Although many perceive Houston in terms of its oil industry or NASA — or even its urban cowboys — the city has a long-established, internationally recognized art scene. With its museums and galleries, alternative spaces, and community of practicing artists, Houston’s scene is as vibrant as it is diverse. One of the city’s mainstay institutions, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is a large art complex with an encyclopedic collection and a strong track record of organizing ground-breaking exhibitions, such as 2007′s Helio Oiticica: The Body of Color. Tucked away on a quiet neighborhood campus, the Menil Collection, along with its distinctive Cy Twombly Gallery and enigmatic Rothko Chapel, is known for its depth and diversity of holdings. And the Contemporary Arts Museum is the leading non-collecting institution for contemporary art in Houston. The recent appointment of Bill Arning as CAM director promises to add a dynamic new voice to the art community.
Founded in 1986, the Swiss Institute in New York is an international art venue that provides a forum for cultural dialogue between Switzerland, Europe, and the US. Examining the history of the space — documented on its website since 2001 — reveals a tradition of adventurous exhibitions and provocative programming. Our sister publication Artkrush caught up with Gianni Jetzer, who became the director of the Institute in 2006, to discuss the Swiss art scene and what’s in store for the innovative organization.
For institutions such as Art Basel (with Art Basel Miami Beach) or the Swiss Institute (with showrooms in both New York City and Paris), contemporary Swiss art is certainly not confined to national boundaries. Yet, Swiss galleries and museums very much give respect to their own artists, both with more established names and a new wave of young guns.
In Zurich, Galerie Eva Presenhuber represents local duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss, heavy hitters with a fantastic sense of humor that plays on the banality of objects taken out of context. Another big name in the Presenhuber stable is Ugo Rondinone, whose rainbow Hell, Yes! graces the New York’s New Museum, but is also known for bringing traces of melancholy to his work. Sylvie Fleury, with her chrome-plated Gucci shoes on display in the gallerist’s loft residence, also shines in this constellation; her works place women in positions of authority, drawing from the worlds of fashion, car racing, and even space travel. Bringing up the rear, young artist Valentin Carron is currently showing replicas of bas-relief sculptures representing traditional work activities — not without a touch of irony — at New York’s 303 Gallery.
Get ready for a trip to the piers: the Armory Show, New York’s colossal international art fair, is back, and it’s bigger than ever. The 11th edition of the fair finds 154 galleries from 22 countries exhibiting contemporary art on Pier 94, with 70 dealers offering a mix of modern masters and historically significant contemporary art on Pier 92. While sales at the recent Art Show in New York were reportedly weak, the art market is gaining renewed confidence from the record prices just set for works from Yves Saint Laurent’s collection.
Armory Arts Week in New York offers a vast range of art and cultural activities, and the satellite art fairs play an important role, by adding even more international flavor to the mix. Artkrush editor Paul Laster contacted the organizers of this year’s four major satellite fairs to find out what separates them from the competition, and to get their personal recommendations of art and program highlights at their venues. All the details after the jump.
At times messy, at times streamlined, Altermodern is an intriguing medley of new and recent art by 28 British and international artists.
Subodh Gupta‘s ceiling-high mushroom cloud of shiny saucepans fills the entrance of the Tate Britain, from floor to domed ceiling, serving as an explosive harbinger of the mishmash of medium, reference, and genre to come. Nicholas Bourriaud, the curator of Tate Britain’s fourth triennial, sets out to redefine modernity in our globalized, culturally intertwined times. In some ways it’s best to leave this premise — both theoretical conundrum and irreverent jest — at the door; the artworks themselves already demand enough cogitation.
The second in the Saatchi Gallery’s trilogy of exhibitions of contemporary art from emerging global markets, Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East (on view through May 9) follows last year’s popular show of new Chinese art, and precedes a survey of work from India. Unveiled features 19 young artists from a region fraught with images of uncertainty and revolt in the media. Offering raw and provocative perspectives on the sensibilities of a new wave of artists, it blurs the boundaries between censorship and freedom, playing heavily on social issues and perceived gender roles.
Next week, three-day media-action and radical-entertainment festival The Influencers returns to Barcelona’s Center of Contemporary Culture for its fifth edition. Touted as “a talk show that can’t be seen on TV,” the event is dedicated to guerilla communication, culture jamming, media interventions, and, of course, art.
Since 2004, The Influencers has presented a pack of renegade projects, archived on its website with statements, videos, and links to the artists’ sites. Anti-consumerist preacher Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping was a first-year highlight; prankster group the Yes Men and social-activist magazine Adbusters were 2005 standouts; cultural remixer Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky, and DIY merchandisers/musicians Chicks on Speed took part in the 2006 lineup; and video gamer Brody Condon and social agitators Laibach participated in last year’s mix.
