Atelier Brancusi, París. Foto: Alejandra de Argos |
Saturday 1 February 2014
Brancusi Atelier in Paris
Wednesday 29 January 2014
Atelier of Carlos Cruz-Diez in París.
Thursday 23 January 2014
Interview with Alex Israel Gagosian Gallery, Rome
Portrait of Alex Israel Foto: Maxime Ballesteros © |
Interview with Alex Israel Gagosian Gallery, Rome
Friday 17 January 2014
Tristan und Isolde at the Teatro Real. Wagner and Bill Viola.
Wagner’s magnificent opera, performed at the Teatro Real, saw the composer’s intensity and passion merged with Bill Viola’s beauty and subtlety, greatly enhancing the work.
Of particular note were Marc Piollet’s music direction, the Lithuanian Violeta Urmana’s powerful voice (in the role of Isolde) and Franz-Josef Seling’s masterful performance as King Marke. Bill Viola's video-art played a prominent role, thanks to director Peter Sellars' understated scenery and the seamless integration of his video-art into the opera.
Of particular note were Marc Piollet’s music direction, the Lithuanian Violeta Urmana’s powerful voice (in the role of Isolde) and Franz-Josef Seling’s masterful performance as King Marke. Bill Viola's video-art played a prominent role, thanks to director Peter Sellars' understated scenery and the seamless integration of his video-art into the opera.
Tuesday 7 January 2014
Interview with Henrik Olai Kaarstein
HENRIK OLAI KAARSTEIN, ‘MOTHERS’, INSTALLATION AT T293 NAPLES,
COURTESY T293, ROME-NAPLES FOTO: MAURIZIO ESPOSITO
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Interview with Henrik Olai Kaarstein in occasion of his exhibition ‘Mothers’ at T293 Gallery (Naples)
Saturday 4 January 2014
Biographical forms. Construction and individual mythology
Martin Kippenberger.1985. Photo: Alejandra de Argos |
Sunday 15 December 2013
JAKE AND DINOS CHAPMAN AT THE SERPENTINE GALLERY
Photo:Alejandra de Argos |
The Chapmans are part of the Young British Artists group, and a large part of their work is inspired by the Old Master Francisco de Goya. The artists’ desire to recreate Goya’s “flat” paintings in three dimensions is evident among the work on display.
Saturday 7 December 2013
Tan Dun, a Genius, "Paper Water and Earth"
I attended the premier of the wonderful concert " Water, Paper and Earth" by the composer Tan Dun in Bologna. A trilogy of organic music.
In the dressing room I asked Tan Dun what I could expect that evening, and was told that it would be an organic concert, that is to say, a concert inspired by natural sounds of organic materials; water music , paper music and terracotta music, memories of his childhood in Hunan, China, where the artist grew up. He insisted that I particularly concentrate on the water concert, his favourite.
In the dressing room I asked Tan Dun what I could expect that evening, and was told that it would be an organic concert, that is to say, a concert inspired by natural sounds of organic materials; water music , paper music and terracotta music, memories of his childhood in Hunan, China, where the artist grew up. He insisted that I particularly concentrate on the water concert, his favourite.
Sunday 1 December 2013
Sunday 24 November 2013
Art and Tourism in Shanghai.
Photo:Alejandra de Argos. Xiaobai Su |
Thursday 7 November 2013
Adel Abdessemed. L'Âge d'Or.
This wonderful exhibition of Adel Abdessemed, artist of Argelian origin, can be seen at the Museum of Arab Art in Doha, Qatar, until January 5, 2014. The exhibition opens our eyes to the violence that is present in the world. Adel’s work focuses on art as as a tool to condemn violence, and through his work he describes himself as an artist of action. This is Mathaf’s most significant project to date.
Monday 4 November 2013
Art in Doha.
Photo: Alejandra de Argos |
Saturday 12 October 2013
Sex + explosives = Art in Paris.
Foto: Alejandra de Argos |
Monday 30 September 2013
DIA BEACON FOUNDATION.
This museum on the banks of the Hudson river in Beacon, New York is a must-see for those visiting NYC. The collection consists of various rooms dedicated to the most important artists of the second half of the 20th century. It is certainly the place to go if you want to spend a whole day looking at, reflecting on and interacting with art.
Sunday 22 September 2013
Powerful Hannah Arendt
Friday 6 September 2013
COLOSSAL IVORYPRESS
Photo:Alejandra de Argos |
Wednesday 4 September 2013
PANZA DI BIUMO COLLECTION
In 1999 I visited the magnificent Ducal Palace in Gubbio, owned by Federico de Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino and one of the 15th century’s great wonders. It was there, in the palace’s cold, empty halls, that part of the Panza di Biumo collection is held, containing works from the 1980s and 90s.
Monochromatic paintings in various formats filled the walls of the palace, and each of the participating artists was given a specific space in which to display their talents. The collection included Ettori Spalletti’s simplicity and harmony, metallic monochromatic paintings by David Simpson, geometric paintings by Ford Beckman and even small cubes by Stuart Arends, whose tiny size caught my attention - appearing in different colours on a large wall, it seemed as though they would simply vanish in space. In his book Memories of a Collector, Panza reflects on Arends’ imaginative and sensitive artwork, noting that rather than hiding a certain ideology behind its surface, its sole purpose is aesthetic: beauty, composition and colour. There are times when visitors are grateful for the simple aesthetic contemplation of a piece, without feeling as if they are missing out on a greater message that the artist is trying to communicate.
In September 2012 I had the chance to visit Villa Menafoglio in Varese (near Milan), a splendid building and home to Giuseppe Panza, one of history’s great contemporary art collectors, who lived there until his death. His widow Giovanna, who shared his passion for art, still lives in the Villa today. Panza’s interests were broad, including philosophy, astronomy and biology, the first in particular informing much of his art collection. He was a passionate man who tirelessly pursued his search for truth in life and art.
He bought his first painting, a Tàpies, in 1956, attracted as he was by its pessimism which he recognized as being the result of the social traumas and political upheaval after WWII, and which deeply affected him personally. He was collecting art from the United States, spurred on by the lower prices and a more energetic, exciting art scene, at a time when Europe was not paying much attention to the American art market. Towards the end of the 50s, he starts buying Rothko’s spirituality, the every-day of Rauschenberg as a conceptual form of expression, the endlessness of Kline… In the 60s, he moves towards ever more abstract art, minimalist and conceptual works that are stripped to their essence, adding artists such as Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, Richard Serra, Bruce Nauman and Robert Morris to his collection. In this period he also shows an active interest in the emerging pop art movement, acquiring works by Lichtenstein, Oldenburg and Rosenquist, among others. His collection continues to grow steadily, eventually adding up to over 2,500 pieces: a staggering representation of every avant-garde movement that came out of the second half of the 20th century.
Photo: Camilayelarte |
Today Villa Menafoglio maintains a permanent collection, even though the majority of the original collection was acquired by Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art and the Guggenheim in New York. What I found most fascinating was a part of the villa dedicated to Dan Flavin, made up of various halls each containing an installation piece by the artist: I’d certainly never seen a larger permanent space dedicated to Flavin before. The space was filled with complete silence, and visitors would walk down corridors lit by lights in adjacent rooms. The halls were set up to induce visitors into an almost mystical state of deep contemplation and reflection. Another artist whose work caught my attention was James Turrell: his work, which changes the environment around it, plays with space, light and our perceptions in general, sometimes tricking our senses in a surprising way. Other artists of note here are David Simpson, Max Cole, Fredenthal, Charlton and Beckman, as well as an excellent collection of African and Pre-Columbian art.
A visit to the museum is highly recommended - through its collection, Panza has tried to understand the society of his time and the profound changes it was going through. This close relationship between art and the passing of time, together with the idea of art as a channel for humanity’s deepest concerns, were the common threads in his life and collection.
Photo: Camilayelarte |
Saturday 31 August 2013
Saturday 17 August 2013
DONALD JUDD FOUNDATION. New York.
Judd Foundation. Photo Paul Katz/ © Paul Katz/Courtesy; Judd Foundation Archive |
Saturday 10 August 2013
JOURNEY TO KENYA. Living with baboons.
Photo: Alejandra de Argos |
It’s one thing to hear stories of what it’s like living with baboons, and it’s quite another to actually visit a baboon community and experience a part of their life. Baboons are Old World primates not too dissimilar from humans - seeing them in the flesh one is immediately reminded of the importance of Darwin’s work.
Thursday 8 August 2013
Essential Trips. VITRA CAMPUS.
Architecture and design lovers should not miss a visit to Weil am Rhein, a town in the German region of Freiburg as well as a suburb of the Swiss city of Basel. Here we find the Vitra Campus, Vitra being the Swiss furniture producer founded in 1950 by Willi Fehlbaum. In 1981 a major fire destroyed parts of the original Campus factory and Nicholas Grimshaw, a British architect, was commissioned to design a new production building, which started a series of contributions by architects adding more and more buildings and constructions on the Campus premises, today a world-class destination for all architecture enthusiasts.
Monday 29 July 2013
THE HISTORY OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY
Greek civilization laid the foundations of our contemporary Western culture - it is in Ancient Greece, specifically in Miletus, where the origins of philosophy are to be found.
The book begins with the Seven Sages of Greece and with Thales of Miletus, the first man to attempt to explain natural phenomena through science rather than myth.
Monday 22 July 2013
RUDOLF STINGEL AT THE PALAZZO GRASSI, VENICE
One of this year’s Venice Biennale’s most remarkable exhibitions was undoubtedly Italian artist Rudolf Stingel, held in the Palazzo Grassi.
Monday 15 July 2013
INCREDIBLE GAZING BALLS !
Monday 8 July 2013
MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING.
The big question: What meaning does life have for human beings?
According to Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), author of the book “Man’s Search for Meaning”, there is not one single meaning to life, rather there are as many meanings as there are people on Earth. It’s not about the search for an abstract, universal purpose of life; it’s more about looking for a purpose in each of the stages of one’s progression through life. These individual stages will be determined by an overall mission, a greater goal.