Highlight #21: The center of contemporary art

US, UK, France and Germany

US, Los Angeles <MATTHEW BARNEY: RIVER OF FUNDAMENT>

13 September 2015 ~ 18 January 2016_The Museum of Contemporary Art, LA

A living legendary artist of the international contemporary art scene, Matthew Barney is having his first major solo museum show in Los Angeles. The exhibition is worth visiting as it presents two major works. The first is one of Barney’s most challenging and unique projects to date, River of Fundament (2014), which is also largest film undertaking since the renowned, five-part CREMASTER film cycle (1994-2002). The recent work was written by Barney in collaboration with composer Jonathan Bepler and tells a story of regeneration and rebirth as inspired by Ancient Evenings (1983), Norman Mailer’s sprawling, provocative novel set in ancient Egypt.

The show also features Water Castings, including new additions to the sculpture series that will be on view to the public for the first time. Overall, the presented works intertwine history and mythology in contemplation of the fundamental human motivations—sex, violence and power—that have propelled civilizations for centuries. The exhibition will hold two art talks on September 13 and October 11. The exhibition will provide a great opportunity to learn more about the artist and his work.

<Boat of Ra(detail)>

2014 Wood, cast bronze, resin-bonded, sand, steel, and gold plating 132×600×288inches Installation view of Matthew Barney: RIVER OF FUNDAMENT at Haus der Kunst, 2014, courtesy Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager, Basel, photo by Maximilian Geuter
Matthew Barney and Jonathan Bepler <River of Fundament>

2014 Production still Courtesy of Gladstone Gallery, New York and Brussels ⓒ Matthew Barney Photo by Hugo Glendinning

UK, London <RACHEL ROSE: PALISADES>

1 October ~ 8 November 2015_Serpentine Sackler Gallery

American artist and winner of the 2015 Frieze Artist Award, Rachel Rose’s first solo show is on view at Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London. Rose is a young but prominent artist born in 1986, and currently lives and works in New York.

The exhibition responds directly to the gallery with challenging site-specific installations. Juxtaposed to the works are two of the artist’s more recent videos: A Minute Ago (2014) and Palisades in Palisades (2014). Rose creates an immersive environment through movement, sound and color.

In Palisades in Palisades, she uses a remote control lens and a precise trompe-l’oeil editing technique to link a girl standing on the banks of the Hudson River at the Palisades Interstate Park in New York, to different moments in the landscape’s history, including the memory of the site’s involvement in the American Revolutionary War.
Rose’s work presents humanity’s shared current anxieties and their multi-layered interconnectivity: our changing relationship to the natural world, the advance of technology, catastrophes, our own mortality and the impact of history.
She has solo exhibitions scheduled at the Whitney Museum (2015) and the Aspen Art Museum (2016).

Still from <Palisades in Palisades>

2014 HD video 9' 31
Still from <A Minute Ago>

2014 HD video 8' 43
Still from <Palisades in Palisades>

2014 HD video 9' 31

France, Paris <MONA HATOUM>

24 June ~ 28 September 2015_Centre Pompidou, Paris

Renowned artist Mona Hatoum is opening a new show in Paris. A key contemporary art figure, Hatoum’s works are considered to set new levels of standard for her peers.
Born in the Lebanon in 1952, the Palestinian artist and her family left the country in 1975 for a short stay in London when war broke out in her homeland. Their stay and move to the British capital later influenced Hatoum and her work.

Her career can be divided into two main periods. During the 1980s, Hatoum explored the realm of performance and video, with a focus on social and political questions. From the 1990s, the artist worked in installation, sculpture and drawing. This show is a great opportunity to experience both of these periods, and features around 100 works that cover the multidisciplinary character of her work after 1977. Though not organized chronologically, the show serves as a comprehensive map to her oeuvre.
The performances of the 1980s, whether featured here in photo, drawing or video format, are viewed in relation to the latter installation, sculpture, drawing, photograph and objects from the late 1980s on.

<+ and ->

1994-2004 Stainless steel, aluminum, sand, electric motor 27(h)cm, diameter 400cm ⓒ Hall Collection ⓒ Photo Courtesy Mataf: Arab Museum of Modern Art Photo by Markus Elblaus
<Cellules>

2012-2013 Mild steel and blown glass in 8 parts 170cm, variable depth and width ⓒ Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris ⓒ Photo: Florian Kleinefenn
<Hot Spot>

2013 Stainless steel, neon tube 234×223×223cm Exhibition copy ⓒ Courtesy of the artist ⓒ Photo Courtesy The artist and Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin | Paris, photo Jorg von Bruchhausen
<Waiting is Forbidden>

2006-2008 Enamel on steel 30×40cm Exhibition copy 1/2 ⓒ Courtesy of the artist ⓒ Photo: Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin|Paris

Germany, Berlin <BERLIN ART WEEK>

15 September ~ 20 September 2015_Berlin

Art lovers from around the world are gathered in Berlin for the fourth Berlin Art Week, which runs for six days from September 15 to 20, 2015. This year’s edition begins with an invitation to seven different locations across the city of Berlin, and progresses into a range of events. Exhibitors include abc art berlin contemporary, the joint project STADT/BILD, Preis der Nationalgalerie 2015, and the art fair Positions Berlin. Exhibitions will feature Cindy Sherman, Alicja Kwade, Bernard Frize, Paul McCarthy, and the Archive and Collection René Block.

A variety of exhibitions, installations, programs, and events at galleries, project spaces and private collections will help illustrate the vitality and dynamism of the city’s vivid art world. This year’s edition also includes a new feature: panel discussions in Talking Galleries/Berlin. Do not miss it. For those looking for something new and energetic experience, DJ sets, open houses and even a barbecue are included in the art week’s schedule. ■ with ARTINPOST

C/O Berlin: Rudi Meisel. Landsleute 1977-1987.

Two Germanys Motorway 42 before release, August-Thyssen-Hutte, Duisburgh-Bruckhausen, 1979 ⓒ Rudi Meisel
nGbK(neue Gesellschaft fur bildende Kunst): Redemption Jokes Oreet Ashery <Bad Company>

2015
Prizewinning project spaces and initiatives in 2015 Project space: Berlin-Weekly

left: Minyoung Paik, FLYER right: Max Frisinger, APPARATUS FOR SINKING BODIES