Real Clear Arts

Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

Artists

New Publication Shows That Ai Weiwei Knows How To Irritate

China’s best-known artist has struck again: in another manifestation of Ai Weiwei’s many talents , fertile mind and ability to annoy the Chinese government, he has issued a “little black book” — Weiwei-isms parrots the form of “Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung,” which was short-handed as the “little red book.”

Ai’s book, too, consists of short, sharp thoughts and sayings. Drawn from his tweets, interviews and articles, the maxims have been organized by the editor, Larry Warsh, into six sections: freedom of expression; art and activism; government, power and moral choices; the digital world; history, the historical moment, and the future; and personal reflections. Princeton University Press, no less, is the publisher.

Samples:

  • My favorite word? It’s “act.”
  • Liberty is about our rights to question everything.
  • Only with the Internet can a peasant I have never met hear my voice and I can learn what’s on his mind. A fairy tale has come true.
  • My work has always been political, because the choice of being an artist is political in China.
  • The government computer has one button: delete.
  • I wouldn’t say I’ve become more radical: I was born radical.
  • The Chinese [government] only superficially speaks the language of the international community.
  • Cover-ups and deception are the nature of this society. Without lies, it won’t exist.
  • I came to art because I wanted to escape the other regulations of the society. The whole society is so political. But the irony is that my art becomes more and more political.

The publication date is today, Dec. 12, and the books costs $12.95. It’s a very handsome little book.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Princeton University Press

There’s News — And New — In This Corporate Sponsorship

Davidoff makes cigars and “luxury tobacco products.” Not something I usually want to promote. However, this past week, in connection with Art Basel Miami Beach, the company did something admirable. (Interestingly, when I went to its website, I had to enter my birthdate and affirm that I was a smoker before being allowed to enter — since I am not a smoker, I could not make the affirmation, and I left.)

Many companies take sponsorship roles at art fairs, or run their own events simultaneously, and Davidoff does that, too. Now, however, the company wants to do something more; it has created the Davidoff Art Initiative, and — here’s the good part — [it] “will be closely linked to the Dominican Republic, where Davidoff products are crafted, enriching the company’s engagement with the local culture and community of the country.”

Davidoff will encourage art-making in the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, but it is nowhere near as poor. In fact, according to the CIA Factbook,  it has the ninth largest economy in Latin America and the second largest economy in the Caribbean and Central American region.

According to the press release issued at ABMB:

The centerpiece of the Initiative will be the annual Davidoff Residency, which will bring five international artists to the Dominican Republic and send five artists from the Dominican Republic to major art centers of the world. As of now, locations in New York City and Berlin have been confirmed.

Slated to begin in fall 2013, the New York City Residency will be based at Brooklyn’s International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP). It will provide an artist with resources for three months, including funds for domestic travel. The German Residency, which will begin in late spring 2014, will be housed in the Künstlerhaus Bethanien Berlin. It will also provide an artist with resources for three months, including funds to travel to Switzerland during Art Basel. Other Residency Programs under consideration include sites in Spain, China, South America, and Switzerland.

The Dominican Republic Residency will provide five artists with resources for two months and is currently being finalized. First details should be available during Art Basel in June 2013.

More information, including details about the residencies and the other art-world people who have been tapped as advisors/curators, is in that release or on the Initiative’s website.

I know next to nothing about contemporary art in the Dominican Republic, though the country does have a Museum of Modern Art, a visual arts school and — what else? — a biennial, as the illustration shows. I’d bet, though, that that world could use support from a Swiss company, and Davidoff is filling that role.

 

Raphael — That Old Master — Can Still Exceed Living Artist Record

When I wrote about Getty Museum’s purchase yesterday of Roman de Gillion de Trazegnies, by Lieven van Lathem, at Sotheby’s, I’d forgotten that a magnificent Raphael drawing was in the same sale. It scored a record in British pounds – £29.7 million or $47,869,045. That is almost three times the low estimate (which of course does not include the premium) of £10 million and double the high, £15 million.

The work, Head of an Apostle, came from Chatsworth and according to various analysts is probably headed to Russia. “The buyer was not identified but the winning bid went to a member of Sotheby’s staff who often represents Russian clients,” wrote The Independent. It also reported:

… the 16th century “Head of an Apostle”, a study for Raphael’s last painting “Transfiguration” which is on display at the Vatican Museum in Rome. When the artist died in 1520, his body was laid out in state in his studio with the Transfiguration hanging at his head.

…According to Sotheby’s, only two other Raphael drawings of the same calibre have been auctioned in the last 50 years – in 2009, Raphael’s black chalk “Head of a Muse” sold for 29.2 million pounds at Christie’s in London.

In dollar terms, that picture narrowly trumped Head of an Apostle due to fluctuating exchange rates, but since both were sold in pounds in London, Sotheby’s is claiming the crown.

Sotheby’s reported that four bidders in the salesroom and on the phone vied for 17 minutes for the drawing. The total sale brought £58,061,500 (or $93,513,852) against a presale estimate of £35.6-52.9 million. Seven additional records were set in the evening sale, and it was 74.5% sold by lot and 86.8% by value, Nine works fetched more than £1 million and 11 works sold for more than $1 million. “Of the lots sold, half achieved prices over their pre-sale high estimate.”

ArtFixDaily, meanwhile, also reported that the rival drawing, Head of a Muse, was purchases by Leon Black for £29,161,250 million pounds (then reportedly $47,941,095) at Christie’s in London three years ago.

That was good night. Regular followers know that I like the work of Gerard Richter, but I am still pleased that Raphael beat out his recent record, set in London in October, for the most expensive work by a living artist — an abstract work for £21.3 million or  $34.2 million.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Sotheby’s

A New Light For Victims of Hurricane Sandy

Art is often said to have healing powers, and beginning tomorrow many people who live in the path of Hurricane Sandy — which struck a month ago — will have a chance to see a piece of art created for them. It’s a “monumental” laser installation by Yvette Mattern called Global Rainbow, After the Storm, launched from the rooftop of the Standard Hotel at the Highline. Designed to illuminate the night sky and be visible for up to 35 miles (depending on atmospheric conditions), the work will aim seven beams of high power light lasers over communities hit by Sandy. It “aims to symbolize hope and act as a call to action to support the communities that were devastated by the storm,” according to the press release.

Mattern’s installation, which has been presented in Europe (you may have seen it at the London Olympics), will shine for three nights, from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. nightly, from Nov. 27 through Nov. 29.

It’s a project of the Art Production Fund, and — naturally, given the occasion — it contains a fundraising element. It hopes to encourage donations to two groups. One is Waves for Water, a non-profit that has been working with relief organizations in coastal communities in Staten Island, New Jersey, Rockaway Beach and Long Beach  to bring much needed on-site support to victims. (You can make donations at the link above.). The other is New York Foundation for the Arts, whose Emergency Relief Fund is assisting artists who suffered damage and loss in Sandy’s wake. (Use this link, and be sure to click the box for the relief fund at the bottom.)

In the release, Mattern says, “I hope that seeing this beacon in the night sky will provide people with a sense of peace and security in this time of crisis and that it will unify us with its presence so we remember that we are all in this together, regardless of divisions of class, race, religion and culture.”

That’s asking a lot of art, but … at times like these, it’s nice to remember that art can have a higher purpose and a universal appeal.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Art Production Fund

 

London Visit: On To The Tate, Which Is Expanding, Sort Of

On my recent trip to London, I also visited the Tate Modern — whose permanent collection galleries were pretty jammed on a Saturday. I discovered, or rediscovered, several artists that are too little known in the United States or too little shown in U.S. museums. Among them, I’d put Meredith Frampton, Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Barkely L. Henricks, and Dod Procter. There were others.

The Tate’s play area for kids, all done up in red, with computers, was full not just with children but with teenagers who were sitting there using their cell phones. Now, they may have been listening to cell phone tours, but I doubt it.

They point to one criticism I have of the Tate — not enough seating. It’s a big museum, which takes a long time to visit if you’re going to look at more than a gallery or two. But aside from the restaurants — which are nice — there are few places to rest. Take a gander at the picture I took of the Turbine Hall. There were even more people in the foreground, sitting on the steps, when I dug into my purse to get out my cell phone, but they left before I could turn it on.

(Another pet peeve I have about the Tate and other UK museums: granted, they are free, but asking me to a pound for the gallery plan was annoying. I guess I dislike being nickeled and dimed.)

This was my first visit to the Oil Tanks, which opened in the summer. They are cool, no question — I didn’t love the installation of Sung Hwan Kim, which was commissioned by the Tate for the tanks; it is quite confusing to navigate in the dark. But I was glad I saw it, and it does show the potential of the tanks’ spaces.

An installation by William Kentridge was next door — and seemed more successful, to me. Suzanne Lacy’s Crystal Quilt was very clever.

In the special exhibition galleries, a show of photography by William Klein and Daido Moriyama was very cleverly installed — in a mirror image configuration. It’s actually two retrospectives, of one artist who inspired the other, displayed side by side. Visitors can compare and contrast.

But what about the growth I mention in the headline? Even if I had not just visited, I might have written here about the plan announced by the Tate on Nov. 2. That’s when it said it was starting a program to acquire more modern and contemporary African art and two-year project entitled Across the Board which will commence on Nov. 24 and will consist of a series of events featuring emerging African artists and exploring recent practices on the continent.

The release continues:

In summer 2013 Tate Modern will dedicate a wing of its galleries to two of the most important African artists working today. A seminal work in the recent history of African art, Museum of Contemporary African Art 1997–2002 by Meschac Gaba (b.1961, Benin) has been acquired by Tate and will be displayed in its entirety for the first time in the UK next year. Consisting of twelve sections, including a Games Room, Marriage Room, Music Room and Salon, this work challenges preconceived notions of African art. This work has been part gifted by the artist and part purchased by Tate through the Acquisitions Fund for African Art supported by Guaranty Trust Bank plc.

The UK’s first major exhibition of painter Ibrahim El-Salahi (b.1930, Sudan), Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist will bring together approximately 100 works from across more than five decades of El-Salahi’s international career, this retrospective will highlight one of the most significant figures in African and Arab Modernism and reveal his place in a broader art historical context.

The Tate got this initiative financed by Guaranty Trust Bank — and bravo for that.

I bring this up as an example of how museums are struggling to deal with contemporary art made in places like Africa and the Middle East — Should be integrated with other contemporary art? should it be segregated by geography? Does it depend? We don’t have definite answers for that — or even a trend.