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I travel and review art exhibits in a manner that you don`t need a phd to grasp. I am attracted by clarity and dialogue rather than the usual artcentrism of specialized readings. I witness as many art shows as any official journalist, but keep in mind that I`m NOT a "writer", merely a purveyor of sentiments and impressions. Because I am based in Montreal this diary will mostly focus on its scene, but I`ll be voicing opinions on major, worldwide issues.
Saturday, March 06, 2004
Govan and Kino
Some exhibition reviews are coming up. All stuff you already read about a thousand times, except I`ll be commenting about works rather than general exhibit overview which you may read in any paper. Tonight I went to Kino`s (www.Kino00.com) last show to be hosted by its charismatic (and handsome) founder Christian Laurence, who also presented one of his best short yet, an atmospheric comedy about sharing dreams and realities. The crew of Kino Montreal, a community-based movement of independant cinema of worldwide proportions, has been absurdly shifted in the flash of one evening after a five years tradition, and I couldn`t understand how they imagined that the lady who came quickly on the stage to mention she had to leave for a phone call would suffice to replace mr. Laurence. At any rates, it seems some ambitious projects are on the row for Kino, and soon enough we should be getting more information from the horse`s crew, who are all still keeping their administrative status.
Yesterday I went to see Michael Govan`s conference at Musée D`Art Contemporain (he even sat next to my chair for a couple mimnutes),
the director of Dia Foundation and Dia Beacon Museum (www.Diabeacon.org),
who presented a pleasing slide show that was separated in two parts: first showing some of the major public or land works commissioned by Dia to some of the starred artists of their roster, and second, showing images of the development of the Dia Beacon instauration, with many images from the current "permanent" show featuring an impressive array of huge 70`s minimal artists works.
I had seen this museum before, which is a grandiose project, and I`m not one to feel intimidated by the Foundation`s decision on focussing on a small number of artists, supporting them through awe-appalling-sized works, in the aim of creating this century`s true contemporary monuments, of the scale the can support such titles. I was only shocked for a second when I saw Donald Judd`s hangar and thought that it was a shame he didn`t simply invite homeless people to inhabit it, but then I realized this was the middle of the desert and no one would have accepted his invitation.
Of course, building monuments is a biaised issue. You can question forever why such or such artist got the grants to realize projects of sometimes silly envirgure. But bottom line is that it always been such risk at stake throughout history, and the future only will tell if people want to Keep Judd`s desert piece as it is now or reuse for something a radically more functional.
My only worry when I visited Beacon was that such a magnificent and huge space would only serve as a thumb for the entreposage of Dia`s contemporary collection, but I was reassured that night by Govan himself that the museum will keep some spaces for temporary, annual exhibits,
focussing on established artists, with perhaps, if we`re lucky enough, adding some invitations made to newcomers to create site-specific works.
The first of these exhibits will be a new series of paintings by Agnès Martin (!)
that should be starting around May.
Oh my...I`m getting enthousiast which is rather strange since Beacon have been critiqued so much as being this eugenistic, totalitarian monster of contemporary art that you are supposed to hate, but frankly I won`t start pointing any finger when I don`t find the enterprise any more absurd than the cathedral built a couple blocks from where I stay and that is also used by a minimal percentage of people.
They got 135 000 visitors in their first year, so now we art devotes too can claim to posess our pilgrimage`s path and temple.
Cheers,
Cedric
Comments-[ comments.]
Yesterday I went to see Michael Govan`s conference at Musée D`Art Contemporain (he even sat next to my chair for a couple mimnutes),
the director of Dia Foundation and Dia Beacon Museum (www.Diabeacon.org),
who presented a pleasing slide show that was separated in two parts: first showing some of the major public or land works commissioned by Dia to some of the starred artists of their roster, and second, showing images of the development of the Dia Beacon instauration, with many images from the current "permanent" show featuring an impressive array of huge 70`s minimal artists works.
I had seen this museum before, which is a grandiose project, and I`m not one to feel intimidated by the Foundation`s decision on focussing on a small number of artists, supporting them through awe-appalling-sized works, in the aim of creating this century`s true contemporary monuments, of the scale the can support such titles. I was only shocked for a second when I saw Donald Judd`s hangar and thought that it was a shame he didn`t simply invite homeless people to inhabit it, but then I realized this was the middle of the desert and no one would have accepted his invitation.
Of course, building monuments is a biaised issue. You can question forever why such or such artist got the grants to realize projects of sometimes silly envirgure. But bottom line is that it always been such risk at stake throughout history, and the future only will tell if people want to Keep Judd`s desert piece as it is now or reuse for something a radically more functional.
My only worry when I visited Beacon was that such a magnificent and huge space would only serve as a thumb for the entreposage of Dia`s contemporary collection, but I was reassured that night by Govan himself that the museum will keep some spaces for temporary, annual exhibits,
focussing on established artists, with perhaps, if we`re lucky enough, adding some invitations made to newcomers to create site-specific works.
The first of these exhibits will be a new series of paintings by Agnès Martin (!)
that should be starting around May.
Oh my...I`m getting enthousiast which is rather strange since Beacon have been critiqued so much as being this eugenistic, totalitarian monster of contemporary art that you are supposed to hate, but frankly I won`t start pointing any finger when I don`t find the enterprise any more absurd than the cathedral built a couple blocks from where I stay and that is also used by a minimal percentage of people.
They got 135 000 visitors in their first year, so now we art devotes too can claim to posess our pilgrimage`s path and temple.
Cheers,
Cedric
