Countdown for Venice: Han Hoogerbrugge @ the Danish Pavillion

Curated by Katerina Gregos, "Speech Matters" is the theme of the exhibition hosted by the Danish pavilion at this year's Biennale. Dealing with the complex issue of freedom of speech, the show will be featuring works of 18 international artists, whose work addresses this very timely topic - and we were very excited to hear that the "Flash God" Han Hoogerbrugge will be one of them! Congratz Han, this calls for champagne @ the Bauer Palazzo!

And now for some good ol' shameless self-promotion: for la Grande Inaugurazione Han will be wearing the 'Psychological Disorder' shirt made by... yes!... the Happy Famous Artists! Watch his collar ;-)

Went, Saw, Captured: Elmgreen & Dragset's "The One & The Many"

See images from the show

The exhibition “The One & The Many” by Elmgreen & Dragset is a site-specific project for the Submarine Wharf. The artists have transformed the enormous space into a section of an urban landscape, affording the viewer a glimpse into the lives of the fictional characters, who are the inhabitants in this universe in microcosm.
(excerpt from the press release by Museum Boijmans van Beuningen)

The exhibition is the last part of a trilogy of installations, from which the first 2 were “The Welfare Show”, dealing with the decline of the welfare state and “The Collectors”, allowing the spectator to peep into a domestic settings of wealthy collectors couple (show at last Venice Biennale). “The One & The Many” takes as its subject lives of common people (“the many”) and their role in nowadays’ society. Apart from a social commentary, the installation doesn’t lack the most important ingredients of the Scandinavian artistic duo: wit and subversive humor. These are present in numerous details, whether in the interior settings of the constructed high-rise building, the actors with assigned roles and style or objects spread around the site.

When we first entered the space through a long metal tunnel, it was completely crowded, with everyone fitting immediately into the settings as if they always belonged there. People queued to take ride on the ferris wheel, sat down on benches, hanged around the skeleton of the white limousine and chatted with the mechanics fixing it, (taking it apart?) or observed the activities from a built-in gazebo. The constructed became real for a while. Later on, when the space got empty, the atmosphere changed. All of a sudden the artificial character of the settings and the props became much more obvious, and instead of the cheerful ambiance, one felt more of an eerie sensation.

We took many pictures of both scenarios, which you can see on our Flickr. The installation is certainly worth a visit, both for its impressive visual qualities and as a final part of the conceptual trilogy, dealing with recent changes in the Western cultural climate.

Showtime: Erwin Wurm

Erwin Wurm is hot this summer in Belgium and The Netherlands! His show at the Belgian Middelheim Museum opens today and next month, the first big Wurm exhibition in the Netherlands will be on display at the GEM in The Hague. Coinciding with the two shows, both institutions teamed up with editor Hatje Cantz & Base Design and created "Wear Me Out". A book that presents Wurm’s latest work: furniture, drawings, outdoor sculptures, and—for the first time—clothing, developed in collaboration with Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck.

"The One & The Many": Elmgreen & Dragset in Rotterdam

Opening today: "The One & The Many", a total transformation of the submarine hangar from the hands of the acclaimed Scandinavian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, in the Submarine Wharf, RDM complex in Rotterdam. For further info see website of Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, who - together with the Port of Rotterdam - organizes the event.

"The One & The Many" has been rumored to be one of the greatest project of Elmgreen & Dragset till now. The exact details of the project will remain confidential until the last minute, but some of the main ingredients will be a specially designed office building, abandoned fun-fair equipment and a variety of other curious attributes.

At noon, another piece of Elmgree & Dragset opens on the Coolsingel in Rotterdam, namely the performance sculpture "It’s Never Too Late to Say Sorry".

And now if u'd excuse us, because we're on the way in our flash-fast HFA mobile to give you a first-hand report of it all!

(Might be also of interest: an interview of Elmgreen & Dragset, talking about their projects Rotterdam, Venice etc. on Artinfo)

Showtime: Charlotte Beaudry @ Wiels

"Get Drunk", a show with drawings and paintings of Charlotte Beaudry opens tomorrow in Wiels. On display till mid August.

Ron van der Ende: Wrangler (Compound of Five Octahedra)

Ron van der Ende's first abstract piece ever and from the look of it we hope that there will be more in the future.
For those not familiar with the artist and his work: Ron is a Rotterdam-based sculptor who specialized in wall-mounted bas-relief sculptures constructed from salvaged wood, nails, and glue. The original color and texture of the wood is utilized to form a gripping and realistic mosaic, further enhanced by the perspective built into the relief. The impression you get when looking at a photo of his work is that of a monumental 3-dimensional object - but the actual depth of the individual works is merely few centimeters. Seeing them for the first time in reality is something you're not likely to forget and an excellent example of the power of optical illusion.

The recurrent theme in Ron's works is industrial and space imagery: cars, planes, submarines etc, interlarded with frequent surprises (pun definitely intended).
Here are some photos taken in Ron's studio in February this year, of pieces created for his solo at The Armory Show 2011 (@ Ambach & Rice gallery).

Want to know more? Last summer Lodown Magazine published a great article about Ron. And you should definitely not miss the next issue of the Elephant mag - just saying ;-).

Showtime: Transgression @ Beers.Lambert

Beers.Lambert Contemporary Art opens next week Transgression, "an exhibition that explores art-practices that challenge and consider the representation of sexuality and gender-constructs in art and society, including those issues generated from (hetero)normative perspectives, but also issues and representations of relevance to LGBT communities, feminist perspectives, and marginalized voices." Looking at the list of artists participating in the show and reading the texts accompanying the press release, this show promises to be a very interesting journey in highly self-conscious and radical works of photography, painting and video. The auto-biographic photographs of Jakob Lena Knebl - featured in this post with the work "DISNEYFICATION" and mentioned by the curator as one of the first inspirations for this exhibition - are a good example of the quality you can expect during a visit. Transgression, on display @ Beers.Lambert Contemporary Art, June 2 - July 3.

If fonts were dogs...

... then we'd have an exquisite specimen of Eurostile bold extended! :-)
And this would be Comic Sans!
(original poster design by Grafisches Büro)

Olafur Eliasson: Your Rainbow Panorama

Olafur Eliasson's long awaited installation"Your Rainbow Panorama" is planned to open on May 28th. The permanent elevated structure will provides a 360° view of the Danish city Århus. Suspended between the city and the sky, the viewing platform will insists on the sensory engagement of those who enter it.

(via Designboom)

Showtime: Gavin Turk @ Aeroplastics

Aeroplastics in Brussels shows "Jack Shit!", a solo of Gavin Turk.
Jack shit means "worth nothing" in english slang and the entire show works on the theme of images of images, presented in a humorous packaging and referencing American culture and Warhol.

Don't miss, if only just for experiencing the ground floor of Aeroplastics wallpapered with turkey foil!
(see photos from the show on our Flickr)

A Conversation With Susan Lyon

Painting by Dreama Tolle Perry

Scheduledl Air Date: Wednesday, May 26, 2011
"A Conversation with Susan Lyon"

Join Artists Leslie Saeta and Dreama Tolle Perry as they highlight ways to sell your art on-line. Join us as we interview artist Susan Lyonl to find out what's new in the life of a very successful artist. We'll talk about how she started out as an artist, the inspiration for her paintings and how lucky she is to share a household with another successful artist!
Click here to listen to this show. 

Casey Weldon's Four Eyed Cats

And now for something completely different ;-).
We just came across these awesome series of portraits of Four Eyed Cats by Casey Weldon.
In Casey's words: I painted a series of four eyed kittens in an attempt to double the cuteness. I’m not sure it worked out so well.
Oh yessss, it did!!

Showtime: Temporary Exhibitions @ Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens

One needs to say that since last time, the interior of Dhondt-Dhaenens has changed a lot :-).
The now clean and tidy museum has 3 individual shows on dispay: two Belgian artists, Sophie Kuijken and Thomas Bogaert, and the American conceptualist Christopher Williams.

Each of the three artists uses different type of media - namely oil paint, film and photography - but they all manage to employ them to create weird, estranged effect between what you see and how you perceive it. Christopher Williams photographs commercial products in such a sharp, perfectionist and detached manner that it ignores the original utilitarian function of the objects.
Thomas Bogaert manipulates the framing, the tempo and the soundtrack of his Super-8 movies and Sophie Kuijken paints rather archaically looking realistic portraits with a subtle morphological twist.

See some photos we took of the museum and the works on our Flickr.

French residency—new link

Hey there....a couple people couldn't get to the website I just posted about the Camac residency in France. Try this one if the other doesn't work: http://www.camac.org/english/intro.htm

Cheers,
Mirabee

Showtime: Jorge Macchi & Michael Sailstorfer @ S.M.A.K.

This weekend we drove direction Gent, to visit S.M.A.K., Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens & Hoet Bekaert Gallery. In S.M.A.K., the 2 main solo shows, namely Jorge Macchi's "Music Stands Still" and Michael Sailstorfer's "Raum und Zeit" were simply amazing.

We loved the simple, minimal approach of Jorge Macchi from Argentina who manages to stir maximum of emotions with very little resources. The exhibition leads the viewer through several intuitive "atmospheres", such as music, light, shadow, openness, stillness or emptiness, with a surprise waiting in every room. Whether it was an installation (often using the most common objects), watercolor or video, each work revealed plenty of humor and poetry and it was a pure joy to experience them. See some images we took on our Flickr.

The second show by the German sculptor Michael Sailstorfer consisted of installations, photos, videos and sculptures he made during the last ten years. One of our favorites was "Zeit ist keine Autobahn" (2005-10), installation of several versions of the same piece, assembled for the first time in a single room together:
Five car tyres revolve slowly against the wall and are gradually worn down. The tyres make a quiet rubbing sound and fill the room with the smell of burnt rubber. The series can be seen as a metaphor for the ever-increasing need for our society to speed up – an acceleration that can only lead to self-destruction. (excerpt from the press release)
The title of the exhibition, "Raum und Zeit" (Time and Space), refers to two elements that shape our reality: time and space. Sailstorfer tries to influence these elements by making active use of the senses, transforming light, smell and sound into workable, plastic materials. Once again - great stuff!

Macchi stays on display till mid September, Sailstorfer closes beginning of July. If u're living in, or visiting, Belgium, you really shouldn't miss these.

(also in S.M.A.K.: "Joy and Disaster", works of eight contemporary Hungarian artists & Agua Caliente by Carlos Rodríguez-Méndez)

Nollywood by Pieter Hugo

During his travels through West Africa, Dutch photographer Pieter Hugo made a series of intriguing portraits documenting the movie industry of Nigeria. These pictures stage local movie stars from Nollywood - the term used to describe the Nigerian movie industry, representing the 2nd biggest movie industry worldwide, in terms of number of annual film productions - in scenes referring to local myths and symbols. How strange the themes and topics might seem to us, these movies are in fact the first African mass media about Africa. More work of Pieter Hugo @ Cokkie Snoei.

Money for Photographers and Emerging Writers

Okay, I've been storing a few things up. I have a lot up my sleeve...more to come soon but for now, these two are for you photographers and emerging writers out there:

(PHOTOGRAPHERS) The W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography is presented annually to a photographer whose past work and proposed project, as judged by a panel of experts, follows the tradition of W. Eugene Smith’s concerned photography and dedicated compassion exhibited during his 45-year career as a photographic essayist.

The W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund independently administers the grant program that provides photographers with the financial freedom to carry out or complete major photographic essays. For 2011, the amount of the grant will be $30,000. An additional $5,000 in fellowship money will be dispersed, at the discretion of the jury, to one or more finalists deemed worthy of special recognition. Awards will be presented in a ceremony held in New York City in early October. DEADLINE MAY 31st!

For more information visit: http://www.smithfund.org/public/apply/smith

(WRITERS) The Elizabeth George Foundation makes artistic grants to unpublished fiction writers, to poets, to emerging playwrights and to organizations benefiting disadvantaged youth. These grants cover expenses in a number of areas.

We offer financial support to unpublished and emerging writers for a period not to exceed a year; we offer scholarships for students to attend accredited MFA programs in creative writing; we support writing research; we offer funding to allow unpublished and emerging writers to attend writers’ retreats and conferences. The Foundation also makes grants to organizations offering services to disadvantaged youth in the areas of health, education, and creative writing. While the Foundation makes grants to support emerging playwrights, the Foundation does not make grants to theatrical groups seeking support for a production.

To be considered for a grant, applicants must send a package of materials to the Foundation by July 1. It must contain the following:

- A letter that fully describes the project the applicant wishes to be funded
- A recent CV that also includes the names, titles, addresses and phone numbers of at least five professional references
- A complete first chapter of the applicant’s book or a completed short story OR a selection of the applicant’s poetry or published chapbook OR a one-act play the applicant has written
- $25 application fee

Application materials must be mailed to:

The Elizabeth George Foundation
Post Office Box 1429
Langley, Washington 98260

Calling All: Visual artists, Writers and Composers and Musicians

(WOMEN WRITERS) Grants of $500 to $1,500 each are given twice yearly to feminist writers. Women poets and creative nonfiction writers who are citizens of the United States or Canada are eligible. Submit three copies of a manuscript of up to 25 pages, a project description, a budget, and a resumé with a $20 entry fee during the month of June. Send an SASE for the required entry form and complete guidelines.

Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, Individual Artist Grants for Women, P.O. Box 309, Wilton, NH 03086. Susan Pliner, Executive Director. No website available. Deadline: July 1, 2011

(WRITERS) Margolis Award & Residency—A stipend of $5,000 and a month long residency at the Blue Mountain Center, an artists colony in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, is given annually to a writer of nonfiction (including creative nonfiction with the exception of memoir) whose work recalls that of Richard J. Margolis, a journalist, essayist, and poet who wrote about those whose voices are seldom heard. Submit three copies of at least two writing samples totaling no more than 30 pages and a project description by July 1. There is no entry fee. Send an SASE or visit the Web site for complete guidelines.

Blue Mountain Center, Richard J. Margolis Award, c/o Margolis & Bloom, 535 Boylston Street, 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02116. Harry Margolis, Contact. Website:

http://www.award.margolis.com

(ALL) ART342—ART342 is now accepting artist-in-residence applications for Fall 2011 Residency dates: September 12 – December 16, On-line application: https://art342.slideroom.com/.

offers 14-week residencies to emerging and established artists, writers and composers. Studios, a kiln and basic equipment are available for most visual artists, including ceramicists. Quiet spaces exist for creative or scholarly writers. The composer’s studio is outfitted with a Steinway B, computers and software for writing and recording.

Awards for accepted applicants include 24-hour access to free studios, living space and a modest stipend. Residents are responsible for personal expenses and travel to and from the site. Situated in a semi-rural area, ART342 is just 6 miles north of Historic Old Town in Fort Collins. Up to 7 studios and 5 living spaces are maintained as private places for creative work. Pets, children, visitors and partners are strongly discouraged. $30 application fee

For more information regarding application and residency details, visit: www.art342.org Deadline is (I think) June 13 but please check the website to make sure.

(ALL) Camac and Fondation Ténot Residencies in France—Call for visual artists, writers and composers/musicians. Since 1999, Camac Art Centre with Fondation Ténot has promoted creativity and international exchange in the artist community.

Camac and Fondation Ténot offers each year a residency bursary (fellowship) to one visual artist, one writer and one musician or composer in order to create new career prospects for artists.

Camac is located 60min away from Paris in the village of Marnay sur Seine within the scenic Region of Champagne-Ardenne. This multi-disciplinary creative centre offers a unique environment for visual artist, writers or musicians. Camac aims at fostering communication and creativity among individuals and groups working on the evolution of ideas or realization of works.

Nature of the bursary:
- 2 month residency (dates to be arranged by mutual agreement between the artist and the institution)
- Return ticket, board and lodging
- Private bedroom with bathroom, individual studio.
The laureate must provide his/her own visas and health insurance.

Deadline June 20, 2011. For more information, write: jycoffre@camac.org or go to the website: http://www.camac.org

Vermont Studio Center Fellowship Applications Due June 15th!

(ALL) Vermont Studio Center Fellowships—Here are some of the great things the Vermont Studio Center is offering to artists of all kinds:

Sixteen fellowships for a 4-week residency are open to all artists and writers based on merit, as represented in the portfolio or manuscript.

Anderson/Frankel Fellowship for Chicago area/SAIC alumni. One fellowship sponsored by the Marshall Frankel Foundation and Davis Anderson, this award is open to all Chicago-area artists, including faculty and alumni of the Art Institute of Chicago, for one 4-week VSC residency.

Civil Society Institute Fellowship award for a 4-week residency open to an east coast minority artist with demonstrable financial need; preference will be given to artists from New Haven, Jersey City, and Baltimore. The $25 application fee is waived for eligible CSI applicants. Award includes a $500 travel stipend.

Cave Canem Fellowship. This annual fellowship provides one 4-week residency to a poet who is a Cave Canem fellow. Home for the many voices of African American poetry, Cave Canem is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets.

The Pollock-Krasner Foundation/VSC Fellowship Program for visual artists of outstanding talent will support two 4-week residencies for domestic artists.

Henry David Thoreau Fellowship—This fellowship supports a poet whose work is a living extension of the literary tradition embodied in the work of Henry David Thoreau, for a 4-week residency.

Zoland Translation Fellowship—Offered in conjunction with Zoland Poetry, this 4-week residency fellowship is open to translators. Applicants should submit 3 copies of the original poems/translations, along with a description of English-language rights, author bio, and translator CV.

For more info, go to: http://www.vermontstudiocenter.org/
Deadline: June 15, 2011

Countdown for Venice: Gelitin likes it hot!

From May 31 till June 5 Gelitin will present their hottest sculpture ever at the Venice Biennale in the Giardino delle Vergini at the Arsenale. Titled “Some like it hot”!, the sculpture will consist of wood fired glass melting furnace which will melt shards into a puddle of hot liquid glass. Keywords: logs, fumes, smoke, cracks, heat, energy, guitar, flirt... we'll make sure to drop by and help to keep the fire burnin'!

The Insanity of Iran

Famous & controversial art critic Benjamin Genocchio reports on the Iranian contemporary art scene in a recent article on ArtInfo. He titled his piece "The Insanity of Iran" and this seems an understatement when you read the different stories of artists and gallery owners. He pictures a deeply corrupt society - morally, socially, politically, and economically - where it is difficult, often even dangerous to live and work as an artist. Nevertheless, there is a lot of interesting art happening in Teherans public and private galleries. The image above is from Neda Razavipour's 2009 show called "Self Service" at Azad Art Gallery in Tehran. She invited gallery visitors to mutilate a Persian rug with scissors. By the end of the first day, it was totally ruined...

AleXandro Palombo: bambi is dead

In his typical sarcastic style, AleXandro Palombo - aka Humor Chic - made some fantastic illustrations inspired by the recent fur scandal of fashion brand Fendi in Seoul. Kaiser Karl is playing the lead role! More illustrations on DesignBoom.

Countdown for Venice: Allora & Calzadilla @ the American pavilion

The Caribbean-based artist collaborative Allora and Calzadilla will represent USA at this year's Venice Biennale. For the American Pavilion they are preparing a an exhibition consisting of 6 new projects, titled "Gloria", which will involve performances by professional gymnasts, custom-made pipe organ with a fully functioning A.T.M. and a 52-ton military tank turned upside down and topped with a treadmill and an Olympic runner (see above). We're curious!

(read in detail about "Gloria" in The New York Times)

Ben Eine: Oranges and Lemons

Ben Eine did his first mural in the UK this year. This video shows the making off the piece, located on the side of The London Graphic Centre in Covent Garden. Eine talks about the neighborhood, street art and his recent show in San Francisco. via Hypebeast

AbFab: "Crying Boys" revisited! (by Nir Hod)

Giovanni Bragolin, author of the so-called "Crying Boys" paintings had allegedly made a pact with the devil. So the first thing that came to our mind, when seeing these these amazing and somewhat disturbing canvases by New York based young Israeli artist Nir Hod, was: is he (=Bragolin) back??? Guess we'll have to send our blood brother Geoffrey to investigate this topic further during Nir's upcoming solo at Paul Kasmin.

There is, in our eyes, a lot in common between the "crying boys" and these "geniuses" and we are pretty jealous! As great admirers of Bragolin, we made an artwork couple of years ago, called the Bragolin Files, which involved 4 of Bragolin's paintings, a fireproof glass and the 'fireplace' video. We also made an attempt on repainting one Crying Boy, but this so far remained an unrealized project. To be honest 'though, the urge to finish is suddenly coming back ;-).

Anish Kapoor's Leviathan @ the Grand Palais

Indian-born and british-based sculptor Anish Kapoor's Leviathan is installed for the Monumenta exhibition at the Grand Palais des Champs Elysées, which runs until 23 June and marks 30 years since Kapoor first exhibited in Paris. As a gesture of solidarity, Kapoor has dedicated Leviathan to imprisoned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

Though we read some rather disappointing comments, comparing the interior/exterior experience of Leviathan to not much more than a giant rubber bouncy ball, we wouldn't want to miss examining this impressive huge balloon firsthand. We are planning to do so next month, so stay tuned for the HFA review! :-)

(photo: Benoit Tessier for Reuters)

No Show This Week

Painting by Leslie Saeta

Sadly, life is full of twists and turns.  I am sorry to say that Dreama lost her mother-in-law this week and thus we have decided to postpone this week's show. You all know how much we hate to miss a week, but I am sure you understand. Please keep Dreama and her family in your prayers and join us next week as our guest is the very talented artist Susan Lyon. We will reschedule the "Favorite Art Books" show very soon.

Showtime: Cindy Wright @ Mark Moore

"Reality Can Be the Strangest Fantasy" is the title of Cindy's upcoming solo at Mark Moore Gallery in Santa Monica, LA. Opening this Saturday, the exhibition will present Cindy's most recent paintings as well as some amazing large-scale charcoal drawings, just like the beauty here above. We had a preview of these earlier this year and we can openly say: it's a must-see stuff. The exhibition runs till July 9th - don't miss it!

Showtime: Cleon Peterson @ Joshua Liner

Tomorrow, Joshua Liner opens with Cleon Peterson's first solo show at the gallery. In the exhibition called White Flag, the artist presents 15 new paintings in his typical style. The press release talks about the work in reference to Nietzsche and Jung and about how the works ambiguously depicts innocence and evil... At Happy Famous Artists, we just love his work and think this is one of these shows you don't want to miss if you are in NY.

Back Home Again

Hi Everyone....I came back from France and immediately went off to the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Northeast Regional Conference but I am finally back home. I will post something soon....just wanted to say hi and let you know that I haven't disappeared.

More to come soon!
Mirabee

Art Amsterdam / long-distance picks: Trendbeheer

Our second pick from Art Amsterdam couldn’t be anybody else than the Trendbeheer gang. Same as last year, their project for the fair, titled “For the Love of Money”, was a “work in progress”, created from within the environment, and using the environment, rather than a static showcase of pieces. Concretely: every time an artwork got sold somewhere on the fair, Trendbeheer set out to photograph the famous red dot accompanying that piece and consequently printed, framed and hanged that photo in their booth. Starting with an empty space (admittedly, it had also something, the bare walls with all the screws;-)) and finishing with nicely filled one, the sales must have been good this year. Either that, or they also included their own sold Red Sticker pieces. In any case, sticker nr 13 goes to HFA collection – For the Love of Trendbeheer!

Art Amsterdam / long-distance picks: Tinkebell

While not being able to experience the art fair in real life this year, we were nevertheless following related online news and selected our favs purely virtually. Some “good ol’ image manipulation” compensated lack of original photos. So here goes our Art Amsterdam pick nr 1:

Represented by Torch gallery, Tinkebell was one of the artists selected for “No Holds Barred”, series of 12 solo shows within the fair, where – as the name implies – all means were allowed. A theme that easily fits all Tinkebell’s work up to date, as her absurd, hilarious and thought-provoking projects pretty much all use extreme methods. Genius as they are, they’re also continuously misinterpreted, and needless to say that extreme measures bring extreme reactions (which she again makes good use of). The most media-washed are her projects involving animals. Tinkebell’s message is very direct, but the incapability or a denial of plenty of general public to “get it” speaks for everything.

For her solo at No Holds Barred, Tinkebell prepared a fabulous presentation “On Amy Taxidermy – From a True Fan”, featuring photos and objects related to this truly fascinating young lady from North Carolina. Wow, Tinkebell, wish we've found her first!!!

Guest blogging on Art Amsterdam Medialab

Unfortunately we didn't make it to Art Amsterdam this year but we enjoyed participating in Art Media/Lab: Bridging the Gap, a project organized by Art Amsterdam, Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, De Groene Amsterdammer and Domain for Art Criticism, with the aim to critically cover, from other perspective than the traditional media, the fair itself as well as the debates and events organized in context of the fair. Besides us 6 other bloggers participated: Daniël Bertina, Esmée Laclé, Yasmijn Jarram, Michelle Kasprzak and Harlan Levey with Maxi Meisner from No New Enemies.
We have primarily focused on Art Amsterdam Online, the virtual fair on the Open Art Collection platform. Check out the Art Amsterdam Medialab blog and feel free to comment!

A Conversation With Scott Burdick

Painting by Dreama Tolle Perry

Scheduled Air Date: Thursday, May 12, 2011
"A Conversation with Scott Burdick"

Join Artists Leslie Saeta and Dreama Tolle Perry as they highlight ways to sell your art on-line. Join us as we interview artist Scott Burdick to find out what's new with his incredible art career. 
Click here to listen to this show.

Berlin.... aber sexy!

Ekaterina Rietz-Rakul and Steve Schepens present a new non-fiction book about the sexy side of Berlin, published by Grebennikov.
In their first book - Berlin. Contemporary Art - they talked with art professionals, mapped out 150 locations and included 7 walkable tours of Berlin gallery districts. For "Berlin... aber sexy" they investigated the erotic side of the German capital. Get a taste of what this brings during the
book launch - with Ekaterina reading texts from the book and Steve performing - on May 11th @ me Collectors Room Berlin.

Last chance: Luc Tuymans @ Bozar

Tomorrow is the last day of Luc Tuymans' retrospective @ Bozar, Brussels - a show you really should not miss. The show is covering period of Tuymans' work from late 80s till 2007, including early works dealing with the history of the Holocaust, later series about the post-colonial Congo and recent work with themes such as America under the Bush administration after 9/11 ("Proper") and the phenomenon of Walt Disney and his Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow ("Forever" - see image above, titled Wonderland).
Amazing and inspiring...WOW!

Showtime: Up Close and Personal

"Up Close and Personal" is a new kind of street art show, curated by RJ Rushmore of Vandalog, and Keith Schweitzer and Mike Glatzer of M.A.N.Y. (Murals Around New York). 
The concept is simple and thought provoking at the same time : "While the community concentrates on artists creating larger murals in often controversial public spaces, the subtle nuances of the genre are lost in the hype. Up Close and Personal explores the craft of artists who usually work in large-scale formats outdoors, by challenging them to create pieces that conform to the intimacy of a residential indoor setting. The works will be no larger than 30 x 30 inches, as small as a Metro card and exhibited on the walls of a small city apartment. As street art continues to morph into an all-encompassing art genre, Up Close and Personal will showcase works by talented artists whose work is impressive both indoors and outdoors."
Participating artists include: Aiko, Chris Stain (pictured above), Clown Soldier, Don Leicht, Edible Genius, Elbowtoe, Gaia, How & Nosm, Jessica Angel, John Fekner, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mike Ballard, OverUnder, R. Robot, Radical, Retna, Skewville, Tristan Eaton, Troy Lovegates aka Other and White Cocoa. The show runs only for 4 days, starting May 12th at 7pm. Don't miss it!

Hot! New Museum Mapped In Crochet

"The Festival of Ideas for the New City" organized by the New Museum starts today in New York and runs till the end of the summer.

Plus this weekend you'll have a great chance to see Agata, a.k.a. Crocheted Olek, in action: from noon to 7pm today she'll be creating a crocheted mixed-media sculptural environment to be located in front of the New Museum as part of "The Bushwick Art Park" (with the collaboration of Factory Fresh Gallery). From 3 to 6pm, she will perform a 3-hour action around Bowery and Christy streets entitled "Thank You for Your Visit, Have a Nice Day" originally created for Art in Odd Places. And as of 8:30pm, you can witness her crocheted skin being map-projected on the facade of the New Museum building. This action will be part of "Let Us Make Cake" directed by Nuit Blanche New York and Light Harvest Studios.

Undoubtedly, after seeing Olek in action, u'll crave for more :-). And more there will be: from May 13th till May 15th, Olek presents a totally new and surprising work during LMCC Open Studio Weekend.

Newsy Newsletters

Painting by Leslie Saeta

Scheduled Air Date: Thursday, May 5, 2011
"Newsy Newsletters"
Join Artists Leslie Saeta and Dreama Tolle Perry as they highlight ways to sell your art on-line. Join us as we explore new ideas and suggestions as to how you can create a great newsletter. We will also suggest newsletter companies that make the process very easy!
To listen to the show, click here.
To view the Email Marketing Services Review click here.
Download the free Email Newsletters 101 ebook.

Art Brussels picks IV: Julien Prévieux @ Jousse Entreprise

We loved the paintings & installations of Julien Prévieux shown on Art Brussels by Galerie Jousse Entreprise.

The wall installations, called "The Universal Argumentation", consisted of several wooden circles attached to each other in their centres so they could spin in various combination, carved with economical terms and abbreviations. The visual impression immediately made one think of secret society organigrams: mysterious and impenetrable to the outsiders.
The meticulously executed paintings were part of "F.A.Q." series from 2007, presenting a number of geometric motifs associated with terms concerning social issues (education, sexual deviance, psychiatry, public interest…). These patterns, often used for book covers, involve the relation between accumulated knowledge and over-interpretation, formulation and formalization: to what degree do these motifs model the concepts referred to?

By looking further through Julien's online portfolio (u gotta download a PDF to see it, but we promise it's worth it), we discovered plenty of other interesting projects, such as the "Letters of Non-Motivation", the series of drawings "Looking for an Economic Miracle" or the "Post-Post Production" video work in which the artist adds a completely new set of effects to an penultimate James Bond movie: each shot is enhanced by additional explosions, flames, smoke, torrents of water and avalanches.

At the end of this month, Jousse Entreprise presents a solo show of Julien Prévieux, titled "Dimensions in Modern Management". So if you're in Paris at that time, don't miss it!

Art Brusels picks III: Sara Rahbar @ Hilger Modern / Contemporary

"Runaway American Dream" (see image above) was the title of one of Sara Rahbar's pieces on Art Brussels (stand Hilger Contemporary) .

The Tehran-born artist fled Iran in the turbulent period following the Islamic revolution & preceding the Iran-Iraq war. After her escape Rahbar studied in London and New York and now spends most of her productive life between Tehran and New York. In this going back and forth, an apocalyptic memory has been revised in her reworking of traditional materials into proto-contemporary textiles and textures of national belonging. The most frequent theme in her work is the Flag, seen as a symbol of ideological and nationalistic violence.

The pieces presented on Art Brussels belonged to her "War Series", consisting out of various used military equipment (empty backpacks, stretchers, coats, belts etc), beautifully embroidered with somewhat sarcastic messages and lyrical ornaments.
Sara Rahbar's upcoming solo show at Hilger Contemporary, aptly titled "I have no faith left for the devil to take" starts in Vienna on the 19th of May.

Art Brusels picks II: Shilpa Gupta @ Yvon Lambert

Mumbai-based artist Shilpa Gupta creates artwork using interactive video, photographs, objects, sound and public performances to examine such themes as desire, religion, the psychology of fear and notions of security. Concerned with our vision of today's world, Gupta often uses interaction as a means to invite us to participate in exploring the above mentioned themes.

One of her works shown on Art Brussels was entitled ʻThreatʼ and consisted of hundreds of pieces of soap embossed with the word ʻthreatʼ and arranged in a brick wall-like installation. During the original exhibition in 2009 at Yvon Lambert in Paris, viewers were invited to take a piece of soap home to be used.

Another of Gupta's fantastic pieces (fortunately only seen in a book) is 'Singing Cloud', a large amoebic-shaped form consisting of thousands of microphones suspended from a ceiling. Rather than just amplifying sounds & sentences from a speaker, the microphones whisper and sing by themselves, as an autonomous entity.

La Sieste de Neutron by Silvia B.

Our little Neutron, who died last year, has been transformed to an amazing piece of art & thus granted eternal life - all thanks to the magic hands & mind of Silvia B. xxx
Thanks so much Silvia & welcome back home, Neutron!

Art Brussels picks: Matthew Day Jackson

During the last couple of days, Brussels has been the epicenter of contemporary art with the yearly Art Brussels fair and its numerous corresponding events (our two personal favorites being the opening of the Vanhaerents Art Collection and the Gallery Night on Friday).
Some picks from the fair: great booth of Grimm Gallery from Amsterdam, with e.g. Matthew Day Jackson's Nagasaki, pictured above. ArtInfo reported the piece has been sold the first day for cca $200.000. Other great work @ Grimm was a light box work by Adam Helms. Don't miss his solo at Grimm Gallery at the end of May!