Art Update: The New Whitney Museum Opening

Jasper Johns, 3 Flags, 1958, photo courtesy of the author

We arrived at the opening on the early side and were able to walk through the galleries and see the interior and exterior spaces designed by Renzo Piano. The stunning open spaces and incredible light highlighted the museum's historical collection from the early 1900’s to the present. This ingenious combination of space and light will offer endless possibilities for artists to create new projects in the future.  As the crowds had not yet arrived, we were able to see the sun setting on the Hudson River from the fifth floor. What a glorious experience.

View of the Hudson River, photo courtesy of the author

“America is Hard to See” the title of the inaugural exhibition displaying only 600 works from the museum’s vast 22,000 works now includes artists not born in the US but living and creating their art here. Josephine Meckseper’s vitrines “A Complete History of Post Contemporary Art” and “Tout Va Bien” are stunning examples of this changed policy.

Josephine Meckseper's “A Complete History of Post Contemporary Art”, 2005, photo coutesy of the author

Josephine Meckseper's "Tout va bien", 2005,  photo courtesy of the author

We caught up individually with Adam Weinberg, the Director and Donna de Salvo, the Chief Curator who were receiving the guests and basking in the glow of accolades being bestowed on the “Miracle on the Hudson”.

Donna de Salvo, photo courtesy of the author

The new Whitney Museum is a prime example of a major cultural institution expanding into the 21st century and surmounting it’s massive obstacles with outstanding success.

Art Update: Bjork Retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art

Photo courtesy of the author

We approached the Bjork exhibition with much skepticism as the majority of the reviewers had little praise for it. The first work we viewed on the third floor "Black Lake" commissioned by MoMA was a riveting and heart breaking performance. The innovative music blends haunting techno rhythms with classical arrangements to echo the loss of her partner Matthew Barney and her utter despair of being alone. Moving to the second floor where tickets are required to enter, the retrospective of her videos begins showing twenty years of Bjork's oeuvre. The videos are mesmerizing, moving, and genius. Had MoMA merely shown this commission and the music videos perhaps the show would have been better received. 

Possibly, what many critics overlooked is that Bjork is a multi accomplished artist whose career goes way beyond being a talented musician/performer. Her artistic practice pervades all aspects of her being, as is viewed in the creation of the instruments in the lobby, a gravity harp and Tesla coil that play her songs, as well as her illustrations of her self-composed lyrics and her avant-garde fashion. 

Why not have a museum have an extraordinary exhibition of an artist that exists outside of the audience's expectation?

Photo courtesy of the author

Photo courtesy of the author

Art Update: Hugh Scott-Douglas opening at Blum & Poe

Hugh Scott-Douglas at Blum & Poe, photo by author

On April 9th, I arrived at the opening of Blum & Poe’s New York gallery to view the new work of Hugh Scott-Douglas, whose career I’ve been following for a couple of years. Scott-Douglas addresses new forms of technology and their ultimate obsolescence. For this show, he printed layers of industrial black ink on aluminum panels using scans of watch gears and dust. This process produced phantom imagery from the digital scans and obscured the original digital imagery. 

Hugh Scott–Douglas

Untitled, 2015

UV-curable ink on dibond

80 x 53 inches

This reminded me of Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's work “Please Empty Your Pockets” an installation which I first saw in Rafa’s studio in Montreal in 2009. He invites the public to place objects from their pockets such as keys, wallets and credit cards on the conveyor belt. Then these objects pass through the scanner and are projected back onto to the conveyor belt surface. The work remembers up to 600,000 objects cumulatively. Both artists explore the persistence of technology in our lives and its inevitable replaceability.  

“Please Empty Your Pockets” 2010, Photo by: Peter Mallet

Art Update: Studio Visit with Tom Sachs, Giuseppe Penone at Marian Goodman, Massimiliano Gioni and Jeffrey Deitch at the NY Public Library

Linda, Tom,  Hella

On March 9th, we returned to visit Tom Sachs in his studio to see “Institutional” an iconic Cabinet that was in progress for a couple of years.  Tom proudly took us through his "Tea Ceremony", which has fascinated him and was first showcased in his “Space Program Mars” installation at the Park Avenue Armory in 2012. At first glance, “Institutional” looks like the back of a truck, in fact a dirty truck. When the doors are opened, the viewer is offered a glimpse into the artist’s practice whereby he reinvents cultural icons and everyday objects and transforms them into his very own “obsessive” world. To see more of Tom’s work check out: Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective” 1999-2105 at the “Contemporary Austin”.

  Images courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery 

On March 18th, I arrived at Marian Goodman’s breakfast for Giuseppe Penone’s new exhibition, "Indistinti confini/Indistinct Boundaries” as well as a guided tour of the exhibition led by curator Dieter Schwarz. The quality of the new sculptures made from marble and bronze, which is exquisite, provoked me to touch them.  When I mentioned my desire to do so, while conversing with Giuseppe in French, he gave me permission and was pleased that his works caused this reaction. Much of his work deals with the sense of touch.

Photo Jori Klein/ NY Public Library

On March 25th, I attended the lecture at the NY Public Library where Massimiliano Gioni interviewed Jeffrey Deitch. It was a fascinating exchange between two colleagues and friends.  Jeffrey and I go way back to my years as head of the Contemporary Department at Sotheby’s when he started the investment program at Citibank. When the bank obtained a client for contemporary art, the deal was they received a complimentary appraisal from Sotheby’s. We made several trips together including a visit to Paul Anka’s wonderful home in Carmel, California. Jeffrey’s journey in the art world is unique. When he opened his gallery, “Deitch Projects” his wish to provide the platform for artists “to do their thing”, whatever that entailed and not to be criticized was launched. The openings attracted huge audiences and offered many new people a glimpse into the art world.   Jeffrey's concept of "art as spectacle" was launched. This paradigm shift led to the stardom of many artists, most notably Jeff Koons. With his finger on the pulse of the art world, Jeffrey continues to embrace the artists that resist conventionality.