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Lukas Feichtner Galerie, Vienna |
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Francisco Valdés
curated by_jerome
sans
From Europe to Asia and back, again. Living in a
suitcase.
Curator: Jerome Sans ((Director of the
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing)
Vernissage: Friday May 8, 2009, 6 - 12 pm
9 May -
20 June 2009
curated by_vienna 09 is an
innovative project that brings 18 Viennese contemporary art
galleries together with international curators of high
distinction. It aims to explore novel ways of cooperation
between curators and galleries. The participating galleries
have formed four groups of 4-5 galleries each. Each group has
selected a curator (or a team of two curators). The shows will
take place within the exhibition spaces of the galleries
constituting each group.
curated by_vienna 09 encourages
systematic cooperation between galleries and curators. It
allows visitors to compare the artworks selected as well as
the strategies adopted by the four groups of galleries and
their respective curators and thereby gain valuable insight
into curatorial practices in a competitive context. The
project is coordinated and funded by departure, Vienna's point
of contact and funding organization in the field of creative
industries including visual arts and the art market.
To frame Francisco Valdes' work in a
particular style or medium would draw an artificial enclosure
around it and miss its inherent heterogeneity; his pieces
explore exchanges between dimensions and means of reproduction
rather than an explicit theme. Accordingly, unexpected
gestures of resurrection, ingenious acts of appropriation,
translation between media and explorations of exorcism abound
in them. The artist's sources are varied too: images taken
from eBay, old books, consecrated artworks, Youtube, his
personal collection of ghost pictures, and others. All this
alludes to Valdes' distrust for unquestioned representations
of reality, an attitude that has been described as mixing
"suspiciousness towards and flirtation with the double meaning
of sophistication".
The works of the show are constructed upon low-resolution
images, a primary source that generates a sort of unstable
space, eager to be manipulated. At the other end, the final
pieces suggest sensations of temporal displacement, sound, and
movement, alongside a recursive system of fictions which
subverts apparently secure categories such as "prototype",
"original" or "mass produced".
Panel discussion
Friday May 8, 2009,
4 - 5.30 pm
from europe to asia and back, again.
Chantal Beret (Kuratorin, Centre Pompidou, Paris)
Joa
Ribas (Chefkurator, Drawing Center, New York)
Oliver Dorfer
(Künstler, Linz)
Manray Hsu (freier Kurator, Kunstkritiker,
Taipei, Berlin und Linz)
Moderator: Jerome Sans
depature
lounge, Viennafair
Image:
Francisco Valdés
Courtesy of
Lukas Feichtner Galerie, Vienna
Lukas Feichtner
Galerie
Seilerstätte 19
1010
Vienna
Austria
+43 1 512 09 10
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Mihai Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles |
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ZSOLT BODONI
"Yesterday's Heroes,
Tomorrow's Fools"
2 May - 6 June 2009.
Nicodim Gallery is pleased to
present "Yesterday's Heroes, Tomorrow's Fools" - an
exhibition of new paintings by Hungarian artist, Zsolt Bodoni
(born 1977) and his first US solo show.
Bodoni's darkly brooding paintings are tangibly
atmospheric. First elevated and then punished by the vigorous
sweeps of brushwork he uses to wash his landscapes and shadowy
interiors, the works readily evoke the violent struggles of
Hungary's chequered past. For Bodoni, the tangled politics of
his region's history are especially poignant. As an ethnic
Hungarian growing up in Romania during the last years of
Ceausescu's dictatorship, (Bodoni was born in Transylvania, a
province that belonged to Hungary during the time of the
Austro Hungarian Empire, but was then given over to Romania by
the French in 1920), Bodoni was part of a unique generation
that knew communism in childhood and experienced its
disintegration and the transition into democracy in early
adulthood; but he was also part of a minority group that
suffered - if not persecution - then discrimination at the
hands of the fiercely nationalistic Ceausescu.
If he had been born a century earlier, life would have
been very different for the young artist - a fact he was
constantly reminded of during his growing up, surrounded as he
was by the imperialistic Austro Hungarian architecture that
dominates Transylvania. Yet more so even than the architecture
that surrounded him, it was the monument that left its mark
and has continued to both trouble and inspired him. For the
past year, Bodoni has become increasingly preoccupied by the
idea of the monument in his painting. His new body of dramatic
works address the commanding physicality of a type of
sculpture intended to inspire or affirm the prowess of a
victorious nation or movement; but they also deal with the
ideological implications that accompany the decision to erect,
remove or replace a particular figure or symbol in a key
public place.
Looking back as an adult on the changes that swept
through Hungary and Transylvania, the artist was struck by the
fact that each 'empire' brought with it its own heroes: The
Hungarians celebrated their founding Magyars with statues of
their warrior leaders and the 'turul' - a mythical,
falcon-like bird said to have lead them to the land that
became Hungary.
Much later, leading Imperial figures such
as Andrassy, the patriotic general, and Horthy, (regent of the
Kingdom of Hungary in the interwar years), were immortalised
in stone and bronze - only they too were to prove as mortal as
the rest of us, for when the communists came, the bronze was
melted down and re-cast to commemorate the idols of the new
state.
Yet again these new 'heroes' were deposed and decried as
impostors. In the case of the gargantuan statue of Stalin,
erected in Budapest in 1951, the deposition occurred only five
years after its grand unveiling; and in the most dramatic
fashion. On October 23, 1956, the year of the unsuccessful
Hungarian uprising, around two hundred thousand Hungarians
gathered in Budapest to demonstrate in sympathy for the Poles.
The Hungarian Revolutionaries broadcast sixteen demands over
the radio, one of them being the demolition of Stalin's
statue. Over one hundred thousand protestors set about the
statue's destruction and 'Stalin' was ripped from the pedestal
leaving only his boots behind.
While Bodoni's works are inspired by a strongly narrative
element grounded in the context of his own personal experience
and history, much of his painting is devoid of figuration and
extraneous detail. Large areas are left undefined, empty of
fuss and unnecessary congestion. Bodoni isn't frightened to
leave these dark holes for us to peer into and struggle
through. His sweeping brushstrokes pick us up again if we lose
ourselves for too long, but the shadows that remain a constant
fixture of his paintings, are never very far behind us.
Image:
Zsolt Bodoni
"Back to Storage", 2008
oil and
acylic on canvas
50 X 60 cm
Courtesy of Mihai Nicodim
Gallery
Mihai Nicodim Gallery
(formerly
Kontainer)
944 Chung King Road
Los Angeles, CA
90012
+1 213.621.2786
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The Approach W1, London |
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Cris Brodahl
The approach W1
8th May - 20th June 2009
Cris Brodahl's monochromatic oil
paintings are configurations of fractured beauty that carry
undertones of violence, sexuality, the subconscious and the
uncanny.
Brodahl uses techniques reminiscent of Surrealism such as
free association and simulation of collage through oil paint
to create sombre and emotionally charged compositions
suggesting strong psychological undercurrents. Brodahl sources
imagery from fashion magazines and old interiors publications.
For this exhibition, she also uses the self-portrait as a
vehicle for her explorations. These seductive and monstrous
depictions of distorted and re-represented femininity are
tightly controlled by Brodahl's mastery of paint. Disembodied
parts and the displacement of recognizable figures stilt the
sensuousness of the realistically painted flesh. The
timelessness of the works is accentuated by Brodahl's palette,
which evokes a sense of nostalgia in its sepia and grey tones.
The exhibition at The Approach W1 is typical of the
artist's attention to fine detail and installation concerns.
Brodahl uses screens, mirrors and metal supports to act as
subtle devices to control the environment and viewing
experience. For the first time the artist will be showing
sculptures as part of the considered installation. As with the
paintings, the sculptures are a curious amalgamation of found
elements. Along with cut materials such as mirrors and wood
there are objects cast in bronze mixed with figurines bought
from local charity shops in her hometown of Gent in
Belgium.
Cris Brodahl was born in 1963, and
lives and works in Gent. This is her second solo show at The
Approach. Recent solo exhibitions include: Xavier Hufkens,
Brussels (2008); The Yellow Tree, Marc Foxx, Los Angeles
(2007); Thin Whites, The Approach, London (2006); Electric
Blue, Xavier Hufkens, Brussels (2006); Marc Foxx, Los Angeles
(2004). Selected group shows include: Sphinxx, Modern Art,
London (2008); An Archeology, 176, London (2007); Cut, The
Approach, London (2005); Michael Bauer, Cris Brodahl, Stef
Driesen, Marc Foxx, Los Angeles (2004)
Image:
Cris Brodahl
Ground Control,
Sometimes The Earth Smells Like Heaven, 2008
Oil on glued
linen, 70x50cm
Courtesy of The approach, London
The approach W174 Mortimer
Street Fitzrovia London W1W 7RZ
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Alexander Ochs Galleries Berlin |
Beijing |
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YANG SHAOBIN | SILENCE
May 2nd - 30th 2009
Yang Shaobin, painter and sculptor,
lives in Beijing. In 1999 Harald Szeemann exhibited the
Chinese artist at the Venice Biennale with paintings set in a
dark-red colour that reminds of blood, showing them in
correspondence with works of Sigmar Polke. The painting of
Yang Shaobin had a directness and intensity that almost
ubruptly engraved in the collective unconsciousness of the
international art world.
The critic Sebastian Preuss who lives in Berlin wrote:
'The first encounter (with the works) remains unforgettable.
(...) suddenly these paintings were spellbinding, and all else
was forgotten. First, it was a shock to the eyes, but then
increasingly an attack on the soul' - and on the world.
Violence was always the subject of Yang Shaobin; the
experience of violence and destruction, 'impulses' of
self-destruction as well as the necessity of displaying and
arranging it were always part of his work, helping him to
endure the inner pressure.
The exhibition SILENCE follows two central paintings and
thus two central motives: an atomic mushroom cloud, its
emergence not further defined, and the destroyed, with
bandages beyond recognition 'bandaged' self portrait of an
artist.
In 1979 Martin Kippenberger, one of the operators of the
legendary Berlin club SO 36, was beaten up by some Punks, the
'friends of Ratten-Jenny'. Kippenberger declared this physical
attack to be an artistic project, a 'dialogue with the youth'.
Still in hospital bed he explained himself a victim and had
himself photographed.
Yang Shaobin returns in his painting to
his 'blood-red' period and adapts the face of Kippenberger,
which is marked by violence and destruction. Although of
course in its new Chinese context it loses the ironical
context of Berlin of the Seventies.
Image:
Yang Shaobin, Shoot a Bird, 2009
Oil
on canvas, 260 x 180 cm
Courtesy of Alexander Ochs
Galleries Berlin | Beijing
ALEXANDER OCHS GALLERIES BERLIN |
BEIJING
Sophienstrasse 21
10178 Berlin
+49
(0) 30283 91 387
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Lehmann Maupin, New York |
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Adriana Varejão
7 May - 10 July 2009
For Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão's
third exhibition at Lehmann Maupin Gallery,
she will present a new large-scale painting and works on paper
at the gallery's 540 West 26th Street location. This will be
Varejão's first gallery exhibition in four years and the first
to include works on paper.
Using precise geometry and a serene monochrome palette,
Varejão elaborates on her sauna series, which portrays the
cold, tranquil interiors of these spaces. Previous works in
the series have been notable for their emptiness, and while
the new works maintain the minimalism and distance of previous
works, the paintings and drawings in this exhibition are
brought to life by rippling water and rays of sunlight.
Varejão's diversity of disciplines includes painting,
sculpture, installation and photography through which she
mines the cultural histories of colonial Brazil in conjunction
with the histories of painting. Past bodies of work have
included large Portuguese tiles that utilize fabrication
methods barred from export outside of the country, and her
Ruína de Charque series presents modern day architectural
ruins comprised of tiles and visceral exposed flesh.
Referencing the history of painting, her sauna series utilizes
the refined grid structure of Modernism and hints of Cubism.
Born in 1964 in Rio de Janeiro, where she lives and
works, Adriana Varejão is one of Brazil's
leading contemporary artists. Her work is included in the
collections of The Tate Modern in London; the Solomon R.
Guggenheim Museum in New York; the Hara Museum in Tokyo; and
the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, among others. She
also has a permanent pavilion devoted to her work at the
Centro de Arte Contemporânea Inhotim in Brazil that opened in
2008. Varejão has exhibited extensively
internationally-including at the Biennale of Sydney, the
Venice Biennale, and the São Paulo Biennial-and has had solo
exhibitions at Bildmuseet, Umeå, Sweden and the Instituto de
Arte Contemporanea, Lisbon. Recently, the Hara Museum in Tokyo
and Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain in Paris
featured solo exhibitions of her work. She was included in the
Brazil: Body and Soul exhibition at the Guggenheim
Museum in New York in 2001, as well as in the MoMA QNS
exhibition Tempo, where she filled an entire room
with the wall-based installation Azulejões (Big Blue
Tiles).
Image:
ADRIANA VAREJAO
O Iluminado (The
Shining), 2009
oil on linen
90.55 x 220.47 inches, 230 x
560 cm
Courtesy of Lehmann Maupin, New York
Lehmann Maupin
540 West 26th
Street
New York, NY 10001
New York
+1
212.255.2923
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