Ai Weiwei Grants First, Post-Release Interview

0812weiwei.jpg

Not only has artist Ai Weiwei been breaking the social media gag order the Chinese government placed on him upon his release from a three month detainment, with posts first on Google+ and then earlier this week on Twitter, now Weiwei has broken the media ban as well by sitting down for a reported six hour interview with a newspaper. However, that’s a bit easier to understand when you learn that said paper, the Global Times, is well under the control of China’s government, as close as a state-run paper as you can get. That six hour interview has been condensed into just two pages, but if you’re able to look past the Global Times‘ bias, it’s not only chock full of information, but it’s interesting to finally hear Weiwei in his own words, outside of those aforementioned brief online snippets. ArtInto has gone through the essay and pulled out some of the more telling sections and quotes, lending some context along the way to help fill in the gaps. Most interesting, perhaps, is that they found in their reading that the paper actually “comes out in support of Ai through a number of passive but notable ways. Most prominent among them is their argument that Ai isn’t actually committing the cardinal sin of trying to start a revolution.” Here’s a bit more on that:

“While Ai continues to demand reforms, he said he has never called for a change to the form of China’s government,” Global Times writes. “Overthrowing the regime through a radical revolution is not the way to solve China’s problems,” Ai is quoted as saying. “The most important thing is a scientific and democratic political system.” Calling for democracy, of course, is dicey — but China’s number one political crime is attempting to overthrow the government, which the Global Times articles goes out of its way to state that Ai is not doing.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Pelham prints from wire-frame

Newly launched fine art publishers wire-frame has released its first batch of prints, including work by David Pelham as used on covers of JG Ballard’s novels and perhaps his most famous piece of design, for Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange…

Pelham’s painting, The Terminal Beach (above right), is a forthcoming print in the series but currently the site has prints of his work for Burgess’ novel, A Clockwork Orange, and of his painting, The Drought, up on wire-frame.net. Also available are pieces by Brian Aldiss (Metropolis, shown below) and Brigis Marlin.

Pelham’s cover art for A Clockwork Orange

Pelham discusses his work on A Clockwork Orange and on four of JG Ballard’s novels in Penguin by Designers – the full extract of Pelham’s chapter is on the CR blog, here, but here’s what he had to say about his Ballard paintings:

“I met Jim Ballard through Eduardo Paolozzi,” he writes. “They were great friends. I was very familiar with Ballard’s work, having been a great admirer from way back. I admired the bleak style of his catastrophe novels – this being The Drought – and their heartless depiction of technological and human breakdown and decay. Grim perhaps, but wonderfully written. Drawn to the romance of his apocalyptic imagery I wanted to illustrate his covers myself. Consequently I quickly airbrushed this postcard sized image [of what went on to become the painting for The Drought] to show him the idea and talked to him about his other titles in the list. That’s how we started out ….”

(His high pressure story behind the Burgess cover is also fascinating – and detailed. Read it here.)

Pelham’s painting, The Drought, as used on Ballard’s novel

Forthcoming from wire-frame is a print of Pelham’s painting, The Drowned World, again used on Ballard’s novel of the same name

Each print is on matt 310gsm fine art paper and uses pigment-based lightfast inks. They are individually signed and numbered by the artist (and include an accompanying certificate of authenticity). Further prints by these and other artists are set to be released by wire-frame soon. More at wire-frame.net.

Metropolis by Brian Aldiss

Continuing to Ignore the Gag Order, Ai Weiwei Now Back on Twitter

0812weiwei.jpg

Two weeks ago, we told you that artist Ai Weiwei was treading slightly dangerous waters by opening a Google+ account, despite being issued a complete media and social networking gag order by the Chinese government who had just released him from a long, secretive and reportedly punishing detainment. Now Weiwei is apparently pushing a bit further, as his Twitter account suddenly sprang back to life. His messages thus far, at least in those we’ve read translated by sources like the BBC and ArtInfo, have been more than a bit tame, ranging from “Hey, hugs. Goodnight,” to talking about what he’d had for lunch: “Lunch 10 dumplings, bodyweight regains 3kg.” Whether this means that the media noose imposed by the government has been loosened or has Weiwei just decided speaking to the public worth the risk is anyone’s guess.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Oren Eliav

Isreali painter Oren Eliav on technique, Tel Aviv’s art scene and what makes an art object

OrenEliav-1.jpg OrenEliav-2.jpg

Hollow-eyed portraits, glittering ornamentation and cavernous architecture haunt the canvasses of Israeli painter Oren Eliav. The Rappaport Prize-winner’s otherworldly imagery creates tension between doubt and faith, exploring the historical implications of his subject by reworking old-world painting techniques to effects that toe the line between the grotesque and the beautiful. Following his solo show “Two Thousand and Eleven” earlier this year at Tel Aviv Museum of Art, we asked Eliav about his journey as a painter and the art community in Israel.

Were you always creating art as a child?

I painted and drew like every other kid does. My “discovery” of art was only when I was studying Political Science at Tel Aviv University and started taking courses in art that I realized this is my true fascination. I then applied to the Bezalel art academy, so I could finally be “at the driver’s seat” to practice art and not just learn about other people doing it.

OrenEliav-8.jpg

How did the time you spent at Cooper Union affect your painting?

It’s hard to separate the Cooper Union experience from the New York experience. I went to see art almost every day at Chelsea galleries, the Met and other New York venues. This proximity to art, not as a tourist but as a resident, had a deep effect on me. For example, being able to visit a specific painting at the Met every few days and understanding it differently every time opened my eyes to what I consider the mark of truly great art: the ability to generate different meanings and emotions over time. As a painter, I really benefited from the more technical classes that unfolded a wealth of painterly know-how, from watercolor to tempera, fresco and advanced oil painting techniques.

Did you have a mentor at Bezalel University?

I learned something from everyone I encountered. The learning process for me was mostly to realize how differently people perceive the same work. In my opinion, this is what makes the “art object”, a painting in my case, a very peculiar kind of object. Each of us see the same thing in a completely different manner.

OrenEliav-7.jpg OrenEliav-6.jpg
Do you feel a connection to other artists’ exploration of the dark side of life?

I don’t think I’m necessarily exploring the dark side of life. I’m attracted to places of ambiguity and uncertainty, to the subtle but swift passage from known to unknown. But it’s not necessarily dark. It’s just a bit shaky, other artists have this capability. If you look attentively and long enough at Velazquez, for example—I have “The Spinners” in my mind—you can sense how what you thought you were looking at is actually something else. Reality starts spiraling and becomes convoluted.

In many of your newest paintings, images seem to be appearing and disappearing at the same time.

The brushstrokes are both layered on and stripped away. The whole process of painting for me is based on pushing and pulling, or in your words, “appearing and disappearing.” Technically, it is a result of working with many successive transparent glazes. A painting has a double presence. It can act as a window, so we look “through” it and things are sort of in there. But it also has a material presence, as an object hanging on the wall with its own surface qualities and physicality. So during the painting process I try to be on the lookout for a point of balance between “out there” and “in here.” Where I sense this weird double presence, I stop painting.

OrenEliav-3.jpg

Can you tell us about the art community in Tel Aviv?

The Tel Aviv art scene is very vibrant and bustling with activity. Israel is a not a simple place, and I think good art often appears where there is tension and complexity. The art community has expanded remarkably over the last decade. There are more artists, art schools, galleries and collectors than ever before and it brings with it a variety of interesting positions.

OrenEliav-4.jpg OrenEliav-5.jpg
What are you working on now?

Right now I’m working on the last chapter of a trilogy. It started with my show in June 2010 at Braverman Gallery called “They’ll Never Wake Us In Time.” In March 2011 there was the second solo show at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art titled “Two Thousand and Eleven.” The last part was planned for a gallery in Berlin, but plans changed and it is now going to be shown elsewhere in Europe or the States sometime next year.

In this cycle of works I’m trying to construct a haunted present, to convey a sense of things that belong in the past and suddenly come into life or movement in the present. As if objects, styles and persons that are long forgotten and obsolete manage to shine through darkness for one last time.


Cool Hunting Capsule Video: Liquid Sculptures

Our video on two fluidly abstract installations at Mexico City’s biggest art fair

When we visited the Zona Maco art fair in Mexico City earlier this year, we saw a wide variety of media and styles—check out our first piece on Martin Creed here. This second video from our trip there explores some of the more abstract pieces we came across. “Sin Titulo, (homenaje a Yoko Ono)” (2010) by Luis Carrera-Maul and Roberto de Pol’s “hair-dryer, glass, straws, electrical cables, nails, coke, sensor, wood, adesive tape, tubes, screws” (2010) (seen at Galleria Massimo Audiello Oaxaca and Perugi Artecontemporanea respectively) struck us for their interesting use of liquid and movement. Both artists use kinetic fluid substances combined with other unconventional materials to create living, evolving sculptures—though each to quite different aesthetic effect.


Mark di Suvero at Governors Island

Legendary industrial sculptor makes landfall on a NYC island

GovIslandMarkDS-2.jpg

There’s no experience quite like wandering among the massive outdoor installations at Storm King Art Center, recognized as one of the world’s leading sculpture parks for fifty years. Now, with a spectacular Mark di Suvero show, the institution’s newest and first off-site exhibit, installed on Governors Island through this fall, NYC visitors who can’t make the trek up the Hudson to Storm King can get a taste.

The largest outdoor show by the artist in New York City since the 1970s, we recently visited the free exhibit on the 172-acre Island to see the 11 pieces from 70s, as well as several sculptures created specifically for the occasion that have never been seen before. Constructed from industrial materials such as I-beams and salvaged steel, this event sees Suvero’s works closer to their skyscraper cousins. The significance of the NYC skyline in the background, absent the Twin Towers, is impossible to ignore with the jutting angles of the steel beams conjuring up the well-known images of the events of 9/11.

GovIslandMarkDS-3.jpg GovIslandMarkDS-4.jpg

All well-positioned in the landscape, visitors can walk around pieces, view them from every possible angle and even touch them. As per the artist’s request, mallets available on-site with allow viewers to hit the sculptures themselves, producing sounds that resonate through the landscape.

GovIslandMarkDS-6.jpg GovIslandMarkDS-5.jpg

Themes of manmade materials vs. nature resonate in di Suvero’s imposing Constructivist sculptures. The precarious yet perfect balance of limbs creates a harmony between earth and sky, as well as between the work and negative space. Process becomes significant (he uses heavy machinery to move and meld together different kinds of steel) as you take in his awe-inspiring works.

GovIslandMarkDS-7.jpg GovIslandMarkDS-8.jpg

When navigating the exhibition, the Storm King app comes in handy. Or, you can just rent a bike and explore freely, like we did—either way, it makes for an introspective experience. Check out the gallery for more photos from our trip.

All images by Karen Day, Nicholena Moon and Greg Stefano


Exhibition: Hand.Written.Letter.Project

Craig Oldham began his Hand.Written.Letter.Project (HWLP) by inviting a selection of leading designers and image makers to simply share their thoughts in the form of a handwritten letter on their own letterhead. Now over 100 handwritten responses – from the likes of Wim Crouwel, Wally Olins, Mike Dempsey, Tony Brook, and many more – are being exhibited at London’s KK Outlet until 27 August…

“There’s always something nice about receiving a letter,” says Craig Oldham, “especially these days when email, text, status updates and tweets dominate our communication, leaving many to lose sight of the things that have been around for a while (like ink and paper). I believe it’s important they don’t.” The good folk at KK Outlet have only just hung the show but took these snaps for us to share:

HWLP features written correspondence from Adrian Shaughnessy of Unit Editions, Bibliothèque, Bob Gill, Daniel Eatock, Erik Kessels of KesselsKramer, Michael Bierut of Pentagram, Michael Johnson of johnsonbanks, Phillippe Apeloig, Stefan Sagmeister, This Is Real Art, Vince Frost and many more.

A strictly limited edition book of the project, in support of the National Literacy Trust, is available at handwrittenletterproject.com

HWLP runs until 27 August at KK Outlet, 42 Hoxton Square, London, N1 6PB. Tel: +44 (0) 20 7033 7680.

kkoutlet.com

CR subscribers will already have seen several pieces of work from the Hand.Written.Letter.Project as it features in the current issue of our subscriber-only publication Monograph.

CR in Print

Don’t miss out – there’s nothing like CR in print. Our August Summer Reading issue contains our pick of some of our favourite writing on advertising, illustration and graphic design as well as a profile of Marion Deuchars plus pieces on the Vorticists, Total Design, LA Noire and much more.

If you would like to buy this issue and are based in the UK, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine and get Monograph.

David Shillinglaw has all you’ll ever need

Paradise Personified (detail)

All You’ll Ever Need is a new solo show from artist David Shillinglaw, opening at the East Gallery in London on August 25…

Presented by online gallery, Cement Graphic Art, Shillinglaw’s exhibition takes place after a month-long Cape Town residency. His work often makes use of text, words and phrases to create some striking imagery.

Self Medication

“I see a dual-characteristic in all of us,” says Shillinglaw, “the momentary instinct versus a conscious foresight; something like living-in-the-moment, while making a ten-year plan. We react to our environment and conditions, while formulating ideas about how to prepare for the future. Our daily grind is consumed with reactions, sensations and momentary conclusions. These conclusions feed us and fill the void; the decisions we make, act as stopping points on a larger, ever growing map.”

Towers of Learning

“All You’ll Ever Need is a false prophesy; an advertisement, designed to entice an audience into believing there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but there is no pot of gold, only a rainbow. The exhibition attempts to highlight the chaos and contradictions we deal with, juggling what we need and what we want, the chaos of the moment set against the choices of the bigger picture.”

Lifeboat

The show opens at the East Gallery in London on August 25 and runs until September 4. More details at cement-gallery.com.

Three Arms

McBess at The Book Club

Tattoos

Opening tomorrow at The Book Club in London is The Folding Knife, an exhibition of new works by French illustrator McBess

The Folding Knife will include previously unseen canvas work, prints and 3D objects by McBess (aka Matthieu Bessudo). All are executed in his distinctive black-and-white style. A selection of the works in the exhibition are shown here.

Girl Band

Girls and Boys

As part of the exhibition, McBess has also invited artists and close friends who have inspired him to make new works for display. In keeping with McBess’s style though, these are all created in black-and-white. Artists taking part include Éditions Copains (Ugo Gattoni and Guilaume Singelin), KOA, Rotopol and Nicolas Tual.

Cute Sailor

Southpark

Southpark (detail)

The Folding Knife is on show at The Book Club until September 18. More info is at wearetbc.com.

 

CR in Print

Don’t miss out – there’s nothing like CR in print. Our August Summer Reading issue contains our pick of some of our favourite writing on advertising, illustration and graphic design as well as a profile of Marion Deuchars plus pieces on the Vorticists, Total Design, LA Noire and much more.

If you would like to buy this issue and are based in the UK, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine and get Monograph.

Unit9’s Hoxton Window Project

Since the beginning of this year, Unit9 has been inviting visual artists to use their office windows in London’s Hoxton Square to showcase their work and (hopefully) inspire the local community. The latest artist to take part in the project is Simon Spilsbury…

The film above (shot by Tamas Olajos) documents Spilsbury’s creation of his artwork. Stills below show the finished work. Of the project, Spilsbury said: “Big location, big canvas. And, the best thing about painting on a 16m window is you can’t scan it in and arse around with the results in Photoshop.”

Previous contributors to the Hoxton Window Project include McBess, Paul Ryding and Jon Burgerman. Films of their designs are all shown below.

McBess

Paul Ryding

Jon Burgerman

More on Unit9’s project can be found online at thehoxtonwindowproject.com.

 

CR in Print

Don’t miss out – there’s nothing like CR in print. Our August Summer Reading issue contains our pick of some of our favourite writing on advertising, illustration and graphic design as well as a profile of Marion Deuchars plus pieces on the Vorticists, Total Design, LA Noire and much more.

If you would like to buy this issue and are based in the UK, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Based outside the UK? Simply call +44(0)207 292 3703 to find your nearest stockist. Better yet, subscribe to CR for a year here and save yourself almost 30% on the printed magazine and get Monograph.