Posted inArt

Adam Marnie Punches Plaster at James Fuentes LLC

by Kyle Chayka

At James Fuentes LLC, a gallery on the Lower East Side, a four-artist exhibition pays testament to the influence of minimalism on contemporary artists. Yet these homages aren’t just a rehash of surface fetishist Donald Judd or the austere conceptualism of a Carl Andre brick grid. This is DIY minimalism, knock-down drag-out rough and tumble sculptures that aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.

Adam Marnie takes on minimalism in a very physical, hands on way: he appropriates construction materials, beats them up, and re-encases them for display in an interesting reversal of minimalism’s often aloof perfectionism.

Posted inOpinion

Leaked Smithsonian Letter Shows Administrative Conflict Over Censorship

by Kyle Chayka

As the Smithsonian censorship of David Wojnarowicz’s “A Fire in My Belly” video continues to make waves, it’s important to remember that the decision was made not by National Portrait Gallery staff, but by the absentee Smithsonian secretary. A leaked memo drafted by Portrait Gallery director Martin Sullivan and published by Artinfo demonstrates the internal conflict over the controversial decision.

Posted inArt

Announcing International “Draw Jesus Day” on Dec 26!

by The Editors

We’re classy, so in response to the GOP’s attack on David Wojnarowicz’s “A Fire In My Belly” video, we want to go head to head with the fascists in the American right-wing political establishment and announce that their irrational frenzy has encouraged us to announce the “International Draw Jesus Day” event. Hyperallergic readers and fans can submit their own drawing of Jesus for publication on this blogazine on December 26th! [THIS IS NOT A SPOOF BUT IT IS FUNNY]

Posted inNews

Brooklyn Museum Posts Archive of 1st Fans Twitter Art

Avatar photo by Hrag Vartanian

The Brooklyn Museum has posted an archive of its 1st Fans Twitter art. The Twitter Art Feed was a benefit for @brooklynmuseum‘s 1stfans (formerly @1stfans) members from December 2008 to December 2010. The feed featured tweets by contemporary artists every month, including Joseph Kosuth, Tracey Moffatt, Mike Montiero, Duke Riley, and names familiar to social media art fans, such as An Xiao, Man Bartlett, Lauren McCarthy, Nina Meledandri, and Joanie San Chirico.

Posted inOpinion

Steve Martin, Stella, Fairey & Serrano on Colbert Report

Avatar photo by Hrag Vartanian

I can’t remember the last time so many bold faced art names were on mainstream television. Last night, Stephen Colbert tried to convince well-known art collector Steve Martin to buy his René Magritte-like portrait but it wasn’t an easy sell. Colbert soon marched on some major artists to make it more enticing. As he said, Stella declared it art, Fairey recontextualized it, Serrano added controversy, and Colbert even added Martin’s image but still no sale. The segment is a funny and clever way to introduce some artists to a mass audience that may not be familiar with their work. For that, Colbert gets an A++. Click thru to watch the segment.

Posted inArt

Interview with Hide/Seek Co-curator David C Ward

Avatar photo by Hrag Vartanian

David C. Ward is co-curator of the National Portrait Gallery’s Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture exhibition, which has become a lightning rod for right-wing attacks on the federally funded Smithsonian institution. The show is the first major museum exhibition to focus on sexual difference in the making of modern American portraiture. There are many LGBT images on display but the work is not limited to gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender artists and encompasses work by many names that are mainstays in art history, including Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, Romaine Brooks, Marsden Hartley, Georgia O’Keeffe, Agnes Martin, David Hockney, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, AA Bronson, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres.

But what has really catapulted the show into the limelight is the fact that last week Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough ordered David Wojnarowicz’s “A Fire in My Belly” video pulled from the National Portrait Gallery show.

Posted inArt

Art Basel Miami Beach 2010, Photos from the Day After

Avatar photo by Hrag Vartanian

Brooklyn-based artist Jacob Krupnick had the opportunity to spend the day after the Art Basel Miami Beach fair closed inside the convention center dodging forklifts and documenting the breakdown of the fair. “It’s that rare moment when lots of valuables are at risk and in motion,” he told me over email. “The amazing piles of crates and packing materials make it hard to pin down what, exactly, an art piece is. (One forklift operator pointed at a stack of shipping containers he’d arranged, and said without sarcasm: ‘This is my art.’)” [PHOTO SERIES]

Posted inOpinion

Rosa Parks as Performance Artist?

Avatar photo by Hrag Vartanian

Rob Maguire, who is the founder and editor of Art Threat, a Canadian blog devoted to exploring political art and showcasing artists whose work inspires social change, hurled out this nugget during a recent online “water cooler” hosted by The National Post newspaper about art and ethics:

… artists may break the law to draw attention to such injustice and oppression. Sure, it’ll make some people uncomfortable, especially those people in power whose authority is being challenged, as well as those unfairly privileged by the current set of rules. But artists play an important role in pushing society forward, and progress can be messy. Pardon the crude analogy, but if Rosa Parks were a performance artist, would she not still be a hero?

Read the whole post here.

Posted inOpinion

Quote from Shirin Neshat at TEDWomen

Avatar photo by Hrag Vartanian

In the West, culture is at risk of being a form of entertainment — exiled Iranian artist Shirin Neshat #TEDWomenless than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®an xiao 4.0.2
anxiaostudio

Part of me thinks this has already happened. I asked An Xiao for a context for this quote at the TEDWomen conference and she provided the following:

Neshat spoke today about her experience as an artist exiled from Iran. She explained that art and culture are a form of resistance, and that she envied Western artists for not having to think about resistance in their work. The only challenge, though, is that art here in the West can quickly become entertainment instead.

Posted inArt

New Museum Director Lisa Phillips Explains Decision to Show Wojnarowicz Video

by Kyle Chayka

When the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery announced that it would be removing “A Fire in My Belly,” a David Wojnarowicz video work, from its Hide/Seek exhibition due to Republican political pressure, the art world rushed to the work’s defense. Among the first art institutions to respond to the scandal was the New Museum. In a press release on December 6, the museum announced that it would be displaying the video in its lobby “as an act of solidarity with the many artists whose rights of expression continue to be limited by misinformation and fear.”

In a Hyperallergic-exclusive Q+A with New Museum’s director Lisa Phillips, the director explains how the museum reacted to the initial controversy and how the decision was made to display the censored video in the lobby.

Posted inSponsored

[Sponsor] ArtWeLove: It’s Fine Art, Finally Collectible. 10% off until Dec 31

by Sponsor

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