Art Hag

Objets d'Art | News

~Register on Smithsonian Magazine's website for free admission for you +1 to hundreds of participating museums and cultural venues on Museum Day (Saturday, September 26th).  The price is right!  More at gadling.com.  Thanks for the tip, Cuz!

~The weather's going to be beautiful this weekend!  Do you still need another reason to hop on the ferry and head over to Governors Island?  This is the first weekend of the Governors Island Art Fair presented by 4heads Collective.  Over 150 artists and galleries are exhibiting works.  Happening every weekend in September from the 5th-27th.  Learn more at 4heads.org and at govisland.com.

~In a genius attempt to make reading cool and appealing to the youngins, Penguin commissioned Ruben Toledo to illustrate new covers for 3 classics:  Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, and Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.  The classics never looked so fab and chic!  Check them out here and read a quick Q&A with Toledo at wwd.com. 

~Japanese artist, Yoshitomo Nara, was arrested and spent one night in jail last February for drawing a smiley face on the wall of the pit that is known as the First Avenue L-train station in NYC.  For real???  He was charged with "making graffiti and criminal mischief."  Fortunately, after staying out of trouble for six months, the charges were dropped in late August.  Unfortunately, clueless MTA workers washed away his artwork!  Read more here.  Seriously, does adorable artwork like this really warrant a night in the clink?

~Remember the Andy Warhol portrait of Michael Jackson that went up for auction last month that I mentioned here?  It sold for over $1 million, though the Vered Gallery will not disclose the actual amount.  Read more here.

~And Nick Cave fans get ready!  The Murder Balladeer has written his second novel (his first was 1989's And the Ass Saw the Angel), The Death of Bunny Munro, and will be appearing at the Union Square Barnes & Noble on Monday, September 14th!  How weird will it be to see Grinderman at Barnes & Noble?  More at bn.com.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend everyone!!!

Rubin Museum of Art

Since the contemporary art world is pretty much on summer vacation until mid-September, I've been trying to find different venues to explore.  On Friday night I visited the Rubin Museum of Art in Chelsea (in the building that once housed Barney's downtown space) and took advantage of the free admission (from 7:00-10:00 on Fridays).  Housed in an elegant space featuring a dramatic, central, spiral staircase, The Rubin Museum focuses on the art from the Himalayas and the surrounding regions. 

Currently on view is Mandala - The Perfect CIrcle which is an in-depth look at a traditional Himalayan Tantric Buddhist symbol for meditation.  According to the show's introductory notes, Mandalas are intricate and artistic visual aids that serve as guides for complex meditation practices and assist in advancing users toward enlightenment.  Mandalas typically feature images of deities and are made of cloth, paper, metal, wood or clay.  On view are various different types of mandalas that range from paintings, wall hangings, portable mandalas, and my favorite - the elaborate and detailed three-dimensional works.  Some of the mandalas on display date as far back as the 7th-9th centuries.  (Through January 11, 2010.)

A Collector's Passion features over 50 South Asian and Himalayan works from the collection of Dr. David Nalin, who in the 60's was sent by the U.S. National Institutes of Health to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to develop a treatment for cholera.  Whist there he began collecting art from the area and its surrounding regions including India, Tibet, and Nepal.  Some of the pieces in his collection date back as far as the 3rd century!  (Through November 9th.)

Nagas: Hill People of India features photos by New Delhi-based photographer Pablo Bartholomew of the Nagas people from the HImalayan hills of northeast India and Myanmar.  (Through September 21st.)  What Is It? Himalayan Art is a sort of Himalayan Art: 101 exhibition that proposes to answer the question "What is Himalayan art?"  The exhibition will periodically change to further delve into its topic and provide more answers to the question posed.  (Through February 4, 2013.)  From the Land of the Gods - Art of the Kathmandu Valley presents artwork from Nepal, the region located between India and Tibet that serves as "the crossroads of trans-Himalayan trade, the shared sacred site of various Himalayan religions, and the epicenter of Himalayan arts production and influence."  (Through March 14, 2010.) 

Though you may not reach a state of enlightenment during your trip to the Rubin Museum of Art, you will be enlightened by the wealth of information you'll gain about cultures that are not familiar to many of us.  Since I'm very ignorant of the art and culture of the Himalayas, it was too much to absorb in one walk-through and will likely require many return visits.  To learn more about the Rubin Museum of Art, see rmanyc.org.

Summer Program | X Initiative

The X Initiative is a one-year, not-for-profit center for the art community housed in the former DIA Chelsea building on West 22nd Street.  Spearheaded by gallerist Elizabeth Dee with an advisory board consisting of over 50 international art professionals, X "is reaching across traditional boundaries to form a consortium interested in responding quickly to the major philosophical and economic shifts impacting culture" (from X-initiative.org).  In an interview with Art Info, Dee states that the idea for X emerged from "conversations that were happening in response to the political climate and economic turmoil."  The temporary site will host "durational artist interventions, site-specific projects, historical in-depth exhibitions, one-night performances, lectures and weekly events." 

Its premiere opening on March 7th featured work by Christian Holstad, Adrian Piper, Josephine Meckseper, and a terrific retrospective featuring films by the late, great film-maker Derek Jarman.  The colorful Dan Flavin lights originally created for the stairwells in the building have been reinstalled for the duration of X's occupancy in the space. 

For the summer phase (opening was on July 9th), X presents work by Fritz Haeg, Keren Cytter, Luke Fowler, and Tris Vonna-Michell.  Haeg's work, Dome Colony X in the San Gabriels (on the first floor), is an interactive installation consisting of a number of dome-shaped tents surrounding a round, black stage creating a "mountain colony."  The tents "function as gathering and meeting spaces" while the stage serves "as an epicenter for events and screenings."  On the second floor, Tel Aviv-born/Berlin-based Keren Cytter's films are being shown.  The Mysterious Serious features films by Cytter that cross genres from "film noir, melodrama, documentary, and soap opera," and focus on "dysfunctional families and alienated friends on the verge of nervous breakdown."

The third floor is screening films by Scottish artist Luke Fowler.  Warriors: Four Films by Luke Fowler 2003-2008, showcases Fowler's unconventional works that mix "historical materials and original recordings, archival footage and new takes..." creating "a personal form of cinematic narrative that follows free associations and idiosyncratic connections."  Up on the fourth floor, British artist Tris Vonna-Michell's works are shown from 35-mm slide projectors.  Along with using archaic technology, Vonna-Michell explores "the ways in which stories and events are remembered and re-told..." and "creates environments that recall fictional archives in which accelerated monologues and frantic speeches resonate."

Don't forget to head up to the building's awesome and enviable rooftop and see Los Angeles-based INABA's Pool Noodle Rooftop.  Jeffrey Inaba and crew took foam pool noodles and "cut and bunched [them] vertically into chaise lounge and ottoman units of varying heights that accommodate up to 150 people."  The surprisingly super comfy seating provides cushiony surfaces for weary rear-ends when X hosts screenings and special events up on the roof.  For those who can fly or happen to be giants, when viewed from above, the modified floating devices spell out "bububluooopppp" (see my pics below).  Also in a small room on the roof is Today and Everyday, a group exhibition that is presented in 3 contexts: first as a group still life photo taken by Margaret Lee; secondly as an installation (featuring work by Olaf Breuning, Carissa Rodriguez, Sam Wilson, Donna Chung, Josh Kline, Anicka Yi, Maggie Peng, and Piet Houtenbos); and lastly as a memento in the form of a zine produced by Used Future.  See my pics of Carissa Rodriguez's contributions below.

To learn more about X Initiative and the current exhibitions, visit X-initiative.org.  Read Art Info's interview with Elizabeth Dee at Artinfo.com.  The summer program runs through September 19th. 

 

INABA, Pool Noodle Rooftop

Carissa Rodriguez, Infinite Signs, Untitled (Luxury Problems #10) on left, and Untitled (Luxury Problems #9) on right, 2009