Kehinde Wiley

Kehinde Wiley is an avant-garde American painter. He uses juxtaposition and appropriation within his work, and conveys themes of identity, history, and culture.

The Post Modern theme of Intertextuality can be seen in Kehinde Wiley’s work through the very direct references to Western art history (esp the Baroque period), as well as contemporary urban surroundings. Intertextuality is all about how our ideas are influenced and inspired by what we have seen and learned, to the point where the idea of originality is disregarded.

This idea is particularly interesting to Wiley's work because of his non-essentialist take on identity; challenging the idea that it is inherited and instead constructed.

By broadening the idea of identity Wiley also extends the idea of intertextuality, because a lot of what we learn is related to the culture we are born in.

Pluralism is the recognition of a wider representation of art, rather than the original emphasis of a single cultural group (the middle class European male). According to Caldwell (1999) ' Pluralism honors differences within and between equitable groups while seeing their commonalities'

Wiley simply states 'I do it because I want to see people who look like me' acknowledging the domination of male white culture in the art world.

Wiley both supports and challenges the idea of Pluralism with his cross-cultural works, blending the contrary images of modern urban black culture and the old-world elitist white culture. This mixing of cultures makes the viewer think about their own views on complex issues of hierarchy, prejudice, and stereotypes.

REFERENCES:

Begie, R (2010) Kehinde Wiley and the Representation of Identity. Retrieved 27 Oct from: http://igobyandy.blogspot.com/2010/05/kehinde-wiley-and-representation-of.html

Caldwell, B (1999) Cultural context retrieved 16 Oct 2003 from http://www.public.iastate.edu/!design/ART/NAB.PluArt.html

Chandler, D (2003) Intertextuality. Retrieved October 9, 2003 from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem09.html

Cody, G. (1991) Behaviour as Culture: an interview with L. Dasgupta, in Interculturalism and Performance, New York, PAJ Publications (p. 208)

Mey, K (1997) Contemporary sculpture and the Body. Retrieved 9 Oct, 2003 from http://www.dundee.ac.uk/transcript/volume2/issue2_2/sculpt.htm

Newsletter of the New Zealand Mathmatical Association 84 (2002) Retrieved 9 Oct from: ifs.masey.ac.nz/mathnews/Nzms84/news84as.html

The disaster of war (n.d) Retrieved 9 Oct, 2003 from www.eins.org/einscafe/goya.html

(n.a, n.d, n.t) retrieved 28 October from: http://www.kehindewiley.com/main.html

Anish Kapoor

Celebrated for his gigantic, stainless steel 'Cloud Gate' sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park, Anish Kapoor is changing the cultural environment with his public works.

Svayambh (2007)

Svayambh, meaning ‘self generated’, is a blood-red sculpture that slips between galleries Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nantes and Munich’s Haus der Kunst. It is styled to look like a train, though it is shaped by the doors it passes, leaving a waxy substance behind.

Tall Tree and the Eye (2009)

Tall Tree and the Eye is found outside Burlington House (London). It is Made of 76, 15 metre reflective steel spheres. Tall tree and the eye has no "message", as Kapoor wanted it to be left to the interpretation of the viewer.

Untitled, 1983

Untitled resides in the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City. The sculpture consists of four forms in a diagonal row, unified by the same colour. It has a strange aesthetic of being organic and synthetic at the same time. ‘Untitled’ actually has a simular idea to Dan Arps work for the Walters Prize, in that there is a hint of symbolism and profoundness that is actually never explained. (Though Kapoor’s work is at least a million times better than Arps’.)

Kapoor has also made a work in New Zealand. “The Farm” (2009), is named after its location, sits in the hills of a 1000acre outdoor art gallery in Kaipara Bay. It stays true to his love of red, but is the first piece Kapoor has made out of fabric, so it could survive the Tasman winds.

“The Farm” is over 8 stories high consists of an ellipse, one side horizontal and one vertical, connected by a skinny waist.

The work has been made in tune with the land around it, in scale and shape. Due to the high winds, the work even ‘breathes’.

My favourite work by Kapoor is probably Tall Tree and the Eye. From the interviews that saw with Kapoor I noticed how incredibly smart he is, so the fact that this piece doesn’t have particular ideas to it makes it more interesting to me. I think it was the quote “What was palpable yesterday was the involvement and enjoyment of the visitors, who were intensely engaged with the sculptures, animated, curious, chatting to strangers.” (there will always be England blog) that won me over.

I also find the dynamic of the reflective metal particularly beautiful.

REFERENCES

(N.A) November 19, 2007 “SVAYAMBH” retrieved 18^th August 2010 from http://mocoloco.com/art/archives/004804.php

PRISCILLA, 19 NOVEMBER 2009 ‘Anish Kapoor’ retrieved 18^th August 2010 from

http://therewillalwaysbeanengland-priscilla.blogspot.com/2009/11/anish-kapoor.html

Marcello Dantas (n.d) ‘Porfolio: 
Anish Kapoor
"1000 Names"’ retrieved 18^th August 2010 from

http://www.c4gallery.com/artist/database/anish-kapoor/anish-kapoor-interview-1000-names.html

Sanger, A. December 2008 ‘Untitled 1983’ retrieved 18^th August 2010 from http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=27100&tabview=text

(N.A.) January 2010 ‘Anish Kapoor sculpture blends fabric and steel in New Zealand’ retrieved 18^th August 2010 from

http://fabricarchitecturemag.com/articles/0110_sk_sculpture.html

Byrnes, S. 20 November 2005 ‘Anish Kapoor: The prince and the artist’ retrieved 18^th August 2010 from

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/anish-kapoor-the-prince-and-the-artist-515903.html

The Walters Prize

The Walters Prize is an award given to prominent contemporary NZ artists. It was set up in 2002 by Erika and Robin Congreve and Dame Jenny Gibbs. Named after the artist Gordon Walters, it was created to promote contemporary art and make it a bigger part of NZ culture.

The past winners have been Yvonne Todd (2002) Et Al (2004), Francis Upritchard (2006) and Peter Robinson (2008).

The Four selected artists are:

Dan Arps: Explaining Things shown at Gambia Castle, Auckland (7-24 December 2008)
His work is basically things he found on street. It is based around the sense that you can explain things through a diagram (his words), and how one object might explain another object. He wanted to alienate audience, and make them feel uncomfortable.

Fiona Connor: Something Transparent (please go round the back) shown at Michael Lett, Auckland (15 April - 16 May 2009)

Fiona Connor describes herself as an installation artist, and that even in 2D works the context is situational. The idea behind ‘Something Transparent (please go round the back)’ was for people to renegotiate something they already knew, especially by using content that’s already there.
Saskia Leek: Yellow is the Putty of the World shown at Ivan Anthony Gallery, Auckland (25 November - 23 December 2009)

Saskia Leek says way she makes work is idiosyncratic; and doesn’t know how it’s going to turn out. She looks at odd images as starting point, ‘follows [her] nose’, and works intuitively with the spatial and colour relationships of her paintings. They are complete and expansive at the same time.
Alex Monteith: Passing Manoeuvre with Two Motorcycles and 584 Vehicles for Two-Channel Video shown at ST PAUL St, Auckland (19 June - 7 July 2008)

Alex Monteith describes herself as a project dependant artists, and works mostly with performance and video art. She was interested in Adrenaline Culture, and her work revolved around the issue of lane splitting. Her piece was actually illegal to make because of filming requirements- inspirational haha.

(Clockwise from top-left: Dan Arps, Fiona Connor, Alex Monteith, Saskia Leek)

The jury members for 2010 are Jon Bywater, Rhana Devenport, 
Leonhard Emmerling, and
Kate Montgomery

The Judge for 2010 is Vicente Todoli. He was the director of London’s Tate Modern, the most visited modern art museum, as well as over 10 years being an art director and curator.

I would nominate Saskia Leek for this years Walter’s Prize, mostly because I am old fashioned and like art that I can recognize as art. I find it very clever but completely unpretentious. I like the colours in her work, particularly the idea behind them that the "bleached palette" represents the ambiguous nature of memories. I think she’s succeeded in making her work dynamic even though it’s small. I like that her works manage to be modern and vintage at the same time. I wouldn’t go near oil paints so I admire artists who do. I think maybe Alex Monteith’s work is better (more polished at least), but I still prefer Leeks.

REERENCES:

(n.a, n.d.) ‘The Walters Prize 2010’ from
http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/whats-on/events/2010/july/the-walters-prize-2010

Tamaki, T. ‘Walters Prize 2010 ‘ (n.d) retrieved 16th August 2010 from

http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/2010/jul/auckland-cbd/walters-prize-2010

Hussein Chalayan

To be honest, when I saw the piece ‘Burka’ (1996) my personal response was just shock that those models didn’t mind being so naked. And I know he’s making a point about how everyone dresses, but… so naked. Exhibitionism aside, I find Chalayan’s work very interesting. I really liked ‘Afterwards’ (2000) especially after I read the context:

"The project had nothing to do with furniture," he says. "It was all about the moment of trying to leave your home at a time of war. The living room was supposed to be like somebody's wardrobe. How you could hide your possessions and carry them with you? Partly it's from my background - I'm from Cyprus, which is a divided place - and partly because of Kosovo." -(Quote from We make money not art)

I think these pieces are fashion, because Chalayan describes himself as a fashion designer, rather than an artist. I think what makes something art or fashion is how the designer sees it, because a lot of the time the two overlap.

To me, the key difference between fashion and clothing is style [daarrling] Fashion is always expressive and contextual.

Commercial businesses commissioning artists to work reminds me of the Renaissance. Sure it’s made by the artist, but the original creative vision is compromised. The reasons behind making a work are pretty key to how the work turns out, which in turn changes the meaning of art. Unless money was always the motivator, I think this a watered down version of art.

The film ‘Absent Presence’ would have been influenced by many art movements, but the one that came to mind for me was Massusrrealism. I think this movement may have inspired Chalayan’s approach in the way that it shares his style of mixing technology and surrealism in a modern (pop art) way. It carries a style that is quirky and sophisticated at the same time.

The question of when and why is it important that the artist personally make the piece is an interesting one to me, particularly in the context of a post-modern society (… yeah not gonna back up that statement). Being someone who has pretty much no technical skill in art, I can see how the idea behind a work is, subjectively, the most important thing behind an artwork.

In saying that though, I think a lot of conceptual artists can drop the extra syllables and just call themselves con artists. They are cheating really. If someone thought up a super amazing snowboard trick, but couldn’t do it themselves, would that make them a super amazing snowboarder?

But with people like Damien Hirst it would be silly to expect them to gain the skills it would take to make pieces like ‘The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living’ eg kill a shark. But I also think it’s silly that he gets the credit and profit when he didn’t put in the hard work.

Although there’s merit in a good idea, limiting art to the idea itself is an insult to those artists who bother to become skilled.

REFERENCES:

Marzec, K ‘Take It Off: Designers Exalt the Controversial Burka’ retrieved September 29, 2008 from: http://fashionindie.com/take-it-off-designers-exalt-the-controversial-burka/

(n.d, n.a.) ‘hussein chalayan’ http://www.designboom.com/eng/interview/chalayan.html

Regine, ‘Hussein Chalayan’ retrieved October 12, 2005 from: http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2005/10/his-autumnwinte.php

francojean23 ‘Hussein Chalayan "Afterwords" 2000’ retrieved April 08, 2009 from:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE07_aFF4no

(n.a, n.d) ‘Art Movements’ http://www.artmovements.co.uk/home.htm

IMAGES:

(n.a,) ‘Hussein Chalayan’ retrieved 02/08/10 from: http://www.husseinchalayan.com/blog/

http://www.husseinchalayan.com/#/past_collections.2000.2000_a_w_after_words.0/

Nathalie Djurberg 'Claymations'

The word ‘claymation’, is a combination of the words clay and animation, which explains itself as a stop-motion form of animation using clay as its medium.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think ‘claymation’ is Wallace and Gromit. The second thing I think about is that the factory for Wallace and Gromit was burnt down… Cue Nathalie Djurberg.

The term ‘Garden of Eden’ carries the idea of a perfect natural world. Djurberg has added her own Tim Burton-esque style to this concept, making the shape and colours of the flowers quite awe-inspiring. It’s this twist that gives it a surreal quality to the traditional idea of the Garden of Eden.

The comment ‘all that is natural goes awry’ refers to how skewed her garden is. Djurberg’s work has a dreamy quality to it, which makes you expect something lovely, but a moment later you realize this couldn’t be further from the truth.

There is a strong complexity of emotions that Djurberg confronts us with, such as disgust, nervousness, horror, but above all confusion. I think we find it unnerving to see amorality in such intense issues, and the fact that the content is so sexual just adds to the bucket of convolution.

The characters in her videos are all girls who have a wide-eyed naïve attitude to them, as well as the landscapes having a child-like fantasy characteristic. By playing with these ideas her work is even more brutal/effective as it attacks the very notion of innocence.

I think the current fascination of turning the innocent and sweet into something disturbing is because some designers are malicious. … No? Ok. I actually think this has come about due to the changing role of the artist, as well as the recent surge of mass media making people more aware of what’s happening outside their own lives.

I think Djurberg’s work is interesting because of the emotional effect it has on it’s viewers. The fact her work is so bold and memorable makes it a good choice for the Venice Biennale.

To be honest, I’m in two minds about Djurberg’s work. I think her ideas are brilliantly executed, and that her work is thoughtful, unique and aesthetically interesting. I think she achieved her goal. My issue is, what was her goal? (it’s ramble time) I mean, to me, her work is basically exploring human morality, pointing out our inconsistencies and showing how crap the world is. But really, is that helpful? Is that contributing to society? I don’t think her work would be appreciated by anyone who didn’t already understand and agree with her point of view. And if you boil it down, she is basically saying ‘The world is bad. Maybe.’ Which isn’t exactly avant-garde thinking.

I guess you could go on to say ‘what is ‘bad’?’ Which is a bit more interesting, but once again, the part of her audience who can draw these ideas out of her work are already capable of asking these questions independently.

Call me old-fashioned, but I think artists are meant to make the world a more beautiful place (not necessarily in an aesthetic sense), and though challenging ugliness is a form of this, I question whether Djurberg has helped or just kicked beauty in the face.

REFERENCES:

Regine

on April 25, 2008

Nathalie Djurberg solo show at the Fondazione Prada

http://we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2008/04/there-are-very-very-few.php

Venice Biennale: Nathalie Djurberg

By Regine

on October 26, 2009 11:27 AM

http://we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2009/10/nathalie-djurberg-who-won-the.php

nathalie djurberg: 'experiment' at venice art biennale 09

leeji db 07.05.09

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/10/view/6886/nathalie-djurberg-experiment-at-venice-art-biennale-09.html

IMAGES FROM

http://www.artltdmag.com/admin2/data/upimages/NDjurberg4%5B72%5D.jpg

http://arttattler.com/Images/Commentary/Denver%20Biennial/Nathalie-Djurberg-Experimentet.jpg

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/wow/0ada4faiscapourmoi.jpg