Alexander Calder, ’10-5-4′, 1958
Mobile by Carl and Evelina Kleiner
First there were art sandwiches, now there are food mobiles, thanks to Carl and Evelina Kleiner. The Stockholm-based duo have revisited the mobiles of American sculptor Alexander Calder, recreating his efforts with a range of edible ingredients. See more here.
David Shrigley, ‘Untitled’, 2011
Francis Upritchard, ‘Loafers’ (detail), 2012
David Bowie has marked his 66th birthday by unexpectedly releasing ‘Where are we now?’, his first single in over a decade. Accompanying the song is the video clip above directed by American new media artist Tony Oursler (represented in Australasia by Jensen Gallery). The video is set in Oursler’s studio and includes one of his typically surreal sculptures featuring projections of the distorted faces of Bowie and a mute female companion. Oursler and Bowie go way back. In 1997 the artist made screen projections and onstage sculptures for the musician’s rather excellent 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden that you can watch online here.
After years out of the spotlight (following a minor stroke in 2004) 2013′s proving to be a big year for the Thin White Duke. He’ll be releasing his first studio album since 2003 (‘Where are we now’ is the first single) and is the subject of a major exhibition, David Bowie Is, that opens at the Victoria and Albert Museum in March. Welcome back Mr Bowie!
Posted in Art, Artists, Music, Sculpture
Tagged David Bowie, Jensen Gallery, Madison Square Garden, Tony Oursler, Where are we now
Caribbean-born, Bali-based artist Ashley Bickerton was one of the guest speakers at this year’s ArtJOG12 ‘Special Presentation’, a panel discussion that also included FlashArt Magazine editor Nicola Trezzi and Wang Zineng from Christie’s Auction House. Bickerton’s perhaps best known to Kiwi audiences for his inclusion in Bright Paradise, the first Auckland Triennial curated by Alan Smith in 2001. Back then, Bickerton created his lurid visions of paradise gone wrong by hand, and recalled spending days crouched over canvases fastidiously painting out evidence of his brushstrokes. This way of working pained him so much that he developed a new technique which he explained in detail during the ArtJOG discussion.
Detail of Ashley Bickerton’s ‘SH(ME)_Gold_1′, included in this year’s ArtJOG
Disinterested in painting, sculpture and photography individually, Bickerton has instead combined the three to realise new and twisted visions of modern man in the tropics. He creates meticulously composed mis en scene including himself and others in paint-encrusted clothes as well as sculpting grotesque faces in tactile clay, inserting glass eyes, headdresses, prosthetic teeth. Each component is photographed, re-photographed, photoshopped and then printed onto canvas which is repainted entirely. The process takes months. Finally, the works are inserted into heavily decorated frames. Or in the case ‘SH(ME)_Gold_1′ (above), onto thick layers of ply that reassert the objectness of the work. The result, says the artist, is a ‘parody of painting’.
Posted in Art, Artists, Painting, Photography, Sculpture
Tagged Alan Smith, ArtJOG12, Ashley Bickerton, Bright Paradise, SH(ME)_Gold_1
Witching Hour, 2010
Sermon (figure 1), 2011
Visitation, 2010
Hany Armanious, 'Untitled Snake Oil', 1998
Nicholas Folland, 'Goodnight Sweetheart', 2010
Hans Breder, 'Old Man's Creek I', 1971
Hans Bellmer, La Poupée, n.d.
'John', modelling material, foil, wire, paint 42 x 18 x 21 cm, 2011
'Untitled Bowl', modelling material, wire mesh, paint 8.8 cm diameter, 2011
'Mervyn Alrick', modelling material, foil, wire, paint, ring, 56 x 26 x 23 cm, 2011
'Untitled (Triangle Bowl)', modelling material, wire mesh, paint 10.4 x diameter 19.5 cm, 2011
All works from Echo at Kate MacGarry, London (closed October 16th)
Rachel Rakena in front of her work 'Haka Peep Show'. Photo courtesy Otago Daily Times.
Rachel Rakena has created a towering black, um, ‘column’ for the city of Dunedin to coincide with the Rugby World Cup. The 5 meter member, entitled ‘The Haka Peep Show’, apparently takes its shape from Rexona deodorant cans used by rugby players and contains within it video works featuring various haka performances.
The $100,000 sculpture has provoked such an outrage that local Councillor Lee Vandervis has resigned in disgust, stating “”We’re paying $50,000 to rent a black penis in the Octagon? What’s that all about?” For Rakena, the work is more complex. She says it “…considers the sexualisation and commodification of Maori and indigenous sportsmen through the use and exploitation of their masculinity and their culture, in the media”. Big black cock or sculptural exploration of the objectification of male athletes? You decide…
Posted in Art, Artists, Sculpture
Tagged Lee Vandervis, Rachel Rakena, The Haka Peep Show
Michael Parekowhai, 'Acts II', 1994
Roxy Paine, 'Model for an Abstract Sculpture', 1997
