Robert Hughes called Rauschenberg a “protean genius” and a London show supports his judgement. An avid experimenter across painting, collage, sculpture, printing, choreography and more, Rauschenberg blazed a trail from ultra-serious expressionism to what would become Pop. An “exhilarating ride” gasps this reviewer. An excellent background video (9 min) is here.
Helen Marten is having a year to remember. She was included in last year’s Venice Biennale. Then, a few months ago, she won the Hepworth Prize for sculpture. Now she has scooped the Turner. “Her sculptures seem to recreate the swirling confusion and messy abundance of contemporary life” observes the writer. A short video of Marten talking about her work is here and images here.
Following Art Basel Miami dealers are finding new ways to say “softer market”. Anxieties about Brexit and Trump made it, according to one critic, “more sedate than the running-of-the-bulls ambience of recent years.” Another commented recently: “[I]f a gentleman is wearing a sharp Saville Row suit, but he hasn’t showered in two months … it looks good but sort of smells funny”.
Booming museum attendances are due partly to a greater focus on the visitor experience. This didn’t use to be such a priority. “The museum of the past … was content to care for the … pleasure and delight of its permanent collection”. Might their focus on box office lead museums to neglect their custodial role of cultural objects? “Our times [need] a real, unmediated engagement with the objects of the past “.
A nostalgia piece for baby boomers. Cecil Beaton was often called a society photographer, but that term underrates his substantial talent as a portraitist. Performance was Mick Jagger’s first movie role and Beaton was invited to photograph the film production. The film was shot in a London flat. Beaton’s images reflect quintessential 1960’s culture, complete with one of its greatest celebrities. A Sotheby’s promo video is here.
When you see a guard in a sentry box, do you see the person or a “soldier”? That encapsulates the question that fascinates Gavin Turk, “the point at which a thing becomes something else”. Ironically, this mid-career survey is being held in the gallery of Damien Hirst, about whom it could be asked – is he an artist or an icon of an artist? Turk provides a helpful explanation of his work in this interview.
Kandinsky had some big ideas. One was that there was a systematic language of colour. He pioneered abstract painting and was among the first to remove all recognizable objects from his work. He was also an ardent spiritualist – hence his interest in art that could express elevated emotional states. He died in 1944 confident that, despite Nazism and two wars, a spiritual Millennium was just around the corner.
Rist started off making video backdrops for local bands in Vienna. Decades later she has an international reputation in video art and multimedia installations. Some critics struggle to adapt their usual critical vocabulary to video. For the above writer, whose stomping ground is 20th century music, it’s easy. As for Risi, there is no issue: “[V]ideo has a very painterly quality”. Samples of her work are here.
Richard Diebenkorn was a painter deeply conscious of his debt to tradition. No debt was greater than the one he owed Matisse who showed how colour could be used. As one critic noted “[Matisse] clashed his colours together like cymbals and the effect was like a lullaby”. Or, as Diebenkorn himself commented “It’s the restraint coupled with the sensuousness that’s so utterly exceptional.” More images are here.
In the iconic 1950 Life photo of the abstract expressionists, one of that select group was Richard Pousette-Dart. He shared their views about art but, unusual for that group, preferred the quiet life. From early on, he produced diverse thoughtful works, reflecting a seemingly untroubled inner self. This output had a common element – “complex light infused compositions” – but, to his commercial detriment, no signature style.
The acclaimed MONA, built by a mathematician / gambler / collector who knows “almost nothing about art”, continues on its unconventional way. In its latest exhibition four famous non-art world experts have each curated collections of works to explain why humans make art. Personally, Walsh rejects the view that art is a cultural phenomenon. His preferred explanation – “art is merely another method of sexual selection”.
After a decade of civil conflict, Mexico’s newly elected government wanted local artists to create art that would unite the nation. The resultant movement was much broader than its star couple, Rivera and Kahlo. Mexico became, for a period, “the real crucible of Modernism” and a global focal point outside of war-shattered Europe. More images are here and short video (1.5 min) here.
A reviewer vents his pessimism about the future of artistic criticism. Few institutions can afford to pay critics a steady income. And a more fragmented society means fewer big targets. But as the traditional channels of criticism shrink does this necessarily mean there is no interest in criticism? Perhaps the critic model needs updating – no longer the all-knowing seer, more the sherpa who spots what many others miss?
Given that the Tate is in a former power station it may not surprise that London’s Design Museum has been making do in a former banana warehouse. Now has a new “upscale” home. Most reviews (some less than rapturous) focus on the building’s merits. Not all are pleased that it incorporates a “high-end residential” development. And as for design objects … some classics are here.