Arto Lindsay "untitled" (colored filters) 2013. Image courtesy South China Morning Post

They say Hong Kong is a cultural desert, a city that only welcomes commercial high-brow art. Though I don’t completely disagree, that cliche is slowly  disappearing and for a performance curator coming from New York’s vibrant art scene, it is exciting to break through new grounds. I wouldn’t have missed the chance to create a massive public art project– an Art Basel commission, for the launch of its inaugural edition in Hong Kong. When I was asked to produce such an event, it seemed just a perfect fit, perhaps even a dream project, as I’ve been an admirer of the progressiveness of its cultural programming (think Basel Miami’s Oceanfront Nights and Art Parcours), and an excuse for me to work with many talented artists and performers all at once.

Cedric Maridet at Art Basel Hong Kong

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Screen shots from last week’s tweets for Doug Barrett’s “INSTITUTION/AUDIENCE/4′33″/TWITTER MIRROR”

Entire feed HERE

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10 Chancery Lane Gallery

The 2011 Hong Kong Art Fair in its 4th year, is the biggest fair to date, and has been extremely well received on many sides. Compared to the previous year, the 2011 fair has a tighter selection of galleries (I’ve been told the quality of art went up as well), better organization of events and a spacious layout of fair grounds, with superb marketing and service. On day one of the fair, while trying to tackle the jet lag many gallerists from New York seemed somewhat nervous, but by the final day many have completely mellowed out and happy with their results. Many say they look forward to returning next year, especially being speculative about the merge with Art Basel. The fair is separated by the main section of galleries, emerging galleries in Art Futures, and a focus on Asian artists in Asia One. Red art is speckled here and there, and so is the talk of Ai Weiwei. Organizers and galleries have been giving out “Where is Ai Weiwei” tees and buttons, although so far I haven’t seen anyone wear them in China.  Leaving the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong, and arriving in an artist village hideout in Shenzhen, China, I’m finally able to reflect a little on the events.  Enjoy the photos. Continue Reading More »

E3-HS9, 2011

Tree Drawings, Nightwalks, Insect Flight Paths, Restorative Device, For the Baron, Postal Works, and his latest Recorded Delivery.  Those are the work titles of UK based artist Tim Knowles. You can pick up on the artist’s sensibility simply from those titles – simplified to bare bones – no more, no less. When I first experienced one of Knowles’ Nightwalks photographs at Bitforms Gallery, I was indeed speechless. One could easily muse at Knowles’ Nightwalks images and be inspired to write. Understanding the process behind this creation though, shows us a slightly different story. The artist uses all the natural elements as his materials, which forms a spontaneous and performative act. No, this has nothing to do with performance art, more like behavioral studies. Looking at Knowles’ body of work all together leaves me at this comfortable space that is somewhat ambiguous yet extremely familiar. Who would have the guts (or time) to wire-tap the inside of a package with audio/visual recording devices and send it off on a 902 mile journey?  I wouldn’t. It must’ve also required a period of trial-and-error before the package is ready to set off. The result, “an artwork which captures the topsy-turvy world of a parcel in the post.”  Recorded Delivery, created with permission from the Royal Mail, is currently on view at the Bitforms Gallery, NYC, until the 27th of May. Continue Reading More »

(images courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art)

You probably already know about the relocation of the Whitney Museum to the Meatpacking in Chelsea. It’s a massive project that has been keeping the staff at the Whitney pretty busy for the past year. The new building is designed by the renowned Renzo Piano (the Centre Georges Pompidou is one of my favorite buildings).  Without doubt, the building will become an art piece in itself, situated at the foot of the Highline with Frank Gehry’s IAC building and The Standard Hotel looming above and behind. This new and very contemporary space will be an amazing backdrop to cutting-edge and dynamic works, that is able to use both indoor and outdoor mutli-layered spaces.  Although the new location officially opens in the Fall, this Saturday May 21st, the Whitney will be hosting a one-day fiesta to shake things up. Complete schedule of events below.

“The new building will include more than 50,000 square feet of indoor galleries and 13,000 square feet of rooftop exhibition space, providing long-awaited opportunities to show more of the Whitney’s unsurpassed collection of 20th- and 21st-century American art in tandem with cutting-edge temporary exhibitions.” Continue Reading More »

Brendan Fowler

Alex Prager

Eleanor Cayre
, Benjamin Godsill & 
Joel Mesler
Invite you to:
May 15th – June 10th
Wednesday – Saturday, 2PM – 6PM

Greater LA is the first ever survey to take place in New York of art being made in Los Angeles right now, and its massive – but sometimes under-acknowledged – impact on the global stage.  Filling a large industrial loft space in the heart of SoHo, Greater LA gathers the work of over 50 Los Angeles based artists who are setting the agenda for conversations about contemporary cultural production around the world.  Far from being a comprehensive view, Greater LA aims to be a selection of work as varied and idiosyncratic as the landscape from which it emerges.   Greater LA makes an argument for the vitality and urgency of art made in and influenced by the largest city on the Western coast of North America.

Organized by Eleanor Cayre, Benjamin Godsill, and Joel Mesler (a collector, a curator, and a gallerist respectively), Greater LA is the first large-scale exhibition highlighting art being made in Los Angeles right now as a subject worthy of examination.  While many of the artists included have exhibited in gallery and museum settings in New York, they’ve never been contextualized as a group that shares, however subtly, an identity based upon their geography.  Greater LA aims to be this contextualization, giving physical form to the oft-heard suggestion that the work made today in Los Angeles is some of the best in the World.  Works include sculpture, painting, photography, drawing, installation, video and performance; none seen previously and many newly conceived for this exhibition.

483 Broadway – 2nd Floor – NYC
www.greater-la.com

See the list of artists HERE

Judith Scott, Untitled, 2004. Courtesy of Creative Growth Art Center, Oakland

Create, an exhibition that highlights the extraordinary contributions of three of the leading centers for artists with disabilities in the United States: San Francisco’s Creativity Explored, Oakland’s Creative Growth Art Center, and Richmond’s National Institute of Art and Disabilities (NIAD Art Center). Curated by BAM/PFA Director Lawrence Rinder, with Matthew Higgs, director of White Columns, New York, the exhibition features over 135 works by twenty artists who have created artworks at these centers over the past twenty-five years. On view from May 11 through September 25, 2011, the exhibition features works by noted artists Judith Scott, William Scott, Willie Harris, James Miles, John Patrick McKenzie, Evelyn Reyes, Aurie Ramirez, and Dan Miller, among others. Continue Reading More »