Paris. 


NEWS : 
Design Vertigo, exhibition organized by Design Miami & Fendi, Spazio Fendi, Via Sciesa 3, Milan Italy, April 14th-18th, 2010.
Monumental work Square with four circles, installation in the city of New Haven, CT.  Inauguration June 4th, 2010.


For more information, please visit Felice Varini’s website:  http://www.varini.org/

vudafieri saverino partners: reflective natural

'reflective natural' by vudafieri saverino partners
all images courtesy vudafieri saverino partners


'reflective natural' is a project by italian architects vudafieri saverino partners 
currently on display at the venice architecture biennale.

'reflective natural', natural reflection and natural reflected, delves into cultural 
simulation, the ambivalence of the human milieu considered as an objective 
architectural space and equally an intimate subjective space. it is the outcome 
of a conceptual notion that envisages architecture as 'hyper-nature'.

comprised of five reflecting surfaces constructed like a house of cards, the exterior
structure reflects surrounding nature, while the interiors are covered with climbing 
plants. in this way the space is enclosed but its boundaries are undefined, its geometries
distorted, and sun and water can enter here. within, the floor appears as a meadow, 
reflecting on the walls and ceiling. outside, the walls become extensions of the sky. 

thus the artificial space is inverted: while nature invades the inner space of 
the psyche, which is personal and private, the conceptual and mimetic external space 
loses its architectural solidity and fades away into light and immaterial landscape.

in some measure the project upends the traditional antagonism between the natural 
and the artificial, between nature and architecture. the 'interior vegetation' will grow 
and overrun the walls, while the architecture will be subject to cyclical changes, as 
the days and seasons pass, retrieving an ancient approach for capturing living space.

these reflections are made a reality through the partnership of il bisonte, an italian brand 
of small leather goods. the sophisticated simplicity of this 'contemporary dolmen', its 
intimate involvement with its surroundings, its lithe, spirited interaction with humanity 
and nature, are in perfect unison with brand’s fundamental values. as an icon of this shared
vision stands the seating bench designed by tiziano vudafieri and claudio saverino with 
saporiti italia.

a tale of the accord that exists between human life and the habitat where it is welcomed,
made possible by taking as appropriate and by a prudent elaboration of nature’s resources,
experienced as an intimate complicity with the cycles and mutations of time.



the stools within the structure







project info:
project: vudafieri saverino partners, tiziano vudafieri and claudio saverino
sponsor: il bisonte
supplier: bianchi fratelli, saporiti italia
green design: alessandro nasti
structural design: paolo giustini

Cattelan, scandalosi "gesti" nella metropoli

di Alberto Mattia Martini
 

Essendo ormai palese a tutti, che viviamo in una società profondamente dominata dai simboli, dalle icone, dove l’apparire ha completamente messo a ko l’essenza, dove il frastuono chiassoso delle urla sembra il mezzo più proficuo per poter esprimere i propri pensieri, dove il gossip ha ormai preso pieno possesso delle prime pagine di quotidiani e magazine, non mi stupisce affatto che anche la mostra milanese di Maurizio Cattellan si concentri proprio sulla provocazione e sul potere dell’immagine. Catellan è certamente l’artista più noto, più irriverente, più dibattuto, ma probabilmente per tutti questi aspetti anche il più ricco di cui l’Italia dispone e grazie al quale può «essere coinvolta nel grande circo» del panorama artistico internazionale. Quella del creativo veneto è un’arte, che ha fatto scuola, che ha raccolto tantissimi epigoni e che ha sempre puntato tutto, o quasi sullo scandalo, ma anche nel mettere in discussione il proprio tempo. Maurizio Cattelan, nato a Padova, attualmente vive e lavora a New York, torna a Milano, con un’installazione inedita in Piazza Affari e con una mostra nella splendida cornice di Palazzo Reale. Ma facciamo un passo indietro, o meglio spostiamoci qualche centinaio di metri da Palazzo Reale, per addentrarci negli affascinanti spazi del Palazzo della Ragione, dove tra le suggestive e poetiche fotografie di Francesca Woodman, colpisce lo sguardo e l’anima, un autoritratto dell’artista in camicia da notte appesa all’architrave di una porta, una trasposizione moderna della crocefissione. Ebbene la croce risulta altrettanto suggestiva e fondamentale anche nel percorso espositivo di Cattelan: dentro una scatola di legno, solitamente utilizzata per i trasporti ad alto rischio di rottura, si trova una donna crocefissa di spalle. Una tragedia che si registra anche all’interno della Sala delle Cariatidi, dove ad attenderci su un’infinita moquette rosso sangue, ci attende coricato su un fianco il pontefice Giovanni Paolo II colpito da una meteorite; è la Nona ora, un’opera del 1999, nella quale nemmeno il papa viene risparmiato dai mali della contemporaneità, anche se a salvarlo sembra essere proprio la fede in Dio, rappresentata dal crocefisso, al quale il santo padre si aggrappa con un ultimo gesto disperato. Come in tutte le favole che si rispettino non può mancare il lieto fine, che qui è raffigurato da L.O.V.E, un’enorme mano di 11 metri in marmo di Carrara, posizionata in Piazza Affari. Alla mano sono state mozzate tutte le dita tranne il dito medio, che spunta dritto, quasi a volersi imporre su ciò che lo circonda, per poi rivolgersi al Palazzo Mezzanotte, sede della Borsa milanese. Ancora una volta sembra che l’unico antidoto contro tutti i mali, contro tutto il degrado a cui facevamo riferimento sopra e che ci accompagna ormai da tempo immemorabile, possa essere solo un gesto forte, radicale e coraggioso, ma necessariamente accompagnato dal'eternità dell’amore. 

Gazzetta di Parma.it , 16.10.2010

ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2010

Exceptionally high quality and very solid sales at
Art Basel Miami Beach 2010
Miami Beach, Florida, USA – The ninth edition of Art Basel Miami Beach closed
on Sunday, December 5, 2010. More than 250 galleries from North America, Europe,
Latin America, Asia and Africa exhibited works by over 2,000 artists. The show
attracted 46,000 visitors, a record number. Art collectors, museum directors,
curators and cultural journalists from all over the world enjoyed a program of
special exhibitions, panel discussions, private collection tours, and events featuring
film, performance, and video. A great number of artists also attended the event,
among them Michelangelo Pistoletto, Ernesto Neto, Vik Muniz, Pedro Reyes,
Jonathan Meese, Martin Creed, Tony Oursler, Teresita Fernandez, Thomas Zipp,
Julie Mehretu, Ugo Rondinone, Mark Handforth, Julian Schnabel and  Isaac Julien.
Over 130 museum and institution groups visited the show, as did private collectors
from the Americas, Europe and many emerging markets of the artworld.
Art Basel Miami Beach proved again that high-quality works remain in strong demand,
as collectors rewarded excellent material and booth presentations with steady sales
throughout the week: Many exhibitors also reported making valuable new contacts,
especially in Latin America. Gallerists offered gleaming reports, including:
Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers, Sprüth Magers Berlin London
'We are very impressed with the quality of international collectors at this year's fair and
have really enjoyed participating.'
Marc Glimcher, Pace Gallery, New York
"This year in Miami was, without a doubt, for the overall quality of the art and the energy,
one of the best art fairs I have been to and it certainly was for Pace: we practically sold out
works in our booth within hours of the opening."
Gordon VeneKlasen, Michael Werner Gallery
'We're really happy with our participation in Miami Basel. Major collectors came this year
with a strong showing of our clients from all over the world. Sales of our established artists
were terrific and the fair also provides a great platform for our younger generation of artists
- Aaron Curry, Enrico David and Thomas Houseago.  With great support from local
collectors such as the De la Cruz's and the Rubells, the fair has matured into the major art
event it intended to be.'Thomas Dane, Thomas Dane Gallery London
'We are very pleased with how the fair has gone. We had a strong opening day and good
consistency throughout the rest of the fair. We have met numerous new clients and are
happy to see older clients returning to Miami.'
Alexandre Gabriel, Galeria Fortes Vilaca, Sao Paulo
'We did very good business. The Brazilians did a great part of the collecting at the fair.'
Glenn Scott Wright, Director, Victoria Miro, London
'Art Basel Miami Beach has been a great catalyst for sales of works by Yayoi Kusama,
who has impending museum retrospectives in 2011 and 2012.'
Joanna Kamm, Galerie Kamm, Berlin
'This year’s ABMB was very alive in the sense of meeting new people and having talks
more in depth. Also I feel a return of interest to discover young European artists. Both
curators and collectors have shown an amazing interest in the work of Kathrin Sonntag,
one of my very young Berlin-based artist, who I have shown for the first time at Art Basel
Miami Beach.'
This year’s Art Kabinett sector was of high quality and showed an interesting mix of
twenty-one carefully curated exhibitions in the booths of the galleries. The projects in this
sector of the show featured a wide array of artists, ranging from emerging artists such as
Valentin Carron (303 Gallery, New York), Nathan Hylden (Johann König, Berlin) and
Markus Schinwald (Lambert, New York) to historical figures like Otto Muehl (Krinzinger,
Wien), Franz Erhard Walter (Wolff, Paris) and Richard Diebenkorn (Greenberg van Doren,
New York). Group shows include the exhibitions 'Marx & Modernism: The New Europe'
(Adler & Conkright, New York) and 'Zaha Hadid and Suprematism' (Gmurzynska, Zürich).
In this year’s Art Nova sector, 50 emerging and established galleries from 17 countries
presented new works by either two or three artists, including Charles Atlas, Miroslaw
Balka, Thomas Bayrle, Luis Camnitzer, Mircea Cantor, Nathalie Djurberg, Gardar Eide
Einarsson, Valie Export, Scott Lyall, Barry McGee, Marilyn Minter, R.H. Quaytman,
Sudarshan Shetty, Roman Signer and Thomas Zipp. In all, recent pieces by 131 artists
were on display, providing visitors an opportunity to see pieces fresh from studios around
the globe - and making the sector an ideal place to spot the newest artistic tendencies.
The new criteria for Art Positions created a platform for a single major project from one
artist, allowing curators, critics and collectors to discover ambitious new talents. The Art
Positions sector presented 14 young galleries from seven different countries, showcasing
cutting-edge single projects by the artists Hany Armanious (Foxy Production, New York), Jorge Méndez Blake (Meessen De Clercq, Bruxelles), Brian Bress (Cherry and Martin, Los
Angeles), François Bucher (Proyectos Monclova, México), Dario Escobar (Josée Bienvenu
Gallery, New York), Fernanda Fragateiro (Arratia, Beer, Berlin), Nikolas Gambaroff  (Balice
Hertling, Paris), Eddie Martinez (ZieherSmith, New York), Gabriel Sierra (Casas Riegner
Gallery, Bogotá), Kara Tanaka (Simon Preston Gallery, New York), Johanna Unzuetta
(Christinger De Mayo, Zürich), Phil Wagner (UNTITLED, New York), Judi Werthein (Figge
von Rosen Galerie, Köln) and Héctor Zamora (Labor, México).
Art Public, curated for the second time by Patrick Charpenel of Guadalajara, Mexico,
featured projects by international artists Andrea Bowers, François Bucher, John
Chamberlain, Carlos Cruz-Diez, Minerva Cuevas, Runa Islam, Marco Maggi, Jorge
Méndez Blake, and Fyodor Pavlov Andreevich. The projects which attracted many visitors
were installed in the outdoor public spaces of Miami Beach, within close proximity to the
Oceanfront and the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Art Basel Miami Beach's public nightly program at the Oceanfront, organized by Creative
Time, was a highlight of this year's show. Sited in an environment designed by Phu Hoang
Office and Rachely Rotem Studio, the pavilion used two types of rope - reflective and
phosphorescent – to create a diverse and interactive environment of open-air structures
that sway and glow in the night. The Oceanfront Nights program featured four cities at the
forefront of today’s artistic experimentation and cross-disciplinary collaboration: Detroit,
Mexico City, Berlin, and Glasgow. Art Basel Miami Beach and Creative Time invited four
organizations to partner in creating the program - the Museum of Contemporary Art in
Detroit, Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, 032c in Berlin, and Tramway in Glasgow. The
program spotlighting film, music, video, performance and featured performances by artists
such as Sue Tompkins, Biba Bell, Isa Melsheimer, Aids-3d, 80*81 (Gerog Diez /
Christopher Roth), Stephen Sutcliff and live music by Martin Creed and his band, Daniel
Guzman's band Pellejos, Mexico's El Resplandor as well as sets by acclaimed DJs from
the respective cities. Presentations and discussions were held by various artists including
Pedro Reyes, Claudia Fernandez, Raul Cardenas / Torolab, and Jorge Mendez Blake.
This year’s Art Film event offered the award-winning film 'Waste Land,' which follows
renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native
Brazil and the world's largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of
Rio de Janeiro. There he collaborated an eclectic band of 'catadores' - pickers of
recyclable materials, to create a new series of works. The presentation in the Lincoln
Theater, which was followed by a discussion with Vik Muniz, Dan Cameron and David
Koh, was well-attended and received several standing ovations.
Many leading artworld figures appeared in the morning Art Basel Conversations, which
were often standing-room only and attended by the artworld and the broader public. The premiere presented an artist talk featuring legendary artist Michelangelo Pistoletto. Topics
for the following panel discussions included 'Public/Private: Museums in the Digital Age,'
with Maxwell L. Anderson, Lauren Cornell and Peter Reed, 'Latin America: The Collector
as Catalyst' featuring Augustin Coppel, Ella Fontanals-Cisneros and Rodrigo Moura, and
'Artistic Practice: The School Makers' with Eduardo Abaroa, Bruce High Quality
Foundation, Tania Bruguera, Domingo Castillo, Piero Golia and Yoshua Ok n.
Videos of the Art Basel Conversations can be downloaded at
www.artbaselmiamibeach.com/conversations
Participants at this year's Art Salon included artworld figures such as Josh Baer, Ute Meta
Bauer, Andrea Bowers, Dan Cameron, Jose Davila, Tom Eccles, Elena Filipovic, Naomi
Fisher, Francesca von Habsburg, Sofia Hernàndez, Meredith Johnson, Isaac Julien, Scott
King, Sigalit Landau, Los Carpinteros, Mariko Mori, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Pascale Marthine
Tayou, Nato Thompson and Marnie Weber.
Videos of the Art Salon can be downloaded at www.artbaselmiamibeach.com/salon
As of December 5 our new Smartphone app has been downloaded more than 15,000
times. www.artbasel.com/apps
Museum Groups
A record number of more than 130 international museum and collectors groups came from
all over the world to attend Art Basel Miami Beach. The delegations included boards of
trustees from the Brooklyn Museum; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museu de Arte
Moderna Sao Paulo; Dallas Museum of Art; Denver Art Museum; Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden, Washington; Art Institute of Chicago; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis;
Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New Museum, New York, Philadelphia Museum of
Art; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Museo Tamayo, Mexico City; Muac, Mexico City;
Centre Pompidou, Paris, and many more.
Museum exhibitions and collections
Once again, Miami’s leading private collections – among them the Margulies Collection,
the Rubell Family Collection, CIFO, the De La Cruz Collection, the Mora Collection, the
Scholl Collection, and the Dacra Collection – opened their homes and warehouses to
guests of the international art show. The daily visits to artist studios in the Greater Miami
area were also very popular with visitors.
Following a long tradition, the Miami museums organized significant exhibitions. Shows
included 'Susan Rothenberg: Moving in Place' at the Miami Art Museum; 'Isaac Julien' at
the Bass Museum; 'John Storrs: Machine-Age Modernist' and 'Nick Cave: Meet Me at the Center of the Earth' at the Norton Museum; 'Seduce Me,' a collaboration by Isabella
Rossellini, Andy Byers, and Rick Gilbert at the Wolfsonian-FIU; 'Bruce Weber: Haiti/Little
Haiti,' 'Jonathan Meese: Sculpture' at MOCA Miami and 'Drawn and Quartered' at World
Class Boxing; Jim Drain at Locust Projects and the Pearl and Stanley Goodman Latin
American Collection at the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale.
Partners
Art Basel Miami Beach thanks its main sponsor, UBS, as well as its Associate Sponsors,
Cartier, NetJets and AXA Art for collaborating with us on yet another successful show. We
would also like to acknowledge our partners Bally, Ruinart, Moroso and Gondrand, and our
Official VIP Car BMW, for their valuable support of our show.
Catalog
The premium-quality catalog was virtually sold out during the week. A few hundred copies
are still available from D.A.P. in New York (Toll Free: Tel. +1 800 338 2665, Fax +1 212
627 9484) for the USA, or from Hatje Cantz Publishers in Germany: Fax +49 711 4405
220.
Art Basel Miami Beach 2011
Art Basel Miami Beach 2011 takes place December 1 through December 4, 2011, with an
exclusive opening on Wednesday, November 30, 2011.
Art 42 Basel
Art Basel, the original international art show established in Switzerland in 1970, runs from
June 15 through June 19, 2011. It is the world’s most prestigious show of modern and
contemporary art, featuring 300 galleries from all continents showing works by over 2,500
artists.
For the latest updates on Art Basel Miami Beach, visit www.artbaselmiamibeach.com
Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/artbaselmiamibeach
and www.facebook.com/artbasel
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ABMB
and http://twitter.com/Art41BaselInformation on Art Basel Miami Beach is available from:
Maike Cruse, Communications Manager, Art Basel & Art Basel Miami Beach
Tel. +41 58 206 27 06, Fax +41 58 206 31 30, maike.cruse@artbasel.com, www.artbasel.com  
Art Basel Miami Beach, P O Box, CH-4005 Basel
US Office Art Basel Miami Beach:
FITZ & CO, Sara Fitzmaurice / Dan Tanzilli
Tel. +1 212 627 1455 ext. 226, Fax +1 212 627 0654, dan@fitzandco.com
535 West 23 Street #S10H, USA-New York, NY 10011
Florida Office Art Basel Miami Beach:
Garber & Goodman Inc.,
Tel. +1 305 674 1292, Fax +1 305 673 1242, floridaoffice@artbasel.com
301 41st Street, US-Miami Beach, FL 33140
Media information on the internet
Media information, photos, and logos can be downloaded directly from the internet at
www.artbasel.com. Journalists can accredit themselves online for the press pass, as well
as subscribing for our media mailings in order to receive information on Art Basel Miami Beach.

Artefiera Bologna 28/31 gennaio 2011

Arte Fiera Art First celebra quest’anno la sua 35a edizione che si terrà dal 28 al 31 Gennaio 2011 presso il quartiere fieristico a Bologna. Arte Fiera, una delle prime fiere internazionali d’arte moderna e contemporanea nata in Italia e nel mondo negli anni ’70, si è imposta nel corso delle diverse edizioni come la più importante fiera d’arte italiana. Il Comitato di selezione di Arte Fiera, sotto la direzione di Silvia Evangelisti, ha lavorato negli ultimi anni al costante innalzamento della qualità delle proposte espositive, attraverso un accurato meccanismo di selezione delle gallerie espositrici e un programma di importanti eventi culturali collaterali. Attenta alla nuova funzione che le fiere del settore hanno assunto nell’ambito del mercato dell’arte, Arte Fiera Art First ha preservato intatti negli anni il proprio ruolo di grande vetrina del mercato dell’arte mondiale e la propria identità di valorizzazione e promozione della ricerca artistica italiana ed internazionale dai primi anni del Novecento alle tendenze attuali. Oltre 200 gallerie sono ospitate nei 15000mq espositivi del quartiere fieristico bolognese, suddivisi in tre settori dedicati all’arte moderna, contemporanea e alle ultime tendenze, con la sezione dedicata alle gallerie di ricerca con non più di 5 anni di attività per avvicinare al mercato dell’arte e al collezionismo un pubblico sempre più ampio. Tra gli appuntamenti in Fiera, la tavola rotonda organizzata da IACCA – International Association of Corporate Collections of Contemporary Art dal titolo ‘Art Education Programs’, che ha scelto Arte Fiera Art First come spazio privilegiato per presentarsi al pubblico italiano e discutere un tema d’attualità come l’educazione del pubblico all’arte attraverso le collezioni di importanti aziende europee, con la partecipazione di relatori internazionali. Arte Fiera Art First ospita due importanti Premi dedicati agli artisti emergenti. Alla quinta edizione il Premio Euromobil - main sponsor di Arte Fiera Art First - dedicato al miglior artista under 30 presentato ad Arte Fiera che verrà premiato in questa occasione all’interno dell’installazione “I luoghi dell’arte”, da una giuria qualificata di critici e operatori del settore. L’opera vincitrice entrerà a far parte della collezione d’arte dei fratelli Lucchetta, proprietari del marchio. L’ottava edizione del Premio Furla ritorna quest’anno con una tavola rotonda che ha come protagonisti i curatori invitati e gli artisti selezionati per questa edizione. Lo Spazio Art Café, in collaborazione con Corraini Edizioni, è dedicato anche quest’anno alle presentazioni di libri e cataloghi pubblicati dai più importanti editori del settore presenti in Fiera.

To bring on the festive season, Gagosian Gallery will present a pop-up exhibition of catalogues, posters, prints and limited editions by gallery artists including John Currin, Ellen Gallagher, Douglas Gordon, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Yayoi Kusama, Roy Lichtenstein, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Anselm Reyle, Ed Ruscha, Andy Warhol, and Franz West. This exhibition presents a selection of the works available for sale at the permanent Gagosian Shop in New York, which opened in 2009.

In addition to the scholarly monographs, innovative catalogues, and limited editions of Gagosian Gallery’s unparalleled publishing program, “Gagosian Pop-Up!” will feature exclusive limited edition furniture and design objects -- from Jeff Koons’ Puppy vase and Franz West’s Uncle Chairs to striking posters from gallery exhibitions including “Crash” and “Pop Art Is…” Limited edition artist’s books include Ed Ruscha’s illustrated version of Jack Kerouac’s historic novel On the Road, a special edition of Gregory Crewdson’s most recent photographic reverie Sanctuary, and Richard Prince’s Bettie Kline, a surprising visual dialogue between the model Bettie Page and the painter Franz Kline. In addition, etchings and lithographs by John Currin, Dexter Dalwood, Jenny Saville, and others will be available.

A special feature of “Gagosian Pop-Up!” in London will be the presence of Other Criteria -- the London-based publisher of artist editions, books, multiples, and artist-designed merchandise, launched in 2005 by Damien Hirst, Hugh Allan, and Frank Dunphy. Available works by Hirst include editioned prints of the “spot”, “pill”, and “butterfly” paintings, and a series of deck chairs designed by Hirst in an assortment of punchy colors featuring the “stained glass” butterfly motif from the Superstition series.

On Saturday, 11 December 2010 from 2 to 4pm, Turner Prize nominee Dexter Dalwood will be signing copies of his new monograph published by JRP Ringier. Please check www.gagosian.com for updates on future events during “Gagosian Pop-Up.”

For further inquiries please contact the gallery at london@gagosian.com or at +44.207.493.3020.

ELAD LASSRY
Maurizio Cattelan

Flash Art n.274 OCTOBER 2010
 
 
TAKE A BREAK
 
MAURIZIO CATTELAN: Elad, I just ran into you in Milan, where you opened your first exhibition with Massimo De Carlo. How was that?
Elad Lassry: It was a very good experience to spend some time in Italy. I presented a new film and a series of images that I have been working on for the past year. The exhibition, as a whole, feels very involved with the extent of my practice. There is a mix between photographs that are the outcome of my research in the studio as well as images that result from found negatives and pictures that were already in circulation.
 

ELAD LASSRY, Lipstick, 2009. C-print, 37 x 29 cm. Courtesy David Kordansky, Los Angeles.
MC: Is it important for your films and photographs to be shown together?
EL: In the past, there were a few occasions when my films were exhibited apart from the
photographs. The Whitney Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago presented projections that were slightly larger in a black box. Those were curatorial decisions made for those films, but there are qualities in this body of work that made it important to show the film at the same scale and in the same daylight conditions as the
photographs.
MC: Can you tell me about this new film? How did it come together?
EL: The film is based on the late American choreographer Doris Humphrey’s Passacaglia (1938), which aired on National Educational Television in 1966. Like many of my previous films, the new work revisits the strategies that were used to document and mediate this historical dance performance. The camera angles I used are based on Humphrey’s diagrams and her theory of “invisible diagonals” that structure the theatrical stage.
MC: Do you think of your photographs and films as pretty?
EL: I think many of my photographs end up being difficult to look at. In the context of my
show at the Kunsthalle Zürich earlier this year, the press release referred to them as irritating, and I think that is an endearing quality that many of them have.
MC: But I also find your work to be very funny at times. Do you have a sense of humor about it?
EL: Many times the things that I find funny aren’t necessarily funny to other people. And
the same is true the other way around. Even though I can understand why someone might find some aspects of the work humorous, I’m not really trying to be funny. Humor is already so pervasive everywhere else in the world, I just don’t know if there is much place for it in my work.
 

ELAD LASSRY, Pink Hat, 2010. C-print, 37 x 29 x 4 cm. Courtesy the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York and David Kordansky, Los Angeles. ELAD LASSRY, Woman (Painting), 2010. C-print, 37 x 29 x 4 cm. Courtesy Luhring Augustine, New York; David Kordansky, Los Angeles.

MC: I understand what you mean, Elad, but
what do you tend to look at? Do you watch specific television shows or movies that influence your practice?
EL: This question has come up for me in the
past, but I don’t watch television. While I
haven’t owned a television in many years, I’ve
managed to become aware of certain actresses
and actors through other means. I usually
know very little about a performer’s abilities
when I approach someone to be in my films.
I think of it as an engagement with the conditions of cinema, rather than anything that has to do with a given actress or actor’s previous experience in a specific film or television show. It’s just important that they serve the purpose of the image.
MC: I want to ask you a question about animals, but I’m not sure how to phrase it.
EL: Have you seen many of William Wegman’s
early videos?
MC: No, not too many. I guess I want to know
more about your animals. Do you own any?
EL: Yes, I have two standard black Poodles,
Carter and Jessica; a Chihuahua named Tuna;
and a Persian cat whose name is Judd.
MC: Do you think it is important to be an animal lover? I’ve tended to notice that artists sometimes reveal a greater sensitivity to animals.
EL: Yes, I can’t seem to understand a way of
being in the world that doesn’t have an attachment to animals. I can’t grasp how animals cannot be relevant to someone’s life. I think animals are as fascinating as humans.
MC: Would you ever consider making a portrait
of one of your animals?
EL: All of my composed photographs are
based on images that already exist in the world. It would be hard for me to justify creating an image that bears the pretense of originality. If there was ever a need in my practice to recreate an image of two standard black Poodles, I would likely hire trained dogs. The readymade quality of animals that are trained to perform in front of a camera is most appealing to me. Besides, one of my Poodles is very badly behaved.
MC: Do your animals provide something for you that you don’t get from being an artist?
EL: The routine of caring for my pets offers a bit of refuge from the world.
MC: You seem to tire easily. Do you feel that the demands put on you are sometimes
too much? I think this is something that concerns all of us individually.
Are you tired now?
EL: I’m not tired in the sense that I need to sleep. But maybe we can take a break?
MC: Yes, of course. What shall we do?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  -
MC: Elad, why do you choose to live in Los Angeles? Why not live someplace more exotic or exciting?
EL: I have a very strict routine, and the relaxed environment of Los Angeles is the most productive context for me right now. This aspect of the city contrasts with my severe neurosis. It’s an easy place to strike a balance between isolation and sociality. Most of all, it’s just a good place to hide. I’m finding now though that it’s becoming harder to travel regularly because Los Angeles is so geographically removed from the rest of the world.
MC: But are you satisfied intellectually?
EL: Yes, I have a small circle of friends and people I am close with here. It is a very
select group.
MC: Are they mostly artists as well?
EL: Yes, they are mostly artists and writers who I went to school with or who have been
influential to me in some way or another. But I am also as comfortable with the random freaks I meet at the dog park.
MC: You’re thirty-three years old. Do you still feel young?
EL: My mother in Israel recently told me that I’ve been an old man since I was a child…
MC: Maybe then you’re already a mature artist? You do seem a bit older than I had expected…
EL: I’ve always preferred the company of older people. I remember feeling a bit elderly
as a child. My mother also told me recently that when the other children would ask for
candies, I would always ask for dried fruits.
 
MC: Before we met I had a different idea of how you might be.
EL: Are you disappointed now that you’ve met me?
MC: No, not at all. How about you? Are you ever disappointed with yourself?
EL: Not generally. Even though I’m confident about my recent bodies of work, I am however still plagued by doubt. I think this is natural, and I’m especially skeptical of younger artists who don’t experience this on some level.
MC: Can you describe what you’re feeling now that we’re nearing the end of this interview?
EL: I’m wondering why you invited me.
MC: I invited you because I find your work to be interesting.
EL: Can you talk a little more about this?
MC: I first came across your photographs in “Younger Than Jesus” at the New Museum, and I remember thinking that the images were all indeterminate and staged in a
peculiar fashion. I knew then that we should talk so that I could find out what motivates you to create these images.
EL: It’s something to do with the rediscovery of pictures that were at one time exhausted.
When I’m researching in the studio, I’m really trying to figure out how certain images
can be redeployed or restaged in ways that address their original function in the world. These are images that have, in large part, run their course, and I want to find out if there is anything in them worth revisiting.
MC: I remember feeling a bit of loss when I first came across your pictures.
EL: Can you talk a little more about this?
MC: I’d rather we talk about something else.
 
 
This interview is part of an ongoing project in which Maurizio Cattelan interviews contemporary artists for Flash Art. Maurizio Cattelan is an artist based in New York.
Elad Lassry was born in Tel Aviv in 1977. He lives and works in Los Angeles.
 
Selected solo shows: 2010: Luhring Augustine, New York; Contemporary Art Museum,
St. Louis (US); Massimo De Carlo, Milan; Kunsthalle Zürich. 2009: David Kordansky,
Los Angeles; Whitney Museum, New York. 2008: Art Institute of Chicago; Bath Film Festival (with Daria Martin), (UK). 2007: Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles.
Selected group shows: 2010: “Still Life,” Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery. “New Photography 2010,” MoMA, New York; Les Rencontres d’Arles 2010 / Edition 41, Arles (FR); “Permanent Mimesis: An Exhibition about Realism and Simulation,”
Galleria Civica D’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Turin; “At Home/Not at Home:
Works from the Collection of Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg,” CCS, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson (US). 2009: “Beg, Borrow and Steal,” Rubell Family Collection, Miami. “The Reach of Realism,” MOCA, North Miami; “Looking Back: The White

Columns Annual,” White Columns, New York; “Dance with Camera,” ICA, Philadelphia; “Superficiality and Superexcrescence,” Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles; “Younger Than Jesus,” New Museum, New York. 2008: California Biennial, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach (US); “Photos and Phantasy,” Carnegie Art Museum, Oxnard (US).