Tag Archive "matthew-monahan"

London: the V&A’s Aesthetic Movement , Saatchi Gallery; and Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff

The Cult of Beauty: The Aesthetic Movement 1860-1900, through July 17 at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) is perhaps most interesting for emphasizing that the Pre-Raphaelites set out to make their living space a Gesamptkunstwerk, complete with paintings, furniture, wallpaper, decorative objects and artistically-clad women, who clearly were part of the decoration; hence the exhibition includes all facets of fine and decorative arts, including  photography, printed books and rarely-seen items of jewelry and clothing.  Women’s clothing, that is. While the men established, developed and prosthelytized on behalf the style, it didn’t extend to their own dress. Even the dandy, ... More » »

Book review – Q&A’s done well, Mineral Spirits, Thomas Nozkowski, Paul Cava

Exhibition catalogs often include an interview with the artist along with an in-depth essay or two. Of course there’s also those glossy color plates like eye candy — all of which makes these documentary books fabulous to look at and read and useful in extending the life of the show. Two recent catalogs (and one show brochure ) that do the Q&A well are the ICA’s slim, notebook-like volume, “Mineral Spirits,” for the Anne Chu and Matthew Monahan exhibit (closing Sunday, Dec. 5); “Thomas Nozkowski,” the catalog for the artist’s exhibit at Pace (closing Saturday, Dec. 4); and “Paul Cava ... More » »

Chelsea – We look high and low and run into friends

It was a day of big sculpture installations and unexpected encounters with friends. Cate ran around with us in Chelsea. We also had a gastro-incident and a gastro-delight: At our usual eatery, Pepe Giallo, the little Italian place at 253 10th Ave, we hadn’t even ordered when our wait person came to us and said they couldn’t take our order because the NY Dept of Health had just walked in to do a surprise kitchen check. We hope they passed. Ever resourceful, we crossed the street and tried Trestle on Tenth at 242 10th (between 24th and 25th). Cate and ... More » »

Marlene Dumas; Measuring your own Grave. Book Review

This catalog to the traveling exhibition organized by Cornelia Butler for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ISBN 978-1-933751-08-5; distributed by D.A.P., Inc.) offers considerably more visual material than the large exhibition did;

Beautiful and not in New York

We dithered and waffled on what to see in our day trip to New York last week finally settling on shows in Chelsea and Soho that talked to our concerns about beauty in contemporary art. Beauty is back of course.  That’s nothing any observer of the scene has missed by now, with gorgeous public art by Anish Kapoor and the embrace of beauty in even the most tetchy conceptual realms (Kara Walker). But is it “beauty” or beauty? Is it something wry and ironic or a new push to aesthetic pleasure.   In a world of electronic and cyber-bombardment whose ... More » »

Reading about Life on Mars; the catalogue to the 55th Carnegie International

Catalogues to biennials, triennials and other round-ups of contemporary art are fairly standard in format: glossy and large, with the emphasis on the pictures. I can see a group of them on the bookshelf opposite (below), stacked on their side because they can’t stand on a shelf less than 11 or 12 inches high. The catalogue to the current Carnegie International, Life on Mars , is something else

Whitney Biennial News Blast

Nari Ward’s Glory — church of the dead soldier [NOTE: This post has been changed. We added a few more pictures.] Here’s our first cut at this year’s Whitney Biennial, an anti-war show if ever there was one. Our first reaction was, ooh, we know a lot of these people. We made a list for you, and we’ll give it to you in another post. And by the way, both Libby’s and Roberta’s flickr sites have extensive photo documentation. Click each name to see the photos. Dan Colen’s papier mache boulder/bombs footed by the carved wood phrase EAT SHIT AND ... More » »