Ocula Conversation Jess Johnson: Worlds Within Worlds Geometric patterns, anthropomorphic characters, architectural spatial environments, and relics of the ancient world appear throughout Jess Johnson's artworks.Johnson's solo art-ventures began in drawing, but her long-term collaborative relationship with animator Simon Ward brings her drawings to life in videos and virtual reality. The animator has...
Ocula Conversation Melati Suryodarmo: Performance Art as Trigger In 2012, Melati Suryodarmo opened Studio Plesungan in her native Surakarta, also known as Solo, the historic royal capital of the Mataram Empire of Java in Indonesia. Suryodarmo had returned to Indonesia from Germany, where she studied Butoh and choreography with Butoh dancer and choreographer Anzu Furukawa, time-based media with avantgarde...
Ocula Report Lagos Biennial 2019: Stories from Africa’s most Populous City 15 Nov 2019 : Jareh Das for Ocula Under the direction of Folakunle Oshun, the second edition of the Lagos Biennial (26 October–23 November 2019) includes works by over 40 Lagos-based and international artists, architects, and collectives. Curated by architect Tosin Oshinowo, curator and producer Oyindamola Fakeye, and assistant curator of photography at the Art Institute of...
Ocula Insight | Video Hans Hartung and Art Informel at Mazzoleni London (1 October 2019-18 January 2020) presents key works by the French-German painter while highlighting his connection with artists active in Paris during the 50s and 60s. In this video, writer and historian Alan Montgomery discusses Hartung's practice and its legacy.Born in Leipzig in 1904, Hans...
Sadie Coles HQ is a contemporary art gallery in London which presents work by established and emerging artists. The gallery opened in the West End in 1997. The inaugural exhibition – new paintings by American artist John Currin – was presented in parallel to an exhibition by British artist Sarah Lucas, The Law, in a temporary location on St John Street. This pairing established the international dimension of the gallery's programme, which continues to this day. Sadie Coles HQ currently represents forty-eight artists from around the world.
Sadie Coles HQ has operated from a variety of spaces since its foundation, while staging off-site projects in various locations in London and abroad. In 2015, the gallery opened a new permanent space at 1 Davies Street, designed by 6a Architects, with an exhibition by Rudolf Stingel. This accompanies a larger space at 62 Kingly Street which opened in in September 2013. Exhibitions are presented at both sites throughout the year.
Sadie Coles HQ currently participates in up to seven international art fairs each year; and in recent years, the gallery has enjoyed a growing profile in Asia, participating in fairs including Art Basel Hong Kong, Westbund Shanghai and ART021 Shanghai. In 2017, Sadie Coles HQ presented an exhibition of contemporary art from China, Zhongguo 2185, featuring several artists not previously seen in the UK. In the past five years, Sadie Coles HQ has begun representing a significant number of new artists including Michele Abeles, Uri Aran, Darren Bader, Shannon Ebner, Kati Heck, Helen Marten, Borna Sammak, Ryan Sullivan, Martine Syms, and Jordan Wolfson. This is in addition the continued representation of artists including Sarah Lucas, John Currin, Elizabeth Peyton, Urs Fischer, Carl Andre, Rudolf Stingel, and the Estate of Angus Fairhurst.
Ocula Photolog West Bund Art & Design 2019 11 November 2019 'The fair provides a platform for international exhibitors to showcase the finest quality of modern and contemporary art in Shanghai. With exhibitions and art events offered by museums and galleries in the city, West Bund has made November's Shanghai a permanent fixture on the global art calendar.' –West Bund Art & Design, Shanghai (7–10...
Ocula Photolog FIAC, Paris 2019 17 October 2019 'FIAC brings together 197 galleries from 29 countries. Coming together from all over the world, the diversity of FIAC's exhibitors and their loyalty year after year reflects the magnetic attraction of Paris in theinternational creative community.' – FIAC Paris, Press Release.
Ocula Photolog Frieze London 2019 3 October 2019 'Frieze London brings together more than 160 galleries from 36 countries, representing the fair's most international edition since its launch. Introducing new curators and sections showcasing performance, emerging artists and the contemporary significance of complex art genealogies and colonial legacies, Frieze London creates an exceptional moment...
Ocula Photolog Art Basel 2019 13 June 2019 'The show's main sector comprises 232 of the world's leading galleries, showing painting, sculpture, drawing, installation, photography, video and editioned works of the highest quality. Art Basel's unique platform for projects that transcend the limitations of a traditional art-fair stand, is curated for the eighth and final year by Gianni Jetzer,...
Related Press A Sculpture/Chair That Asks "Who Is Going to Grab My Booty?" Garage : 13 November 2019 The chair sculptures are comprised of a steel frame that has been painted black with the seat and back upholstered with woven, text-adorned polyester straps. The writing on the chairs ranges from 'WHO IS GOING TO GRAB MY BOOTY?' to 'ACID WEED XANAX MUSHROOMS MDMA COKE K' and 'STOP PROTECTING YOURSELF.'
Related Press Review: Redoubt Beautifully Stares at the Boundary Between Nature and Myth Slant Magazine : 12 November 2019 Matthew Barney's Redoubt is attuned to the grandiose and the spectacular. With its sweeping aerial shots of vast landscapes, homages to mythic narrative, and use of broad archetypes in place of three-dimensional characters, the film suggests something George Lucas might produce if he ever got tired of having the script explain his films' conceits...
Related Press ‘Redoubt’ Review: Diana the Huntress Manifests in Idaho The New York Times : 12 November 2019 But the beauty of the imagery, and the specificity of what we are shown–the precision with which Diana measures her gunpowder, the care with which Engraver sets up a tripod and easel in the snow, the quiet joy with which Electroplater mixes the chemicals of the baths into which she submerges etched plates–build an emotional power that's unusual in...
Related Press ALEX DA CORTE AND CHARLIE FOX ARE INTO THE MONSTER NEXT DOOR Interview Magazine : 12 November 2019 'Yeah, like the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, the original version and the Disney version. He’s hot. You know it and she knows it too. And the tragedy of that film is when he reverts back to being just a white, blonde dude. It’s a thing of huge sorrow to me still. When I was a child and I would watch it, I would be very distressed by that ending....
Related Video & Audio Sarah Lucas in conversation with Don Brown, film by Julian Simmons: UK at the Venice Biennale Film by Julian Simmons : 12 May 2015 Sadie Coles HQ is delighted to announce the release of a new film — specially commissioned by the British Council - marking Sarah Lucas's representation of Britain at the 2015 Venice Biennale. Shot and produced by Julian Simmons, the thirteen-minute documentary will be broadcast by The Guardian from Wednesday 6th May, to coincide with the...
