Rather than scrolling through a million images at a dizzying rate, the sculpture itself asks us to pause for a moment in quiet contemplation. Its textured surface, which appears almost frayed, echoes the delicate edges of each photographic print. Together, these lines create a dynamic rhythm that relates to much the artist's other works, in which...
METZ, France; BASEL, Switzerland — The Centre Pompidou-Metz and Museum Tinguely have joined together to present a remarkably diverse and prolific two-part exhibition devoted to the German artist Rebecca Horn. Horn's stimulating body of work, begun in the late 1960s, consists of conceptually based, process-oriented, prosthetic performances...
Last month, a new sake bar opened at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts: a softly lit tunnel of booze that promises the kind of entrancing conversation one can never quite remember the next morning. A permanent installation designed by the artist Rirkrit Tiravanija, untitled 2019 (the form of the flower is unknown to the seed) is furnished...
When Rebecca Horn was in art school, she used fiberglass and polyester as sculptural materials. They soon damaged her lungs, forcing her to spend a year in a sanitarium. The months of isolation led to a reappraisal of her sculptural medium. After she was released, she started sculpting own body.
Vielleicht ist Kunst der Dampf, der entweicht, wenn sich der Alltag aus der Wirklichkeit zurückzieht. Oder eher die Schlacke, die liegen bleibt, wenn der Dunst sich verzogen hat? Für Stephen Willats wäre das keine Frage: Schlacke, klar. Aber Kunst? Davon würde Willats lieber nicht reden. Ein Künstler wollte der 75-jährige Brite eigentlich nie...
CAPE TOWN — Late last year, the artist Alfredo Jaar displayed a series of photographs and piercing neon works addressing the shared trauma and healing of Robben Island's political prisoners, including Nelson Mandela, after Apartheid. It was in the midst of this exhibition, titled Men Who Cannot Cry, at Goodman Gallery in Cape Town, that I...
Bare-chested and swinging high on a suspended platform in the vast interior space of a derelict steel-trussed warehouse on a New York pier, Gordon Matta-Clark, acetylene torch in hand, cut into the walls, the floors and the roof, letting the light in. Along with the sparks raining from his torch, the light cascaded from the sky through the...
The billboards going up around the country this week will have a familiar message for this midterm election: Vote. But featuring images of protests and reminders of the 2016 election, produced by some of the country's best-known artists, the billboards—one for each of the 50 states—will look nothing like your average political...
Art is more often a conversation than a monologue. Great and not-so-great artists have always wanted to surround themselves with paintings and objects that can speak to their own creative efforts. The most famous example of this desire perhaps is Henri Matisse, who as a young and struggling painter bought a small canvas by Paul Cézanne, Three...
Many of the art spaces in early '90s Berlin were located in vacant, abandoned, often ruined buildings that artists had taken over. Artists were running studio collectives and co-ops, outfitting surprising storefronts, and creating nightclubs and music programs. One very influential artist for me was Daniel Pflumm, who was organizing the...
In the film 'Day's End,' the artist Gordon Matta-Clark rides a whale-size piece of corrugated metal as it is hoisted away from the wall from which he just cut it. He's a young man, age thirty-two. The feat was filmed in the summer of 1975, in Chelsea's abandoned Pier 52 building, where Matta-Clark attempted to make an 'indoor park.' His...
When Gordon Matta-Clark returned to his hometown of New York City in 1969, armed with a degree in architecture from Cornell University, he was already skeptical of the profession for which he had trained. His suspicions were confirmed by what he found upon arrival. Plans for "urban renewal" were prioritizing the construction of...
Gordon Matta-Clark was the James Dean of postwar American art. Like Dean, he was a charismatic rebel who upended conventional notions about his craft, inspired countless younger artists, died at an early age, and left cult-like legions of fans who mourn his loss to this day. Matta-Clark's audacious hybridization and redefinition of three...
The terms "climate event" and "extreme weather" have only recently entered common usage, yet the meteorological occurrences they refer to are as old as our planet's atmosphere. The rising frequency and intensity of these discrete climate events is due to the gradual, yet still alarming, climate change.
Alfredo Jaar does not describe himself as an artist, nor as a sculptor or filmmaker. Nonetheless, the Chilean has produced artworks, installations, films and photographs that focus on politics and human rights for over three decades. 'I am an architect who makes art,' he explains. 'I studied architecture; I never received formal training in art. I...
Lisbon is building a very strong case for getting on the list of global contemporary art hubs. After a deep economic recession, Portugal is finally emerging from the doldrums; the coastal country is not only opening up towards southern Europe, but is also reaching out again across the globe. Investors from Western Europe and new businesses are...
Richard Deacon's first outdoor sculpture show, which opens this weekend in Antwerp, is long overdue. It's been 30 years since the artist, one of the leading British sculptors of his generation, won the Turner Prize. But the circumstances of this show are somewhat novel, since it has its origins in a bold admission of failure.
Richard Deacon's first outdoor sculpture show, which opens this weekend in Antwerp, is long overdue. It's been 30 years since the artist, one of the leading British sculptors of his generation, won the Turner Prize. But the circumstances of this show are somewhat novel, since it has its origins in a bold admission of failure. In 1993 the...
The life and work of Robert Mapplethorpe (1946-1989), one of the most influential artists and photographers of the 20th century, will be examined by Kunsthal Rotterdam this summer. Opening more than two decades after his death, the show focuses on key works that remain controversial and test the limits of what is artistically possible. a...
Residing right across Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the UAE capital’s most prominent landmark, Wahat Al Karama pays tribute to those who gave their lives in support of their country’s sovereignty, dignity and freedom. Following a competition held in early 2016, British-born Idris Khan was selected as the chosen designer of both the Memorial and the...
Which artist won the world’s largest, most prestigious and probably most valuable commission this year, taking it from concept to finish in nine months? The answer is Idris Khan: 38, British, of Pakistani and Welsh parents. His commission is a vast memorial to the war dead of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), inaugurated by the Crown Prince of...
There are photographs that strike me as insurmountable. An image of presumable lovers, falling hand in hand from the World Trade Center as it burned. The image of a Vietnamese girl, screaming from the burning effects of napalm. The pain these photographs elicit is debilitating and the experience of seeing them is voyeuristic, not productive. The...
An immersive, site-specific exhibition titled Human Condition is currently taking up residency at a former hospital in West Adams, Los Angeles – once known as Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center. Opening in 1971, it was the first Black-owned hospital in the California city, running until the neighbourhood’s decline and revelations...
On Monday, the organizers of the Çanakkale Biennial canceled the exhibition’s fifth edition, which was due to open on September 24. In an official announcement, the Çanakkale Biennial Initiative intimated that the decision was informed by the current regime of repression in Turkey following the attempted military coup against President Tayyip...
