2013 was a year filled with great art. It started with a bang in Sydney with two international summer blockbusters of Anish Kapoor at the MCA and Francis Bacon at Art Gallery of NSW.
Photos do not do justice to Anish Kapoor’s work. Its all about the relationship between the object, space and the viewer, you. By setting up this paradyme, Kapoor’s work makes us revisit that age old question of how we as individuals fit in the universe. Francis Bacon’s however, looks inward into the self and projects it back in the form of figurative paintings. Captivating and violent, they rip through to the dark side of the psyche leaving you gasping for air like a fish out of water. Deeply personal with the ego ever present, they remind us that the darkness and violence is as much a part of the human condition as sweetness and light.
13 Rooms was another highlight. I’ve never been a fan of performance art, but the documentary about Marina Abradovic’s exhibition at MOMA “The artist is present” prompted me to give it another shot. I was really touched by the work of Laura Lima Man=Flesh /Woman=Flesh-Flat. To see the performance you and to lie on the floor in front of a doorway, which then revealed a room with the ceiling only 30 cms off the floor, illuminated with a globe light. Squashed up the back was a woman with acondroplasia. Our temporary discomfort lying on the hard floor is a reminder of how hard life is for people with a physical disability, with the message delivered clearer than any other medium.
Belinde De Bruyckere’s Kreupelhout
Sarah Sze’s Triple Point
Ai Wei Wei
Vadim Zakharov’s Danae
I was lucky to make it to Venice this year. What an art fest, in such a beautiful city. The Encyclopaedic Palace was an interesting exhibition, more about curating than art itself. Still it introduced me to the work of Walter De Maria, Ryan Trecartin, Sarah Lucas and Maria Lassing. I’m new to this art world, see? All the outsider art such as Shinichi Sawada and Peter Fritz was a reminder of how much creating goes on behind close doors or within one’s mind. I’m not going to bore you with a blow by blow recount of all the country pavilions but I really liked Berlinde De Bruyckere’s Kreupelhout-Cripplewood in the Belgian Pavilion and Room with Broken Sentence by Mark Manders in the Netherlands Pavilion.
New York – that city doesn’t disappoint. James Turrell’s Skyspace at MOMA PS1 mesmerised me last visit, and this time round I managed to catch one part of his massive, cross country retrospective at the Guggenheim. I somehow spent five hours looking at five artwork! Like Anish Kapoor your presence is central to the work – in his words: “First I am dealing with no object. Perception is the object. Secondly, I am dealing with no image because I want to avoid associative, symbolic thought. Thirdly, I am dealing with no focus or particular place to look. With no object, no image and no focus what are you looking at? Your are looking at you looking”. Incredible. If you happen to be in LA before April 6, the major site for this retrospective is actually at LACMA (http://www.lacma.org/art/exhibitions/current).
Finally made it to Dia: Beacon with my brother. An hour up the Hudson River, its filled with conceptual art and large scale sculpture. Michael Haize’s North, South, East, West and Monolith were incredible, as was Richard Serra’s Curve sculptures, and the string guy whose name escapes me. Plus it has the world’s most beautiful car park.
There are way too many other great artwork to mention but this blog is simply my way of recording my travels though the art world. So bring on 2014 and more art adventures!
Through the looking glass 