NY Arts Magazine » Gerhard Richter

Paths of German Art From 1949 to the Present

mauri — Wed, 21 May 2014 15:49:11 +0000

An included work by Gerhard Richter.

Featuring: Joseph Beuys, Sigmar Polke, Gerhard Richter, Andreas Gursky, Bernard and Hilla Bechers, Rebecca Horn, Nam June Paik and more.

The Paths of German Art from 1949 to the present

April 23 – September 7, 2014

Moscow Museum of Modern Art

25 Petrovka

Moscow

mmoma.ru

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Anywhere or Not at All: Verso’s Latest Offering from Peter Osborne

mauri — Wed, 11 Sep 2013 09:00:32 +0000

In a conceptually challenging and forward-thinking text, Osborne puts forth the idea that the term ‘contemporary’ has been misused as a catch-all tag for current art that is actually quite the misnomer. He instead postulates the idea of a ‘post-conceptual art’, arguing that an accurate art-historical evaluation on the present is not only eventually foolhardy but ultimately misguided philosophical challenge. It can at best become an exercise in calculated speculation.

Osborne constructs a thorough argument to support his claim through the work of indisputably important figures in recent times. He moves through key aspects in the work of artists Robert Smithson, Sol Lewitt, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Gerhard Richter. Other seminal thinkers making substantial impacts on the writing are Rosalind Krauss, Kant, Hegel, and Gilles Deleuze. Osborne leaves very few stones unturned in this pervasive and exhaustive examination. The writing is scattered throughout with ideologically illustrative charts and work example images, serving to make his case more digestible to those less practiced in opening topics usually doused with academically rigorous jargon.

The text presents an overarching evaluation not only of important work of these times, but also of the institutions and spaces designed to hold the products created by the more advanced minds of recent art history. Osborne makes historically troublesome academic ideas appear lucid, his word choice cutting to the heart of complex notions. A minimal amount of digging is required for the reader.

I can’t sit here and tell you that I fully absorbed all that this soon-to-be important book had to offer, but to my mind that only validates the all-inclusive nature of the project it sets out for itself. I’m not quite as well read as Mr. Osborne, when all is said and done. If I was, there’d be no reason to read this book. Anywhere or Not at All entices readers such as myself with an opportunity to look forward to a second read, knowing that what was made clear on the first go-round will shed further light on the points that I did not previously grasp in full.

I have put eyes to it once, after all—which I am guessing puts me at least one read ahead of you, considering you were interested enough to read all the way to the end here. It’s true that I may be coming across just a touch too snarky, but this book has really instilled me with a feeling of intellectual confidence. Just do yourself a favor and go buy this book.

Reviewed by Matthew Hassell

versobooks.com

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Summer of Photography at Carolina Nitsch Project Room

mauri — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 08:00:46 +0000

Summer of Photography at Carolina Nitsch Project Room hosts a conglomeration of images depicting the idiosyncratic, sexualized, and commodified America of the 20^th and beginning of the 21^st centuries. It features photographs by iconic, world-renown artists such as Ed Ruscha, Cindy Sherman and William Eggleston. An assortment of white frames in varying dimensions is masterfully arranged within a small space plastered with an aquamarine blue hue. The inconsistent size of the images grants each photograph even prominence, as none overpowers the room, but rather each harmoniously and rhythmically balances the other. This peak-trough orchestration mimics the movements of the ocean, diffusing an atmosphere of curiosity and exploration across the space. The photographs encompassed are optically as vivid as is their visual content; bright colors complement images of the deranged physicality and peculiar beauty that is the authentic American experience. Specifically, sexuality is emphasized as both a suggested and literal vehicle to strip the nation down to her elements- elements that are both intentionally and ironically manipulated into patterns via symmetry and repetition. Hereby, even the eccentric, queer subject becomes a commodity. As such, this beautifully curated selection represents a set of artists whom are mutually iconoclasts and leaders; burners and authors; rebels and, well, conventionalists.

by: Arianne Milhem

Summer of Photography
July 12 -September 21, 2013
Carolina Nitsch Contemporary Art
534 W 22nd St. NYC
carolinanitsch.com

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