Hasta La Ideas

Graffiti styling, religious symbolism and Afro-Brazilian influences from Stephan Doitschinoff

The son of an Evangelical minister, Stephan Doitschinoff is a Brazilian artist with a penchant for religious iconography and bright graphic styling. His scope includes installation and video, though Doitschinoff is perhaps best known for his paintings and public works. Opening tonight, “Herie, Hodie, Cras” (Latin for “Yesterday, Today,…

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A group show breaks down the iconography of signage

Carlo McCormick, senior editor of PAPER Magazine and co-author of “Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art,” recently unveiled his curated show at Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York. “Détournement: Signs of the Times” is an exhibition of work composed of familiar signs that have been modified by iconoclastic artists. A term first used by Letterist International in the 1950s, McCormick describes détournement in his curator’s statement as “a detour of sorts, but not so much along the scenic route as over the tougher road that goes more directly to the truth.”

“We live in a forest of signs that are meant to confuse, distract and numb us to the more dire consequences of the human condition as it is,” writes McCormick. “We do not need to follow these signs, we need to make our own so as to find a way out of the mess we are in.” A shortlist of the 20 artists involved includes Zevs, Shepard Fairey, Posterboy, Steve Powers AKA “Espo” and Aiko. Collectively, the group attempts to reverse the persuasive nature of advertorial and cultural signs by jostling the viewer.

In hosting the exhibition, Jonathan LeVine Gallery continues its dedication to subversive street and pop art. A few standout pieces from the show include “Am I Dead Yet?” by Jack Napier and Billboard Liberation Front, Martin Wong‘s “Traffic Sign for the Hearing Impaired” and “Incredible Edible Cathy Cowgirl” by Ron English.

“Détournement: Signs of the Times” is on view now through 25 August 2012.

Ari Marcopoulos presents richly degraded photography, photocopies and film in a new solo show

Dark, densely textured images seem to float on the stark white walls of the Marlborough Chelsea, the mostly massive black and white photographs fill the space with an almost unrecognizable, vaguely ominous mood. “Wherever You Go” is a considered collection of new photographs, photocopies and film by renowned photographer, filmmaker and artist Ari Marcopoulos.

“It’s as much about photography as it is about printmaking,” says Marcopoulos about the selection of high-contrast images. Shot predominantly with a 35mm point-and-shoot, the large-scale pigment prints and smaller photographs on rice paper are often printed multiple times and blown up to expose a gritty quality. Similarly Marcopoulos experiments with additional, non-photographic printed matter by layering photocopied imagery that evokes a visceral experience enhanced by the ability to walk up close and really see each minute detail of the bigger picture—a signature characteristic of Marcopoulos’ shows. But while each image finds identity in its distinct textures, the subjects themselves strike a cord with the viewer as well. “I think there is certain power in the images, a certain strength when you look at them. They’re kind of heavy images,” admits Marcopoulos.

Best known for his portraiture, Marcopoulos starts to stray from the expected with the inclusion of some more abstract images that remove all apparent context. “I like the idea of looking at something where you dont have an exact idea of what it is. It’s nice to make something where your first reaction is not words but just a feeling.”

Feeling this way upon seeing the unnamed image dated 5.8.08, we asked Marcopoulos to elaborate on the compelling photograph of stained skin. “It’s very close up,” he says. “It’s hard to tell what it is. It kind of has to do with the idea that as a photographer or in photography so often the images are about what it is you’re looking at. So this is kind of more about just creating a rectangle, that doesn’t really inform you as to what it is. It’s open you know. It’s more of a mood or a feeling.”

While some artists may shoot specifically for a show, Marcopoulos prefers to focus on a vague idea, letting the body of work develop organically. “A lot of thought goes into it, but in the end it’s very intuitive, it’s like improvisation,” says Marcopoulos. “You have an idea in your head and you do what you feel is needed to get it done. That idea is often not a wordy idea because you work in images, so the ideas are images in your head. The only way to get it done is actually select images—it can be one image, but it’s often two or three—and then put it together. Sounds very abstract but that’s kind of how it is. There is not ever one theme.”

While the large-scale prints and enlarged photocopies dominate the show, Marcopoulos chose to include a projected film with a colorful splash of life that contrasts nicely with the still black and white environment. Entitled “City Riders”, the voyeuristic piece was shot in a few short months with Marcopoulos’ BlackBerry, capturing about an hour’s worth of unsuspecting NYC subway commuters.

“Wherever You Go” opens tonight at NYC’s Marlborough Chelsea with a reception from 6-8pm. The show will then run through 16 June 2012.

Installation image by Ari Marcopoulos

Lin Tianmiao’s presents a thread-covered apocalypse at Beijing BCA

by Alessandro De Toni

After two years of absence from the art scene, Lin Tianmiao is back for the largest solo exhibition of her career with new works at Beijing Center for the Arts (BCA). As one of the most important Chinese contemporary female artists, she’s renowned internationally for her ability to transform threads and textiles into staggering works of art, as seen in “The Same”.

Her latest exhibition makes an amazing descent into an inner world in which life and death coexist—objects, mainly artificial bones, are covered in gold or meticulously wrapped in colored silk threads. A massive amount of ox, lamb, pig, dog, cat, rabbit bones, tools and wires are crafted into enchanting objects and recombined to create a powerful visual effect.

In one room entirely lined in black cashmere, scattered animal bones and whole skeletons create a sort of dark apocalypse. What at first sight seems like a scene of fierce violence and chaos soon reveals the stunning beauty of a seemingly endless exercise of craftsmanship. More than twenty people have been working for three days to stage this single installation, in which every single piece has been covered entirely with gold foil.

The exhibition continues on the basement floor of the BCA, with an installation of paradoxical tools wrapped in grey silk thread–half organic, half mechanical—and gigantic, tri-dimensional canvases.

The title of the exhibit, “The Same” speaks to its recurrent concept that what seems uniform from a distance gives way to reveal the subtle differences which exist within a world of opulence and diversity.

“The Same—New Works by Lin Tianmiao”

Through 10 March 2012

Beijing Center for the Arts

No.23 Qianmen East Street, Dongcheng District

Beijing 100006

The studies that inform Arne Quinze’s monumental installations

Best known for massive, vibrant wood canopies installed in metropolitan locations, Arne Quinze presents “My Home, My House, My Stilthouse“, a collection of smaller works that helps to explain his larger undertakings. On view now through 31 March 2012 at the Vicky David Gallery in NYC, the new pieces explore themes of escapism, order and voyeurism. The exhibition gives a fascinating glimpse inside the quiet studio work that underpins Quinze’s precariously balanced structures.

While many see his work as chaotic, Quinze is quick to correct. “I don’t believe in chaos,” he says. “There is absolutely no chaos. There is only structure. I don’t believe in chaos in life.” His work is a constant building, whether that be structures or relationships, and it seeks a democracy in art that confronts and challenges. As people build fences and walls to keep things out, stilt houses to keep things below, Quinze seeks to restructure the world in a manner that is open and engaging.

Lamenting the shortage of markets, squares and other places of interaction, Quinze aims to force the issue through public art. “Today we live in a world where everything goes very fast. People are not used to saying ‘hi’ in the streets.” The victory of his work, he explains, is inspiring a dialogue: “They have a kind of openness in themselves, they have a smile, they have something to share, something to communicate with each other. For a moment they forget who they are and they communicate so much easier with each other.”

If the large works explore interpersonal interaction, the studies encourage an interface with the artist himself. “My Safe Garden” is a work enclosed in glass and backed by a large mirror. At once inspecting the work and becoming part of it, the viewer is meant to feel a connection to the locked-away corners of Quinze’s imagination. This is only possible to an extent. As he explains, “I give more questions than answers because the safe secret garden is very personal. I will not tell you what is happening in my safe secret garden, but you can be like a voyeur.”

The signature bright vermilion hue of Quinze’s work, he notes, is a color of contrast. As blood, it is both life and death; as fire, both warmth and burning; in nature, both attraction and warning. The majority of the artist’s works are constructed from wood, a “warm” material that gives flexibility and strength to his technically complicated installations. While working with a small team and city engineers, Quinze hand-builds small models to plan each project. The result is then rendered on a computer and adjusted to accommodate structural considerations.

Quinze sees his art originating from the “safe secret garden”, a concept essential to his works. For him, it marks the deepest place a person can go, one that is often hidden from the rest of the world. This theme fits with the city installations, inspiring openness and communication.

“The studio is what is really happening in my mind—my safe secret garden,” explains Quinze. “And I think from my safe secret garden I create my own world, my own vision of how I perceive, how I absorb the world and how I want to create.” Mapping his own obsessions, Quinze uses elements of these experimental pieces when thinking about how to confront viewers in his installations. Invariably, the audience is transported into his vision, forced from their own consciousness to engage with that of the artist.

My Home, My House, My Stilthouse

2 February – 31 March 2012

Vicky David Gallery

522 W. 23rd Street

New York, NY 10011

All images courtesy of the Vicky David Gallery and Arne Quinze Studio.