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    A New Show Celebrates Surrealist Photographer Dora Maar on Her Own Terms

    An exhibition of work by Dora Maar, the Surrealist photographer immortalized as Pablo Picasso’s “Weeping Woman,” is going on view at the reopening Amar Gallery in London in June amid growing popularity of her work and the reframing of her career.
    The show will feature Maar’s photograms and photographs, including her pictures of Picasso and his celebrated anti-war mural Guernica—of which she was the official photographer.
    Dora Maar. Virgin and Crucifix II (ca. 1980.) Photo courtesy of Amar Gallery
    “As a photographer, she was a pioneer admired by the likes of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Man Ray. Her position as Picasso’s lover clouded over her undeniable artistic talent which extended far beyond photography and included writing, poetry and painting,” gallerist Amar Singh said in a statement.
    The exhibition, “Dora Maar: Behind the Lens,” coincides with the upcoming July 4 release of author Louisa Treger’s historical fiction The Paris Muse, published by Bloomsbury, about the relationship between the two artists and the theatrical production Maar, Dora that will perform at Camden Fringe in August for its third run.
    “I’m so glad it seems like her work is finally getting its moment in the spotlight,” said the artist Nadia Jackson, who wrote the play—which is produced by Amar Gallery.
    Dora Maar. Picasso Under The Trees—Hotel Vaste Horizon, Mougins (ca. 1936). Photo courtesy of Amar Gallery
    Antoine Romand, who acted as an intermediary between the gallery and the Dora Maar Estate, called the exhibit a “fantastic event and a great way of highlighting her work,” noting that it will include iconic images from the photographer as well as some “unusual” photograms rarely seen on the market.
    “Generally speaking, Dora Maar’s works are very rare because her photographic production was fairly limited over time,” Romand said. “Another reason is the unique nature of the photograms. This exhibition will show works that have never been seen before.”
    Maar was born in 1907 and came of age as Surrealism was taking hold in the French capital. Beginning in the 1930s, she ran her own photography studio, producing fashion editorials and advertisements that nonetheless bore a surrealist edge. On assignment on the set of Jean Renoir’s film The Crime of Monsieur Lange, Maar met Picasso, commencing an affair that lasted almost a decade. During that time, Maar served as muse and model for a number of the Spanish painter’s works, including his 1937 Portrait of Dora Maar, while Picasso treated her (and Marie-Therese Walter, who was also his lover) with unabashed cruelty.
    After leaving Picasso, Maar commenced a painting practice, creating figurative then abstract works that were shown in various exhibitions through the 1940s and ’50s. In her latter-day career, in the 1980s, Maar would return to photography with her photograms—the technique of creating images without a camera—that once again drew out her surrealist bent. Maar died in 1997 aged 89.
    Dora Maar. Virgin and Crucifix (ca. 1980). Photo courtesy of Amar Gallery
    Treger said she felt compelled to put Maar at the forefront of her book because she is among many other women who have “often been overshadowed” by their male counterparts. However, she said “there’s a promising shift” towards recognizing and amplifying such female voices.
    “This renewed interest in her reflects a broader movement towards viewing iconic male artists like Picasso in a more nuanced way, from the perspectives of the women who shared their lives,” Treger said. She pointed out that Françoise Gilot, whose career Picasso allegedly tried to suppress when she left him, is having her own exhibition at the Musée Picasso Paris.
    Jackson likewise said it was fascinating that the photographer “seems to be acknowledged only in conjunction with Picasso,” but warned that erasing him from her legacy would do her a disservice because it would be erasing an important part of her story.
    “It was a theme we explored a lot in our play actually—how, as much as Dora would’ve perhaps wanted her work to outshine her relationship with him, it fundamentally couldn’t have existed without him,” Jackson said. “Unfortunately, you have to acknowledge Picasso in order to respect Dora’s legacy in its entirety, but it is also possible to recognize her artistic career and talents without it being overshadowed by him.”
    Dora Maar. La Sagrada Familia (ca. 1933). Photo courtesy of Amar Gallery
    In talking about the photographer’s artistic talents, Treger said a piece in Amar Gallery’s exhibition that particularly stood out to her is Virgin and Crucifix (ca. 1980), which she said showcases Maar’s mastery of the photogram technique.
    “Through the use of tight framing, and dramatic light and shadows, the Virgin and crucifix materialize from an inky background, radiating magic and mystery,” Treger said. “The juxtaposition of sacred and eerie elements prompts contemplation of the deeper layers of meaning within the image.”
    “Dora Maar: Behind the Lens” is on view at Amar Gallery, Kirkham House, 12-14 Whitfield Street, London, June 16–August 18.
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    Peter Hujar’s Lesser-Seen Early Works Take the Spotlight at the Ukrainian Museum

    The new show, “Rialto,” at the Ukrainian Museum in New York spotlights the first formative decade of Peter Hujar’s career. It’s an apt venue: the late photographer was raised by his Ukrainian grandparents on a farm in New Jersey before moving to the city, where he lived in an old theater less than a block from the museum. Hujar became an East Village fixture, one familiar to Peter Doroshenko, the institution’s director.
    “I met Peter at a dollar-slice pizza when I was a student in 1985, and it was a two-minute encounter,” he told me. “Then I saw him six months later on St. Marks when I was walking down the street and he said hello. I realized who it was and I thought, well, I’ll contact him later. But he passed six months later, so there was never a later.”
    Installation view of “Rialto” at the Ukrainian Museum. Photo: Min Chen.
    Doroshenko believes Hujar must have visited the museum, even if the Ukrainian diaspora was perhaps unaware of his work or presence. An exhibition, he said, made sense, particularly one that centered on Hujar’s earliest body of work, from 1955 through 1969, which is likely lesser known. 
    “Rialto,” which means meeting place, alludes to Hujar’s Second Avenue studio, at which his fellow artists and downtown denizens often congregated. But it also befits an exhibition of some 75 photographs showcasing Hujar’s range and roving eye. Though the photographer is now recognized for his images of New York’s gay and downtown subcultures, the show is a reminder that he also captured children and animals, street scenes and country roads, famous faces and nameless corpses.
    Peter Hujar, Drag Ball, Hotel Diplomat (1) (1968). Courtesy the Ukrainian Museum, New York. © The Peter Hujar Archive – Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
    At the heart of the exhibition are three series of original prints: Hujar’s images from his 1957 visit to a Southbury, Connecticut school for children with learning difficulties; his 1958 trip to Florence, Italy; and his tour of the Capuchin Catacombs in Palermo in 1963. The settings vary, but the photographer’s tender gaze runs throughout. None of the human subjects, Doroshenko pointed out as we walked through the show, wear a “photo face.”
    Peter Hujar, Girl on Swing, Southbury (1957). Courtesy the Ukrainian Museum, New York. © The Peter Hujar Archive – Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
    “Peter was very good at capturing that moment,” he said. “But to catch that moment, he was also very good at making people feel comfortable where they forget that he’s taking their picture. It was very much about creating an atmosphere or a dialogue and then getting that particular picture.”
    Also included in the show are Hujar’s spontaneous shots of street scenes—a cat in a bodega, a crowd on Times Square—and portraits of artists including Iggy Pop, Jackie Curtis, and his partner Paul Thek.
    Peter Hujar, Paul Thek on Zebra (1965). Courtesy the Ukrainian Museum, New York. © The Peter Hujar Archive – Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
    While Hujar’s later work from the 1970s and ’80s may be better known, Doroshenko locates a seed in these early pieces. He noted Hujar’s strict Ukrainian upbringing (he didn’t speak English until he entered kindergarten), as much as how he entered the field of photography without any formal training. These experiences, he said, “created those vectors of series and control” and influenced “how he positioned himself as a photographer.”
    “This exhibit shows that throughout his work processes, his interests and his engagement with people and different situations, there were things that people would never expect,” he added. “Photographers like Diane Arbus had a particular kind of hyper-focus; Peter had that but not this tunnel vision. There were always surprises.” 
    “Rialto” is on view at the Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6th Street, New York, through September 1. 
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    An Exhibition of Historic Travel Posters Traces the Rise of New York, the ‘Wonder City’

    If New York City Tourism is in need of inspiration, it would do well to stop by Poster House. A new exhibition at the Chelsea museum, “Wonder City of the World: New York City Travel Posters,” shows how the city’s image has been made and marketed over the past 120 years.
    Today, New York is best-known as “The Big Apple” or “The City That Never Sleeps,” but an earlier sobriquet was “Wonder City,” as deployed in the show’s title. Coined by marketers in the final decades of the 19th century, it aptly described a city that had shot miraculously skyward following the completion of the Erie Canal. Other nicknames, such as “American Cosmopolis” or “The Foremost City in the World,” never quite caught on.
    D.N.A., New York/Anchor Line (ca. 1910). Courtesy Poster House.
    The attraction of the city itself may seem eternal and obvious, but as mid-19th-century railway advertisements make clear, New York was once seen more as a gateway to the Hudson Valley. This included the towns of Ballston Spa, Sharon Springs, and Saratoga Springs, which by the 1870s was the leading recuperative (and gambling) destination of choice for the country’s elite.
    Joseph Pennell, That Liberty Shall Not Perish from the Earth (1918​). Courtesy Poster House.
    Major landmarks erected at the turn of the century shifted the focus. First, there was the Brooklyn Bridge, opened in 1883, when it was the world’s longest suspension bridge. Then came the Statue of Liberty in 1886, which was briefly America’s tallest structure. Third came an electrified subway in 1904.
    David Klein, New York/TWA (1956). Courtesy Poster House.
    These architectural marvels dominated cruise ship advertisements, encouraging Europeans to travel from the Old World to the New. An Anchor Lines poster from 1910 shows New York’s downtown golden early morning light with a ship passing the Statue of Liberty. Similarly, a naturalistic effort from French Lines in 1920 captures the scale of the city, with the likes of the Singer Building and the Woolworth Building peeking above the SS France.
    Tomoko Miho, Wall St. (1968). Courtesy Poster House.
    In the time between these posters, the First World War took place and New York’s icons became stand-ins symbolizing the nation. The city’s backdrop was now blackened and used to cajole patriots to buy “war savings stamps.”
    Designer unknown, War Savings Stamps (1918). Courtesy Poster House.
    Bleaker still was Joseph Pennell’s 1918 scene of New York aflame with German bombers above and u-boats below. Lady Liberty is decapitated, and text at the poster’s bottom reads “That Liberty Shall Not Perish From The Earth.” Originally, Pennell had penned a blunter, less poetic refrain: “Buy Liberty Bonds Or You Will See This.”
    Joseph Binder, New York World’s Fair: The World of Tomorrow (1939). Courtesy Poster House.
    By the late 1940s, sea travel was slowly giving way to air. Accordingly, the city’s scale was presented from on high, as in TWA’s 1947 poster by Frank Soltesz, which shows the pink promise of the metropolis far below. The city also begins to be fragmented, its icons layered on top of each other, such as with Swiss Air’s “Over Night To The USA,” which smashes together Rockefeller Center, the Manhattan Bridge, and the downtown skyline. Many adopt a Star-Spangled Banner color theme.
    Frank Soltesz, TWA/Etats-Unis (c. 1947). Courtesy Poster House.
    The city abstracts further with the approach of the 1960s. Most notable are the color block images made by David Klein for TWA. Six are on show here, though not all were used. Lady Liberty features prominently, sometimes illuminating the names of the city’s landmarks, other times standing alongside similar icons.
    Edward McKnight Kauffer, American Airlines to New York (c. 1948). Courtesy Poster House.
    Klein’s work also shows the turn to celebrate New York’s nightlife, most vividly through depictions of Times Square, one of which is now in the Museum of Modern Art‘s collection. Accompanying nocturnal New York is the city’s sexy side, as shown in Pan Am’s collage poster cut from magazines, which shows young men and women living the good life.
    Henri Ott, Swissair/USA (1949). Courtesy Poster House.
    The exhibition closes with a group of Japanese-American designer Tomoko Miho’s minimalist posters from the late 1960s, which refigure New York’s landmarks. There’s a Verazzano Bridge shrouded in red fog and a Wall Street megalith made of blocks of glass marked with stock price listings, images so contemporary they might seem new.
    David Klein, TWA Superjets (c. 1960). Courtesy Poster House.​
    Peter Teubner, Harlem (1968)​. Photo: courtesy Poster House.
    “Wonder City of the World: New York City Travel Posters” is on view at Poster House, 119 W 23rd St, New York, through September 8.
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    Here Are the 5 Buzziest Artists at Gallery Weekend Beijing

    Gallery Weekend Beijing (GWBJ) returns at the tail end of a still fairly cool spring, and this time it is filled with more excitement and activities compared to last year. Perhaps it is even too packed as two art fairs, Jingart and the Beijing Dangdai Art Fair, have synchronized their start dates with the annual event.
    The gallery weekend has clearly made a sincere effort to attract younger visitors and collectors, tapping young curators and inviting 30-year-old collector Aria Yang to serve as program director. These efforts have paid off, as evident during the VIP days, with many galleries reporting the presence of numerous new faces and a younger, more diverse crowd interested in purchasing art.
    However, painting remains the dominant medium. This might be a reflection of the market returning to conservatism and engaging new collector groups during economic slowdowns. As for prices, most range between $20,000 to $50,000. Gallery Weekend runs from May 24 to June 2. On the opening day, we quickly surveyed all the galleries and selected five artists who created a significant buzz on the scene.
    Zhou Yilun
    Installation view of Zhou Yilun’s “SANLIANZMK” at Beijing Commune.
    Who: Zhou Yilun (b. 1983) studied in Hangzhou at the China Academy of Art, and his practice often involves reimagining seemingly redundant everyday objects, such as internet images, decorations, and furniture.
    Based in: Hangzhou, China
    Showing at: Beijing Commune
    Why You Should Pay Attention: Zhou’s resume includes several recent solo exhibitions at top art institutions in China, such as the Fosun Foundation, CC Foundation & Art Centre, and Start Museum. This is his fourth show at Beijing Commune. The show’s title, “SANLIANZMK,”  features random and meaningless letters often seen in Zhou’s work, commonly used in architectural templates and everyday consumer scenarios. The original expansive gallery space showcased four low huts and a “stage” filled with bizarre, crudely made sculptures, including Zhou’s reimagining of the transformation and evolution of Acropolis sculptures.
    In his other paintings, familiar religious icons, modern celebrities, and newly added cartoon characters appear strange against mottled backgrounds but remain vaguely recognizable. Zhou views this as a game of images and perception, re-examining the relationships between the self and the external, order and chaos, meaning and action, and the everyday and art. According to gallery’s founder, Leng Lin, Zhou is “obsessed with the collision between ‘objects’ and finds support in their mutual clashes.” Additionally, the show netted Beijing Commune GWBJ’s “Best Gallery” at its opening dinner.
    Qiu Zhijie
    “Qiu Zhijie: Eco-Lab” Photo: Galleria Continua,©️ Artist and Galleria Continua.
    Who: Qiu Zhijie (b. 1969) is an artist who needs no introduction to China, a leading contemporary Chinese artist who works primarily in video and photography, and whose creative activities also encompass calligraphy, ink painting, installations, theater, and more. 
    Based in: Hangzhou, China
    Showing at: Galleria Continua
    Why You Should Pay Attention: Qiu once curated China’s earliest video art exhibition in 1996 and served as the curator of the 9th Shanghai Biennale in 2012. In 2017, he was the curator of the Chinese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. He is also an enthusiast of art education. Qiu was recently appointed as the president of the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, one of China’s top eight art academies.
    However, this dynamo artist is still making new waves. This time, he has created an “Eco-Lab” at Galleria Continua in Beijing, showcasing a fusion of art and science, reflecting the intricate relationships between the biosphere, lithosphere, atmosphere, and geosphere. In this show, the artist brings us a world encompassing everything from viruses to celestial bodies, and the changes and connections between this world and the species that inhabit it. You will see various changes happening simultaneously: plants growing, wood rotting, mold spreading, mushrooms sprouting, silkworms spinning silk, stones weathering, crystals forming on rocks, stalactites slowly taking shape…
    Qiu’s activities at Gallery Weekend Beijing don’t stop there. In anticipation of the Paris 2024 Olympics, as part of the Public Sector of GWBJ, Qiu Zhijie is spearheading a “Poetry Marathon” to collect and exhibit poetry contributions from children worldwide.
    Wenjue
    Works by Wenjue, BANK, Visiting Sector of Gallery Weekend Beijing. Photo: Cathy Fan.
    Who: Wenjue (b. 2001) studied at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris in 2015 and then at Atelier François Legrand in 2016. 
    Based in: Shanghai, China
    Showing at: BANK (Visiting Sector)
    Why You Should Pay Attention: Wenjue might be the youngest artist at this GWBJ edition. However, whether at the previous Art Basel Hong Kong or on social media, his strong appeal to collectors, especially those of his generation, is evident. This artist’s work consistently revolves around the experimental use of oil painting, creating a relief-like effect similar to a “cabinet of curiosities” through accumulating physical textures in paint and mixed media. His paintings, priced at RMB 70,000 to 150,000 ($9660 to $20,700), feature a fantastical world of his creation, populated with various characters such as elves, masked figures, dragons, and dancers. Wenjue’s fascination with anime has also provided him with a wealth of creative inspiration.
    Christine Sun Kim and Thomas Mader
    Installation view, Christine Sun Kim & Thomas Mader “Lighter Than Air”, White Space, 2024. 5.23-7.13. Courtesy of the artists and White Space.
    Who: Christine Sun Kim (b. 1980) and Thomas Mader’s (b. 1984) collaborative practice has long centered around themes such as signed and spoken languages, Deaf history, games, and wordplay. Approaching the complexities of communication with specificity and nuance, their work often parodies and questions social stereotypes and prejudices with a sense of humor.
    Based in: Berlin, Germany
    Showing at: White Space
    Why You Should Pay Attention: Even though the gallery space is far from the city center, it hasn’t stopped the artist duo from becoming the talk of the event. This is the first solo exhibition in China for them, showcasing their latest paintings, videos, and installations, priced at RMB 90,000 to 220,000 ($12,000 to $30,000). The exhibition’s title, “Lighter than Air,” originally refers to flying objects like hot air balloons and airships and gases with lower density than air.
    In this exhibition, this concept is integrated into various expressions related to “inhaling” and “exhaling” in both sign language and spoken language. ATTENTION is a dynamic installation piece. In American Sign Language (ASL), attention can be attracted by waving a hand downward or pointing at someone or something. Reflecting these expressions, the two large inflatable arms in “ATTENTION” intermittently point at a worn stone. The rising and falling motion of “inflating-deflating” makes the arms move like a dance, constantly drawing the viewers’ gaze. This highlights the semantics of ASL in space and body, hinting at the erosion of people’s attention in the real environment.
    Timur Si-Qin
    Installation view of Timur Si-Qin’s “Milk Lake Rock” at Magician Space, 2024.
    Who: Timur Si-Qin (b. 1984) was born in Berlin and later moved to the southwestern United States. He has a unique background, growing up in a family with German, Mongolian/Chinese, and San Carlos Apache Native American heritage. Diverse cultural perspectives, Indigenous experiences, and global culture deeply influence his works. 
    Based in: New York
    Showing at: Magician Space
    Why You Should Pay Attention:  During a trip to the Hengduan Mountains, often described as a cradle of species evolution and one of China’s most culturally diverse regions, Timur Si-Qin was inspired by how different cultures show respect for nature through plants. His new works visualize and sanctify plants unique to the Hengduan Mountains, drawing inspiration from Sanxingdui and Dunhuang murals. For him, these forms represent the dialect expressions of nature worship and sacred concepts across cultures.
    The artist uses his photographs, computer modeling, hyper-realistic rendering techniques, and 3D-printed sculptures to present natural landscapes. The result challenges traditional boundaries between nature and culture, human and non-human, organic and synthetic. Against the backdrop of climate change and the biodiversity crisis, his work envisions a new spiritual accord to reestablish the sanctity of nature in our globalized and technologically saturated world. The question of how to return to a culture that reveres nature has been central to his recent explorations, with art serving as a powerful medium for secular spirituality.
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    Chu Teh-Chun’s Abstract Landscapes Dazzle at a Rare Retrospective in Venice

    The name of Chu Teh-Chun (1920–2014) should be no stranger to art market watchers. The late Franco-Chinese painter is best known for his poignant abstract paintings that marry the techniques of traditional Chinese painting and that of Western art. Over the last several years, his work has been commanding ever-higher prices at auction. There are more than 3,200 entries of auction transactions on Artnet’s Price Database, with an auction record of $29.5 million set in 2021 at a Sotheby’s Hong Kong sale.
    Although one might catch a few individual works by the 20th-century master on view at an auction preview, a thorough survey of Chu’s work has been hard to come by despite the fact that his paintings have been widely exhibited in and collected by more than 50 museums worldwide.
    The opportunity for a comprehensive review of his artistic practice is here now. Coinciding with the Venice Biennale, retrospective of Chu titled “In Nebula” is currently on show at Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the island of San Giorgio Maggiore through June 30.
    Chu Teh-Chun, La grace de l’aurore (2001). Courtesy of Chu Teh-Chun Foundation.
    Organized with the support of the Chu Teh-Chun Foundation and thoughtfully curated by art historian Matthieu Poirier, this beautifully mounted exhibition in a vast space that was once a large swimming pool showcases some 50 exceptional works by the artist, including one on loan from the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, from across the different periods in his expansive career.
    Installation view of “Chu Teh-Chun: In Nebula.” Courtesy of Chu Teh-Chun Foundation.
    Poirier takes the audience on a time-travel journey to discover Chu’s past and the evolution of his oeuvre, which is presented in a reverse chronological timeline that blends seamlessly with the architecture of the space. Viewers’ downward, winding movement along the three levels of boardwalk to the base of the pool reflect a journey into the heart of Chu’s mystic paintings.
    “Those paintings never let your eyes rest,” said Poirier during an introduction of the exhibition, noting that the artist was an abstract landscapist. “When Chu arrived in France, he carried his memories of the landscapes with him.”
    Chu Teh-Chun, Nature Hivernal A (1985). Courtesy of Chu Teh-Chun Foundation.
    Born in Baitu Zhen, Xiao district, Jiangsu province (now Anhui) in China into a family of art connoisseurs, Chu began learning calligraphy and Chinese poetry at a very young age. He then started painting under his father’s encouragement and in 1935, at the age of 15, he enrolled the Hangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, where he was first exposed to modern Western art from the teaching of artist-professors such as Lin Fengmian and Wu Dayu, both were educated in France. Around this time, he also met Wu Guanzhong, who went on to become one of the greatest painters of his time.
    Installation view of “Chu Teh-Chun: In Nebula.” Courtesy of Chu Teh-Chun Foundation.
    But Chu had to deal with hardships during the subsequent turbulent years of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese civil war between the Communists and the Kuomintang. He left the country to Taiwan in 1949 and eventually settled in Paris in 1955. He lost nearly all of his early works amid the turmoil. Following his settlement in Paris, despite continuing to create, Chu remained as a marginal figure.
    Chu Teh-Chun, Composition n°228 (1966). Courtesy of Chu Teh-Chun Foundation.
    “He was a quiet person, an introvert,” said Poirier, explaining why the artist was not very good at making himself the center of the spotlight, and hence a late boomer in his career. “He didn’t get his first retrospective until 1978. He was already 58,” noted the curator.
    Chu Teh-Chun, Le 8 juillet (1976). Courtesy of Chu Teh-Chun Foundation.
    The exhibition puts Chu’s works in context and as one walks further down to the bottom of what used to be a swimming pool, one can catch a glimpse of Chu’s evolution from the earliest figurative works available to the monumental paintings depicting not just an abstraction of landscape, but the depth of space conjured by light, time, colors, and brushstrokes.
    “Chu Teh-Chun: In Nebula” is on view until June 30 at Fondazione Giorgio Cini, San Giorgio Maggiore Island, Venice.
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    Here’s Why Artists Have Flocked to London Across the Ages

    Sotheby’s has partnered with Art UK, a charity that provides online access to every public art collection in the United Kingdom, and 12 public museums to stage an exhibition that showcases the multicultural history and diversity of the nation’s art scene throughout the centuries.
    “London: An Artistic Crossroads” is a free exhibition running until July 5, held at Sotheby’s New Bond Street location in the heart of the capital. It promises to bring together an incredible selection of artists who found inspiration, refuge, patronage, and influence within the U.K., including Piet Mondrian, Francis Bacon, Frank Bowling, and Magdalene Odundo.
    Francis Bacon, Pope I (Study after Pope Innocent X by Diego Velázquez), (1951).Aberdeen City Council (Aberdeen Archives, Gallery & Museums collections). Presented in 1956 by the Contemporary Art Society. © The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved. DACS 2024.
    The exhibition has been designed as a counterpart to the National Gallery’s new National Treasures program, launched to celebrate its bicentenary this year. The initiative sees 12 masterpieces from the museum travel to institutions across the country, including Caravaggio’s The Supper at Emmaus (1601) and Diego Velázquez’s The Rokeby Venus (1647–51).
    In mounting this new show, Sotheby’s has effectively done the reverse, by celebrating works of art that are to be found elsewhere across the nation (although there are two notable inclusions from London), as something of an advert for the strength of collections based far from the capital. It is the inaugural event in an ongoing partnership with Art UK.
    “This exhibition brings together a dozen stunning artworks primarily from museums outside London, highlighting the treasures to be found in our regional collections,” Andrew Ellis, chief executive of Art UK, said. “It powerfully illustrates how the U.K.’s rich cultural heritage draws on creators and influences emanating from well beyond our shores.”
    Showcasing the important contributions of immigrants and refugees is a key component of the show, which feels particularly pertinent in the wake of Brexit and the government’s implementation of “hostile environment” policies.
    Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger, Frances Howard, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (ca. 1621). © Compton Verney, photo by Prudence Cuming Associates Ltd.
    The oldest work on display is a portrait of Frances Howard, Duchess of Richmond and Lennox (ca.1621) by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. The artist was among thousands of Flemish protestants who fled persecution in the Netherlands in the late 1560s. While he arrived in London as a child, he developed a distinctly Dutch style of painting that revolutionized English portraiture. The work is traveling from Compton Verney in Warwickshire.
    Johann Zoffany was a neoclassical painter who completed his training in Germany and Italy before making his home in the U.K., where he found patronage among the aristocracy. He declared, “I am an Englishman, because in that country I found protection and encouragement.” His elaborate depiction of the collector Charles Towney, surrounded by friends and his considerable collection of books and antiquities, has been loaned by Towneley Hall Art Gallery & Museum in Burnley, Lancashire.
    Johann Zoffany, Charles Townley and Friends in His Library at Park Street, Westminster (1782). © Towneley Hall Art Gallery & Museum, Burnley Borough Council / Bridgeman Images
    More contemporary examples include Big Bird (1864) by abstractionist Frank Bowling, on loan from the Victoria Gallery and Museum in Liverpool. The artist moved to London from Guyana (then British Guiana) as a teenager and recalled his first visit to the National Gallery: “I was very struck by the British painters like John Constable, J.M.W. Turner and William Gainsborough, whose marvelous touch I was engaged by,” he said.
    Bowling’s career is a prime example of the rich networks of influences that inform and enrich an arts ecosystem. He was deeply inspired by two other artists included in the show, Francis Bacon and Piet Mondrian, and was also a peer of Peter Blake, David Hockney and R.B. Kitaj (another featured artist). He has also influenced and supported subsequent generations of creative talent through his work as an educator.
    “We are honored to be able to contribute to this important exhibition at Sotheby’s celebrating the major contribution that artists of African diaspora heritage have made to the British cultural landscape, and recognizing how London has had such a pivotal role in that process,” said Dr. Amanda Draper, the curator of art and exhibitions at the Victoria Gallery and Museum.
    Magdalene Odundo, Tall Bottle (2010). School of Art, Museum and Galleries, Aberystwyth University.
    Beyond painting, two examples of ceramics are included in the show. A bowl and a vase by Lucie Rie, who fled Nazi persecution in Vienna, has come from the Crafts Study Centre at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham. Rie is widely considered to be a trailblazer of British modernist ceramics.
    Meanwhile, Tall Bottle (2010) by Magdalene Odundo has travelled from Aberystwyth University Art Museum. Odundo was brought up in Nairobi and Mombasa before studying in the U.K. and honing her craft in Nigeria and Kenya. She was celebrated with an O.B.E. in 2008.
    “London: An Artistic Crossroads” runs through July 5 at Sotheby’s New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA.
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    A Sharp New Show Highlights The Many Ways Artists Have Woven Meaning Into Textiles

    Just in time for the summer crowds to descend on the Eastern End of Long Island, Guild Hall in East Hampton has opened an intriguing show of textile art, organized by collector and art historian Estrellita Brodsky and Raul Martinez. The artists in it are all handpicked, mostly from her own collection.
    “Spin A Yarn,” had its debut at Brodsky’s own nonprofit art space in Chelsea, the appointment-only “Another Space,” where she welcomed visitors and numerous student groups from nearby schools for educational tours during its four-month run (November 10, 2023-March 15, 2024). At Guild Hall, the show is open to the public with free admission and related workshops, through July 14.
    “Spin A Yarn” examines artists’ interest in textile-making “as both subject and medium to reflect on social, political and environmental concerns,” according to a statement. Brodsky notes that while Western cultures have historically prioritized the written word, many societies, and particularly those in Latin America, have rich traditions of using threads, knots, and woven materials, as markers of identity and as a means of passing down information from one generation to another. The mostly fiber artwork on view is by more than two-dozen artists from different regions and periods.
    In conversation, Brodsky noted that textiles have played an important role in preserving memories and traditions. “We explore the ways in which artists have built on rich textile traditions from pre-Hispanic cultures as precursors of geometric abstraction to present day contemporary artists who use embroidery and weaving techniques as a means of advocating for the protection of the environment as well as of indigenous communities,” she said.
    Front: Dubreus Lherisson Blue Princess, (2018) Left: Mulyana Betty 10, (2022) Right: Chonon Bensho Wai (Farm), (2023) as part of “Spin A Yarn” at Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York.
    The show includes work by Claudia Alarcón, Olga de Amaral, Tony Bechara, Chonon Bensho, Feliciano Centurión, DETEXT, Jorge Eielson, Mónica Giron, Sonia Gomes, Sheila Hicks, Huari Culture, Jessie Homer French, Randolpho Lamonier, Julio Le Parc, Dubreus Lherisson, Mulyana, Anna Perach, Alejandro Puente, Mónica Millán, Manfred Mohr, Sandra Monterroso, Societé Réaliste, Susan Spangenberg, Pedro Tineo, Georges Valris, Cecilia Vicuña, and Yvonne Wells.
    One fascinating and unexpected aspect that Brodsky highlighted to me, during a walkthrough of the show in Chelsea, is the connection between computers and textiles as ways to store and code information. As the show’s statement explains, “the punch cards used in some looms to control the weaving process are the basis of computers’ binary logic.”
    For example, Manfred Mohr’s P-159-B from 1974 shows a sequence of intricately stitched geometric forms that evoke “an unknown arcane language,” generated by algorithms. Mohr, a leader in the concept of “rational aesthetics,” underscores the “ancient relationship between textiles and mathematical computer programming,” Brodsky told me.
    Front: DETEXT (Raul Martinez) Manstopper, (2015). Left to right: Mónica Millán, Inventar la piel (To invent skin), (2023); Claudia Alarcón, Tewok Tes P’ante (The Origin of the River), (2023), as part of “Spin A Yarn” at Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York.
    Many of the works here show modern and contemporary artists using indigenous textile techniques to reflect on environmental, political, or social issues. For instance, Alejandro Puente and Sheila Hicks reference the feather works and weavings of ancient pre-Hispanic cultures to convey a newly imagined language of abstraction. Argentine artist Mónica Millán has worked with Guaraní communities in the town of Yataity del Guairá in Paraguay, and advocates for the preservation of Ao Po’i textile traditions.
    Artists Jessie Homer French and Mónica Giron draw attention to the environmental crisis through their use of embroidery and knitting techniques that confront climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Cecilia Vicuña warns of the devastating effects of droughts while also bringing attention to ancient Mayan creation myths.
    Feliciano Centurión, Untitled, from the series Familia (Family), (1990) as part of “Spin A Yarn” at Guild Hall in East Hampton, New York.
    Other artists in the show use textiles as a way to explore issues ranging from gender discrimination and racial injustice to gun violence. For instance, Feliciano Centurión, an openly gay man, originally from Paraguay but working in Argentina, began producing embroidered and crocheted works on everyday household fabrics, placed alongside toy dinosaurs, to reference illness, sexuality, and death. (The toy dinosaurs reference extinction.)
    Meanwhile, social justice is the focus of Yvonne Wells’s large quilt titled A Shadow Over Justice (2004). Both a utilitarian object and a means of memory keeping, the quilt confronts bias in America’s criminal justice system. And DETEXT’s Widowmaker (2020-2022) is a woven rug that upon closer examination is made with nearly 30,000 bullet casings, referencing both policing and the gun industry in the US.
    Alejandro Puente Quipu “nudos,” (1971) as part of “Spin A Yarn” at Another Space in Chelsea, New York.
    Another Space in Chelsea, where I saw this show, is a nonprofit established by Estrellita and her husband Daniel, dedicated to building recognition and international awareness to artists from Latin America and its diaspora within a global context.
    Jessie Homer French, Westside Fault Zones Mapestry, (2018) as part of of “Spin A Yarn” at Another Space in Chelsea, New York.
    Said Estrellita: “I am particularly excited to be partnering with Guild Hall in East Hampton, a museum in an area where the Latino community plays an important role and that is free to the public.”
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    See the Rare Neolithic and Viking Treasures Returning to Scotland for Display

    On the Isle of Lewis in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, peat—that spongy stuff found in bogs and made of partly decomposed vegetation and organic matter—has long been a vital resource for heating, cooking, and yes, making whisky. Peat has also proven an invaluable keeper of the island’s past. Waterlogged, acidic and oxygen poor, it slows decay, and as a result remarkable artifacts have been pulled from the bogs that cover roughly a third of the island.
    One such item is a 2,500-year-old clay pot from Achmore (“big field” in Gaelic) that dates from a time when the island was gradually transitioning to the Iron Age. Simple and unadorned, it stands as an exceptionally rare example of craftsmanship prior to the arrival of the Vikings.
    The 2,500-year-old clay pot from Achmore. Photo: National Museums Scotland.
    It’s one of more than 40 artifacts that National Museums Scotland has sent to Lewis on loan. The artifacts are being exhibited at two local institutions, Comunn Eachdraidh Nis and Kinloch Historical Society Museum, as part of NMS’ national strategy to share its collection and expertise across the country.
    At Nis, a local community center in North Lewis, “na Dorsan” (The Doors) is being staged on the centennial anniversary of the area’s resettlement, following the forced land clearances in the late 18th century. Through fragments of pottery, carved animal bones, wooden instruments, and metal tools, the exhibition tells the local region’s story from early farmers 6,000 years ago through to the first millennium C.E.
    Group of ax heads that date from 3800 B.C.E. to 2500 B.C.E. Photo: National Museums Scotland.
    “This exhibition launch will be the first in a series of community events to celebrate the centenary, culminating in the unveiling of a stone monument by Urras Oighreachd Ghabhsainn later this year,” said Anne Macleod, operations manager at Comunn Eachdraidh Nis.
    The Kinloch Historical Society Museum will stage “Archaeology Homecoming” through March 2025. Alongside the Achmore pot, the museum is exhibiting a group of Neolithic ax heads that date as far back as 3,800 B.C.E. Also of interest is a Viking bronze buckle that features an intricate looping pattern. It is believed to have been cast somewhere in Scandinavia before making its way to Lewis.
    A scoop or ladle made from horn. Photo: National Museums Scotland.
    “The partnership with National Museum of Scotland is at the heart of sharing and learning about the history of our area,” said Anna MacKenzie, heritage manager at Kinloch Historical Society. “As the name Archaeology Homecoming suggests, this will be the first time these chance finds will be on display in Lochs.”
    The earliest evidence of human activity on Lewis date back to 6,000 B.C.E with the inhabitants gradually clearing woodlands and developing farms. Gaelic-speaking peoples arrived in the first century C.E., followed by the Picts, and the Vikings, who settled on Lewis in the ninth century. The island’s most famous archeological discovery are the Lewis chessmen, ornately carved pieces of walrus ivory that were found in 1831 and are held jointly by the British Museum and National Museum of Scotland.
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