unsexy thoughts

"It always was about sex, not money," she said. "Sex was what held me in bed and got me out of it again in the morning. But now it's fading fast. I don't have the same craziness about sex that I had – I'm more interested in ideas." Tracy Emin///Sex craze fading fast, says Tracey Emin at London exhibition launch: guardian.co.uk

looking to define the current movement?

pics:artnet

Altermodern – Tate Triennial 2009
curated by Nicolas Bourriaud
@ Tate Britain
4 February – 26 April 2009

PR:
"...Many signs suggest that the historical period defined by postmodernism is coming to an end: multiculturalism and the discourse of identity is being overtaken by a planetary movement of creolisation; cultural relativism and deconstruction, substituted for modernist universalism, give us no weapons against the twofold threat of uniformity and mass culture and traditionalist, far-right, withdrawal.
The times seem propitious for the recomposition of a modernity in the present, reconfigured according to the specific context within which we live – crucially in the age of globalisation – understood in its economic, political and cultural aspects: an altermodernity.
If twentieth-century modernism was above all a western cultural phenomenon, altermodernity arises out of planetary negotiations, discussions between agents from different cultures. Stripped of a centre, it can only be polyglot. Altermodernity is characterised by translation, unlike the modernism of the twentieth century which spoke the abstract language of the colonial west, and postmodernism, which encloses artistic phenomena in origins and identities...The Tate Triennial 2009 presents itself as a collective discussion around this hypothesis of the end of postmodernism, and the emergence of a global altermodernity." Nicolas Bourriaud

go getcha lean on with George Young

GEORGE YOUNG

21 March, 7-9pm in LA, Crisp London Los Angeles presents the UK/US solo debut of London based artist, GEORGE YOUNG.

artist of 10:54 AM: George Henry Longly

Reticent and Politic
2008, 2 x freestanding mesh screens, spray paint

Relative Truths
2008, Laminated Venetian stripe mirror, brass fittings

one thousand millimetres x 16m
2007, 16 one metre mirror plates

George Henry Longly
Dicksmith Gallery (images)
Unit 27b, 1-13 Adler Street, London, E1 1EG

art columns can be fun

PUT DOWNS AND SUCK UPS: MATTHEW COLLINGS' WEEKLY VENTINGS ON THE ART WORLD
Do you too have a problem staying interested in art criticism beyond Jerry? I am no feeble minded art idiot, I swing from the best of art chandeliers, but I can't even keep track of all the reviews and criticism out there that I can only bare to skim through. I get it - you saw the show, just take a picture next time. Spare us your dribbly description. So that in mind, I came across this column on Saatchi's site and read all of ah...wat do you call 'em...words.

His words on Mark Leckey (recent Turner Prize winner):

"...He seems like an idiot but partly endearing, a common personality type at the Turner Prize. There are some other objects as well, including posters and a 3-D mock up of an interior, plus a feebly enigmatic staging of a fantasy featuring Jeff Koons's rabbit sculpture, which all seem to suggest great fizzy enquiries into profound matters of modern consciousness, while simultaneously suggesting the elegant but empty products of a spoiled nit."

His thoughts on Cathy Wilkes (also on the list):

"...The whole thing looks like a cliché of 1970s art school plodding attempts at significance...The installation reminds you that the Turner Prize is always pretty ridiculous. As a society we accept the nonsense as part of cultural fun, an event on the cultural calendar, not to be taken seriously. This installation is no more idiotic than what you see every year. There's usually one or two like it..."

source: PUT DOWNS AND SUCK UPS: MATTHEW COLLINGS' WEEKLY VENTINGS ON THE ART WORLD /// No 3: The Turner Prize 2008

tate britain's green tree

Make Your Own Xmas source and more info HERE

"...This year's creation by Bob & Roberta Smith has an ecological and recycling theme. Called "Make Your Own Xmas", it's big, ramshackle wooden structure made of recycled materials, including sandwich boards, tape, signs and an oil drum. Eight bicycles of various sizes have been fixed to stands around the "trunk" (bottom), each holding a generator that is connected to a set of light bulbs that decorate the tree. When happy children and chuckling adults hop on the bikes and pedal hard, the lights go on..."

tate britain

Get the women back in the kitchen, Mark Leckey wins the prize

Of course, the guy has to win it ("it" being the Turner Prize)...

In Leckey’s case, he admits that he’d like to have more exposure in Britain (he shows a lot in mainland Europe, but rarely in the UK), but he’s not interested in commercial gallery or museum exhibitions. ‘I want a TV show’ he said last night. ‘I want to do an art variety programme… like The Two Ronnies, but with art’. ‘Wow’, was the best the astonished interviewer could manage.

Openings LA: Rachel Whiteread @ Gagosian

Gagosian Gallery LA

New Sensations in London

New Sensations was launched in 2007 by Channel 4 and The Saatchi Gallery to find the most exciting and imaginative artistic talent in the UK. The competition is open to all art students graduating from BA and MA courses at UK colleges and universities in 2008. An exhibition of 20 shortlisted artists, including four finalists chosen by the judges, took place at The Truman Brewery, Brick Lane in London from 14-19 October, and the four finalists of the competition were given a £1000 bursary to make a new work presented at the exhibition. The judges' winner will be awarded £3000 as prize money, and the winner chosen by the public will receive £1000.
Saatchi video and info here

Here are the video shorts about the four art finalists:


Camilla Wills

Mark Davey

Amy Moffat

Rob Sherwood

your own personal smoking station

The smoking booths at Frieze Art Fair by artist Norma Jeane (pic nytimes)

Review of Frieze by Roberta here

Turner Prize: who will win?

Meet the Turner Prize crew.
above top to bottom: Cathy Wilkes, Runa Islam, Goshka Macuga, Mark Leckey

I was pulling for Wilkes' collection of work - and how as a woman (sometimes hate when it is mentioned but feel that it is important in understanding the work) she stands out in contemporary sculpture (often a "man's world) and visually the work gets me thinking, but I really like Macuga's reasoning, history, and voice - "blurring the roles of artist, curator and collector". Tough call...

if they build it...

I can't believe that this is England's first Gehry?! I thought every big country was required to have one? Well, in any case, it is wonderful to see a different design and I even enjoy the structure more when I read the inspiration. Go Gehry. You still got it dude.

from Serpentine website (and you can see a video of the build-time-lapse):

The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008, which gives England the first built project by legendary architect Frank Gehry, is now open to the public. The spectacular structure – designed and engineered in collaboration with Arup – is anchored by four massive steel columns and is comprised of large timber planks and a complex network of overlapping glass planes that create a dramatic, multi-dimensional space. Gehry and his team took inspiration for this year’s Pavilion from a fascinating variety of sources including the elaborate wooden catapults designed by Leonardo da Vinci as well as the striped walls of summer beach huts...

I call the top...

what's happing now at the TATE

...and some old news at the TATE. I like that the center court becomes kindergarten!

london's opening night

Tour of Duty: Vyner Street on opening night of the new art season - By James Westcott

I guess it's time to have kids now that I can't be an artist

Totally Wack: What happened to the feminist surge? By Laura McLean-Ferris
"...A quick count of male to female shows in major to medium-sized commercial galleries in London during October reveals a ratio of 38 male to five female. That means just 11.6 per cent of galleries will have solo shows by women..." artreview.com

artist of 7:01 PM: Erica Scourti

erica scourti