our top picks for the frieze week 2015

With Frieze week getting in action and galleries gearing up for the world's attention here in London, we have continued our tradition and hand-picked our favourite 10 listings below for our followers -


1. Frieze 
Apart from the galleries booths, the sculpture park, the cafes and the queues, we recommend our followers not to forget the talks in the fair itself are also intellectually unmissable. We find the topics of these 2 sessions particularly relevant in the current climate globally and locally:  The New Museums: Coming Soon to a City Near You and Off-Centre: Can Artists Still Afford to Live in London?
We are also interested to explore the installations Rachel Rose created inside the Freize tent, which sounds intriguing from the way it was described by FT in her interview in their Weekend Magazine.

(image from Victoria Miro's website)

2. Elmgreen & Dragset at Victoria Miro Mayfair
The Scandinavian maverick duo returns to Victoria Miro featuring a new series of works that are representations of museum wall labels of other artists’ works, including David Hockney, Ross Bleckner, Roni Horn, Martin Kippenberger, and Nicole Eisenmann, among others. They are also having another solo show at Massimo de Carlo gallery called Stigma, which was shown in their Milan gallery earlier this year.


3. Ai Wei-wei at the Royal Academy
The Chinese artist has proved his celebrity artist status with his own show in the Royal Academy. Apart from his works on display, it is also the interviews he did with the press and the instagram posts and tweets he made during his visit which gives you the full wei-wei experience.

Cm_bill viola in mt rainier coffee shop 1979 photo kira perov_photoshopped

(image from Blain|Southern's website, by Kira Perov)

4. Bill Viola at Blain|Southern
Viewers visiting this show can see the predecessor of all Bill Viola's videos - one monumental installation Moving Stillness (Mt. Rainier), 1979, shown for the first time since its inauguration at Media Study/Buffalo New York. In conjunction and presented for the first time ever, recordings of Bill Viola’s early sound compositions form an immersive installation The Talking Drum at The Vinyl Factory Space at Brewer Street Car Park in Soho, London. Two works are featured, The Talking Drum,1979, and Hornpipes, 1979–82, that explore the resonances of an empty swimming pool.

(image from Dominique Levy's website)

5. Gerard Richter at Dominique Levy
Another show which celebrates the earlier works of a monumental artist of our time. Dominique Levy is showing a vital group of paintings selected from the artist’s original nineteen Colour Charts produced in 1966. Presented with the support of the Gerhard Richter Archive, the exhibition is the first to focus on the earliest works of this series since their inaugural appearance at Galerie Friedrich & Dahlem, Munich in 1966.

Cy Twombly -

Bacchus, 2006–08,  © Cy Twombly Foundation (image from Gagosian's website)

6. Cy Twombly at the Gagosian new space in Mayfair
The exhibition will include as yet unseen large Bacchus paintings, with loans from the Cy Twombly Foundation and other collections. it is a tradition to open a new Gagosian gallery in Europe with Cy Twombly, apparently.

(image from a previous site-specific installation in 2014)

7. Neil Ayling at "Berloni off-site" 49 Greek Street
Ayling will present a site-specific projection across the dilapidated townhouse floor, alongside a space specific three-dimensional piece using images of the walls, ceiling and floorboards themselves. Through deconstructing an enlarged camera obscura, Ayling's studio creation here becomes fragmented to give way to a further sculpture.

(image from Gasworks' website)

8. Kemang wa Lehulere at Gasworks
Unravelling the relationships between personal and collective histories, amnesia and the archive, Wa Lehulere’s practice explores how South Africa’s past continues to haunt the present. Inspired by theatre and set design, his drawings, performances and sculptures are often conceived as ‘rehearsals’, framed by longer-term research projects about motifs such as the act of falling or the unfaithfulness of language.

(image by Ravi)

9. Architecture by Caruso St John
This year art lovers can also experience two much anticipated new spaces both built by architect Caruso St John - the Gagosian Mayfair mentioned above and Damien Hirst's Newport Street gallery at Vauxhall. You can find an article with interview of the architects by the Evening Standard here.

10. Outside London
If you haven't seen this yet, you have roughly 2 more weeks to go before it closes - Lightscape by James Turrell at Houghton Hall. It is definitely not easy to get over, given the state of railway transport in this country, and a drive from London and return will cause you half a day. But we are very sure the lights can add some beautiful memories to your Frieze week 2015, and lots of likes on your instagram as well.

2 forms of art in 2 new locations

The london art scene is always in transition. Galleries move around all the time, with new comers gathering in crowd where the affordable rent or new vibe is. Victoria Miro, the gallery which opens its Angel space in 2006 has recently returned to Mayfair, springing up a new venue with a Yayoi Kusama show in time for Frieze Art Fair. On the otherside of the river Hannah Barry is opening a new space right next to the Peckham Rye station, with performance by Tom Barnett for his solo show.

White Infinity Nets by Yayoi Kusama
Victoria Miro Mayfair
18.10-16.11.2013

The first Infinity Nets Kusama produced in the 1950s and 60s were white although she subsequently also made coloured net paintings.  In her autobiography, which is published in paperback by Tate Publishing this September, Kusama describes her first exhibition:

"I debuted in New York with just five works - monochromatic and simple, yet complex, subconscious accumulations of microcosmic lights, in which the spatial universe unfolds as far as the eye can see. Yet at first glance the canvases, which were up to 14ft in length, looked like nothing at all - just plain white surfaces". 

The paintings immediately gained critical recognition and were instrumental in making the artist's name in New York in the 1960s.
When we entered the gallery, 5 paintings were in front of us in the first room. In the corridor leading to the second room, there were 2 other paintings. In the second room, there was an installation together with the paintings. It is a nice surprise when you were expecting to see paintings in the show but found something 3D shows up.
To a certain extent, Kusama's white dots paintings are like a perfect symbiosis of oriental minimalism and western impressionism. While the full canvas is painted with numerous strokes, it remains almost a single entity when viewed as a whole. And when examined in close-up, these strokes come alive with their individuality and interactions with adjacent neighbours. The dynamics of the inter-connected strokes take your eyes through the motion across the whole canvas, and you are free to decide which stream of strokes to follow and explore the infinity landscape.
The white net covering the household installation in the second room has a similar effect or, at least the artist's intention, could be attempting to do so. It works partly, but there is an inevitable comparison to another contemporary here - Martin Margiela. One cannot imagine this gallery is not actually a pop-up store of Maison Martin Margiela, which usually features white on white design palette. And Martin Margiela's signature white paint over commodities instantly jumped into mind when we saw this installation in the second room. This unfortunate association has made Kusama's transformation of white infinity nets from 2D to 3D a little less sucessful compared to Julien Opie's facial illustrations.

Full photo set here

*****

Hannah Barry Gallery
20.11-20.12.2013

Tom Barnett's exhibition is a completely different experience from Yayoi Kusama's. It is more performance-based. In three acts he brings together his works in the worlds of sculpture, painting, live performance, music, choreography, installation and film.
The gallery perhaps was a little under prepared for the crowd showing up for the performance. Staff were asking people to step back to clear the space for the performance to take place, and it has taken well over 15 minutes for the audience to react and re-position themselves around various installation inside the gallery.
After a bold shot of arrow from a bow to the wall on the projector screen, the performance began. Tom brought along a person wearing an astronaut outfit from the back of the crowd to the front, carrying out several acts involving soil-ploughing, word-painting on the wall, playing drum and piano, singing and reciting text. A footballer and a group of boxers-alike were also present, and performed some impressive football tricks and impromptu sandbag punching.
There were quite a few photographers, possibly commissioned by the gallery or the artist's group, taking pictures throughout the show. Perhaps they were also part of the performance group (unlikely). The projector also showed several clips from Youtube during the performance, but it is unclear whether those clips were from the artist or else. The whole performance evoked an autobiographical sense, with the astronaut seemingly exploring the artist's topics of interests. It maybe unfair to say that the whole performance felt like a physical representation of one's facebook wall, as that is what everybody does in reality on facebook. But it did look like a collage of personal experiences. 

Overall the performance is an ambitious attempt for both the artist and the gallery to kick off a new venue in a way as such. The atmosphere was good and there were many interesting moments. Time would tell what Tom Barnett brings to the audience in the subsequent acts in this show, and his future career.

Full photo set here

Frieze Art Week 2013


It's the time of the year in London when everybody suddenly talks about art. Yes, it's Frieze week (or weeks) coming up. Following our tradition, we have handpicked our favourites from the endless offers in town so you don't have to be frustrated scanning through the listings.

Our top 10 of the week are as follows (in no particular order!) -

1. Catch L’Expédition Scintillante, Act 2 (light show) by Pierre Huyghe in Raven Row's current show “Reflections from Damaged Life” - A great retrospective show spanning decades of works, make sure you stay in the gallery until you see this performance, it runs every half hour.

2. "Tomorrow" by Elmgreen & Dragset in V&A - The Norwegian duo's greatest site specific commission yet in Britain inside the V&A museum's former Textile Galleries.

3. "Beyond the Black" by Idris Khan int Victoria Miro - an important departure from Khan's photographic based works, this show comprises a suite of large black paintings, a monumental site specific wall drawing and a series of works on paper.

4. Tatsuo Miyajima's "I-Model" in Lisson Gallery - the Japanese artist is famous for his zen minimal pieces incoporating LED digit displays. There is a clay chamber room for meditation in the show, only one person to enter at time.

5. Wolfgang Tillmans' solo show Central Nervous System in Maureen Paley - once again Tillmans returns to Frieze week and we couldn't wait to see his latest creations.

6. "A series from Within" by Larissa Nowicki in Man & Eve - intriguing pieces formed from the printed pages of books, sliced and intricately woven to form new works that cannot be read in the traditional sense

7. "Sandra Blow Paintings & Prints" in Kings Place - Sandra Blow is a pioneer of the British post-war abstract movement. Seeing her works in the multi-storey atrium in Kings Place is a joyful experience

8. "Erebus" (film) by Du Preez & Thornton Jones in Londonewcastle Project Space - Du Preez & Thornton Jones have created a new body of work in collaboration with choreographer Russell Maliphant, inspired in part by the work of Auguste Rodin

9. "The Seymour & Milton Posters Show" in Kemistry Gallery - a great retrospective show about one of the most influential designer duos in the 20th century who signature push-pin style has become iconic.

10. Frieze Sculpture Park in Regent's Park - this year's sculpture park is the largest in the history of Frieze, and it's free so how can you miss it?

And apart from the Original Frieze and Frieze Masters, you have the choice of numerous satellite fairs around town. Here are a few we believe most of our followers could find something they like and go have a look -

Sunday & Touch Art Fair in Marylebone
Sluice in Bermondsey
The Other Art Fair in Brick Lane
Multiplied at Christie's
Moniker in Brick Lane

Visit our facebook page over the week to see what we have found in town apart from the above. Enjoy the best London offers in the Autumn!

*****

Further Readings -

Page - Top 10 Photograph Exhibitions in town on TimeOut London
Page - Top 10 Art Exhibitions in town on TimeOut London
Interview - of the Director of Sluice Art Fair Ben Street by Tabius Khan for Londonist

top picks in the frieze week 2012

Venue Design by Kevin Carmody & Andrew Groarke for Frieze Art Fair 2011

With the return of Frieze Art Fair to its home town after a trans-atlantic conquer in New York earlier this year, it would be interesting to see how its spin-off fair Frieze Masters would fare among fellow art critics and audience. Continuing its well-praised tradition last year, Carmody & Groarke is reappointed (see photo above) to design the venue of the main fair this year. The Masters show next door would be, interestingly, designed by New York-based Selldorf Architects. It seems the competition between the two global cities are everywhere.

As usual, apart from the Giant Frieze, Moniker Art Fair in Village Underground and Sunday Art Fair in Ambika P3 are catering to a slightly more specific audience and do not cost a penny to get in. For the numerous shows in galleries around the whole city, we have shortlisted the followings for those who have no time to do the window-shopping: (in no particular order)

Kris Ruhs in the Wapping Project - full photo set here

Landing on Earth by Kris Ruhs in the Wapping Project
Kris has created a series of large installations in the power station (see photo above) that have a dialogue with each other as well as the space.

Elmgreen & Dragset's transformed attic space in Victoria Miro

Harvest by Elmgreen & Dragset in Victoria Miro (@victoriamiro) -
The duo who put a bronze boy on a rocking horse on the 4th plinth is making two distinct spaces inside the gallery's two floors in their latest show in town.

snails on junk in one of Bertozzi & Casoni's works in the show

Regeneration by Bertozzi & Casoni in All Visual Arts (@allvisualarts) -
Examine the bizarrely colourful life-like works of the Italian duo which are almost renaissance paintings come alive in 3D.

Left: Untitled 12050; Right: Untitled 12044 (2012) by Lee Knagwook

Invisible by Lee Kangwook in Hada Contemporary -
Korean artist Lee uses colour pencils and charoal to create minimalist works (see photo above) that look vibrant yet intriguing in order as a whole. The sparkle highlights in his works make a glam touch to the works.

Revolver presents works by ten artists made between 1983 and 2012 in discrete spaces in the gallery in a three-part series of short exhibitions. Show 2 features Anna Barham's live installation, Graham Gussin's sepia toned photographs and Tai Shani's sound-tracked installation.


Spazio di Luce by Giuseppe Penone in Whitechapel Gallery (@_thewhitechapel) -
No other artist have made a more poetic piece for Whitechapel Gallery's columned room yet than Penone (see photo above).

Ligurian Sea Saviore (1993) by Hiroshi Sugimoto

Dark Paintings & Seascapes by Rothko and Sugimoto in Pace (@pacegallery) -
If you think David Chipperfield's museum space is a must-see, a joint show of Mark Rothko & Hiroshi Sugimoto inside a space designed by Chipperfield would be one that is seen to be believed. See the above teaser photo. We hope the show can stay forever, it is timeless.

 

 

Blastfurnace by Atelier Van Lieshout in Carpenters Workshop (@cwgparislondon) - 
Carpenters Workshop is renown for their taste of craft designs. It is showing a few pieces of AVL's works that viewers can view the chemistry among them when they are all in the same space. 

On a sidenote, there was outrageous queue everyday in the Barbican Curve gallery since its current show opened last week (see below photo), those who live in London should avoid getting there in frieze week to save your valuable time in this period.

Random International (also represented by Carpenter Workshop)'s interactive Rain installation in the Barbican Curve gallery

A Kassen's work in Sunday Art Fair 2011 represented by New Gallerie Paris

A Kassen's work in Nettie Horn, 17A Riding House Street

17A Riding House Street by A Kassen in Nettie Horn (@nettiehorn) -

Danish Collective A Kassen is known for their reaction with the environment and space in their works. The show would see how they respond to the relocated gallery (from Vyner Street) in its new premise and hence an one-off not to be missed.

a trio show in three distinctive spaces

Ten Thousand Waves - Issac Julien / Yayoi Kusama / The Hallucinations of Poets - Hernan Bas
06.10-13.11

The Victoria Miro Gallery is one of our favourites in London in terms of spatial quality. Converted from an old warehouse to the current gallery complex by Claudio Silvestrin & Michael Dain Architects, this week the gallery opens a trio show with three artists showing works in 3 types of media in 3 distinctive spaces within their premise. 

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Once you walked into the gallery, you would find the works of Hernan Bas in the ground floor showspace and the upper level attic. The colours and landscape background in Hernan's paintings blend in very well with the attic's exposed timber frames. In this show, the paintings are all subjected with young men isolated in a gloomy grotesque landscape settings, but highlighted with sparkling or colo. They evoke a sense of "Dark Romantics", as the gallery press release says.

Hernan Bas's paintings shown at the attic (as well as the ground floor gallery space which inter-connect with the attic by a void)

The insertion of young man into bizarre landscape settings create a tense yet interesting image

Previous dialogue with Hernan Bas in New York:
A Conversation with Hernan Bas at the Brooklyn Museum in 02.2009

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Outside the building lie the wild flowers by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Contrary to her previous work in the same space, this time she is as pop as ever and the 3 flora installations have definitely spiced up the calm backgarden. The presence of real nature provides an even-more contrasting aspect of the pseudo-nature (or mutated-nature) in Yayoi's works.

Yayoi Kusama's "Flowers that Bloom Tomorrow" negotiating with the private view crowd

The signature 'pop' of Yayoi Kusama

Yayoi Kusama - I Love ME trailer by jpop4america:

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At the top floor studio where the space is reduced to the minimal white walls, framless glazing and timber flooring; 9 photographs taken in the making of Issac Julien's film "Ten Thousand Waves" are displayed. The photographs have a very engineered feel with its glossy surface and the very subject of a movie set (the green screen, the ancient costume etc.), which re-inforce the artificiality of the minimal space they are situated.

Looking down the narrow staircase from top floor dance studio

Glass House (Ten Thousand Waves) by Issac Julien, 2010

A previous film by Issac:
"Baltimore by Issac Julien" by Alavaraoa

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It is an enjoyable visit which shows the power of well-executed curatorship.

 
Full photo set

Further Readings -
Page: Official page for the show in Victoria Miro online - Issac Julien / Hernan Bas / Yayoi Kusama
Page: Wikipedia entry for Hernan Bas
Page: Hernan Bas introduced by Saatchi Gallery
Page: Official page of Ten Thousand Waves
Video: Hernan Bas by Nicole Davis for Artnet TV
Video: Yayoi Kusama - Kusama's Self Obliteration (1967) by Andyfshito
Video: Director Isaac Julien and actor Tilda Swinton discuss "Derek" by sundancechannel

*****

And a side note - londonist has started a series called London Street Art Guide. Stik, Eine & CitizenKane are so far featured -

http://londonist.com/2010/09/london_street_art_guide_1_stik.php