Real Clear Arts

Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture

Overheard At The Museum: Dallas Edition

You know the book of that name in my headline, published in 2005, which gathered a bunch of conversational snippets the author, Judith Henry, heard in museums and galleries, and published them with pictures. It comes to my mind every now and then, when I hear a good quote — either funny, enlightening, sad or all-too-on-target, alas. I heard one in the last category the other day in the Dallas Museum of Art. I was in the contemporary galleries, looking at the wall I’ve pictured below, when two young men — probably college kids, freshmen or sophomores — came walking through.

DallasContempOne went up to the Rothko, and said to other:

“Just what I thought, Mark Rothko. You see this — it looks really simple. But it’s worth so much money now. We studied him in art history.”

How disappointing, that link immediately to the market. Not another word passed between the two; they just went on past the Diebenkorn and then the Francis. And soon they left the gallery.

It’s a great wall, though.

Photo Credit: © Judith H. Dobrzynski 

New Donor Gift: Allen & Co. Returns Name To JALC

Now here is something I’ve never heard of: a larger donor is giving back a naming right so that it can be resold.

JALC_font_final_001_620Yesterday, Jazz at Lincoln Center said that Allen & Co., the financial company headed by Herbert Allen that named the Allen Room, one of three performance spaces at JALC, in 2004, was giving back the right, as part of a new campaign, so the room could be resold to a new donor. Here’s what the release said:

As the organization prepares to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Frederick P. Rose Hall in its 2014-15 season, Allen & Company’s innovative philanthropic approach is intended to encourage more charitable giving to jazz.

“Allen & Company’s extraordinary contributions enabled us to complete Frederick P. Rose Hall and were a landmark moment in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s history,” said Managing and Artistic Director, Wynton Marsalis. “Ten years later, through this same selfless generosity, Allen & Company is providing an important means of financial security for the next stage of our growth.”

The Allen Room seats 550 people,  but what makes it special is its view — 50-fit-tall floor to ceiling windows that overlook Central Park. The design shares similarity with a  Greek amphitheater, with the stage below and seats ascending from there. It can be a performance space or a dance floor.

Allen paid $10 million for the rights in perpetuity in 2004, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Now it should bring more.

I suppose JALC would rather have another $10 million from Allen, but I kind of like the give-back too.

 

Kinetic Art: Making A Comeback?

Wasn’t kinetic art a phenomenon of decades past? Maybe not. It may be making a comeback. Or has already.

PowersWashington University in St. Louis issued a call for papers the other day for a session at the Midwest Art History Society Annual Conference next April, that began “In the mid-1950s and 1960s kinetic art became an international phenomenon. With no single leader, manifesto, or aesthetic the term covers a wide range of works involving actual and optical movement, as well as works that demand collaborative engagement in the form of audience interaction.”

The CFP notes that the nearby Kemper museum has recently acquired several “significant” kinetic works from the 1960s, including pieces by Robert Breer, Davide Boriani, Karl Gerstner, Julio Le Parc, and Man Ray, and that these “reflect a range of experimental approaches emerging in the postwar period.” It also notes the number of recent exhibitions on the subject, by way of explaining why now is a good time to look at kinetic art.

Truth be told, I hadn’t noticed any such exhibitions until this month, when the MIT Museum opened 5000 Moving Parts on Nov.  21. The MIT show, organized by Laura Knott, features “large-scale works by four North American artists whose sculptures and interactive machinery show the wide range of work taking place in the contemporary kinetic art field,” the press release said.

So maybe this movement deserves a little more attention now. I like the sound of the works in the MIT show. It includes pieces by Arthur Ganson (in collaboration with sound artist Christina Campanella), Anne Lilly, John Douglas Powers, and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Powers’s Iahu, at left, is billed as having “beautiful waves of moving parts that mesmerize viewers with their accuracy and simplicity.” (I’m ready to be mesmerized.)

After I wrote this, I discovered that the Boston Globe had a short piece on the MIT show, here.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of MIT

 

Cheese As Art, And ABMB As Celebrity Circus

CheeseArtIf ever you thought that Art Basel Miami Beach was turning into a circus, take a look at this press release that landed in my Inbox this afternoon. The subject line was “MEDIA INVITE to “Cheeses of France” EAT ART Media Preview.” Then it went on to say:

Amongst the fabulous art on display at this year’s Art Basel in Miami you’ll find an oasis of delicious FRENCH CHEESES.

Now I like my cheese as much or more as anyone else, but this read like something from The Onion. The cheeses can been seen in two pop-up events, which I’m sure will be fun, and very commercial. Listen to the details:

The pop-up will be held under a special tent that is being erected specifically for the Cheeses of France event (directly across from the Art Miami tent), and attendees will be able to sample a variety of French cheeses, while enjoying spectacular interactive and edible art displays from three international artists, as well as tasty passed hors-d’oeuvres and wine pourings.

And then:

The “Eat Art” movement is an integral part of the Cheeses of France Miami pop-up event, and was created by Daniel Spoeri in the early 1960s to create synergy between art and food. For the first time ever, during the Miami Art Basel Fair, the Milk Factory, a Parisian Art Gallery specializing in the “Eat Art” movement, will showcase three “Eat Art” artists: Dorothée Selz, known as the “Eat Art” baby, who began work as an artist in the late 1960s; Antoni Miralda, who with Daniel Spoeri created the “Eat Art” movement and who later opened The Food Culture Museum, an informal museum preserving diverse popular food culture throughout the world; and Krai, an artist from Thailand currently residing in Paris, who adapted his art of sculpturing tropical fruits to the French culture and is now the only sculptor on cheeses in the world.

I wish I could be there, actually, but I am traveling in a different direction tomorrow.

Another press release today carried the words “Of course we are not allowed to mention names but if you read about a major personality like Jay Z, Lady Gaga, or Leonardo Di Caprio attending Art Basel, chances are they are checking out the Manuel Pardo exhibit at Williams McCall, the only fine arts gallery South of Fifth on South Beach. They are scheduled to come by during the week or at the official reception…” I’d be staying away from that one. And then there are all the “private event” invitations I’ve received from brands (ahem) I don’t even know.

Celebritization of the art world has been going on for some time now.  I regularly receive emails about galas or gallery openings that cite the attendees, listing celebrities first, then “major collectors,” then a couple of high-profile, global curators — and then, finally, the artists, if there are any. That’s sad.

And so, as fun as a cheese event sounds, I’m dismayed by the way ABMB and the contemporary art world in general are going. ABMB is turning into a mammoth commercial opportunity, not for art — which would be expected — but for luxury products and experiences, a trade fair for the rich. Art is secondary.

Now, as for the cheese, if you go to this website, you’ll be invited, too.

A Building Named For An Artist, Not A Donor

Here’s a refreshing development: Last week, the School of Art at the California Institute of Arts said that it was naming its new building of artists’ studios for John Baldessari, an artist. not for a major donor.

JohnBaldessarStudioI can’t think of a parallel, but I’d like to hear of others if they do exist.

Baldessari is both an alumnus (of Chouinard) and a long-time faculty member of CalArts. The school plans to raise money for the Baldessari building (pictured at right) with a benefit auction that will feature “more than 70 important works of art by CalArts alumni and faculty” next spring. Funds raised in this initiative will also endow scholarships for students at CalArts.

CalArts hints in the press release that it can do that because it counts “an exceptional number of influential artists” among its alums, and many of the most influential will contribute to the fundraiser. Here’s what that entails:

  • More than 40 works donated by CalArts alumni artists will be presented in an exhibition and sale at Paula Cooper Gallery and Metro Pictures in New York from April 5th to April 19th, 2014, with a preview to take place at Regen Projects in Los Angeles in March 2014. Clara Kim, most recently Senior Curator of Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center and former Gallery Director and Curator of REDCAT (Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater) from 2008-2011 will organize the exhibition, providing a rich context that illustrates the history of CalArts.
  • Artsy, the premiere online platform for discovering, learning about, and collecting art, will be the exclusive online partner for the presentation and sale of the works.
  • On May 13, 2014, Christie’s will auction works by more than 20 artists including John Baldessari, Walead Beshty, Vija Celmins, Matt Mullican, Catherine Opie, Tony Oursler, Ed Ruscha, Carrie Mae Weems, and James Welling, among many others.

CalArts expects to raise $5 million from the sales. More details here.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of CalArts