Tag Archive "max-mulhern"

Studio visit with Rupert Mair

The Italian artist Rupert Mair recently exhibited at the Pixie Gallery in Paris. His show was entitled “Enjeux”. It was a showcase of the delicate and  seemingly tentative and yet it was affirmative in its silent insistence that there could be mass to nothingness. All you need is a hint. Many of the pieces assembled in the space  resembled the  parts of familiar games and yet neither the pieces nor the games they suggested became whole or playable.

Inbox activism–petition to create Secretary of the Arts

artblog contributor Max Mulhern recently wrote us: Tyler Green of Modern Art Notes has suggested that a White House arts advisory be created. His argument is that culture is a vital sector in our society that needs to have its institutions properly coordinated between themselves and the government. He also believes that art can play a role in government. I agree. Many of you have also been circulating emails about the issue. Here’s the link to an online petition begun by Quincy Jones to ask President Obama to appoint a Secretary of the Arts.

Architectural hotbed — report from the Swiss trenches

Post by Max Mulhern Leis Switzerland. This and other photos in this post by Max Mulhern The small idyllic Swiss village of Leis is expanding in the form of two new twin houses designed by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor of thermal bath fame. They are nearing completion on a steep upward slope behind the village as we go to press. I call them the twin towers so strong is their domination over the low flat houses snuggled together at their feet.  The lower of the two is called the Annalisa House in honor of Zumthor’s wife for whom the house ... More » »

Seeing and Surveillance. (From artist to artists).

Post by Max Mulhern Deborah Stratman, still from In Order Not to be Here, a video about surveillance that showed a year ago at Screening Video Gallery. (All photos by Libby, unless otherwise noted). Is the heightened state of surveillance in our world changing the way we see? I wonder because despite the exponential increase in the channels through which to diffuse art and talk about it my art seems to be increasingly invisible. Do other artists feel this way? Is there a corresponding blindness operating here as well?

Weekly Update — Pageant’s Rag and Bone men and ladies

Bon Jour from Paris!!! This week’s Weekly has my review of Rag and Bnne at Pageant Gallery. Matthew Osborn, untitled drawing at Pageant’s Rag and Bone. Rag and Bone, Pageant Gallery’s Winter Invitational, brings together 26 artists, some of them familiar names and some gallery newcomers.  The exhibition continues Pageant’s shaggy-around-the-edges aesthetic – drawings pinned to the walls; tv monitors sitting on the floor;  sculpture in the gallery’s odd nooks and crannies.  It’s a sprawling show and treasures abound. Matthew Osborn, Financial Oblivion Matthew Osborn‘s wall of cartoon drawings kept me engaged for quite a while.  “Tools are weapons and weapons ... More » »

Richard Serra’s supertankers in London

Post by Max Mulhern Richard Serra at Gagosian in London, installation detail The verb is one of the most powerful tools in a sculptor’s toolbox. Richard Serra once made a list of the verbs describing his actions when sculpting.“To Lift” was one such verb. Once he lifted the edge of a rectangular rubber mat and in one action created volume and contour (and a sculpture). To Roll, To Bend, To Curve and To Cut are other verbs that pop to mind as well although, surprisingly, To Construct doesn’t. To Pose (Juxtapose) and To Balance take its place. Richard Serra, installation ... More » »

After Rothko and Rene, bring home the Bacon

Post by Max Mulhern The 1959 signature work by Mark Rothko in a small space. Yesterday, in London, I visited the Rothko show of late works at the Tate Modern and a Coptic icon show in a gallery called Sacred Space. At first glance the Rothko show appears to be a disaster. The first room shows us a signature work from 1959. But it is hung in a tiny space so instead of walking into it we slide along it. Next we enter a vast space filled with thirteen canvases six of which were originally destined for The Four Season’s ... More » »

Searching for meaning in Westfield

Post by Max Mulhern I am not a shopper so PLEASE stop me if you have heard this one before. Early one Sunday morning I left Manhattan in a bus full of people to visit the Storm King Sculpture Garden. Although the crowd didn’t really have the art lover’s feel to it everyone was cheery, bright and animated despite the weather. Most were consulting some kind of promotional literature. Had I missed the Storm King information booth? The windows of the bus fogged up quickly and vigorous wiping only opened up greyer vistas. After over an hour of blind travel we ... More » »

No man is an island that can paddle in the Thames

A report from the Albert Bridge in which Max Mulhern, our intrepid explorer of all things watery, turns in a salty dog story about Antti Laitenen‘s recent performance, Voyage, on Nov. 1. We met Laitinen at Scope in 2007 and were smitten by his performance-based works, so when we got word of this new piece, we asked Max to go check it out. Post by Max Mulhern Antti Laitinen on his own special island in the Thames — illuminated by a nearby boat. Photo by Max Mulhern. Down by the muddy banks of the Thames, in weather only life boats ... More » »

Report from London: The Gold Standard, Kate Moss…and more

Post by Max Mulhern Marc Quinn, Siren, gold, from Statuephilia at the British Museum. Photo by Max Mulhern. Mark Quinn’s 52 kilogram solid gold statue of super model Kate Moss “Siren” went on display at the British Museum last week in an exhibition entitled « Statuephilia ». “Statuephilia” consist of one work per featured figurative artist:  Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Ron Mueck, Marc Quinn and Noble & Webster (3 of the 5 artists are represented by the White Cube Gallery in London). The works are scattered among the pieces of the permanent collection and highlight the way we sculpt ourselves ... More » »