ART NEWS:July 01

The group exhibition “As You Like It–C’est Comme Vous Voulez” brings together a diverse group of artists that address themes of nature in their work, both as a boundless supplier of forms and as a model of the creative act itself. In William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” written in 1599, the play’s protagonist Rosalind takes refuge in the Forest of Arden where she hopes to find safety and perhaps love. This interest in the sublime magnanimity of nature is also generously embodied in the curiosity and empathy of the participating artists. Over the years they have taken Mother Nature as their subject, always with a concern to show how fertile the theme can be when it dialogues with other human sciences; generating a rich panorama that stretches throughout the history of the visual arts, from the art of prehistoric times to contemporary creation. Info: Praz Delavallade Gallery, 6150 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, Duration: 28/6-18/8/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-18:00, www.praz-delavallade.com

Studio for Propositional Cinema has attracted much attention in recent years due to their polemic poetics and innovative exhibition formats. Their work draws directly on the tradition of conceptual art and deals with the use of language as a means of creation, interpretation and communication. “Redundant as eyelids in absence of light.” is the libretto for a five-dimensional dystopian opera that is realised in various formats: as a concert in Basel, as an exhibition in St.Gallen and finally as a forthcoming publication. For the exhibition at Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen Studio for Propositional Cinema has conceived the libretto as a minimal, context-specific sculptural installation throughout and beyond the exhibition rooms. In the process the flow of spectators choreographed by Studio for Propositional Cinema articulates and activates the text, and the libretto is “played” through the architecture of the exhibition rooms. A dystopian narrative unfolds of a world in which all forms of language and interpersonal communication have been mitigated or eliminated. Each of the six songs of the libretto represents the desperate attempts of the protagonists to relearn various forms of communication. Info: Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, Davidstrasse 40, St. Gallen, Duration: 30/6-16/9/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 12:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-17:00, www.kunsthallesanktgallen.ch

Tamás Waliczky in his solo exhibition “Cameras and Other Optical Devices” presents his latest black and white 3D computer-graphic series, which shows imaginary photo and movie cameras as well as projectors. The series entitled, “Cameras “is based on real cameras, long forgotten 19th Century machines or on entirely fictional instruments. The structure and construction of a camera is largely influenced by the way we see, how we picture the world. By creating images of unique devices, Waliczy is able to map and simulate the world in various visual languages, with it comes the opportunity to design more sensitive machines which are based on an individual’s perception or on the accidental. The images of these fictional cameras depict special and extraordinary mechanical creations and using them requires special skills. Accordingly, most of them would create images which are far from the familiar, suggesting that the practice of photography is an intimate and playful operation. Info: Curator: Anna Szepesi, Ani Molnár Gallery, Bródy Sándor utca 36, Budapest, Duration: 4/7-6/10/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Fri 12:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-17:00, http://molnaranigaleria.hu

Art Night is one of London’s largest free contemporary arts festival, transforming the city annually for one night. Each year, Art Night invites a leading cultural institution to explore the history, culture and architecture of a different part of London, inspiring a series of new commissions, one off events and premieres by international and local artists from all stages of their careers. Alongside this, the Art Night Open program offers local galleries, organisations, independent artists and curators the opportunity to take part in the festival – responding to the curatorial themes and cultural trail. This year’s edition of Art Night Open takes place on the night of Saturday 7 July. The program includes new artist commissions and premieres alongside one-off artistprojects and events by both emerging and internationally renowned artists and curators invited to participate in the second iteration of Art Night Open. Continuing along the curatorial themes, of “home” and “urban landscape”, 12 special artist projects take place in both unusual and compelling venues and outdoor spaces. Info: Art Night Open, Various venues, London, Date 7/7/18, Hours: 18:00-6:00, http://2018.artnight.london

For many, the late sixties are synonymous with the anti-Vietnam War hippy protests and the massive student unrest in Paris. In exhibition “Amsterdam, the Magic Center”, the Stedelijk Museum looks beyond these widely-known facts, positioning Amsterdam as a nexus of revolutionary ideas and activities. Imagination becomes a force to be reckoned with. The Dutch capital flourishes as a progressive and artistic haven, a place that attracts hordes of young people from all over the world. It’s also a time when art is in the throes of change. Artists rebel against the establishment and seek alternative, new platforms: on the streets, in magazines or on TV. Idea begins to take precedence over (the traditional) form – art can be a happening, an intervention in the city, or a television programme. Humour and irony are popular strategies for thumbing the nose at ‘serious’ art. Stedelijk Museum, Museumplein 10, Amsterdam, Duration: 7/7/18-6/1/19, Days & Hours: Mon-Thu & Sat-sun 10:00-18:00, Fri 10:00-22:00, www.stedelijk.nl

A blank sheet of paper is an open space where artists might conceive ground-breaking ideas or where children might doodle with artless abandon. Paper provides our first experience with both the possibility for abstract thought and primitive mark-making, and the versatility of paper makes it important for the practice of countless artists past and present. The group exhibition “Doodle & Disegno” gathers over 100 works on paper from 25 contemporary artists, demonstrating the endless possibilities of this humble and familiar artistic surface. Among the works of the exhibition, Tim Noble and Sue Webster created a series of self-portrait diptychs in ink that are particularly direct and raw. Marius Bercea’s exuberantly colored works on paper convey a saturated, apocalyptic mood. For Francesco Clemente, paper is the ideal medium for the masterful watercolours he makes during his frequent sojourns in India. Joan Snyder, who brings sketchbooks to concerts to record her thoughts, creates richly coloued works on paper that combine a graceful touch with expressive power. Info: Blain|Southern Berlin Potsdamer Straße 77–87 (Mercator Höfe) , Berlin, Duration: 7/7-15/9/18, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-18:00, www.blainsouthern.com

The exhibition “THE LONG NOW” assembles  works by 20 contemporary artist, with which a variety of approaches towards time come into effect, either regarding our concept of time or the perception and visualisation of time. Time proves itself as a noticeably open and undefined variable, which for instance is perceived completely different when experienced subjectively or measured with a timepiece instead. Polarities such as steadiness and unsteadiness, acceleration and deceleration as well as immediacy, duration and transience are crucial categories. Time is a concept which concerns us in both a definite and elementary way. Without the concept of time our existence as well as the events occurring in the world around us wouldn´t be conceivable. Yet at the same time, time is perceived as an abstract and elusive phenomenon with which scientists, thinkers and artists have ever since occupied themselves. Info: Curator: Reinhard Buskies, me Collectors Room Berlin / Olbricht Foundation, Auguststrasse 68, Berlin, Duration: 8/7/27/8/18, Days & Hours: Wed-Mon 12:00-18:00, www.me-berlin.com

In her solo presentation, Anna Bjerger presents new paintings and works on paper in the Le Manoir Hotel’s dining room and library. The exhibition is a way to further connect with the local audience and explore potential regional collaborations. The opening reception takes place on Saturday July 7, with the artist present to talk about the works. The exhibition then runs through the summer. Anna Bjerger’s paintings, which hide aluminium panels beneath their easy fluency—get down a type of 21st century photo-based impressionism that pushes far beyond the usual postmodern art. Bjerger charts the personal echoes cast about by realistic images. Her art burrows into the tricky psychological loam that accumulates beneath photographs. The memories of perfect strangers take root there with implications that resemble kudzu. Such is the vicarious reach of her handpicked Vogue glamour shots and found family snaps. Photographs, after all, today constitute the very bedrock of our visual world. Info: Le Manoir, 20 Rue du Maréchal Joffre, Banyuls-sur-Mer, France, Duration: 7/7-2/9/18, www.gallerimagnuskarlsson.com

The 10th edition of Liverpool Biennial, “Beautiful world, where are you?” invites artists and audiences to reflect on a world in social, political and economic turmoil. The Biennialis presented in locations across Liverpool including public spaces, civic buildings and the city’s leading art venues. The title for the Biennial derives from a 1788 poem by the German poet Friedrich Schiller, set to music by Austrian composer Franz Schubert in 1819.  Over 40 artists from 22 countries will present work that responds to the call Beautiful world, where are you? The city of Liverpool provides the setting with its public spaces, galleries, museums and civic buildings. As an additional strand, Worlds within worlds invites audiences to explore the rich histories and stories evoked by objects and artefacts from the city’s civic collections and architecture. Info: Curators: Kitty Scott and Sally Tallant, Liverpool Biennial 2018, Various Venues, Liverpool, Duration 14/7-28/10/18, www.biennial.com