Written by: Renny McFadin Renowned contemporary artist Adrian Ghenie, born in Romania in 1977, decorates his work with various defaced figures and gruesome scenery. Through these more morbid elements, he aims to investigate and highlight the more violent parts of Europe’s history. By intertwining a multitude of fears- personal, collective, historical- Ghenie successfully documents the traumas of 20th century Europe for a 21st century audience. Often armed with a palette knife and stencils, Ghenie attacks the historical figures displayed on his canvas in a manner akin to Francis Bacon. Ghenie's works are constantly imbued with elements of the Northern European Renaissance. By borrowing the rich texture found in many renaissance paintings, Ghenie easily depicts contrasting elements to create an aura of uneasiness and precaution, another commentary on a rough past. Crystal clarity contrasts collapse. Fluid, dripping paint contrasts the sharp scrape off of the canvas. Chiaroscuro mars all of his works, and yet calls upon a nostalgia of the renaissance we never experienced. Frequently Ghenie provokes thought regarding the political and scientific ideologies of the 20th century. Charles Darwin seems to be a recurring subject, amongst other notable individuals like Joseph Mengele. Communism and eugenics often make an appearance in his work- again depicting a part of Europe often swept aside in lieu of more insouciant ideals. Perhaps this is why his work could be deemed controversial, or maybe his obvious perversion of other artists? For example, in his piece The Fake Rothko, a man is depicted retching aside a Rothko painting. Conceivably, this could incite joy? Pleasure? Or maybe a deep rage or confusion? This seems to be an adequate response to such strong works.
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Written by Maya Koehn-Wu and Natalie Kim Agnes Varda As of this past Friday, March 29, 2019, celebrated artist and filmmaker Agnes Varda has sadly passed away at the age of ninety due to complications from cancer. Varda was a critical artist and active filmmaker in French New Wave cinema. Over her lifetime, Varda made over thirty films. She first entered the spotlight in 1955 with the film La Pointe Courte. Varda secured the title of “grandmother of the French New Wave” after the 1962 production of Cléo de 5 à 7. Banksy resurfaces for the original “Brexit Day” Banksy’s largest canvas work, around thirteen feet long, has recently been reinstalled at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery. The painting features Parliament inhabited by monkeys. The painting was originally displayed in the 2009 exhibition of “Banksy vs. Bristol Museum,” where it provoked much conversation and controversy. The paintings timely reappearance perchance alludes to the chaos and “zoological state” of the British government over Brexit negotiations with March 29th marked as the deadline for Britain to decide on how to leave the EU. Tszshan Museum - Hong Kong’s First Buddhist Art Museum This past week, Li Ka-shing, Hong Kong’s richest citizen, a 90 year old billionaire, opened up Hong Kong’s first Buddhist Art Museum at the Tsz Shan Monastery in Tai Po. The project cost around 400 million dollars to build. Ka-shing began construction of the monastery in 2003, where it opened twelve years later in 2015. The monastery remains nestled in the hills of northern Hong Kong, where a massive 249 foot-tall bronze statue of Guanyin, the goddess of mercy, remains ever watchful. Check out this link to see the museum’s collection: https://tszshanmuseum.org/en/appreciation Difficulties at the Louvre A new installation at the Louvre Pyramid was created to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the construction of the pyramid by gluing paper strips to give the impression that the pyramid had doubled in height and emerged from the depths of a mysterious canyon. Unfortunately, the new addition is now no longer, as a combination of the heat of the sun making the paper strips dry out and peel and the desire of tourists to take bits home as souvenirs caused the installation to be shredded to pieces. However, instead of upsetting the artist, JR, he took the events in stride, saying “The images, like life, are ephemeral… Once pasted, the art piece lives on its own. The sun dries the light glue and with every step, people tear pieces of the fragile paper. The process is all about participation of volunteers, visitors, and souvenir hunters.” X-Ray Rocks! Scientists from the Shumla Archeological Research and Education Center have recently unveiled a new technique to uncover the various layers and elemental makeup of the pigments used to create prehistoric paintings. Their idea uses a portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, a handheld X-ray instrument which measures the fluorescent X-rays of the desired material, to gain insight into the creation of the piece as well as the prehistoric societies without having to damage the art. They have already tested the technique in Texas’ Rattlesnake Canyon which contains numerous pictographs and found that black pigments made of manganese were hidden under the layers of red iron oxide, giving evidence of art from the hunter gatherer societies which lived in the area from 2500 BCE and 500 CE. Guns in America Renowned French artist JR embarked on a collaborative project with TIME Magazine to spark a debate on guns in America. He gathered numerous people from all sides of the debate, videoed and photographed them wearing and acting out their opinion of guns, and photoshopped them together to create a mesmerizing image, representing the diverse views all over the country. He has created multiple forms of the project: a photograph, video mural with movement, making it similar to a GIF, and an online interactive allowing the viewer to click on each person and hear what they think on the issue. The physical work will be shown at numerous galleries around the country to allow people to view the piece in its full magnitude and further absorb the significance behind it. Here is a captivating video explaining the process and giving insight to the people involved: http://time.com/guns-in-america-behind-the-project/ Citations:
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-remembering-legendary-filmmaker-agnes-varda https://news.artnet.com/art-world/agnes-varda-death-announcement-1503634 https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-remembering-legendary-filmmaker-agnes-varda https://news.artnet.com/art-world/banksy-chimpanzees-brexit-day-1504156 https://news.artnet.com/art-world/buddhist-art-museum-hong-kong-1503925 https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2019/04/3-uncoveringth-1024x683.jpg https://news.artnet.com/art-world/new-x-ray-technique-rock-art-1505458 https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/louvre-jr-technical-1504972 https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2019/04/louvre-collage-03.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=618&h=410&crop=1 https://www.connexionfrance.com/var/connexion/storage/images/media/images/jr-pyramid-art-damage/844290-1-eng-GB/JR-pyramid-art-damage_articleimage.jpg https://news.artnet.com/app/news-upload/2018/10/time-guns-cover-final-1024x467.jpg https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artist-jr-collaborates-time-magazine-produce-special-project-guns-america-1380307 http://time.com/guns-in-america-behind-the-project/ |
AuthorsNATALIE KIM is a junior at MLWGS and is committed to informing others of history being made in the art world. Archives
April 2019
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