• As cultural agents, curators and artists participate in the production of cultural value. Exhibitions are, therefore, contemporary forms of rhetoric, complex expressions of persuasion, whose strategies aim to produce a prescribed set of values and social relations for their audiences. [Paul O'Neill]
• Exhibition: maximizing the shock while avoiding the risk of boredom, which would strip of its entertainment value. [Paul O'Neill]
• What is apparent is that artists, their work and practices exist and are claimed under the banner of a larger economy of culture. [Alun Rowlands]

What stroke me is the biennial’s attempt to be the voice of another globalized world,  from China to Brazil.  The curatorial approach subtly highlighted both the reality of the Global Age, as well as the similarities between Cuba and other parts of the world. Sadly, the website of the biennial was down when I tried to consult the program, so I cannot document properly everything that I saw.

China: contemporary art reviewed

Centro Hispanoamericano de la Cultura

“Since its inception in 1984, the Havana Biennial has established a cultural dialogue with peripheral countries like China. The last two decades were characterized by a new geopolitical restructuring as a consequence to some extent of the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 – an event regarded as a consequence and not a cause of political decisions that in a way put an end to the cold war. From that moment on the Domino Effect broke out, extending its tentacles all around the world. Cuba was involuntary immersed since 1990 in the Special Period, crowned by austerity and recession. China, on the other hand, stands out since then as one of the greatest powers of the present time. Holding its arm extended to Cuba in a gesture of fraternity and cooperation. The relation between both countries is historical. The first wave of Chinese immigrants arrived to the island of Cuba in 1847 to work as labourers in the sugar plantations, thus replacing the African slave labour force. One of the greatest artistic exponents of the 20^th century had his ethnic heritage – the Cuban artist Wifredo Lam, who was born in Sagua la Grande in 1902 with Chinese origin from his father and Cuban-African from the mother.”, Tereza de Arruda, curator.

School of Heaven, Wang Chengyun

Paulo Bruscky exhibition

“…By the use of Mail Art as a vehicle of freedom and transgression of censorship, Bruscky was in jail during the military dictatorship. Unquiet and experimental artist he is also recognized as one of the firsts in the artistic application of diverse technologies such as electronic recording, slides projection, facsimiles, super-8 films, video, off-set and mimeograph and also as forerunner of video art. A hunter of images and restless collector he counts on more than 75 thousand objects including the biggest Mail Art archive in the world. That´s why he has been regarded as an artist-activist-archivist man…”, http://www.cubancontemporaryart.com

Sculpture on El Prado

Metal elephants from José Emilio Fuentes Fonseca

Articles about the biennial:

-          http://www.miamiherald.com/living/story/982650-p2.html

-          http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/arts/design/01bien.html

Painting of M. F. Husain outside the Serpentine.

“Some of the artworks in the exhibition have been selected for their connection to the theme of Indian Highway, reflecting the importance of the road in migration and movement and as the link between rural and urban communities. Other works make reference to technology and the ‘information superhighway’, which has been central to India’s economic boom. A common thread throughout is the way in which these artists demonstrate an active political and social engagement, examining complex issues in contemporary India that include environmentalism, religious sectarianism, globalisation, gender, sexuality and class.”

And here are some blogs about the exhibition:

-          http://engineersdaughter.typepad.com/engineers_daughter/2008/12/art-exhibition-highlights-indian-highway-at-londons-serpentine-gallery.html

-          http://stillred.com/2008/12/adrian-searle-on-the-serpentine-gallerys-indian-highway/comment-page-1/

-          http://artradarasia.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/mixed-reviews-for-serpentines-indian-highway-show-in-london-evening-standard-independent/

I don’t understand some of the discussions. First of all, why should an artist necessary reflect the artistic, political or economical situation of his country? We are in a global age and it is more and more awkward to classify an artist by his geography. Is it because I live in London that I should share the concerns of other artists living in London? Secondly, an exhibition is not a documentary. There is not such things as a good or bad representation of art from a region. It is only about selecting pieces of art for display. Who has the authority to say they represent a country of 1 billion people? Not the Serpentine nor the critics. This leads to merely debates of taste. Anyway, here are my comments on the artworks and how they were exhibited, NOT what Indian contemporary art should be.

Many curators, from UK and India, collaborated on this exhibition. The approach is free of formal conventions: wall paintings are extending the paintings on canvases, reproductions of paintings are exposed outdoor, variety of media are used. I don’t know if this is because of an ‘Indian way ‘ to exhibit, it is probably only the Serpentine way.

I would like to concentrate on the videos. The Raqs Media Collective asked documentaries to revisit videos they  made over the last two decades, “revisit these images and produce a landscape that provides a unique vantage point from which to think through the present conditions of turbulent anxiety, visceral conflict and unprecedented opportunity.” They commissioned Hirsch and Müller to build the space. The result is quite interesting, not because of their shiny  ladders representing ‘states of being between things’, it is a little bit cliché… But because of the way they put the videos at different height and angles in a very small space. You tend to look at multiple videos at the same time, discovering new ones on your way, and being immersed by them.

Ghost/Transmemoir from Bose Krishnamachari also offers to the public an interesting way to relate with videos. You enter a room with tens of suspended cans, used by the city’s dabbawalla lunch delivery system (pem). In each of those cans are small video screens. The installation is noisy as you hear the comments made by citizens of Mumbai in each can. On some of them are headphones you can use to concentrate on one sound at a time. The installation gives  a sense of Mumbai’s effervescence.

I also saw a video which is on a highway next to Kashmir. It is looking at the window of a car with sounds from the radio in the background. Each time a soldier appears, the video breaks for few seconds. I liked the effect because it feels like an ideal situation of comfort broken by disruptive glances of something wrong. But I cannot tell you who did the video, because I could not get the information back. I wanted to get a short description of the artworks that were displayed, so that I could remember the names of the artists and artworks. I purchased the little Serpentine Highway book called ‘Indian highway’. I couldn’t find back in the book nor the Serpentine website the titles of everything I remembered, because the pictures were not of what I saw and the descriptions not what I read.  A little more effort to promote the artworks and artists online and on paper would be sensible.

I don’t know about Indian art but I enjoyed some of the videos displayed at the Serpentine, related to daily lives, politically charged. Indian Highway is held at the Serpentine gallery until the 22^nd February 2009.

Does it make any sense to attempt making a ‘snapshot’ of what India’s contemporary art is? Feel free to comment!

Work of Michaela Melián at Cubitt

We went to the Cubitt to speak with the curator Bart van der Heide. The Cubitt is an independent organization controlled by artists. It is not a commercial gallery, which is noticeable in a country where most of the art is privately subsidized. There is a big gap in London between institutions like the Tate modern and commercial galleries. The Cubitt offers a unique 18-month curatorial rotation. They change of curator once every 18 months, acting as a career launch pad. The gallery is currently exhibiting the first international exhibition of the German artist Michaela Melián. I found that the space was particularly respectful of the artist work and of the diversity of the media used.

The Mask II from Ron Mueck, British Museum

Statuephilia at the British museum is an exhibition featuring statues from some of the most famous contemporary artists in UK. It doesn’t challenge at all the institution of the British Museum: a representation of (colonial) power, of what is considered important and how it should be classified. Lack of criticism (positive or negative) is perceived by most of the London art community as a curatorial failure. That being said, I found ‘Case for Angle 1′ from Antony Gormley and ‘Dark Stuff’ from Tim Noble and Sue Webster meaningful, even though they didn’t challenge the institution. The exhibition wasn’t always convincing in terms of relation to space. I think about The mask from Ron Mueck which was placed a little randomly within the room of the South Pacific. Finally, I would classify the Kate Moss statue of Marc Quinn, entirely in gold, as another example of bling-bling art. If someone is ready to pay for such a gold statue, can it really be a criticism of the cultural superego, or is it its bold celebration ? But maybe this work, like the Crystal skull from Damien Hirst (not part of this exhibition even if you can see another of his skull obsession), will have an historical value one day, as a testimony of the vain generation of golden boys from the City, now hopefully over.

Frequency and Volume from Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Barbican

I liked the curved exhibition space of the Barbican, the fact that it is not a closed showroom, but a passage, a corridor. And really the ‘Frequency and Volume’ installation from Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is working this way. The shadows of walking people capture waves from radio, television… changing our perception of space.  It is a good example of how contemporary curators exhibit not only objects, but also spaces and situations.

The reason why I went to this course is because I want to make an exhibition of video art in few months. The curation practice is I think very interesting because of its duality: it is philosophical, artistic while being also practically involved in how culture is evolving and disseminated. I truly appreciate the sophistication of the discourse in this area. But at the same time, I don’t want to do another white cube exhibition, or another curatorial criticism of art. I don’t have the right background anyway. I need to write down exactly what is my approach. I think it will be very challenging to position it back to the contemporary themes of curation, and to the high expectations of the art audience. But that’s probably why I want to do it. There would be no point if I had nothing special to say…

Christophe Bruchansky

Balloon flower - Jeff Koons

The Jeff Koons exhibition in the Chateau de Versailles illustrates how important the process of curation is in the reception of art. Curation is a relatively recent discipline, at least in our shared consciousness. It can be defined as the process of selecting and organizing artwork in order to further knowledge.  A curator is thus an agent taking part in the cultural assimilation of art. He is a kind of “culturepreneur” who organizes  art collections, exhibitions or festivals; explaining his approach through articles, books and conventions. His work influences what will be culturally remembered, how it will be perceived and classified.

The Jeff Koons exhibition shows a special kind of curation, the artist was heavily involved in the selection of his own work. It is difficult to know exactly who did what in this curatorial process because of the idolatry surrounding the Jeff Koons superstar. The exhibition is an enormous marketing machine designed to attract international visitors to Versailles. By watching the opening press conference (in French), someone might think that Jeff Koons genially did everything by himself. But if I look at the official website, the names of Elena Geuna and Laurent Le Bon appear as curators. Anyhow, you can feel a very artistic approach to the curation. It is powerful, experimental and generator of meaning. There is a real dialogue between the exhibited artwork and its historical environment.

Hoover installation in front of Marie Antoinette’s painting

I would like to take the example of the Hoover installation in front of Marie Antoinette’s painting. I’m not sure about the artist’s view that hoovers represent uteruses. But I was stroke by the symbolic confrontation. Marie Antoinette and hoovers are two symbols of the history of women. One is grandiose and powerful, the other one is functional and enslaving. But then comes questions, are they really that different? Was not Marie Antoinette also imprisoned in a wife’s role? Are they not two symbols of a certain cocooning? And obviously, there is this contrast between the rich Versailles and the mass market hoovers. Both symbols here are equally represented, face to face.

Michael Jackson's statue

The previous example is confrontational but I was also impressed by how some artworks integrated their environment.  I had to look twice to notice the Jeff Koons flower vase. It seemed to have been made for the baroque Queen’s room. The work of Jeff Koons gave also back some lightness to the historical site. Now that Versailles is an institution, it is easy to forget it was initially a place devoted to the craziest caprices of its occupants. Michael Jackson’s statue revives this reality of Versailles and has thus its place in the Venus salon.

So yes, the Jeff Koons exhibition is a megalomaniac marketing campaign around the artist’s personality. But that doesn’t stop the venture to be meaningful. It was very risky for the curators to make such a bold statement. Choosing this American artist for the first contemporary art retrospective in Versailles is an uncompromised move to new lectures of its history, enriching a thriving international culture .

For those who want to learn more about curating, I recommend the book “Issues in curating contemporary art and performance” edited by Judith Rugg and Michèle Sedgwick. I was expecting some kind of pretentious artist blah-blah but the articles from Paul O’Neill or JJ Charlesworth for example where actually very sensible and useful.

Christophe Bruchansky

Last weekend was the weekend of the year for art admirers in London, with numerous events and fairs being held in the megalopolis. The Frieze art fair is the leading and biggest one. What draw my attention were the projects commissioned by the fair and some examples of this years’ trend to photography and sculpture.

A big contemporary art fair is like a hangar full of toys. The quantity and diversity of the pieces shown is vertiginous. The objective is to catch the attention of potential buyers, so art galleries tend to highlight distinctive, easy to love pieces of art. The result for a mere visitor like me is a dense and very enjoyable experience.

The difficulty for the fair is to put all this quantity together and to add a little something, an identity. In that respect, I think the projects commissioned by the fair, and curated by Neville Wakefield, were a big success. They constantly challenged the status of the art fair, between nature (Frieze is held in a park), art, politics and sales. They were also very accessible. You can read more about them on this article from  Adrian Searle. I loved Illusion by Jeppe Hein. He placed trees at the entrance which very slowly revolve on themselves. It is only after a few minutes people queuing outside the fair noticed their rotation, leading to a awaken connection with nature which already surrounds the fair.

Here is a random selection of works exhibited at the fair :

Etat imaginé, Eric Baudelaire, 2004 (Juana de Aizpuru gallery)

The photography manages to combine an idealistic vision of nature with hyperrealism.

My Moscow by Sergey Bratkov (Regina gallery)

Colorful and sensitive pictures of Moscow.

Perpetual void by Petroc Sesti, 2008 (Paul Kasmin gallery)

A lot of flawless, plastic sculptures are on the spotlight. Visually dramatic with their expressive optic effects, they force the admiration of visitors, and the flashlights of their cameras…

Lost and found – playstation by Vadim Fishkin, 2007 (Gregor Podnar gallery)

A lot of playfulness in this sculpture, which doesn`t stop it being an excellent support for religious philosophical debates.

Rectangle inside ¾ cylinder by Dan Graham, 2008 (Hauser and Wirth)

Let’s not forget the sculpture park with this great example of Dan Graham’s work, dialoging with reality and people through its sophisticated mirrors.

Yue Minjun at the 798 art district of Beijing, the trademark of Chinese contemporary art.

It was a pleasure for me to see the New Art from China Exhibition at the Saatchi gallery. It reminded me the 798 art district I visited a year ago in Beijing. Chinese contemporary art is easily accessible. I think because it summarizes so well Western contemporary art in its attempts to adapt it to the Chinese culture. A benefit of cross cultural dialogue is that only relatively accessible, understandable language is replicated. You lose in the process some refinements of the original artistic vocabulary of course but you also gain a common basis for new evolutions.  I’m not sure the Chinese contemporary art discovered its own aesthetical identity though, maybe it doesn’t need any more in a globalized art world…

Some argue Chinese art is poor because of expression censure. I wonder then how it can be so valued in the art industry. Maybe it is because contemporary art is meaningless anyway and thus compatible with censured creativity, or maybe it is because art is so encoded, inexplicit that subversive creations can be tolerated. Not all artistic expression is political of course and you might also think there is enough space left for creation.  Those questions are not Chinese specific but should be applied to the entire contemporary art production.

Whatever the answer, the exhibition of the Saatchi Gallery is a concentrate of creativity, craftwork mastery and diverse artistic means applied from a constrained Chinese perspective.

My favorites:

• Zeng Fanzhi, This Land Is So Rich In Beauty 2 , because of the expressiveness and dynamism of his brush marks.
• Li Songsong, This Is How We Talk Politics. I like his way to paint the mass media distortions, the result is aesthetically very pleasing