CONTEMPORARY ONE WORD SEVERAL WORLDS

dimanche 30 octobre 2011

Conservation hypocrisy: Again, they come for the forest


Source Firstpost India by Janaki Lenin
Centuries ago, humans and beasts lived in harmony. People harvested the fruits of the forest for their basic needs and were satisfied. They did not aspire to trade with other communities nor did they reap more than they needed. Other races invaded India, cleared the forest, established settlements, and agriculture. Then came European colonization and the amicable connection with nature was forcibly snapped. Large cats were hunted to extinction, and forests were cut down for timber. This is the widely held belief of our environmental history but it is no more than a romantic myth.
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samedi 29 octobre 2011

Testing times

Source Business Standard by Kishore Singh
The market in its current state seems ripe for international sponsors, promoters and gallerists with their exposure and experience to start moving in and taking over the local markets to make up for their losses on their own home turf. If the disorganised Indian art market succumbs to an emerging East India Art Company Inc, it will have only itself to blame.
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jeudi 27 octobre 2011

Circle of life


Source Mydigitalfc by Jemima Raman
Tarshito, born Nicola Strippoli, is the kind of artist who thinks – in full circles and symbols – in order to let you think. His works per se, where he uses mixed media, symbolisms, and strips of gold, could at best be described as interesting. But his concepts, especially the ones that he had coordinated with artisans from India, are mind-blowing. In these works, the traditional Indian art such as warli and patta chitras go beyond their brief – and the occasional pallus. The end result, stretched into forms and symbols that Tarshito-the-thinker has outlined, proclaim the Indian tradition majestically. “Indian crafts have such depth and richness.
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mercredi 26 octobre 2011

Wonder of the Age Master Painters of India, 1100–1900

Source The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Indian paintings have traditionally been classified according to regional styles or dynastic periods, with an emphasis on subject matter and narrative content. Recent scholarship, however, has begun to securely link innovations in style with specific artists and their lineages. Together with a careful study of artist's inscriptions and scribal colophons, it is now possible to construct a more precise chronology of the development of Indian painting.
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Tibetan artists transports 20,000 kg of soil from Tibet to Dharamasal India for art installation


Source Art Daily
Through a long and arduous journey, the Tibetan contemporary artist Tenzing Rigdol has transported twenty thousand kilos (20,000kg) of soil from Tibet to India to build a site-specific installation at Dharamsala. Constructed as a raised platform, it allows people to stand and walk on Tibetan soil. A microphone erected on the platform invites the viewers to express their feelings. The design of the installation comes from the inspiration and interpretation of the Tibetan national flag and the history of Tibet.
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Sheba Chhachhi at Bhau Daji Lad Museum


Source Mumbai Boss
Following cohorts Sudarshan Shetty and Jitish Kallat, Sheba Chhachhi has taken over the Bhau Daji Lad museum for her new solo show, her second in the city after her exhibition at Volte earlier this year. The reclusive and highly underrated artist has brought together some of her best works: light boxes, installations and photographs, which all touch on the always-relevant topic of environmental degradation. Don’t miss “The Water Diviner”, located on the first floor in a room at the back—among the towering piles of books and newspapers are Chhachhi’s glowing book-shaped boxes, in which she niftily melds scenic, miniature tableaux of nature with photos of polluted rivers.

mardi 25 octobre 2011

The Cutting Edge


Source Mumbai Boss by Deepanjana Pal
Something quite legendary happened last week. My Little Princess, directed by Eva Ionesco—no relation of the absurd theatre genius Eugene—won the Golden Gateway award at this year’s Mumbai Film Festival. There are two reasons why this is noteworthy. One is that My Little Princess belongs to that rare clutch of films that have won the highest prize in a festival despite being screened upside down, which is how it was shown at the Mumbai Film Festival. The other reason is that by awarding My Little Princess, the festival has made a statement: it’s no shrinking violet. Bring on the provocative content; we can not only watch it, but also give it $100,000 in prize money.
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samedi 22 octobre 2011

vendredi 21 octobre 2011

Art contemporain : comment se construisent les prix

Source Investir par Judith Benhamou-Huet
À chaque profil, sa stratégie 1 Pour les débutants dans l'art contemporain, il conviendrait dans un premier temps de s'intéresser aux relatives « valeurs sûres » de l'art actuel et de se faire une plus ample idée de leur création en visitant les expositions de musées. 2 Pour ceux qui chercheraient une aide ou des conseils, il convient aussi de choisir avec circonspection les intermédiaires et autres conseillers qui foisonnent désormais sur le marché. La grande majorité suit les vagues de la mode et des mondanités de l'art et n'est pas vraiment qualifiée. 3 Pour ceux animés par un esprit de découvreurs, l'une des stratégies possibles consiste à s'intéresser aux artistes originaires de régions du monde où le marché de l'art est en plein développement. Si les Russes achètent encore peu d'art russe contemporain, c'est en revanche le cas du Moyen-Orient, de la Chine -où il est aussi l'objet de spéculations -et de l'Inde, qui réservent des viviers d'art à explorer.
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mercredi 19 octobre 2011

FIAC 2011 Le marché de l'art retient son souffle

Source Le Point par Judith Benhamou-Huet
dans l'art contemporain aussi il est question de mondialisation. Pour Fabienne ­Leclerc, de la galerie ­parisienne In Situ, "les nouveaux "mastodontes" de l'art contemporain comme Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth ou White Cube, qui bénéficient de moyens financiers colossaux, pourraient conduire à une sorte de mondialisation du goût dans l'art contemporain". Celle qui défend depuis 2005 l'artiste indien starisé Subodh Gupta note que "ses pièces importantes se négociaient 30 000 euros lorsque nous avons commencé. Depuis qu'il est représenté par Hauser & Wirth, elles partent plus souvent à 200 000 euros." La directrice de la Fiac, Jennifer Flay, répond explicitement à cette inquiétude : "Je suis très attentive à ce que nous n'instaurions pas une standardisation du goût. Les petites galeries doivent être en mesure de naître et de prospérer."
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lundi 17 octobre 2011

dimanche 16 octobre 2011

Warli goes global

Source The Pioneer
Men carrying firewood for food, women drawing water from the well, farmers watering crops, young boys playing with mud, cows grazing, birds flocking and the mighty sun shining bright. Those who know India are familiar with a busy morning in a quintessential Indian village. But in the expressions of Warli artists, the community has a homogeneity against the backdrop of the red earth. The villagers are all white, faceless and matchstick-thin, chasing lives made less ordinary by their stark originality of documentation and contemporaneity. Interestingly, today one of the country’s oldest art forms seems to be the most compelling way to tell the world the story of India and its roots. It has now been incorporated in cola commercials and the 2010 Commonwealth Games ceremonies.
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vendredi 14 octobre 2011

A la "Frieze Week", l'insolente prospérité des marchands d'art londoniens

Source Le Monde par harry Bellet
"Ce sont les particuliers aujourd'hui qui font les plus beaux lieux d'exposition, explique t-il. Regardez Pinault à Venise ou ce que prépare Bernard Arnault à Paris. Mais songez que le phénomène est mondial. Eli Broad à Los Angeles, Pinchuk à Kiev, Abramovich à Saint-Pétersbourg, Budi Tek à Shanghaï, tous créent leur musée, souvent dans des proportions inconnues jusqu'alors. Le phénomène touche aussi l'Europe de l'Est et j'ai vu des projets superbes tant à Budapest qu'à Sofia. Sans oublier les Indiens, ou les Turcs, qui sont actuellement parmi les plus actifs. Et quelle est la caractéristique commune de tous ces gens ? Ils ont pour la plupart une résidence à Londres. Et tous y ont des affaires."
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Couples Fuel India's Vibrant Art Scene

Source New York Times by Gayatri Rangachari Shah
A few months ago, Wallpaper magazine published a limited-edition cover of the powerhouse artists Subodh Gupta and Bharti Kher posing in traditional Indian wear. The photo was, in Ms. Kher’s words, “so clichéd, I titled it, ‘In another life.”’ The cover was true to form for the husband and wife, who both use traditional references expressly to create works of art that turn conventions upside down. This is where the similarities between the two artists end — the works themselves are wildly different. But they say the fact that they share the same profession fuels their creativity.
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vendredi 7 octobre 2011

In step with Indian ethos

Source The Hindu by Harish Bal
Mallika Sarabhai's production – ‘India-Then, Now, For Ever,' – which was presented at Thripunithura, was a documentation of aesthetics, about the evolution of Indian art in its multicultural and plural context. An amalgam of classical, folk, tribal, and contemporary dances, the show brought out the unique essence in each without diluting its flavour. The tribal dances, which existed even before Vedic times, were part of ancient rituals. The amazing drum beats coupled with tribal costumes and the energetic dancing made the opening quite breathtaking.
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jeudi 6 octobre 2011

Asia Triennial Manchester: introducing new eastern art to the west


Source The Guardian by Nosheen Iqbal
Can that be healthy? Cycles of boom and bust amid a critical vacuum can't promise a decent legacy for the artists coming up this way. Even now, it is difficult to attend a curatorial course specialising in a specific strand of Asian art; the knowledge isn't quite there, and even the Tate Modern admit that despite making great strides in acquisitions, their team of international art curators does not yet include an expert dedicated to the Asian market. For Mitha, this is where ATM can help the scene step up to the mark. "The dialogue starts between you, the viewer, and what you're seeing. You need to start at a place like ATM to get access to that work, to understand it in the first place."
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mardi 4 octobre 2011

(M)other India at Agnès B. Galerie du Jour


Source The Block by Darcy Smith
It’s hard to imagine that a country with the highest concentration of world wonders could possibly have culture envy, but these days the French seem to have a serious hard-on for the southern hemisphere, namely India. The Pompidou’s current collection, dubbed Paris-Delhi-Bombay, offers a sociological look at Indian culture, while a few doors away at agnès b’s Galerie du Jour, both masters and contemporary fringe artists offer a more primal perspective. Agnès b has been dictating the quality of cool since her 60s hippie princess debut, and her Galerie du Jour habitually shows off the best in indie, avant-garde art. (M)other India is no exception, celebrating the paradoxically sublime yet visceral nature of the vast, diverse subcontinent, bringing the Indian “other,” so to speak, home to roost.
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Art for the sake of intellect


Source The Day by Kostiantyn Hryshyn
The first non-European Nobel Prize winner, author of Indian and Bangladeshi national anthems, talented poet, traveler, and humanist Rabindranath Tagore discovered the world of fine arts when he was almost 70. The next 12 years he devoted to painting and graphic art, creating about 2,000 works. “The dawn of my life was filled with songs, so let the sunset be filled with colors,” said Tagore once. It should be noted that Tagore never studied painting, he created his works as he thought he should, as his soul told him to. His contemporaries recollected that Tagore painted fast, confidently, with inspiration, and without editing finished paintings. “I don’t want to put walls around my house or blind my windows. I want the spirit of the culture of different countries to flow around as freely as possible, I just don’t want it to knock me off my feet,” said Tagore once.
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dimanche 2 octobre 2011

C'est à ce prix que nous mangeons du sucre

Source Art Info
William Kentridge, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Marzia Migliora, Michael Blum, Shilpa Gupta, Wael Shawky.
Evento 2011 — Par leurs propositions, qui comprennent des œuvres et installations spécialement créées pour cet événement, ils questionnent l'esclavage et les systèmes économiques et politiques qu'il génère dans nos sociétés. L'exposition s'inspire d'une citation de Voltaire tirée de Candide (1759), où le philosophe dénonce la cruauté quotidienne que subissent les esclaves dans les plantations. Une position critique exprimée par de nombreux représentants de l'Europe des Lumières et qui sera à la base des valeurs universelles sur lesquelles est fondée notre société.
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samedi 1 octobre 2011

Paco Rabanne réinventé



Source Le Monde par Véronique Lorelle
En haut d'un escalator du centre Georges-Pompidou, elles sont apparues dans des tenues moulantes, cuirassées de métal, comme autant de Barbarella, l'héroïne du film de Roger Vadim (1968), incarnée par Jane Fonda et habillée par Paco Rabanne. Dix ans après avoir tiré sa révérence, le couturier espagnol Paco Rabanne (réfugié en Bretagne après ses prédictions sur la fin du monde) revient dans la mode avec un nouveau directeur artistique, l'Indien Manish Arora. Robe sculptée sur le corps, en pièces de python mordoré assemblées par des anneaux, ou tunique cotte de maille taillée dans du jersey métallique : nombre de tenues rappellent la robe portée en 1968 par Françoise Hardy, réalisée en plaques d'aluminium. Elle avait valu à Paco Rabanne le surnom de "métallurgiste de la mode", donné par Coco Chanel.
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Crafting traditions for posterity

Source The Hindu by Jaya Jaitly
Should India's traditional handcrafters occupy an elevated space in people's minds or should they remain on the pavements, bazaars, haats, and perhaps marginally in malls, to be looked at as poor street cousins of India's other cultural practitioners? Sixty years after three important Akademis were set up to promote cultural arts that come under the heading of dance, music, drama, literature and the fine arts, it may be time to take note of the huge reservoir of cultural heritage passing from generation to generation through the hands of craftspeople towards establishing a body that nurtures this heritage and builds respect beyond “marketing products” or subsidising “welfare”.
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