Frieze Sculpture Park

The sculpture park, once again, is a great surprise! Leaving the glamorous pavillion of the Frieze, just within a 2 minute walk, you find yourself discovering a few new works of art. Runners pass by you in all directions, while other athletes might be stretching on the side, and people whose intentions were to have a simple stroll in the park. Its great! I took pictures of most pieces, so if you missed it, you can see a bit of what went on!

Map of the park

Thomas Schütte

Aluminiumfrau Nr. 18" (2006)

Jaume Plensa

"Storm" (2013)

Not Vital

"HEAD (Mao)" (2013)

Reza Aramesh

"Action 137: 6:45pm, 3 May 2012, Ramla" (2014)

Yayoi Kusama

"Pumpkin(s)" (2014)

Matt Johnson

"Baby Dinosaur (Aparosaurus)" (2013)

Fausto Melotti

"I Luohi Deputati" (1976)

Michael Craig-Martin

"Scissors (Blue)" (2013)

Richard Nonas

"Wedge" (2014)

Caroline Archaintre

"FourGrwwl" (2014)

George Condo

"Resting Figures" (2009-2014)

Ursula von Rydingsvard

"Heart in Hand" (2014)

Gabriele de Santis

"Can't Take my Eyes off You" (2014)

Marie Lund

"Attitudes" (2013-2014)

Franz West

"Stizwurst" (1999-2000)

KAWS

"SMALL LIE" (2013)

Seung-taek Lee

Ppira (1970's)

PAD London

Here are a few snaps of the PAD Art Fair!

(I'll add some text later)

Alexander Calder

Alexander Calder

Christopher Wool

Jani Leinonen

Andy Warhol

Fernando Bottero

Nate Lowman

Gilbert & George

Cy Twombly

Mark Newson

"The Collector" - Helly Nahmad Gallery

The Collector.

I wish I were him. Gallery exhibition posters hung together with postcards, pictures, prints and a Dubuffet. Everything is filled up. Magazines and books organizely spread take over the whole floor. There is no more space. But there is always room for something new, none-the-less. The TV broadcasts news, the radio is playing in the background, and soon you notice a Giacometti and a Fontana.

Through the mixtures, you notice the well developed knowledge of his interests. There is passion. Originality. Authenticity. He is inspiring. He is real.

Visit Helly Nahmad Gallery (G1) at Frieze Masters.

"Who Killed Herzog?" - Cildo Meireles

Cildo Meireles, "Quem Matou Herzog?" / "Who Killed Herzog?" (1975). From the series Insertions into Ideological Circuits 2: Banknote Project. Click here for image URL.

During the time of the Brazilian Military Dictatorship media was suppressed. Press, television, radios, education, museum exhibitions and several other communication establishments were strictly controlled[1]. In 1964, the militaries took over “implementing an institutional act to persecute anybody who posed a potential threat to the regime”[2], giving rise to the 21 following years of restricted freedom.

Artists had to find “new ways of producing and displaying their work”[3]. Guerrilla interventions were performed to bring art outside censored museums and art institutions[4]. Cildo Meireles[5] found means of expression through banknotes. Who Killed Herzog?[6], fig. 1, consists of an anonymous message stamped onto money[7]. By taking advantage of the monetary exchange, he subverted “their meanings with incisive words and sentences”[8].

“Who killed Herzog?” was one of the few messages that circulated in the banknotes. Herzog was a famous journalist for TV Cultura, who was arrested for being a threat to the government in 1975[9]. A few months later he was found dead, declared as suicide. After forensic analysis, it was understood that someone had tortured and killed him[10]. Until Today, nobody knows his murderer.

With the sense of mobility and change pervading the artistic scenario in Brazil, artists were “interested in ways of rapidly exchanging ideas rather than embalming the idea in an 'object’”[11]. Meireles encouraged freedom of speech, stating “the reproduction of this piece is free and open to anyone and everyone”[12]. Circulation would not be stopped, given money is important for daily use. The work is not officially sanctioned, possibly considered as a “graffiti that could move around”[13]. Meireles questions art as a product, freedom of speech and defied the barriers of censorship though the choice in medium, allowing the public to have an alternative way of communication.

Though the regime in Brazil has changes, Insertions into Ideological Circuits is still as effective as it was. Media is still controlled by certain groups of people. If one imagines this work as a precursor to the power of the Internet, it is understood how this works breaks the barriers of censorship in the media by giving everyone a place to speak[14].

                  It was a bold move with simple means, a physical manifestation without the need of the artist’s presence. It is not a question of who produced it, but of the awareness of a greater problem. Its anonymity emphasizes issues of private law, the market and elitism of art[15]. Through questioning its nature, that object gains life. An aura is created around the work. “Good art speaks for itself”[16], independent of public appreciation. The best works in the end are the ones that have the power of controversy.

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[1] Fernando Rebouças, “Jornalismo Na Ditadura Militar,” InfoEscola, accessed May 3, 2014, http://www.infoescola.com/historia-do-brasil/jornalismo-na-ditadura-militar/.

[2] “Military Dictatorship (1964 – 1985),” SoulBrasileiro, accessed May 3, 2014, http://soulbrasileiro.com/main/brazil/brazilian-history/5-military-dictatorship-1964-1985/ditadura-militar-1964-1985/.

[3] Claudia Calirman, Brazilian Art Under Dictatorship, Kindle (Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press Books, 2012), [Location 213 of 4931, 4%, Chapter “Introduction”].

[4] Ibid.  [Location 226 of 4931, 5%, Chapter “Introduction”].

[5] Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

[6] “Quem Matou Herzog?” – translated from Portuguese into “Who Killed Herzog?”. Part of the series Insertions into Ideological Circuits 2: Banknotes Project - asdasda. Edition acquired by Tate.

[7] “Cildo Meireles - Insertions into Ideological Circuits 2: Banknote Project,” Tate, n.d., https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/meireles-insertions-into-ideological-circuits-2-banknote-project-t12532.

[8] Cristina Freire, “The Latent Discourse in Brazilian Art in the 1970’s” (Barcelona Workshop, 2007), http://www.vividradicalmemory.org/htm/workshop/bcn_Essays/artebrasil70_Freire_eng.pdf. p.2

[9] Redação Terra, “Entenda o caso Vladimir Herzog,” Notícias Terra, Online edition, accessed May 3, 2014, http://noticias.terra.com.br/brasil/noticias/0,,OI407607-EI306,00-Entenda+o+caso+Vladimir+Herzog.html.

[10] Ibid.

[11] MoMA, “[Press Release] Computer Print-Out Makes Nine Foot Column in Museum Show” (MoMA, July 30, 1970), http://www.moma.org/momaorg/shared/pdfs/docs/press_archives/4484/releases/MOMA_1970_July-December_0004a_69D.pdf?2010.

[12] Aline, Camila, Daniele, Karina e Tainá., “Quem Matou Herzog?,” Blogger, Vida e Obra de Cildo Meireles, October 19, 2010, http://cildomeireles.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/quem-matou-herzog.html.

[13] Freire, “The Latent Discourse in Brazilian Art in the 1970’s.” p. 2

[14] Ibid. p. 7

[15] Aline, Camila, Daniele, Karina e Tainá., “Quem Matou Herzog?”.

[16] Paul Arden, Whatever You Think, Think Opposite (Penguin Books, 2006). pp. 84-85

The Day I Found a 'Cildo' Amongst my Things

It's a funny little story, the one I'm about to tell - a very true one too, in fact, happened to me just Today.

When I was five, circa 1998, I found in my Dad's things a banknote that was worth 0 Dollars. That was an incredible thing! I had never seen anything like it before! I was so amazed, that I begged for it to be mine - and it did, being a ZERO note, it shouldn't really be worth much - just a bit of a joke really. I kept it with my things, together will pens which didn't work, markers, fading highlighters, tapes, and crayons - all inside this transparent box, that belonged to me.

I even remember a day that I was playing cashier with a friend and I showed her that bank note together with monopoly bills too. I was so proud of it.

As time passed by, I would loose this banknote amongst my things and I would find it again after a few years or months. It would always make me happy to find it. Anyways, moving on...

By the time I was 15, I was given a little silver wallet which I started using right away. After finding my zero dollars again around that time, I decided to keep it on that wallet, and I would carry it around with me. It was cool, much like my good luck charm.

I have always been very much interested in arts, but it takes a little while to get to know much about it, especially at such a young age. I had been presented to the works of this famous Brazilian artist called Cildo Meireles who did amazing works, but it was only around my 18th birthday that I learned that he had made a series of Zero Dollar notes. By that time, I had already changed wallets, and hadn't seen that note in a couple of years.

These past few days, I had decided to look into my old wallets to find this goddam note, which I was sure it was by Cildo. And I didn't find it. I looked in between letters that were written my in the past, and much like the previous try, I had found nothing. I looked into photo boxes. Still nothing. I remembered my parents about it but all they would say was that there was no signature on it, and it was probably only a cheap print of a 0 note.

Today - as mentioned in the beginning of the story - I decided to swap back to my dear old little silver wallet - one which I had believed to have throughly looked through. As I was putting my UAL ID Card in one of the pockets, I found something to be interrupting its way. And it was nothing more, nothing less, than my crumpled old zero dollar banknote. And on it, there was nothing more, nothing less than a signature of Cildo Meireles.

Cildo Meireles, "Zero dollar" (1978-84).
Click here for image URL.

The person who had given it to my father didn't tell him the importance of that note, and my dad, much too young at the time to bother about art, didn't know of it either. Now, that note can be crippled and even a little dirty - but if you think about it, I was 5 when I was given it... I could have drawn or painted over it - OR WORSE - I could have cut it, given it away, thrown it away - but I kept it (guilty that a 3mm of its tip is missing) - I KEPT IT. It has survived at least 15 years!

Of course, if you buy a new one, it costs $5,000 - according to Artspace. If mine were to go for sale, it would be worth much much less, given its state. But for me, oh my god, it has brough smiles to my face every time I found it - from the necessity of playing with it as a kid, until today, where I study and regard it highly with much respect. Mr. Cildo Meireles, I have to thank you dearly for all the joy that you have given me for creating this note.

If you want to find out more about other banknotes by Cildo Meireles, I'll be posting a text next Monday, the 1st of September!

Art Review: Martin Creed's "What's the Point of It"?

The exhibition starts with non-uniform ticking sounds, a striped black-and-white wall and a huge "MOTHERS" neon sign rotating above the viewers. A sofa, without much sense is placed covering half of the entrance. At the beginning, everything is quite puzzling, though the pamphlet distributed helps aid our comprehension. Before proceeding to the next room, you stop to reflect: do I accept this as art?

Martin Creed, "Mothers". Exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.
Click here for image URL

Stacks of chairs and boxes, a door that opens and closes on its own, farting sounds, a broccoli, and fully painted sheets of paper with a single pen, are on display. The pieces resemble doodles or experiments children would do in a spare time, not very elaborate, yet usually playful and colourful. Soon, after some time getting used to the idea of Creed’s work, the viewer’s inner-child starts to identify with the works. Many of the themes are explored further through the choice of different materials. The repetitive stacking techniques vary from Lego blocks, to chairs, nails, or cactuses show consistency in his making.

Once you are done on the first floor, make sure to take the lift instead of the stairs, though exercise may be good. There is a tailor-made work by Creed in it. Going up, musical notes increase in tone, with timed intervals, until you reach the second floor. Going down is the exact opposite. This work maps how the artist enjoys the idea of scales, and play with directly related objects in repetition. Though in the case of the elevator, the viewer may remind himself or herself of a “Looney Tunes” cartoon scene where characters are falling to the ground or even building up towards an exciting action.

The installations on the top floor of the gallery are the highlight of the exhibition, and the queue for the hair-raising balloon room does not contradict this statement. As the viewer walks through Half the Air in a Given Space, they see the balloons that fill up the space of an entire room statically sticking to the long hairs of the young or old. Moving through it becomes slightly limited; the air-filled containers push and support you simultaneously. One cannot simply stop laughing. It is most definitely an enjoyable ride! The outside pieces show a wall made from different types of bricks, a car that works by itself, and a video of a penis moving. These illustrate the maturity of Creed's practices by embracing what people perceive as immature.

Martin Creed, "Half the Air in a Given Space". Exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.
Click here for image URL.

As you are prepared to leave the exhibition, you pass through a room with a projection of either a girl vomiting or pooping. Two very uncomfortable scenes which you would probably ask to erase from your mind. The reactions towards this room are quite varied. The people who read the sign containing a warning about the films, some may choose to stay or flee through to the exit door. The ones who don’t notice the sign, will probably sit through the screening until they notice the actor’s excrements, responses like laughter, eye covering, and running towards the exit are all acceptable. By then, you question, what's the point of all of it?

Art of the Week: L'Absinthe

Edgar Degas, "L'Absinthe" (1876). Musée D'Orsay, Paris. Click here for image URL

By the late 19th Century, absinthe was becoming a common drink throughout the outcasts of Paris. The scene is set to the right rather than centrally, and the characters' minds seem to be far away from that situation. The absinthe glass is set right in front of the distracted lady. Of course, absinthe is not what we taste nowadays. At the time, it was actually hallucinogenic, as much as we've been told. The drink started to raise problems of social isolation.

Degas was a fan of photography, and the canvas is set almost to look like a photograph - a still moment, maybe from the corner of an eye. A snap, a quick view, without focussing on the posers as the subject matter, but really the environment as a whole. It is as if the viewer is sitting on the table looking at them, or even joining them in the isolation of the self.