PRESS ESC TO EXIT FULL SCREEN MODE, 2011

I’m trying to describe the feeling I had when I first met Santiago Taccetti and saw his artwork. As he scrolled through his website showing me piece after piece I became excited about what he was doing in his art practice. Images of installations, paintings, video and prints all emphasized a similar consideration and viewpoint toward our relationship with technology and the pervasive aesthetic that has emerged. What’s incredible is that Taccetti translates this across artistic disciplines, which to me means you are onto something. His work floats on the white page of a website with the same ease that he builds a sculpture or paints. This delicate sensitivity towards contemporary aesthetics is something we are all becoming more attuned to through the web. To make a comparison I have a historical anecdote. As a kid watching way too much television I became a super critic of TV and movies. The editing, lighting, sound and costumes all spoke to me. I understood this medium naturally and could differentiate between incredibly subtle details and differences. The web is developing a similar critical and aesthetic awareness and Taccetti’s artwork translates this like a mother tongue. His work represents a certain perfection that is more than real–it is actually unreal. It is the aesthetic of the machine. And strangely after viewing his work I began to perceive the city differently. I started to see the digital aesthetic everywhere, permeating the real world. Continue Reading More »

photo: KW Institute for Contemporary Art

(Berlin) The exhibition series KW69—situated in the front building KW Institute for Contemporary Art—provides a space for dialogue for artists, a kind of experimental stage that for one year will be the home to a number of artistic projects in quick succession. Moving on from one project to the next, the participants will shift roles, as the artists exhibiting then invite the next project. This dynamic interplay will enable unconventional points of reference, continuous shifts in perspective, and uses of the exhibition space that refer to and build on one another.

KW69 #2
cactus craze by Jean-Michel Wicker in collaboration with Gregorio Magnani
12.09,2010 – 01.09,2011

Artist: Judith Hopf
With works by: Emanuel Rossetti, Simon Popper, Sara MacKillop, Janice Kerbel, Karl Holmqvist / Ei Arakawa

Garrick Gott

Photo: Jost Sarwoko

It has been quite a catch-me-if-you-can exchange between me and Robert Knoke. When I met Robert during the Scope Art Fair this past February at Lincoln Center he was standing in the center of a dimmed exhibition space surrounded by life-sized black ink paintings. Dressed in complete black, Robert looked as if he belonged in one of his paintings. Though the raw lines and strokes of his work are awe inspiring, Robert made an impression on me for a different reason. Standing faithfully beside his art during the fair the artist chatted passionately about it to any passerby who caught his eye. At first Robert’s childlike enthusiasm didn’t seem to match his somewhat menacing portraits. His distinct choice of subject and the  impact of a single traditional medium used with tireless effect, earned him recognition from both the art and fashion world.  Trotting between Berlin and New York, I briefly caught up with Robert while he was in town for the release of his latest book project “Black Material.” Continue Reading More »

Hermann Pitz at Galerie Thomas Schulte (installation view)

Team Gallery (installation view)

As Frieze is taking shape in London and Art Basel in Miami is right around the corner, Berlin’s Art Forum just opened yesterday and runs until October 10th. In it’s 15th edition, the Fair is held in the grand Palais am Funkturm, with beautiful ballroom interiors, a charming setting to experience art sans the “market” craze. With local and international participants there is also an interesting program of art talks including: Current Trends in Museums:  Susannne Gaensheimer (Director MMK Frankfurt am Main), Joanna Mytkowska (Director Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw), Bartomeu Marí (Director MACBA, Barcelona), Matthias Mühling (Head of Collections Art after 1945, Lenbachhaus, Munich).  Public/Private Collectors’ Panel: Erika Hoffmann (collector, Berlin), Harald Falckenberg (collector, Hamburg).

Greg Bogin, Accumulation of Meaningless Moments, 2010. Leo Koenig (NY)

The participating galleries this year is more enthusiastic than before and maybe because they’ve gone through a pendulum swing in the art market, the range of contemporary works that is being shown is both exciting and freshly dynamic. Here are some of the gallery highlights from Berlin and New York. Lots of images below, so it might take a minute to load. Continue Reading More »

Following Kathrin Rhomberg, who was the curator for the 6th Berlin Biennale, KW Institute for Contemporary Art just announced the news that Artur Żmijewski will be curator for the upcoming 7th Biennale. Looking forward to 2012. Previous curators include: Klaus Biesenbach with Nancy Spector and Hans Ulrich Obrist (1st Berlin Biennale), Saskia Bos (2nd Berlin Biennale), Ute Meta Bauer (3rd Berlin Biennale), Maurizio Cattelan, Massimiliano Gioni, and Ali Subotnick (4th Berlin Biennale), Adam Szymczyk and Elena Filipovic (5th Berlin Biennale), and Kathrin Rhomberg (6th Berlin Biennale).

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Photo: Hans Schabus Klub Europa, 2010

Marlene Haring, Marlene Haarig oder In meiner Badewanne bin Ich Kapitän! (Marlene Hairy or In My Bathtub I am the Captain), 2005
Kriech- und Badeperformance / crawling and bathing performance  (Courtesy the artist)