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26
fév
2010

Whitney Biennial: 2010. The Whitney Museum of American Art
Posted by Julia Baron at 15:40

Since it began in 1932, the Whitney Biennial has been a foremost establishment for showing American contemporary art.  The show often displays contemporary art by less recognized, up and coming artists, and habitually sets contemporary art trends.

This year’s Whitney Biennial, entitled 2010, covers the gamut of painting to performance art with the fifty-five artists featured.  This contemporary art explores a variety of pertinent current issues: from Josephine Meckseper’s investigation of the dangers of American consumer culture in her dark film of the Mall of America; to Nina Berman’s photographs showing the effects of war on modern society; to Jessica Jackson Hutchins Couch For a Long Time –a unique work which features pottery sitting atop a couch (taken from her childhood home) with glued-on newspaper articles about Barak Obama –showing the impact of the public world on private life.  The art exhibition also includes the installation Collecting Biennials (on the fifth floor of the exhibition) which celebrates influences from past biennials.  In Collecting Biennials, works by Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns, Jackson Pollock, and Eva Hesse are among the many prominent American artists featured.

Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Couch For a Long Time, 2009.

The 2010 Whitney Biennial artists embody the current working art world, and represent a diverse scope of American contemporary art.  While Collecting Biennials acknowledges important past inspiration as 2010 shows artistic reactions to new historical movements, the Whitney Biennial covers both the history and upcoming visions for the Whitney Museum.

Josephine Meckseper, Mall of America, 2009.

Nina Berman, Ty with gun, 2008, from Marine Wedding, 2006/2008.

26
fév
2010

“C’est la vie!” –images of death in an Art Exhibition at the Musée Maillol in Paris
Posted by Julia Baron at 15:39

The art exhibition « C’est la vie! –Vanités de Caravage à Damien Hirst ! » at the Musée Maillol in Paris, presents more than 160 classic and contemporary works all based on the theme of vanitas art.  Vanitas art reminds us of our mortality and the transience of life.

Andy WARHOL, Skull, 1976

Beginning with a profusion of contemporary artwork and going back in time through rare masterpieces previously hidden by famous collectors, the art exhibition presents a particular course of art history.  Going beyond morbid clichés often inherent in death representations, this collection benefits from some lighter philosophy as well, with works that show an ultimate attempt to resist life’s limitations.

Jean-Michel Alberola, Rien, 1994

The chronological course begins with contemporary artwork which composes two thirds of the displayed works.  The skull image is omnipresent throughout the exhibition.  The plethora of skull representations symbolizes a paradox that Patrizia Nitti, the new artistic director of the Musée Maillol, wished to highlight: « Jamais l’art des vanités n’a été aussi vivant, » asserting that art about death has never been so alive.  Viewing this morbid theme made chic, we experience an unusual and striking art exhibition.

Georges BRAQUE, L’Atelier au crâne, 1938

Going through the show, we encounter a host of skulls in the vanitas images through the ages.  The skull is clearly the central symbol of vanitas art, from skulls by Damien Hirst and Jean-Michel Alberola to Caravaggio’s Saint-François en méditation and a fresco from Pompei featuring a skull.  Although the skull continually manifests, the art exhibition shows fascinating variety in the artistic representations of death presented by masters of the past and present.

Philippe PASQUA, Crâne aux papillons

Fondation Dina Vierny -Musée Maillol, 59 rue de Grenelle, Paris, 75007.

Until June 28, 2010.

26
fév
2010

Design Art by Didier Chipan
Posted by Julia Baron at 15:36

Design in contemporary art: it is in this ambitious endeavor that we find the French artist Didier Chipan.  Using everyday objects for his paintings, he changes our perception of what constitutes a work of art.  As part of the Design Art faction, Chipan takes the stage front and center with his surprising aesthetic style.

French artist Didier Chipan fuses the worlds of art and design, as Design Art emerges as a new form of expression in contemporary art.  With an influence of new realism, his Design Art joins canvas painting as he glues objects onto acrylic painting.  He may use the style of object art, but it is not art objects that he uses.  Instead, he integrates everyday objects into his artistic work.  Each “painting,” composed of acrylic, glue, and objects, has three objects glued in a diagonal line onto a painted canvas.  He calls this “Did’s diagonal.”

Didier Chipan, Don’t Waste Your Time In Front Of Me, 3000€

Resembling an installation art piece implanted onto a canvas, Chipan’s work recalls the readymades of Marcel Duchamp.  With his Design Art bearing similarity to the found objects theme, Chipan appropriates objects into the realm of art and design.  In his mixing of painting and objects, he puts conventional things in unconventional circumstances.  His work Messagerie Artistique places the “@” symbol in the middle of two actual mailboxes, representing the central role our internet communication has taken over snail mail of the past.  Sending an “artistic message” with mail symbols sheds light on the many forms of communication we have open to us since the advent of the World Wide Web.

Didier Chipan, Messagerie Artistique, 3000 €

Those interested in modern art for sale will appreciate Chipan’s Design Art, in his resemblance and references to the likes of contemporary art market domineers Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons.  As Chipan uses the tool of the internet wisely, his strong networking skills will surely contribute to his success in the art market as well.

Didier Chipan, My Heart Goes Driiiiing !, 2500 €