WARHOL FOUNDATION SHUTS IT AUTHENTICATION BOARD

Warhol foundation shuts its authentication board

But will continue work on catalogue raisonné

By Charlotte Burns | Web only

Published online 20 Oct 11 (News)

NEW YORK. The Andy Warhol Art Authentication Board will be dissolved in early 2012. The decision was announced by the Andy Warhol Foundation after a strategic review of its core aims, according to Joel Wachs, the president of the foundation. The foundation will continue its work in establishing the artist’s complete catalogue raisonné.

The closure of the authentication board means more money can be spent on the foundation's charitable goals, Wachs told The Art Newspaper. “It is a matter of priority, and our responsibility to Andy's mission. Our money should be going to artists, not lawyers,” Wachs said by telephone, referring to the astronomical sums that have been spent on legal fees defending the board's controversial decisions in the past.

The board was heavily criticised last year for spending nearly $7m defending an antitrust lawsuit brought by collector Joe Simon-Whelan, who accused the board of “engaging in a conspiracy to restrain and monopolise trade in the market for Warhol works”. Simon-Whelan also alleged that the board had denied the authenticity of a 1964 Warhol portrait he owned that had been widely accepted by other experts as a genuine work. Simon-Whelan dropped the case in October, saying that he could not afford to continue litigation. “Nobody was more angry than us [about] having to spend that money. It drove me nuts to have to do it,” Wachs said, adding that the not-for-profit board, which was formed by the Warhol Foundation in 1995, costs around $500,000 each year to run.

The Simon-Whelan case is not the only instance in which the board's decision-making has come under fire. It rejected a signed and dated work from the same series that had been owned by Warhol's former gallerist, Anthony d'Offay, despite the fact that the work had been included with the artist's knowledge in Rainer Crone’s 1970 catalogue raisonné. The dealer-collector had planned to include the 1964 self-portrait in the Artist Rooms collection of more than 700 works, which he gave to the Tate and National Galleries of Scotland in an unprecedented part-gift, part-purchase deal in 2008. The self-portrait, along with other works, was ultimately not included in the gift after discussions with the museums. The Tate told The Art Newspaper at the time that "we agreed with Anthony that it would be better not to include any work, the provenance of which might in any way be questioned. However, we ourselves have no reason to doubt the authenticity of this painting."

Read full article here.

THE GOVERNMENT ART COLLECTION ISN’T ENTIRELY SURE WHERE EVERYTHING IS

The Government Art Collection isn’t entirely sure where everything is…

By Riah Pryor | From issue 228, October 2011

Published online 20 Oct 11 (News)

The Government Art Collection (GAC), consisting of 13,500 works of art, many of which decorate government buildings and embassies, opened a second show at the Whitechapel Gallery in London last month (until 4 December). The latest exhibition has been selected by artist Cornelia Parker, and the collection is keen to make its works more accessible to the public. Ironically, the works could be safer hanging in a gallery open to the public than in government offices.

Thefts, bomb damage and looting are some of the more extreme threats the works face. The collection has lost more than 100 items throughout its 113-year history, excluding the recent losses in Tripoli (The Art Newspaper, June, p1). Of the 67 works that went missing in the past ten years, only 23 have been recovered. In 2008, Jeremy Hunt, then opposition culture spokesman, told The Times: “The Department for Culture, Media and Sport needs to get it together on a problem that has been going on for too long.”

Questions raised

The recent reappearance of a lost painting at a London auction house raises questions around the degree of effort put in by the publicly-funded organisation to find works that have gone astray.

In May, William Brooker’s 1950-52 painting, Albert Bridge (est £5,000-£8,000), was withdrawn from sale at Sotheby’s following suspicions that it might be a work from the GAC. The work was sold at Lawrences auction house, Somerset, in January but appeared to match a work recorded as missing on the collection’s website.

The painting disappeared in the 1950s from a building in Gibraltar, and is believed to have been consigned by an elderly gentleman who said he bought it around the same time. Owing to an ongoing investigation, the GAC was unable to comment on the current status of Albert Bridge, but a spokesman says: “The sale at Lawrences was not picked up at the time.” Lawrences says it is working with the Art Loss Register to resolve the matter.

Read full article here.

SCHEME TO BUY WRAPPED REISHTAG…

Scheme to buy Wrapped Reichstag…

…and display Christo’s archive in the Bundestag

By Rita Pokorny | From issue 228, October 2011

Published online 19 Oct 11 (Museums)

A foundation has been launched to raise the €10m needed to purchase the Wrapped Reichstag collection from the artist Christo. Negotiations also began last month to organise the display in Berlin’s Reichstag of the artist’s drawings, collages, archive photographs and even lengths of rope and fragments of the aluminium-covered material that shrouded the historic building, as part of the project.

Roland Specker, the project manager of Wrapped Reichstag, 1971 to 1995, said: “We have created a foundation to buy the collection. There will be an agreement with the German Bundestag, represented by its president Norbert Lammert, to present the collection as an exhibition at the Reichstag.”

Read full article here.

PETRON HONORS VISION PETRON WINNERS

An arts and culture program for the youth, Vision Petron is an exhibition and competition for young and budding artists. Themed Lakbay Pinoy —Journeys to Remember, Pathways to Rediscover, this year’s competition focused on life journeys expressed symbolically by roads, highways and byways.

The winners of this year’s Vision Petron student art competition were honored in awarding ceremonies held at the Petron Mega Plaza in Makati City last 31 August 2011.

The student art competition drew a record field of almost 2,000 submissions from student artists nationwide, the highest-ever in eleven years. Out of almost 700 entries in the painting category, a distinguished board of judges headed by National Artist Napoleon Abueva picked the following grand prize winners:

Painting – Oil/Acrylic: Lakbaying Walang Katapusan by Dale M. Erispe, Technological University of the Philippines Manila; The Path of Life by Michael V. Froilan, Eulogio ‘Amang’ Rodriguez Institute of Science & Technology; San Juanico Bridge: The Golden Bridge by Erick E. Salon, Kurit Bicol.

Painting – Water-Based Media: Living on a Prayer by Karl P. Albais, Mapua Institute of Technology; Lakbay Aral by Mark Kelvin M. Benitez, Polytechnic University of the Philippines; and Dugtungan ng Lahi by Arnold D. Lalongisip, PUP Lakandayang Cultural Association.

Almost 900 entries were received for the Photography category, with the following awarded the grand prize: Ride Under the Rain by Kirk Gideon S. Buenconsejo, Cheers Review Center; Gareta by Gib Sam G. Salak, Adventist University of the Philippines; Success Begins Here by Alexis G. Gapal, University of the East Caloocan; Little Help for Mom by Lydel S. Buenconsejo, University of Cebu; Blur by Marc Henrich W. Go, University of Santo Tomas; and Joyride by Eden Joy L. Cruz, Philippine Women’s University Davao.

Out of close to 300 submissions for the T-Shirt Design category, the grand prize winners were: Lakbay Pinoy! Patungo sa Pag-unlad by Emil Aldrine B. Alarcon, PUP Landayang Cultural Association; Juan Ride by Katleen Joy F. Gonzales, Bulacan State University; and Trip to Happiness by Renz Marrione D.R. Bautista, Bulacan State University.

Grand prize winners each received a cash prize and a trophy designed by National Artist Napoleon Abueva. Their schools were also awarded desktop computers.

Petron believes that everyone has his/her own unique perspective on things and that this uniqueness can be expressed in so many different ways. This is the inspiration behind Vision Petron — the belief that free artistic expression remains intrinsic to nation-building. Support of the different Philippine art forms and the Filipino talents are the main thrusts of this advocacy.

The annual student art competition program of Vision Petron is open to all talented students enrolled in a regular university or college course, or in tutorial and photography classes.

http://www.gadgetsmagazine.com.ph/uncategorized/petron-honors-vision-petron-winners.html

IS THE BRITISH EMPIRE’S LEGACY UNDER THREAT?

Is the British Empire’s legacy under threat?

British Empire and Commonwealth Museum plays down growing fears about the condition of its collections

By Gareth Harris | From issue 228, October 2011

Published online 19 Oct 11 (Conservation)

The collections at the Bristol-based British Empire and Commonwealth Museum (BECM), which include artefacts, photographs and films, may be languishing in damp and humid conditions, according to sources close to the museum. Fears are also growing about the condition of the Grade I listed building, which closed to the public in 2008.

“There are particular problems with the building which is old and prone to leaks and burst pipes,” says Katherine Prior, a freelance consultant who worked at the museum. “Previously, when the museum was well-staffed, there were regular humidity and temperature checks on the stores, insect monitoring, etc. I worry that there are no longer the staff [there] to carry out these checks and vital building maintenance. I’m anxious to know what the current situation is.”

The trustees now intend to carry out an independent audit of the collection, which are currently in store and number more than 553,000 items. But there are concerns about the upkeep of the collection. Anne Lineen, who was responsible for collections care, was made redundant in June. The Art Newspaper also understands that earlier this year pallets of documents were removed from the stores and laid out to dry in the former exhibition spaces of the museum.

But John Mott, the interim chief executive who last month replaced the former director Gareth Griffiths (Griffiths was dismissed in February following allegations of the unauthorised disposal of objects from the collection), says there is no reason for concern. “The Grade I listed building is sound and dry, having had £8m spent on it by the BECM in recent years. It does not leak and much of it is used as a conference venue,” says Mott. He stressed that material affected by a leak from a water cooler in an office above the library last April was treated by a conservation company.

Read full article here.

NATIONAL ARTIST SALVADOR “BADONG” BERNAL PASSES AWAY

National Artist for Theater and Design Salvador “Badong” Bernal passed away Wednesday, October 26, 2011, due to cardiac arrest. He was 66 years old.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of a great artist,” says CCP Vice-President and Artistic Director Chris Millado. “Badong redefined scenic design in the Philippines and was a teacher and mentor to our current crop of designers. He was responsible for creating the beautiful sets and costumes that defined the aesthetics of the various ballet, theater and musical productions at the CCP and other venues,” Millado continues. “He will be greatly missed as a theater artist, mentor and friend.”

Considered as the Father of Philippine Theater Design, Salvador Floro Bernal produced a brilliant body of works which have enriched Filipino original works in theater, dance and music. Since 1969, Bernal designed more than 300 productions for drama, musicals, operas and concerts such as those for Musical Theater Philippines and Opera Guild of the Philippines. He had designed period costumes for movies like Oro, Plata, Mata and Gumising Ka, Maruja and for TV commercials and calendars. Bernal was known for using indigenous and locally available materials for stage such as bamboo, abaca fabric, hemp twice raw, rattan chain links, and styrofoams in productions such as Rajah Sulayman, Abaniko, La Traviata, Tomaneg at Aniway and Pagkahaba-haba man ng Prusisyon sa Simbahan din ang Tuloy (Much Ado About Nothing). As an acknowledged guru of contemporary Filipino theater design, Bernal created the CCP Production Design Center and organized PATDAT (Philippine Association of Theatre Designers and Technicians) in 1995. As president of PATDAT, which is also the Philippine Center of OISTAT (Organisation Internationale des Scenographes, Techniciens et Architectes du Theatre), Bernal introduced Philippine theater design to the world.

His last CCP production was the musical version of Banaag at Sikat with Tanghalang Pilipino. Before his death, Bernal was working on the design of King Lear with PETA to be directed by long time friend and collaborator Felix “Nonon” Padilla.

Salvador Bernal was conferred the National Artist Award in 2003.

His body lies in state at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral of Cubao, Quezon City.

A necrological service will be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on October 29, 2011 (Saturday, 9am). His remains shall be laid to rest at the family mausoleum in Eternal Gardens, Dagupan City, Pangasinan on November 2, 2011.

ARTISTS IN FRONT OF AND BEHIND THE CAMERA

Artists in front of and behind the camera

Ben Rivers’s documentary is a portrait of a life lived in isolation, while a web series focuses on artists living in New York City

By Iain Millar | From issue 228, October 2011

Published online 19 Oct 11 (Features)

Artist Ben Rivers’s film “Two Years at Sea” was screened at the Venice Film Festival last month, where it won the Fipresci award for the best film in the orizzonti (experimental) section, and goes on show at the London Film Festival this month.

Rivers uses a handheld, wind-up, 16mm film camera, often using film stock past its sell by date (which he processes himself) to contemplate life at the margins, focusing on people and environments away from everyday civilisation, such as the disabled ex-servicemen in a soon to close factory in “Sack Barrow” (which won the Baloise Art Prize at this year’s Art Basel fair) and the faux anthropology of the “Slow Action” tetralogy, which purports to document post apocalyptic societies. For “Two Years at Sea”, he revisited the subject of his earlier short, “This is My Land”, 2006, which reflects on the life of Jake Williams, who lives in isolation in woodland in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Rivers said that he wanted to find a subject who chose such a lifestyle as a positive act, as opposed to someone who follows a hermetic existence as a reaction against the world.

The title, “Two Years at Sea” refers to what Williams did to begin his self-sufficient life: he spent two years as a sailor before striking out to live in self-imposed isolation.

Rivers’s aesthetic is ambiguous: “Two Years at Sea” can be seen as an exercise in formalist cinema, both via the limitations imposed by use of his wind-up camera and in his processing techniques, as well as in restrained use of editing and framing, or sometimes holding a scene so that movement within the frame is almost imperceptible. It is also a documentary: what we see is the life of another, undertaking recognisable tasks and following courses of action in narrative time.

Read full article here.

CCP'S FINEST RAISE FUNDS FOR EDUCATION

THE nine flagship performing companies of the Cultural Center of the Philippines perform their best works in a fundraising gala on 3 November 2011 at 8:00 p.m. at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater). In a rare dance and musical revue, dancers, singers, musicians, and actors from the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, Ballet Philippines, Tanghalang Pilipino, Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group, Philippine Madrigal Singers, Philippine Ballet Theater, UST Symphony Orchestra, National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA) and Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company perform to raise funds for the Center’s arts education and audience development program.

The CCP Gala launches the Membership Program that seeks to encourage and solicit the support of individuals and corporations to fund programs that will bring the shows of the CCP to public schools and underserved communities. The fund shall also enable teachers to teach arts in the classroom and develop materials on Philippine art and culture. While the CCP receives government funding, it is continually challenged by the rising cost of production and expenses related to the expansion of programs, especially in the area of arts education and audience development.

CCP MEMBERS will have access to an array of EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGES such as discounts, invitations to special events, access to working rehearsals and more. MEMBERS become PARTNERS in making “art matter to the life of every Filipino.”

Join the CCP Membership Program for as low as Php1,000. Call (02)832-1125 local 1800 & 1808 or email marketing@culturalcenter.gov.ph.

DYNASTY PREPARES TO SHARE ITS FAMILY SECRETS

Dynasty prepares to share its family secrets

In his first ever interview, the dealer and collector Helly Nahmad reveals details about the family collection, which goes on show in Zurich this month

By Martin Bailey | From issue 227, September 2011

Published online 18 Oct 11 (Market)

The Nahmad family is one of the most powerful art-dealing dynasties to have emerged in recent decades. Forbes now values the family’s wealth at $3 billion, although this may be an underestimate. Nevertheless, and despite their conspicuous front-row bidding at auctions worldwide, they have kept a low profile regarding the extent of their private collection.

Now the Monaco-based family, who have amassed more than 3,000 works ranging from impressionism to surrealism, are about to “come out”. Highlights of their collection will go on show in October at the Kunsthaus in Zürich—including masterpieces by Renoir, Monet, Seurat, Malevich, Kandinsky, Matisse, Modigliani, Picasso, Miró, Ernst and Dalí. The works have never been seen together before. To mark the occasion, London gallery owner Helly Nahmad has given his first ever interview, to The Art Newspaper.

The roots of the Nahmad family are in Aleppo, Syria, where banker Hillel Nahmad lived until just after the second world war. Following anti-Jewish violence in 1947, he moved to Beirut, Lebanon, and when the situation there became difficult, he took his three sons, Joseph, Ezra and David, to Milan in the early 1960s. All three brothers ended up making a fortune from art.

Read full article here.

BARTS’ HOMEWORK

Opening Reception: Bart's Homework by Elaine Roberto-Navas • October 26, Wed, 6-9pm at 20SQUARE

Silverlens presents Bart’s Homework at 20SQUARE, where Elaine Roberto-Navas does her assignment after her son’s geometric creations. Moved by the shapes Bart made out of paper and clear tape, the artist employs characteristic impasto, by which she brings life and movement into lopsided cones, cylinders, and prisms.

As if struggling to prop themselves up on top of each other, the series of patched-up shapes Navas paints are configured and rendered into “frankensteiny” pictures. She calls her work “a refreshing exercise” as painting the basics brings back old art school homeworks, and allows her to remember one of the very first things she's learned: “If you could draw these shapes, you could draw anything.”

With heavily-layered strokes, Navas pays homage to the primitive, to basic forms, by capturing clumsy curves and crooked angles. Her works become distinctly human interpretations of math’s calculated shapes. Bart’s Homework presents a melding of contradictions—where a highschool project inspires a seasoned artist’s work; the smooth swirling of paint clashes with harsh edges and the peaks of geometry; monochrome still lifes are composed with kinetic vibrance; and the childlike representation of forms is executed with mastery.

Bart’s Homework by Elaine Roberto-Navas opens on October 26, 2011 simultaneously with Moonshine Baseline by Frank Callaghan at Silverlens and Keen City by Isabel Roxas at SLab. All three shows run until November 19, 2011.

To RSVP, please call 8160044 or email manage@silverlensphoto.com

For inquiries, contact the Silverlens Galleries at 2/F YMC Bldg. II, 2320 Pasong Tamo Ext., Makati, 816- 0044, 0917-5874011, or manage@silverlensphoto.com. Gallery hours are 10am– 7pm from Mondays to Fridays, and 1-6pm on Saturdays.

Words by Airam Ferrer; Image: Elaine Roberto-Navas, Bart's Homework #1, 2011

MOONSHINE BASELINE

Opening Reception: Moonshine Baseline by Frank Callaghan • October 26, Wed, 6-9pm at silverlens

Silverlens Gallery is pleased to present Frank Callaghan’s latest body of work, Moonshine Baseline. With his work firmly rooted in found nighttime landscapes, Frank Callaghan reveals his visual roots by making his light source his subject matter. These are portraits of the moon hanging on the horizon.

Setting up the found, like a hunter setting up light traps for his camera, his is a meticulous and repetitive process. In previous shows, Stranger, Dwelling, and the hugely popular River of Our Dreams, Callaghan would stalk urban landscapes looking for interesting material to record over long exposures.

This time, he adds the horizon as a constant, as he puts the moon, our earth’s partner, in focus. Decidedly non-random in this process, he says, “There is peace and freedom in structure.” Callaghan has learned to simplify, and by simplifying, the message has become clearer.

As a related gallery event, Frank Callaghan will be hosting a Full Moon Party featuring music by Caliph 8 on November 10, 2011, Thursday, 8pm-midnight.

Moonshine Baseline by Frank Callaghan opens on October 26, 2011 simultaneously with Keen City by Isabel Roxas at SLab and Bart’s Homework by Elaine Roberto-Navas at 20SQUARE. All three shows run until November 19, 2011.

To RSVP, please call 8160044 or email manage@silverlensphoto.com

For inquiries, contact the Silverlens Galleries at 2/F YMC Bldg. II, 2320 Pasong Tamo Ext., Makati, 816- 0044, 0917-5874011, or manage@silverlensphoto.com. Gallery hours are 10am–7pm from Mondays to Fridays, and 1-6pm on Saturdays.

Words by Isa Lorenzo; Image: Frank Callaghan, Moonshine Baseline #11, 2011

WHO OWNS THIS DAMAGED MASTERPIECE BY HENRY MOORE?

Who owns this damaged masterpiece by Henry Moore?

No one is taking responsibility for the work, which stands opposite the Houses of Parliament

By Martin Bailey | From issue 228, October 2011

Published online 17 Oct 11 (News)

One of Britain’s most important Henry Moore sculptures is deteriorating drastically—and nothing is being done because no one is accepting they own it.

Knife Edge Two Piece, 1962-65, which stands directly opposite the Houses of Parliament, was given to the nation in 1967. The work frequently appears in the background of televised news reports as the site is an ideal spot for interviewing politicians.

No one is taking responsibility for the bronze, which is badly discoloured and covered with incised graffiti. “It is the most damaged Moore that I have seen on display in Britain,” says Moore specialist John-Paul Stonard.

The British Council recently wanted to send the sculpture to Moscow to be displayed in the Kremlin’s public garden with other Moores. The idea was eventually dropped because of difficulties in getting permission to display sculpture at the Kremlin, while the council also found it complicated to establish to whom the loan request should be addressed. However, it now seems that there might have been no legal impediment to prevent the council from simply sending the sculpture to Russia.

Read full article here.

KEEN CITY

Opening Reception: Keen City by Isabel Roxas • October 26, Wed, 6-9pm at Slab

Inspired by e.e. cummings’ poem, Who Knows if the Moon’s a Balloon, Isabel Roxas mounts her fourth solo exhibition at SLAB, on October 26, 2011, titled, Keen City.

Viewers will have the opportunity to view Roxas’ enigmatic work and experience her idea of a utopia that’s both fantastic and strange. Roxas describes, “It can be a place where sunshine spills over, with pretty residents everywhere and delirious flora carousing. But, grounded as I am with urban reality, my city also has a dark underbelly—a parallel world full of longing, discontentment, loneliness, and insecurity.”

Keen City is also a closer look at a current phenomenon happening in the Filipino art illustration movement, which is churning out visual works that are more diverse and experimental in themes and media. Although more highly celebrated as a children’s book illustrator in the Philippines, in this exhibition, Roxas opens up another dimension to her art and leads us into an even more whimsical world with underlying notions of the bizarre and the sinister.

For the pabalat-inspired pieces, Roxas mimics giant pastillas candy wrappers with intricately hand-cut words from Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack. The acrylic-on-linen series, called Intangible Curiosities, depicts a collection of imaginary objects that people would probably wish they could buy if only they did exist: “A Bottle of Shade For a Sunny Day,” “Sad Syrup (contents: liquid sunshine with a dash of glee),” “An Ounce of Wit,” “Comb For Smoothing Tangled Nerves,” and “A Key For Hearts That Cannot Open Themselves” to name a few. The collection recalls dark and moody Edwardian interiors and gardens, and a nod to Victorian paper crafts.

Roxas is currently based in the U.S. and works out of a studio in Queens, New York.

As a related gallery event, Isabel Roxas will be screening Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) directed by Hayao Miyazaki on November 2, 2011, Wednesday, 6-8pm at SLab.

Keen City by Isabel Roxas opens on October 26, 2011 simultaneously with Moonshine Baseline by Frank Callaghan at Silverlens and Bart’s Homework by Elaine Roberto-Navas at 20SQUARE. All three shows run until November 19, 2011.

To RSVP, please call 8160044 or email manage@silverlensphoto.com. For inquiries, contact the Silverlens Galleries at 2/F YMC Bldg. II, 2320 Pasong Tamo Ext., Makati, 816- 0044, 0917-5874011, or manage@silverlensphoto.com. Gallery hours are 10am– 7pm from Mondays to Fridays, and 1-6pm on Saturdays.

Words by Monica Barretto; Image: Isabel Roxas, The Dollhouse, 2011

BEUYS RETURNS TO SCHLOSS MOYLAND

Beuys returns to Schloss Moyland

Museum risks €250,000 copyright fine

By Gareth Harris | From issue 228, October 2011

Published online 11 Oct 11 (Museums)

The Museum Schloss Moyland in North Rhine-Westphalia, which houses the world’s largest Joseph Beuys collection, unveiled its refurbished interior last month. Photographs capturing a key 1960s performance by Beuys are, however, noticeably absent from the institution’s revamped displays. Eighteen photographs of the late German artist, taken during a performance in 1964 by Manfred Tischer, are not on view following a legal battle last year, though one image from this series will go on public display.

A German court ruled last year in favour of Eva Beuys, Joseph Beuys’ widow, in a trial concerning a 2009 exhibition at the Museum Schloss Moyland that included 19 photographs of Beuys taken by Tischer in 1964 (The Art Newspaper, November 2010). The Düsseldorf regional court ruled on 29 September 2010 that the museum breached the artist’s copyright and may not exhibit the images; the penalty for doing so is a potential fine of up to €250,000. The museum has appealed against the ruling; a decision is expected later this year.

A museum spokeswoman said the institution was able to show “one or two” images, as this constitutes “documentary photography of the action”. She added: “The Beuys estate didn’t want us to show the whole series because this ‘staccato’ could give a false impression of the real action.” The photographs document Beuys during the performance Das Schweigen von Marcel Duchamp ist ueberbewertet (Marcel Duchamp’s Silence Is Overrated), which he staged during a German television show. Beuys’ performance was not filmed and only Tischer’s photographs exist as a visual record. Beuys had granted Tischer permission to take the photographs but had apparently not authorised their display.

Read full article here.

THE REBIRTH OF POSTMODERN DESIGN

The rebirth of postmodern design

The market for the movement is in its infancy, but growing, thanks to scholarship and collector interest

By Nicole Swengley | Web only

Published online 10 Oct 11 (Market)

LONDON. When Marc Benda of the New York gallery, Friedman Benda, unveils a major presentation of ceramics by the Italian designer, Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007), at the Pavilion of Art & Design in London, it will be the first time that many of these pieces from the 1950s and 1960s have appeared in public. It’s the right time, Benda says, to dedicate his booth to the arch-postmodernist. “Scholarship and interest has increased significantly since we started holding annual gallery shows of Sottsass in 2003,” he says.

His confidence is echoed by other PAD exhibitors. London-based Lamberty Antiques is showing two Joe chairs, shaped like giant baseball gloves (£9,500 and £11,500), from a 1990 edition of the 1971 design by Italian architects, Gionatan De Pas, Donato D’Urbino and Paolo Lomazzi (sourced from collector Tom Watkins) and a late 1980s edition of Ettore Sottsass’s 1981 Carlton Bookcase (£12,500). Meanwhile London gallerist David Gill is exhibiting two limited edition “superbox” cabinets, signed and dated by Ettore Sottsass (Rolling Stones, £45,000; Omaggio a Honda, £75,000). Originally created in 1966 as prototypes for Italian design company Poltronova, Gill’s cabinets were fabricated in 2005 with Sottsass’s consent. “More people are looking at collecting named and limited pieces and Ettore Sottsass is among the most important names of the 20th century,” says Gill.

An early pioneer in postmodern sales, Chicago-based auction house Wright frequently sees results exceeding estimates. Alessandro Mendini’s 1979 Kandissa mirror fetched $11,250 in March (est $2,000-$3,000). And last year a 1969 vase from Ettore Sottsass’ “Yantra” series sold for $13,750 (est $5,000-$7,000), a limited edition 1984 Michael Graves tea service for Alessi achieved $20,000 (est $7,000-$9,000) and a pair of 1978 Robert Venturi Sheraton chairs fetched $17,500 (est $3,000-$5,000).

Read full article here.

A “LANDMARK” MUSEUM FOR UKRAINE

A “landmark” museum for Ukraine

In a rare interview, Victor Pinchuk tells us about his plans to build a new contemporary art space in Kiev

By Cristina Ruiz | From issue 228, October 2011

Published online 10 Oct 11 (Features)

Post-Soviet Kiev is a city in transformation. There are new shops and restaurants; airports are expanding, and the Olympic stadium is being revamped in preparation for the 2012 European football championships to be hosted jointly by Ukraine and Poland. But perhaps nothing exemplifies change in the country’s capital so much as the crowds queuing up to see sharks in formaldehyde, balloon rabbits in stainless steel, and sculptures of sperm-wielding adolescents, works by Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami respectively. All three artists have been shown for the first time in Ukraine at the Pinchuk Art Centre (PAC), a private museum of contemporary art in the centre of Kiev, which has just celebrated its fifth birthday.

Since its opening in 2006, nearly 1.2 million people have visited the gallery, which charges no admission and also includes a bookshop and a trendy bar with views over the city. Of these visitors, 60% are aged between 16 and 30. “Our society, especially young people, accepted contemporary art in a great way, in an unexpected way… there is a huge appetite for it,” says Victor Pinchuk, the steel magnate and billionaire who finances the museum and who has put himself at the centre of efforts to modernise Ukraine.

Pinchuk recently gave The Art Newspaper a rare interview on his estate outside Kiev, where he told us the success of his gallery has encouraged him to attempt a bigger, much more ambitious museum project. PAC is currently housed in an early 20th-century building in central Kiev which was once a hotel. But Pinchuk now wants to give it a new home in a purpose-built gallery designed by a top international architectural firm.

Read full article here.

VENICE BIENNALE HEAD OUSTED

Venice Biennale head ousted

Chairman of the biennale foundation, Paolo Baratta, replaced by Gatorade importer, Giulio Malgara

By Anna Somers Cocks | Web only

Published online 7 Oct 11 (News)

VENICE. If the Venice Biennale art exhibition now runs like a normal international event, with adequate toilets, refreshment points, marketing, press facilities and ticketing, and also manages to cover nearly 80% of its costs, it is almost entirely due to former banker Paolo Baratta, 72, chairman of the Biennale Foundation from 1998 to 2000, and from 2007 to yesterday.

Yesterday Baratta heard that his mandate would not be renewed and his successor would be a foodstuffs importer, Giulio Malgara, 73, who brought Gatorade and Quaker Oats to Italy and founded Auditel, a company that collects statistics about television usage. Malgara, however, has never shown any interest in the cultural sector, unlike Baratta, who is on the boards of various cultural bodies. The decision was announced on 6 October by Italy's minister of culture, Giancarlo Galan, who thanked Baratta for his success in “restoring the buildings historically connected with the Venice Biennale, reviving the film and theatre festivals, as well as the biennales of architecture and fine arts”.

This appointment, which is reminiscent of the years before 1998 when the post was a prize allocated on the basis of party politics, was greeted with indignation by the mayor of Venice, Giorgio Orsoni, who immediately put out a statement saying: “I am convinced that Giulio Malgara is an unsuitable person to carry out the role of chairman of the Venice Biennale and that it would be a mistake to confirm him in this position. It would interrupt a vital and fruitful process that needs to be seen through to the end.” Former mayor Massimo Cacciari said: “As long as cultural appointments in this rotten system are in the hands of the political lobbies, it will go on being like this.”

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FIL-AM WATERCOLORISTS AND THEIR SIGNATURE STYLES

Watercolor masters Fernando Catague, Angelito L. David, Oscar R. Dizon and Cesar de los Santos will present their works in an art show entitled, Four Watercolorists and their Signature Styles. The exhibition opens October 24 and runs through November 4, 2011 at the Philippine Center at 556 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036.

Lenore RS Lim, chairman of LRSL Foundation which is a co-sponsor of the show says: “Helping put up the works of seminal artists Nanding, Lito, Oscar and Cesar is a privilege because it is rare to have four exceptionally gifted artists together in a show where one can experience visual concentration and robust individual sensibilities through the sole medium of watercolor.”

Fernando Catague who hails from San Jose, Antique, graduated cum laude at the University of the East School of Fine Arts in 1969. An art teacher for over 30 years, he is adept in both watercolor and oil. He designed the stamp “Labuyo” or wild rooster for the Phil. Postal Corporation; an At ease in both oils and watercolors, he was an art instructor at the College of the Holy Spirit fin Manila or over 30 years. He presently teaches watercolor at the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey located in Summit.

Angelito L. David - recognized as leading authenticator, art conservator and restorer of old Filipino masters; taught art for over 20 years, and co-founded the Watercolor Society of the Philippines. He has consistently been winning major awards from the New Jersey and Garden State Water Color Societies. He received Pamana ng Pilipino 2010 award from Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III; featured in book Transparent Colors, Filipino American Watercolorists; conducts workshops in advanced watercolor techniques.

Oscar R. Dizon held a one-man show at the Ayala Museum in March 2011; recently won the Murray Wentworth Memorial Award for Watercolor from the Hudson Valley Art Association in June, the Frank C. Wright Medal of Honor Award for Watermedia from the American Artists Professional League in November 2010, and a Certificate of Merit from the Salmagundi Club in 2009. featured in the American Artist Watercolor Magazine, winter 2011 issue; paintings included in the book Splash 12, June 2011, and in June 2012, Splash 13.

Cesar delos Santos won the Gold medal Award of Honor, Audubon Artists 65th Annual, New York; PACCAL 2010 Fine Arts Awardee; San Pedro, Laguna Award for a sculpture entitled "Kalayaan" (Freedom) . Cesar earned the San Pedro, Laguna Award for his sculpture entitled "Kalayaan" (Freedom); garnered 2nd prize at the 1989 Shell National Student Art Competition; 2nd prize at the Art of Ecology Painting Competition, and a gold medal from Congressman Nereo Joaquin for his "First Malolos Congress" painting.

B/W MEDIUM

B/W MEDIUM

23rd One-Man Show of Boy Kiamko

8 October 2011, 6:30 p.m.

Alternative Contemporary Art Studio

Sacred Heart Parish

242 D. Jakosalem St., Cebu City

Artist's Statement:

I was once asked about the difference of a neophyte in art and a master. To this I answered: A neophyte is young and learning, paints with his hands and mind, while a master paints with his hands, mind and heart and is seasoned enough to be a genius.

In this 23rd one-man show of my recent works, my first attempt for my first black and white solo show, I chose to probe why black is beautiful. With these various subjects I enjoyed creating, there is proof that black can't stand alone without light. Black is the structure and white is the highlight.

Intermingling is the keyword to the creation of some of my works. A singular subject may be presented in different angles...of different shapes...with different shades.

Interspersing is another method I employ to compose my subjects. I break the continuity of lines by crossing lines with it. Even shades can be overshadowed with another shade.

Of course there are countless ways to create a work of art, as there are many ways to fill our lives with art... to instill life to our world of art.

Nations are at war because of politics...nations are at peace because of art. Art is the only language the world can speak. So, let the artist speak to the world!

INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY

SM Art Center of Megamall presents an exhibition of Monnar Baldemor’s recent works entitled “Intellectual Curiosity”. The Show consist of pen and ink and acrylic on canvas weaves and explores the human emotions that lie just beyond the realm of acceptance, exploitations, hopes and dreams from his observations of society. While his father Manuel Baldemor dabbles in the ardor of life as depicted in his local and foreign travel scenes, Monnar looks inward and probes the darker recesses of the soul.

This is Monnar’s 9th solo exhibit, a consistent award winner of major art competition sponsored by the Art association of the Philippines, he graduated from the University of the East school of Fine Arts and presently the design director of established weekly magazine Women’s Journal.

The show opens October 19, 2011 at 6:30 pm at the ART CENTER and co-sponsored by Galerie Y, 4/F Bldg. A, SM Megamall, Ortigas Complex, Mandaluyong City and runs till November 1, 2011.

CCP’S NEW VP AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

STAGE director and playwright Chris Millado was introduced recently as the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ new Vice President and Artistic Director.

“I am thrilled and excited to be given the opportunity to work with the best artists and arts managers in the country,” Millado said. “I joined the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1986 at a time when the Center was undergoing a profound reorientation.” One of the first projects he handled was to bring CCP artists and resident companies outside Metro Manila in a Cultural Caravan to celebrate People Power. Ballet dancers from the CCP, together with artists and cultural workers performed on flatbed trucks before fisherfolk in Binangonan, Rizal and other areas usually not reached by cultural performances. “My interest has been how to open up the productions of CCP, broaden its audiences to include underserved communities while maintaining the excellence and artistry that it has been known for. I’m also interested in exploring ways in which CCP could achieve a stronger online presence wherein it could provide access to its materials and create compelling digital platforms that can be accessed by the world wide web.”

According to Millado, CCP’s vision is to make art matter to the life of every Filipino. “We program for the broadest audiences, showcase the best artists and products of this generation in music, theater, dance, literature, cinema, visual arts, multimedia. Provide a venue for the creation of new works and provide new contexts for traditional forms. Although we are situated in Manila, we aspire to reach audiences in the whole archipelago by being more aggressive with our outreach programs and tapping new technologies to broaden the reach. I see the Artistic Mission of the CCP focusing on four areas: Artistic Excellence, Filipino Aesthetics, Arts Education and Complex Development.” He likewise outlined the Center’s other artistic projects for the rest of 2011 and beyond.

Millado used to head the CCP’s Performing Arts Department and acted as Officer-in-Charge of the CCP Marketing Department. He oversees the programming of the whole artistic season of the Center and its resident companies, among them, Tanghalang Pilipino, Ballet Philippines, Philippine Ballet Theater, Philippine Madrigal Singers, Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group, Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company, the UST Symphony Orchestra, the National Music Competitions for Young Artists and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra. He has curated some of the CCP’s festivals as well. An accomplished stage director and playwright, his works have been produced in Manila (Philippine Educational Theater Association, Actors Actors Inc., Tanghalang Pilipino), San Francisco (Teatro ng Tanan, Theater Yugen), Chicago (Pintig Theater Collective), Hawaii (Hawaii Alliance for Philippine Performing Arts, Kumu Kahua Theater, Kennedy Theater UH Manoa, Waipahu Plantation Village), and New York (May-i Theater, Juilliard School). A graduate from the Theater Arts Program at the University of the Philippines, Millado earned his Masters degree in Performance Studies from New York University through a Fulbright Hayes scholarship. He has taught courses in Theater Arts, Performance Studies, and Philippine Studies at the Ateneo de Manila University, the University of the Philippines, Leeward Community College and the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He served as Artistic Directorof the PETA Kalinangan ensemble. He spearheaded the organization of Filipino-American theater companies in the US. He also served as Associate Artistic Director of the Tanghalang Pilipino. He has been a recipient of the Rockefeller residency in Bellagio, Italy; a fellow to the Salzburg Global Seminar on the Performing Arts and currently a Fellow of the DeVos Institute for Arts Management at the Kennedy Center of the Performing Arts in Washington DC.

ART FILM FEATURE: MODIGLIANI

MOVIE REVIEW 'MODIGLIANI'
Piling on the Paint With a Trowel in Paris, or Romania
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: July 1, 2005

The best and maybe the only use to be made of the catastrophic screen biography "Modigliani" is to serve as a textbook outline of how not to film the life of a legendary artist. Here is a checklist of some don'ts, offered in no particular order.

Don't cast a wide-eyed little boy as the dissipated grown-up artist's sorrowful inner child showing up to mope cutely whenever Modi, as the Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani is nicknamed, lands in hot water. Don't surround your famous subject with famous friends who look and act like mannequins unless you have some notion of how to give them real personalities instead of cartoonlike traits.

Picasso (Omid Djalili) as a stout glowering oaf chewing on a pipe will not do. Nor will Gertrude Stein (Miriam Margolyes) as a bossy, bug-eyed Jewish-mother caricature. It's not a good idea to have these people and their friends show up like a robotic cheering section to shout and sing in unison at birthday parties and other festive events. Better to bring in the chorus from "La Boheme"; at least it can really sing.

And don't forget what era you are in. When the painter and his sweetheart do a back-bending kiss in silhouette on the rain-swept streets of Paris (actually Romania, where most of the movie was filmed), it's not appropriate to play Edith Piaf's "Vie en Rose" over the soundtrack; that recording is still three decades in the future from the late teens, when this scene takes place.

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