Culture

In no particular order, with an emphasis on art for which I have images…

We did not make it to the “main” fair (Art Basel Miami Beach), or Scope (unfortunately), or the containers, but we did hit the Rubell and Margulies collections, plus NADA, Aqua, and a tiny bit of Frisbee.

NADA

Remember how I recommended Elena Kovylina’s Waltz before we left? I did dance with her one round, but passed on drinking vodka with her. It was an intense and heart-breaking performance, and it felt odd to see such a work in the bright Miami sun.

Her performance was presented by Schroeder Romero. They presented work by an artist new to the gallery (and new to me) named Ken Weaver. An exhibition of his work will be their inaugural show in Chelsea in January. They really stood out as one walked by the booth at NADA – dazzling red and white images.

Ken Weaver
Just call me the queen of the world ‘cause I just got ROYALLY FUCKED!, 2004
(large queen)
oil pastel on paper
60 × 40 inches, paper size

Several galleries impressed with their overall programs. One was Galería Comercial, which is located in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It exists somewhere between the non-profit and commercial gallery worlds — but on purpose unlike some galleries! At NADA, they showed posters and other works by Pedro Vélez, plus a number of other artists working in media ranging from painting to video.

Another space with an impressive booth was the artist-run Transmission Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. The experience reminded me a little of when we were at the Affordable Art Fair, and the non-profit Center For Emerging Visual Artists (Philadelphia) stood out in a big way. I see plenty of great work from commercial galleries, but several of the non-profit/artist-run spaces really stand out at fairs like this. Transmission will be at The Armory Show in March. Here is an image of the wall installation by Lorna MacIntyre in their booth:

Speaking of entire booths, Galerie Kamm (Berlin) devoted their entire space to the work of Katharina Jahnke. The work included sculpture, works on paper, and fabric works incorporating paint and sewing. Here is one of her sculptures, from the gallery web site:

Katharina Jahnke
Sparkling Isolation, 2005
wood, spy-mirror
117 × 156 × 241 cm

To be continued…

One of our great discoveries in Miami, thanks to our host Michael, was the Gallery House project. It’s an early 20th century house filled to the brim with art. There are things hanging on the walls, in the closets, and there are wall paintings and installations too. The vibe was more like visiting a show in someone’s loft in the East Village a decade or more ago than being in Miami for the whole art fair thing.

Not only did we enjoy the work, as we were leaving we saw two white possums sitting in the tree in the front yard, watching the activities. They were in a tree to the right of this view:

A lot of the work we saw was by Don Shearer, including everything you see in this image below. I like the Felix Droese-esque angles in the corner.

Here are some detail shots of a wall painting/installation by Don Shearer, R. Grimes, Ryan Simmons Ferrell, and Francesco Locastro:

They have no web site yet, so here is the contact information:

the Gallery House project
454 NE 38th Street, Miami 33137
305 576 2697
GalleryHouse AT bellsouth DOT net

[images provided by Gallery House Project]

Donna Dennis
Subway with Silver Girders, 1981-82
Wood, metal, mixed media
Margulies Collection

I wish New York had private collections such as the Margulies and Rubell Collections that are open to the public. I enjoyed aspects of the Rubell, particularly the exhibition of contemporary Polish work, and the paintings of Norbert Schwontkowski, but it doesn’t feel like the “personal” collection that the Margulies does. It has smart choices, but there was very little that surprised me, and very little (other than the two things I just mentioned) that wasn’t already familiar. It also felt rather odd to see gift shops inside (including t-shirt sales).

I found the Margulies Collection very moving. I loved the focus on work with a social or political aspect, and the very intelligent curating of the works on display, with juxtapositions such as Peter Friedl’s King Kong video placed near work documenting the ruins of Detroit, the G8 riots in Genoa, and ruins of Kabul.

If you’re not headed to Miami (or already there), here is your TODO list from the Hotel Chelsea Blog.

The de la Cruz collection belongs to one of the grandes (and most gracious) dames of the art scene, Rosa de la Cruz, who frequently opens her art-filled house to the public (by appointment). Every nook of her Key Biscayne home — from the living room to the laundry room — is filled with works by the likes of the video artist Aida Ruilova and the painter Martin Kippenberger as well as a psychedelic installation by Assume Vivid Astro Focus. Photo by Kevin Cooley. [source]

Via Modern Art Obsession, found in the Wall Street Journal:

The four-year-old Art Basel Miami Beach fair attracts thousands of visitors to its contemporary art sales and industry parties, but increasingly some of its biggest draws are tours of art owned by wealthy collectors, which offer a glimpse of some of the city’s most lavish homes and properties. Most of these are invitation-only, but it’s sometimes possible to get in through a local gallery or the fair office.

…

While it is all part of the fair’s goal of sharing art, these open houses can offer a financial benefit for collectors, who sometimes get discounts from dealers in exchange for prominently displaying works in their homes. Zach Feuer, a New York dealer, says that last year he lowered prices for three Miami collectors who showed the pieces in their home tours.

I don’t know how much we’ll manage to see in Miami, but there are several performances I want to recommend.

Elena Kovylina, Still from Waltz as performed in Berlin, 2001

The first is Elena Kovylina’s Waltz, presented by Schroeder Romero, which will be performed as part of the NADA Fair on December 1st, at 11:30am. Here is an excerpt from the gallery’s press release:

This will be the first time it has been performed in the United States.

Elena Kovylina, a Russian artists, will perform Waltz which, through its motions, is a metaphor for he rise and fall of the Russian military and culture. It was recently presented in video form at Schroeder Romero in the exhibition Russia Redux #1, curated by Elena Sorokina. Holland Cotter of The New York Times called it “a stirring performance in which grace and violence mesh.

Waltz was conceived in 2001 and has been performed in Germany and subsequently in several European cities. The artist subverts the prevalent clichés of the “Russian woman” whose body became one of the main sources of revenues in the new capitalist economy of the 1990s. She also subtly comments on a forced “reconciliation” between Russia and Germany, the former absolute war enemies and ideological adversaries. Choosing members of the Western audience to dance, the artist reverses the prevalent aesthetics of failure, empowering herself and symbolically activating what has been repressed.

James wrote about the exhibition Russia Redux #1, which I would consider one of the best shows of the year. You can read more about Waltz on the artist’s web site.

The other recommendation is basically all performances related to Frisbee, especially “Champion Fine Art Dance” with Flora Wiegmann and Felicia Ballos on December 3rd at 4pm.

Colter Jacobsen, installation view

We visited White Columns on Saturday, and I have to say the current set of shows is the best work so far of Matthew Higgs’s new administration. Roberta Smith appears to agree. Congratulations to White Columns for such a great review.

The group show in the main space, titled Open Walls and curated by Mr. Higgs, includes great work, with only two artists (Alexandre Singh and Robin Graubard) whose work I’ve seen before. The other artists in that show are Tariq Alvi, Colter Jacobsen, Christopher Russell, and Pam Servatius. The wall collage/painting/etc. by Colter Jacobsen and the collage wheelchair on the ceiling by Tariq Alvi are particularly impressive.

Elizabeth Peyton, Ladovico Capponi

In one of the White Rooms is a fun show called The Early Show, curated by Elysia Borowy-Reeder, Scott Reeder, and Tyson Reeder of the General Store in Milwaukee. The premise is a show of early work by artists who are now well-known, ranging from Cory Arcangel to David Reed. Some are works from the artists’ teens, but some are from childhood. It appears Ms. Peyton already had developed a specific style by the time she was 16 or 17. I also loved another opportunity to see the video of a performance by Insecticide, the band of a very young Cory and Jamie Arcangel.

Alba Ballard, Soft and Dry

While you’re there, don’t miss Arne Svenson’s images of Alba Ballard’s costumed parrots.

[All images are from the White Columns web site.]