Archive for the 'Art' Category
A detail from Colmena, 2005, an installation by Baltazar Torres. (Photos by C-M.)
For a lot of folks, Costa Rica is synonymous with zip lines and monkeys and lots of eco-marketing. But the capital of San Jose has a lively cultural scene as well. Today I stumbled right smack into a wonderful new arts space and museum called TEOR/eTica — which showcases works from the collection of the TEOR/eTica foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting Central and Latin American artists. Their permanent collection is small, consisting of only a few hundred works. But what I saw of it was compelling. I got lost in Baltazar Torres’s installation, Colmena, shown above (and after the jump). Though that may be because I enjoyed looking at myself in all the little mirrors…
Afterward, I also got lost in a gigantor hunk of super-fresh cheesecake with stewed strawberries at the awesome new bistro/cafe Kalu, located right across the street. A work of art, indeed.
Click on images to supersize. Continue reading ‘Theoretically: TEOR/eTica, a new contemporary arts space in San Jose, Costa Rica.’
Matches. (Photo by Bob.Fornal.)
Because we here at C-Mon are, like, total pyros, we are joining forces with the inimitable El Celso at this year’s Art Basel in Miami to stage the first annual ART BURN 2009. In a public happening that will undoubtedly be equal parts Wicker Man, Texas A&M and Richard Pryor on fire, we’re gonna be burning fine art. Your art, to be exact.
We are now accepting submissions of combustible works on wood or paper. Pieces must be of sentimental and/or monetary value to the artist. (We want to burn your art, not your mistakes.) All pieces will be briefly displayed prior to being immolated. Nothing will be sold. No fees are required to apply. (This is a low-rent operation, however, so we’re gonna ask that you ship your works to us.) The burning, naturally, will be filmed, photographed and social media’d to the max – assuring the death of your work plenty of virtual attention as the art industry gathers for its annual Miami Beach Swap Meet. Details on location and timing will be announced as they are confirmed.
To submit works for consideration, e-mail images and/or links to celso [at] elcelso [dot] com.
See you in Miami!
Now what the heck does it say up there? (Surreptitious photos by Sebastian Puig all taken with special Get Smart® shoe phone.)
Q: What’s better than SUPERTITLES at the opera?
A: REALLY BIG WALL TEXT REALLY HIGH UP at an art museum!
We loved seeing the exhaustive (and exhausting) Kandinsky retrospective at the Beaubourg, a.k.a. Centre Georges Pompidou: the bold splotches of color, the whimsical shapes, all that kinetic motion from the peripatetic 20th-century master whose career took him from the Blue Rider through the Bauhaus. The only thing that left us puzzled was the wall text, which was writ LARGE and placed WAAAY up the wall. I suppose it’s so that even if visitors are stacked five-deep and can’t see the art, they can at least read the name of the painting over the tousled heads of fellow art-gawkers. Maybe some U.S. museums will catch on to this user-friendly trick. The Guggenheim will get its opportunity in September, when the show travels to New York.
Calder at the Pompidou is up through July 20; Kandinsky, through Aug. 10.
Click on images to supersize. Continue reading ‘From Paris: Sebastian Puig checks out Kandinsky and Calder at the Pompidou.’
Boobies!!! A whole wall of them. The piece is titled Muro, 2009 by Raquel Paiewonsky. (Photos by C-M.)
While my mission on this trip to Lima has been to eat and to eat again, I have managed to sneak in a few visits to art galleries between degustaciones. The best show thus far has been an exhibit of contemporary Dominican art that I happened to catch at the Centro Cultural de España on the Plaza Washington, near downtown. The show, Mover la roca (Move the Rock), features new works by the D.R. arts collective Quintapata, whose members are Tony Capellán, Pascal Meccariello, Raquel Paiewonsky, Jorge Pineda and Belkis Ramírez. Overall, a highly interesting show. And way better than the couch art I’ve been admiring at many of the city’s commercial art galleries.
Click on images to supersize.
Continue reading ‘Photos: Dominican artists Quintapata at the Centro Cultural de España in Lima.’
Obey Biennale: Taste the hype. (Photos by San Suzie.)
We are just back from the City of the Doges where this summer’s artapalooza kicked off with the 53rd Prosecco-soaked edition of La Biennale di Venezia. The show, which bore the very important title Making Worlds consisted of 38 exhibit spaces in the Arsenale and Giardini, plus a whopping 45 collateral event sites scattered throughout the city’s labyrinthine streets. This was in addition to numerous must-see museums, including the fabulous Pinault Collection at Palazzo Grassi and its new contemporary art venue at Punta della Dogana.
We spent at least a third of the preview days simply trying to get from one place to another, searching the maze of alleys and canals for obscure out-of-the-way locales like the Palazzo Rota Ivancich, the official venue of the Mexican Pavillion. But, all in all, we we were nicely surprised by the offerings: free food, art swag, yacht-and-people-watching, and, oh yeah, the city itself, which was once the wealthiest in all of Europe — and is therefore filled with masterpieces by 16th century heavyweights such as Titian, Veronese, Bellini and Palladio.
Of course, no artapalooza comes without annoyances, ironies, ridiculosity and even a few moments of sheer, breathtaking joy. Therefore, we present you with the First Annual C-Mon awards to celebrate the mother-of-all biennales, highlighting the good, the bad, the ugly, the incomprehensible and the just plain too damn much.
The envelope please…
Captured warriors are sacrificed on a Moche vessel, crafted at some point during the civilization’s apogee from 1 to 800 A.D. (Photo C-M.)
At this point, I feel confident in letting everyone know that if you come to Peru and don’t make a significant pit stop of at least three days in Lima, you are seriously hurting. Among the incredible sights: the Museo Rafael Larco Herrera, which has a spectacular collection of ceramics from various pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, most significantly the Moche, a culture renowned for their incredible portrait vessels. Think: Roman sculpture of the Americas.
The best part (in addition to the lovely on-site restaurant that serves a highly recommended ceviche) is the separate room that contains a trove of Moche erotic pottery — as in, lots of sculptures of people humping. My tour through the erotic gallery was heightened by a fellow traveler from Italy who spent the entire visit alternately exclaiming ‘Mama mia!’ or laughing nervously.
The museum is open seven days a week from 9:00 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Also: You can follow my Peruvian adventures on Twitter. Or check in with my buddy @hchuaeoan, who is Tweeting away about everything he puts in his mouth. I won’t say what.
Click on images to supersize.
Continue reading ‘Kick ass: Moche art at the Museo Rafael Larco Herrera in Lima.’
Best. Museum. Ever.
Paul McCarthy wishes he could one day be as freaky as whoever created the installations for the Museo de la Inquisición in Lima, where various displays detail the ways in which humans can inflict pain on each other. It’s a tiny exhibit. (Peruvians weren’t diehard inquisitors, disposing of only 271 “heretics” during the 16th and 17th centuries — compared with the more than 100,000 in Germany during roughly the same period.) But it’s highly entertaining. Particularly if you’re an eight-year-old boy.
The museum is located on the Jirón Junín 548, on the Plaza Bolivar. Admission is free.
Click on images to supersize. Continue reading ‘Lima, Day 6: The Inquisition. What a show!’
Taxidermy galore: in the studio with Lishan Chang. (Photos by C-M.)
A couple of weeks back I attended an open studio that chashama hosted at their new studio spaces in Jamaica, Queens. My favorite of the bunch — hands down — was the former dentist’s office that has been reborn as a taxidermy studio for artist Lishan Chang. Chang, whose past installations have involved everything from plastic wrap to burnt bread, is now hard at work on a series in which he catalogues, taxidermies and displays road kill.
Though the project is still underway, he currently has a fine selection of squirrels, raccoons, hawks, geese and cats that have all been harvested from area roads. Prior to the project, Chang had little experience with taxidermy. But after a short introductory course and a few how-to YouTube videos, he has become a prolific stuffer of unfortunate animals. It’s an interesting way of honoring the creatures we thoughtlessly mow down with our cars. Can’t wait to see the full-blown install when it’s done.
Click on images to supersize.
Continue reading ‘Studio Visit: Lishan Chang at chashama in Queens.’
