H INTERNATIONAL
A dark current runs through the London art world THE EMERGENCE OF THE OCCULT
Against a darkly-clouded twilight stoops an elderly tree. From one branch, hanging by a rope, a raven; skewered oddly by another a lightly bloodied fish. In the foreground a coterie of mythological creatures teem and jabber: a crimson-eyed goat, an electric blue skeleton, a long- haired red-skulled monkey, an eagle-headed warrior, an axe wielding goblin. At their head, a crazed, semi-clad figure puts a light to a caul- dron. Smoke billows backwards, and a scorching medieval glow illumi- nates a richly yellow-robed figure, arms crossed under folds of fabric, head bowed and cowed.
JOHN STARK, FEAR EATS THE SOUL‚ OIL ON PANEL, 50X60CM, 2010 © THE ARTIST
HENRIJS PREISS, ‘NO. 232’, ACRYLIC AND VARNISH ON WOOD, 2009, 244CM X 220CM © THE ARTIST
The painting is ‘Fear Eats the Soul’ by seem to be gaining more attention ment of much of the art coming out of Castle’. Not only did he stress the I think a Blakean relationship to the London-based contemporary artist today”. But why now? And why here? it. But it’s not all dark misery and end- importance of seeing things in new and systemic is beginning to emerge, one John Stark. It’s on show at Charlie In ‘The Demon-Haunted World: Science less references to Freud’s ‘unheim- unusual ways – he took project man- that combine order with passion, sin- Smith London as part of an exhibition as a Candle in the Dark’, first pub- liche’; certain artists around London at agers on the local council on “imaginary cerity with irony. In Blake’s epic Jeru- entitled ‘Demonology’. Elsewhere in the lished in 1995, American astrophysicist the moment can, thankfully, see the journeys” for example – but also in hav- salem, Los declares: “I must Create a gallery are weirdly anthropomorphic Carl Sagan writes: “I worry that, espe- funny side. By its very nature, a sym- ing fun. “Everyone’s really up for this,” System, or be enslav’d by another ceramic jugs, a kind of clockwork wellied cially as the Millennium edges nearer, bol is about the potential for duality of he’d said, “because it’s basically a party.” Man’s; I will not Reason and Compare: devil, mysterious, dark, photographic pseudo-science and superstition will meaning, and this is one of the funda- And what a party it was! With Chrome my business is to Create.” images and strange symbolic collages. seem year by year more tempting, the mental elements of British humour. Hoof taking to the stage all clad in sil- Today, artists are constructing their Just down the road on the same night siren song of unreason more sonorous The double-entendre, the pun, even ver as if all the baddies from Doctor own personal systems of meaning and is the opening of Boo Saville’s latest and attractive. Where have we heard it irony itself: all rely on the fact that a Who had got together for a bit of a jam, belief. Symbolism is intensely personal, solo show at Trolley Gallery. ‘Totem’ before? Whenever our ethnic and word or image can mean several differ- and Coates himself tottering about but of course rooted in belief systems of consists of two series of paintings national prejudices are aroused, in ent things according to context, inten- sporting a real horse’s head, it was def- yore. This is unavoidable but also some- examining death, and the way that dif- times of scarcity, during challenges to tion, the attitude of the viewer etc. initely a spectacle. Funny and ridicu- thing worth celebrating. As Boo Saville ferent cultures respond to this most national self-esteem or nerve, when we In October 2009, for example, David lous – yes, but ultimately it was also a puts it, “There is certainly a sense of universal of everyday occurrences. agonize about our diminished cosmic Marron had a wonderful solo show at strange and fantastically thrilling jour- helplessness in the futility of life but I Amongst the skulls and the odd heads place and purpose, or when fanaticism GV Art in Marylebone. Throughout the ney. One that meant something. think that actually that can be libera- and the mummified figures, the most is bubbling up around us – then, habits various downstairs gallery rooms twelve tion. As an artist I have constructed a affecting work – because the hardest to of thought familiar from ages past horrific, ochre, corpse-like figures loom- TRANSIENT TREND belief system for myself, which enable read – is entitled ‘Meme’. Made by reach for the controls. The candle flame ed, lurched, hunched, stretched, grab- me to deal with this futility.” applying household bleach to blackout gutters. Its little pool of light trembles. bed and pointed at the unwary visitor. Interestingly, Marron and Coates pres- Henrij Preiss may be seen to exempli- canvas, this is an eerily blank work. Like Darkness gathers. The demons begin Each one of these life-size zombie-type ent very different reasons for what is fy these very processes: “My paintings perhaps the Turin Shroud, death is to stir.” creatures represented a different char- currently taking place in the London represent a sense of order. What I do is there, but you can’t know exactly where. Might this hold a clue? Certainly there’s acter, so there was The Mother – a multi- art world. For Coates, “it simply reflects remove the particular stories or narra- A few weeks previously, at the London a prejudice and worry afoot. Words like armed monstrosity carrying a baby in what’s going on in society really. There’s tives, and take the underlying frame- Art Fair, I came across the works of ‘terrorism’ or ‘recession’ are every- one hand – and The Arbiter – a wailing a need to believe in something else, par- work, so that I end up with what you Latvian/Russian contemporary artist where we look. “At times of scarcity,” figure hunched in a cage. These are ticularly now after the collapse of con- could call symbolic archetypes, both in Henrijs Preiss, exhibiting in the UK Boo Saville explains, “we reach for com- direct, raw and uncompromising works, sumerism and capitalism. But people particular motifs and in the geometri- with Sesame Gallery. Behind a lush red fort”. And comfort is often associated shocking and powerful, and yet – to my are reluctant to engage in things like cal structures. I then layer these into curtain hang a host of paintings on not with logic but with something more surprise at the time – humour emerges. religion or New Age self-help, so ritual the paintings to create objects that board – in bold reds, blacks, gold and primitive or child-like. These works are actually quite hilarious. can serve that purpose.” address a form of universal geometry, cream – that feature an instantly famil- It’s perhaps interesting here to look at My favourite figure – and the artist’s Marron on the other hand says it’s or a basic symbolic language, which is iar vocabulary of esoteric symbolism. artists like Nick Laessing, Kit Craig, too, he said when I spoke to him – is “probably just another transient trend. common to all human visual systems.” You recognise it immediately but can- Ryan Leigh, and – to a lesser extent – ‘The Senile’. A baffled looking figure People will always be drawn to look at New orders emerge, rooted in those of not know quite from where. Pagan pen- Keith Tyson, whose works all explore sporting a blue hospital coat points the apparently strange whether some the past, straddling science and psy- tagrams, cabalistic diagrams, Byzan- the boundaries between the arts and vacantly into the middle distance. The art oddity, some misshapen person or a chology, Freud and Darwin – unique tine icons: all overlap in layers of the sciences. Leigh’s work fuses the expression is as if he has just remem- traffic accident. People are compelled and personal, but accessible through abstract composition. And yet the refer- aesthetics of these two traditionally bered something frightfully important, to look.” the medium of the symbol. Can they ential specificity has been removed, disparate disciplines – the use of graph but in attempting to articulate this fact, As much as I agree with Marron here – answer all our questions? No, nor leaving these images empty and mean- paper a particularly neat motif here: “I has completely forgotten whatever it and as much as I love his work – I don’t should they. “I believe in science and ingless, and all the more powerful for it. like to use graph paper for a number of actually was. In his breast pocket sits a think one can dismiss the notion of the the possibility of what it offers,” Saville reasons,” Leigh explains: “firstly, it has packet of forget-me-not seeds and out “transient trend”. That is what art crit- admits, “but I sometimes wonder, if I SIREN SONG an interesting aesthetic quality which of his tartan granny shopper pokes the icism and art history are about, to some was about to die, would I say a prayer?” interpenetrates all areas of the work head of some weird mutant lizard. It’s extent. Cubism, you could argue, was a Death, paganism, mystery, ritual, the reminiscent of the ‘aether’ in classical made of varnished parma ham. transient trend. What I find interest- Tom JEFFREYS occult, the darkly weird: this is what is physics. Secondly, it has a reference to There’s a fine line between pathos and ing I think is the way that reference is the Culture Editor at London listings happening in London right now. Ex- the scientific ‘result’. Thirdly, it creates humour and Marron skips along it with points are colliding – but not in the way and reviews website Spoonfed.co.uk. hibitions at Vegas Gallery, Transition, tension between the seemingly un- evident glee. The same could be said for that they did under post-modernism Standpoint and Riflemaker have rein- ordered marks of drawing and the the vast swathes of weirdness that fill with an appreciation only for irony. forced this dark undercurrent in the rigid framework of the graph grid.” the recently opened Viktor Wynd Fine Now a clash of different potential capital. The activities of the Last Art or the bizarre performance art of meanings creates something more, Tuesday Society – and their recent FUNNY Marcus Coates. I interviewed Coates something seemingly bigger. I think opening of Viktor Wynd Fine Art in back in June 2009 ahead of his collabo- this is the power of art, and something Hackney – confirm it. Preiss notes that, It is this tension between order and rative performance with experimental that Sagan misses. Not everything even though he’s “been working on the disorder that seems at the heart of funk/metal collective Chrome Hoof, always has to be serious, rational, logi- same project for over ten years, it does today’s London, and thus a crucial ele- entitled ‘A Ritual for Elephant and cal etc. Nor, indeed, can it be.
15. INTERNATIONAL 4.03 2010
Not For Tourists is an alternative guide to New York City’s contempo- Not For Tourists (2): Light Industry Elaine Sturtevant au Musée d’art moderne de la ville de Paris La production de l’artiste américaine Elaine Sturtevant, depuis le rary art scene. In each
Why did you decide to start Light In- in the 70s and 80s, and the microcine- curators, who represent a wide range hours, and then thinks and talks seri- that the neighborhood doesn’t look On ne saurait trop croire que l’art est ans qu’elle s’est rappropriée non l’ima- pressionniste abstrait et au Pop Art, dustry in the already heavily satura- mas of the 90s and 00s.” of interests and perspectives, to bring ously about what they’ve just seen. shuttered up as a result of the econom- une histoire de la reprise de formes, ge mais l’objet, a questionné non la dé- comme pour ne plus y penser (sorte de ted cultural scene of New York City? them together under one roof. That That’s rather reductive, of course, but ic downturn. So that’s exciting to me: a pour constater, dans les stratégies gradation due à la reproduction tech- méthode cathartique). En dépassant Thomas Beard: “I began Light Indus- You’ve hosted a significant number of way, someone who came to Light In- you get the idea. The experience of film neighborhood where previously you artistiques du siècle dernier, de sim- nique, mais l’écart entre deux origi- ces deux courants, Sturtevant met à nu try in the spring of 2008 with Ed Halter. diverse events, ranging from traditio- dustry because they were interested and video so often in galleries or mu- only went to serve jury duty or buy ples répliques. Si Duchamp a utilisé naux dont seule la ‘paternité’ diffère. la valeur ultime de l’art: elle signera At that time, alternative cinema spaces nally curated film screenings by recog- in, say, Cory’s work, might end up seums is one of wandering in and out sneakers might soon be one of the most des objets usuels pour les nommer Ainsi, lorsque Lawler prend des vues sans prénom, comme pour faire renaît- like the Robert Beck Memorial Ci- nized experimental film experts to checking out a Straub-Huillet movie for a few minutes. Slapping something culturally vibrant places in the city.” ready-made, Johns lui, a bien regardé de photographies placées dans les inté- re en avatar, l’artiste déjà recyclé. nema and Ocularis, which I’d overseen wild performances like, for example, that they wouldn’t have otherwise on a DVD and looping it in a room isn’t un drapeau américain, pour faire une rieurs de collectionneurs, ou que Levine in its last years, had come to a close. Cory Arcangel’s ‘Bruce Springsteen come across. That’s the hope, anyway!” exactly a rigorous enterprise, but un- What are your plans with Light In- peinture nominaliste. Si Warhol a séri- interroge ce même statut photo- QUI EST ELAINE STURTEVANT? Light Industry was founded, in part, Born to Run Glockenspiel Adden- fortunately it’s a de facto curatorial dustry for the near future? graphié des produits publicitaires, graphique dans les reprises de vue as an effort to fill that particular void in dum’. Are there any specific characte- Unusual in programming and loose in mode. Cinema deserves better; we all Beard: “The new space I just mentio- Magritte n’en a reproduit que le contre d’Edward Weston, Sturtevant elle, Si Warhol encouragea vaguement l’ar- New York film culture.” ristics that you have in mind when structure and set-up, there is a certain do. So we strive to give the people who ned is the biggest news. We’re actually sens visuel («ceci n’est pas»). Si enfin, reprend avec la technique originale, les tiste, Claes Oldenburg critiqua vive- you plan an event? comfort coming from the familiar way come to Light Industry a program that sharing it with two other fantastic Richter a semblé comme Picabia, chan- compositions géométrique de Stella ment la réplique de son ‘Store’ en 1967, Which organizations were inspira- Beard: “One of Light Industry’s main in which you stage most of your events. has political backbone, a lacerating groups: Triple Canopy and The Public ger de style pour troubler les rapports (‘Stella Union Pacific’, 1989). orchestrée quelques rues plus loin. tions for Light Industry? Were there goals is to foster a dialog amongst a The placing of chairs, for example, is intelligence, and feels like a party. School. Our respective projects are entre mécanique et manuel, on ne peut Comme Yves Klein utilisant les fem- any historical collectives, or non-pro- wide range of artists and audiences in always done in a very nice and order- We’re all in it together.” quite different, but I’m confident that considérer ni le travail de Buren, enco- ŒUVRE ORIGINALE mes pinceaux pour ses anthropomé- fits that you took as your model? the city. New York is home to number ly way. What kind of relationship are we’ll be able to work together in the re moins celui de Ascher, comme seuls tries, la gente masculine convoquée ici Beard: “The strong tradition of alter- of fertile, but somewhat fragmented you trying to establish with your What is according to you the most space, share resources, and keep the représentants d’une critique de l’insti- La différence se rapproche ainsi de la lui sert de double registre. Dans native art spaces in New York has been creative communities. For instance, audience during these events? exciting trend in New York City at the venue’s calendar full of great scree- tution. Elaine Sturtevant est un peu de distinction instituée par Nelson Good- ‘Duchamp Wanted’, 1969, elle prend la a definitive influence. Equally inspiring you have audiences for experimental Beard: “Well, the idea of the cinema as moment? nings, readings, performances, and clas- tout cela, avec cette spécificité très man entre régime esthétique ‘autogra- place du maitre et se grime dans les is the history of cinematheques and film, new media art, adventurous inter- a social space is very important to us. Beard: “Well, we’re about to relocate ses almost every night of the week.” superficielle d’avoir répliqué dès sa pre- phe’ et ‘allographe’ 3. Aucune reproduc- années 1970 en Beuys, pour une vidéo other intrepid film exhibitors that the national narrative cinema, and the art What we’re trying to create with the to a 5,000-square-foot storefront in mière exposition en 1965 à New York, tion, ni copie (terme qu’exècre l’artis- hommage. La duplicité des portraits se city has been host to: Amos and Marcia world more broadly, yet it’s remarka- audience is a shared experience, a downtown Brooklyn that’s been dona- Niels VAN TOMME les œuvres de ses congénères, avant te), encore moins inspiration, Sturte- développe ainsi tout le long de l’expo- ELAINE STURTEVANT, ‘HOUSE OF HORRORS’ (FAÇADE), 2010, COURTESY GALERIE THADDAEUS ROPAC, Vogel’s seminal film society Cinema 16 ble how rarely these scenes overlap. shared commitment to a given event. ted to us by a consortium of building qu’ils ne rentrent au panthéon de l’art. vant produit une œuvre autographe sition, dans un jeu de miroirs. Le PARIS-SALZBOURG ET GALERIE ANTHONY REYNOLDS, LONDRES, PHOTO PIERRE ANTOINE - MUSÉE D’ART www.lightindustry.org in the 40s and 50s, Jonas Mekas and What we’ve tried to do, then, is present Everyone schleps across town to Light owners in the area that are literally Il n’est pas surprenant non plus de originale, signalant bien que toute Duchamp évoqué sera celui cinétique, MODERNE DE LA VILLE DE PARIS/ARC 2010 the Filmmakers’s Cinematheque in the a series of events, each organized by Industry, to this industrial complex in giving away incredible spaces (albeit trouver l’artiste au milieu du groupe image est par principe préexistante. des ‘Rotoreliefs’, mis en correspondan- 60s, The Collective for Living Cinema different invited artists, critics, or Brooklyn, sits in the dark for two temporarily) to arts organizations so appropriationniste des années 80, tant Le subjectif se situe bien dans le choix ce avec la dernière installation vidéo de son travail fut minoré et sa carrière, de l’œuvre, démarche en ce sens très Sturtevant, ‘Finite Infinite’, où un interrompue pendant dix ans (de 1974 duchampienne: «Les travaux de ces chien court sur plusieurs écrans large, ment les systèmes de valeur. Prenant à flante idée conceptuelle qui a repoussé à 1986, fin de l’art conceptuel). Sturte- artistes ont eu la capacité d’être des testant l’endurance et la répétition son compte une lecture marxiste, l’ord- bien plus loin les limites de la ressem- vant reproduit donc en pleine période catalyseurs. C’est ce dont j’avais besoin d’un geste quasi-mécanique. La même re social de l’art se lie aux infrastructu- blance.7» Pop, les ‘Flowers’ de Warhol, ainsi que pour que cela constitue une dynamique lignée se retrouve dans la reproduction res (les conditions de production artis- le ‘Nu descendant un escalier’ de interne pour moi.4» Elle reprend donc cadencée des lignes noires de Stella, tique devenues mécaniques) dont dé- Damien DELILLE Duchamp dès 1967, et sa série de ready- ‘Arbeit macht frei’ chez Stella et s’éloi- dans la reproduction iconique de la coulent les superstructures (le culte de 1 ‘Sturtevant. The Razzle Dazzle of Thinking*’, du 5 In this series Romina Provenzi, a specialist of the Cuban art market and of the London art scene, mades historiques, que surplombent les gne des ‘Black Paintings’ de 1959, qui ‘Marilyn’ démultipliée de Warhol, ou l’originalité, de l’artiste et son produit, février au 25 avril 2010, Musée d’art moderne de la discusses a number of non-profit spaces in London. ‘1200 sacs de charbon’ reproduits en ont fait sa renommée. Tout comme elle encore tel un Sisyphe moderne, Stur- l’œuvre d’art). En affichant cette dia- ville de Paris, *la pensée tape-à-l’oeil 1972 et présentés pour l’occasion. emprunte à Félix Gonzalez-Torres le tevant marchant à la manière de Beuys lectique, Sturtevant procède à une lec- 2 Voir chapitre ‘Reconnaissance tardive’, dans Catherine Gonnard et Elisabeth Lebovici, ‘femmes Non-profit spaces in London (1) Au beau milieu des années 80, Keith podium de go-go dancer (très queer) et ou évoquant la danse du gogo dancer ture déréalisée de son histoire de l’art. artistes. Paris, de 1880 à nos jours’, Paris, Hazan, Haring a droit à la minutieuse réplique le rideau d’ampoule (hommage subver- de Gonzalez-Torres. Son dernier projet ‘House of Horrors’ 2007, p. 390-392 3 Nelson Goodman, ‘Langages de l’art: Une approche de ses graffitis sur toile, tout comme sif aux États-Unis), détachant une Au delà du performatif, c’est à l’aune en atteste avec une certaine gravité. de la théorie des symboles’, Hachette, 2005, qui per- les fameuses chaises remplies de grais- énergie radicale de la mélancolie sous- des correspondances entre chaque Le public embarque dans un train fan- met une meilleure compréhension du travail de THE BFI SOUTHBANK se de Beuys. La période correspond au jacente à l’artiste défunt. Et contraire- œuvre que se joue le propos immuable tôme, retrouvant l’égérie trash Divine, Sturtevant que les écrits très datés idéologiquement de Jean Baudrillard réexamen global des tenantes de l’ab- ment à la distance critique d’une géné- de Sturtevant: déjouer le spectacle de du cinéaste John Waters et les scènes 4 Entretien avec l’artiste, février 2010 The South Bank has become a prime cultural destination in London, after a decade of straction, comme Bridget Riley ou ration occupée par la marchandisation l’art, en affichant ses rouages. «Je ne gore de Paul McCarthy, le tout façon 5 Voir en ce sens, les figures d’artistes montées en 2 épingle par Hal Foster, pour justifier de la ‘post- refurbishments and significant public investments. Nowadays, the area is populated by Aurélie Nemours . L’ importance d’une de l’œuvre d’art, mue par des straté- pense pas que l’art lié au divertisse- musée Grévin. Aucune fascination, tout modernité’ américaine triomphante, dans numerous cultural institutions, most of them located along the Thames walkway between nouvelle génération d’artistes femmes, gies parodiques5, Sturtevant s’en dis- ment concerne uniquement le domaine est pour Sturtevant la mise en forme ‘Recodings. Art, Spectacle, Cultural Politics’, Bay autour de l’exposition ‘Pictures’ dès tingue par un retour physique avec artistique, mais plutôt notre mode d’idées conceptuelles, esquissant les Press, Seattle, 1985 Westminster and London Bridge. Over two square miles, aligned one after the other, are 6 Entretien avec l’artiste, id. 6 the SouthBank Centre, the Purcell Room, the Hayward Gallery, the British Film Institute 1977, avec Cindy Sherman, Louise l’œuvre. Aucune préservation des sco- d’existence en général. » Loin d’une drames d’une société éprise de réel, 7 Elaine Sturtevant, ‘un vice inhérent: la réplique et Lawler ou Sherrie Levine, donne ainsi ries de l’art, ni mise à l’index ironique simple autoréférentialité d’un art pour figée par les mirages d’un matérialis- ses conséquences dans la sculpture moderne’, Tate (BFI), the National Theatre, the Tate Modern and the Shakespeare Globe Theatre among Modern, Londres, septembre 2007, reproduit dans its most distinguished sites. un nouveau souffle à la carrière de de son potentiel émancipateur, elle l’art (ce que sont parfois les appropria- me dont le créateur reste le dernier ‘Sturtevant. The Razzle dazzle of thinking’, Paris, Surtevant. C’est en avance de vingt emprunte dans ces années 60 à l’ex- tionnistes), Sturtevant affiche autre- garant. «La réplique est une époustou- ARC, 2010, p. 36
In 2010, the SouthBank is once again experien- The previous renovation increased the BFI capa- cing a new phase of expansion, with the under- city by adding the BFI Gallery, a new space that way development of a brand new film centre as hosts exhibitions of video in contemporary art. part of the BFI. On 18th of October 2009, the BFI The idea to create an art gallery as part of a film announced a plan to develop “a visionary new film institute sprang from the innovative vision of centre on the London’s South Bank,” just a few Amanda Neville, the Director of the Institute, yards away from its current premises. The plan is and Eddie Berg, its Artistic Director. The Gallery Felix Gonzalez-Torres BFI SOUTHBANK, PHOTO BY MATT ANTROBUS backed by a 45 million pounds funding by the showcases synergies between cinema and con- government. This is happening only three years temporary visual art. The BFI’s vision is to deve- in Wiels Brussels after the refurbishment of the old National Film lop a purpose-built international centre for film Theatre, which reopened under the new name of and moving image culture in London. According provided an opportunity for the Institute to The BFI Gallery has established a strong reputa- Brussels based centre for contemporary art Wiels BFI in early 2007, and since then has hosted an to Berg “the BFI’s mission statement is to pre- reclaim some of the artistic territory and rhetoric tion within cinema audience and the competitive premieres a major travelling retrospective of astonishing average of 12 million visitors’ per-year sent and promote the moving image in all its around moving image cultural practice that the London contemporary art community. To achieve Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ oeuvre, including both according to the Institute’s Annual Report. forms. The creation of BFI SouthBank in 2007 contemporary art world has appropriated over this success, the Institute relies on a careful rarely seen and more known artworks, while the past 15 years. The Gallery programme situa- selection of artists and innovative commissioned proposing an experimental form for the exhibi- tes this work within the histories, traditions and projects which ensure a top-notch quality of its tion that is indebted to the artist’s own radical ideas of cinema. This development has been criti- exhibitions. Renowned artists who exhibited conception of the artwork. Gonzalez-Torres (Ame- cal in repositioning the BFI and in reaffirming works at the BFI include Jane & Louise Wilson, rican, b. Cuba 1957-1996), one of the most influ- its wider and more pluralistic view of what con- Peter Campus, Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard just ential artists of his generation, settled in New stitutes cinema now and its future possibilities”. to mention a prominent few. A year ago the York in the early 1980s, where he studied art and BFI Gallery commissioned a new body of video began his practice as an artist before his untime- MOVING IMAGE work to the well-established British artist Mark ly death of AIDS related complications. His work Collishaw, whose show is due to open in late can be seen in critical relationship to Conceptual The BFI also underwent an internal renewal with February and it is intrepidly expected by the art and Minimalism, mixing political activism, the appointment of its new curator who enthusi- London contemporary art community. This is a emotional affect, and deep formal concerns in a astically advances the new vision. Elisabetta sign of the Institute’s appreciation in the London wide range of media, including drawings, sculp- Fabrizi, appointed Head of Exhibitions since art scene. ture, and public billboards, often using ordinary 2007, has a strong background in contemporary The prospects of the Institute seem bright, the objects as a starting point – clocks, mirrors, light 3(7(5 /(00(16 art and acquired significant experience at the public shows enthusiasm, and in the view of many fixtures. Amongst his most famous artworks are Baltic and at the Milton Keynes Gallery. She is the underway renovation might well launch the his piles of candy and paper stacks from which keen on explaining the Institute’s philosophy: BFI as a world leader. Time will judge. viewers are allowed to take away a piece. “The BFI Gallery is a contemporary art space A first version of ‘Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Specific sited within a cinemateque, which examines and Romina PROVENZI Objects without Specific Form’ by curator Elena presents the richness of production of experi- is a writer and lives in London. She writes on con- Filipovic is open to the public. On March 5, 2010, JDOHULH 9$1 '(5 0,('(1 mental moving image work within the visual arts temporary art given the political, social and econ- the artist Danh Vo will re-install the exhibition, world. It also looks at how today’s filmmakers are omic context that surrounds the art system. effectively making an entirely new show. producing work for gallery spaces. The program- 0$5&+ $35,/ me brings together the investigations and inte- Till April 24 2010. More info: www.wiels.org *$/(5,( 9$1 '(5 0,('(1 :::9$1'(50,('(1&20 rest of two constituencies – that of the visual arts PHOTO JEAN-PIERRE STOOP and that of film – to encourage mutual under- standing and cross fertilisation of audiences.”