These two videos from the YouTube stream of Kino Library, a boutique archival video licensing firm we’ve mentioned before, capture a little of the flavor of art openings in the Swingin’ London of the 1960s.
What’s amazing is that little has changed in fifty years as art openings are still dominated by celebrities (local or otherwise — here we see artist David Hockney, singer Marianne Faithfull, Op artist Bridget Riley, and others), people who want to stand out (usually with what they’re wearing), and crowds of people mostly looking at one another rather than the art.
If someone were to try to reinvent the art opening, I wonder what that would look like.
you mean aside from the people smoking next to artwork?
i saw charlie watt
At 1:29-1:31 who is that guy? He’s pretty attractive….
Definately, Charlie Watts!
I’ve been wondering the same thing about reinventing the art opening. Someone’s going to win a MacArthur Genius grant for doing this.
Reinventing the openings? We simply totally abolished vernissage parties.