art blog since 2009
You cannot see them, but you believe them to be there. Sewn into the lining of this greatcoat are hundreds of coins. They give it both physical and metaphorical weight. But were it not art, the monetary value would still not amount to much. Gallery notes reveal the coinage to be nickels and dimes. Not …
November 26, 2012
Few sights can be as alienating as a group of healthy grown adults spassing out in imitation of the most retarded members of our wider society. Such scenes are the enduring images of a 1999 film by Lars Von Trier called The Idiots. The Danish director’s community of spass-ers act out one mentally backwards flashmob …
November 21, 2012
One major presidential election later . . . this blog brings you a largely indifferent set of links: Obama’s uxoriousness may not be just what the world needs now. But this photo did the rounds and Phaidon has the story behind it. Seriously, it’s a relief. Meanwhile in British politics, cash strapped councils are selling …
November 12, 2012
Is it fair to say that a monarchist in Britain has an easier life? Certainly, they have a less paranoid one. They have got behind the head of church and state and can accept all that is bidden. It is, strangely, as easy for a contemporary artist. Your collectors are rich. The Queen is rich. …
November 8, 2012
Just as Joseph Beuys once declared his reciprocal love for America, in this film you will see a Haitian artist state: “I like vodou and vodou likes me.†He goes so far as to add, “Everyone likes vodou.†But whatever ghetto sculptor Guyodo might think or say, not everyone does like vodou. Not unless you …
October 30, 2012
Unless you live in Ilfracombe, it’s been a relatively quiet week. Anyhow, here are the links: The Independent predicts that over time the Great British Public may grow to love Verity by Damien Hirst. But The Telegraph gives the former YBA a kicking over animal rights. Butterflies are people too. Art Info reports on a …
October 22, 2012
There’s a rug shop in Brighton called GAFF (Great Art For Floors). This might raise a few eyebrows and concerns for art’s proper place in the world. But then there’s this piece Mona Hatoum. Perhaps great art does belong on the floor. Quality rugs, such as this one, demand a measure of true respect. They …
October 17, 2012
We begin and end with Frieze, which seems only Fair (ahem). The other stories are good too: Chloe Nelkin was on a pleasingly alliterative gallery binge last week. Take a deep breath and enjoy her Frieze Frenzy. The Independent may be pushing it to call the Wiltshire monument an art gallery. But the findings of …
October 15, 2012
Back from another short break with another flimsy excuse; please forgive these links for their occasional sporadicity: Story of the fortnight goes to the attention-starved goon who defaced a Rothko painting. Lets hope this is the first and the last we hear of Yellowism. Speaking of philistines, read all about minister Michael Gove’s architecture policy. …
October 8, 2012
To some degree this is art for the feet. Serra’s eight sculptures invite you to walk them in sequence. In fact they demand it. How else will you get to see them? Thus it takes half an hour to simply cover the ground of this semi-permanent show in the Arcelor-Mittal Gallery here at the Guggenheim …
September 22, 2012