Issue-16.Pdf

BRUCE MUNRO / MARFA BOOK COMPANY / ROBERT IRWIN / AT WORK: YOKO ONO / SUMMER 2017

CONTEMPORARY ARTS, PERFORMANCE, AND THOUGHT

JOHN CHAMBERLAIN Twenty-two various works in painted and chromium- plated steel (1972–1982) from the permanent collection at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas

Photograph by Florian Holzherr THE PALOMA Ice, tequila, sugar, and lime juice in a highball glass with a salted rim. Top with fresh grapefruit juice and club soda. Stir gently. ¡Salud! Field of Dreams

Bruce Munro

ARTIST BRUCE MUNRO ILLUMINATES THE NATURE OF HIS LIFE’S WORK.

by Jessica Dawson

BRUCE MUNRO Field of Light (2016-2017) Installation view at Uluru, in the Northern Territory of Australia.

All photography by Mark Pickthall

ARTDESK 01 CDSea (2010) Long Knoll in Wiltshire, England

Water-Towers (2015) Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona

Impression—Time Crossing Culture (2016) Ferryman’s Crossing (2015) Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Scottsdale, Arizona

Tepees (2013) 02 ARTDESK Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville, Tennessee SUMMER 2017

OR THE PAST five years, Bruce Munro’s mas- “they have this surrealism to them. Field of Light in in the community. Friends brought along their sively scaled light installations have been our forest almost felt like fireflies.” friends. A few visitors were moved to tears. A making their way through American botan- “He’s the kind of installation artist that you phenomenon was born. Fical gardens. Pennsylvania’s influential Longwood don’t want to say no to,” says Wendy DePaolis, the But it was only last year that Field of Light was Gardens, in the town of Kennett Square, launched Minnesota Landscape Arboretum curator who realized at ground zero for its inspiration—Uluru the British artist’s invasion in 2012, and since then organized the Munro show, which closed in April. itself. The work is currently on view adjacent more than a dozen institutions—conservatories, art “This idea of synthesizing art and nature with the giant rock and will remain through March museums, and galleries—have followed suit, mak- light is something the Upper Midwest craves. The 2018. Like so much of Munro’s work, it’s proven ing the fifty-eight-year-old Munro one of the most days get shorter, the nights get longer.” Munro’s immensely popular. popular illumination artists you’ve never heard of. attraction to the fanciful tales of C. S. Lewis, which Munro installations are considered by their Think “light artist,” and if you’re an aficionado inspired some of the works chosen by DePaolis, led host venues to be unqualified successes; evidence of the global gallery and biennial circuit, a roll call him to create something of a winter wonderland both anecdotal and numerical confirms that slips off the tongue: James Turrell, Leo Villareal, for Minneapolis-area audiences. they’re people magnets. Longwood’s attendance Robert Irwin. The name that likely won’t come Munro’s life as an artist came together later nearly doubled during the 2012 Munro exhibition to mind is Munro’s. That’s not just because the than usual. It wasn’t until his mid-forties that he from the same period the year before. artist’s frequent venues—those greenhouses began creating the immersive installations he’s “It was a goal of ours to expand our audience and conservatories—are unlikely spots for the now known for. Although he graduated from art base and reach a younger arts-and-culture art crowd. It’s also because Munro who’s based in school, the practical matters of earning a living carnivore,” Redman says. “That is exactly what Wiltshire, England, is concerned not with art-world and supporting a young family led him to work in happened. It was a very diverse audience, a politics but in relating to his audience. architectural lighting, first in Australia and then in younger audience. People were driving for over Munro, he’ll happily tell you, is an everyday guy the United Kingdom. three hours to see the artwork.” who just wants to connect. “We are always trying to find ways to merge “I break walls down by making things very art and nature and marry these two worlds,” accessible,” he says. “I’m not trying to tease people says Bonnie Roche, the exhibitions manager or test them intellectually. I’m trying to represent at Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical thoughts and feelings in the materials that I love I break walls down by Gardens, in Columbus, Ohio. She mounted a experimenting with.” Munro show in fall of 2013 after hearing about That spirit of inclusiveness has proven a strong making things very the Longwood installation. “His work has such a selling point. For audiences, a Munro show is a natural feel to it. They fit right into these spaces magical thing, incorporating sometimes tens of accessible. I’m not and marry together.” thousands of LED lights and complex webs of fiber The complexity and scale of Munro’s art aren’t optics, which the artist and his team intersperse, without their challenges. It’s often an institution’s embed, and plant in natural environments. His trying to tease people. first nighttime exhibition; staff must establish nighttime installations enliven gardens, forests, pathway lighting, ensure that electricity reaches and fields as well as large-scale indoor atria. Some the far corners of their facility, and work longer works also incorporate sound—from feel-good hours. An installation generally runs about a tracks by Ladysmith Black Mambazo to the But landscape—and the British landscape month—not unusual in the contemporary art cacophony of cockatoos. tradition—remained close to his heart. As a world, but often requiring scores of volunteers in “I love placing something in a natural landscape child, Munro spent time with his father in the addition to Munro’s small team. and seeing how the landscape changes it and how it southwestern English fishing village of Salcombe That the local community is invited to help changes the landscape,” Munro says. “There’s theater in Devon. “I was about eight or nine, and my install the work was considered an advantage to this—it’s a happening.” In that spirit, his works father’d take my brother and sister off fishing and by Julie Maguire, the visual-art advisor to ask viewers to pay attention, to be present with I’d get bored,” Munro recalls. “I’d say, ‘Can you Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain earth and light. For Munro, it’s about probing the drop me off at the beach with my paints and sketch Falls, Colorado. She will oversee the Munro existential human experience, something he seems pads?’ I would sit and paint. When I got a little bit installations opening on July 1, 2017. increasingly to express in his works, likening them older I took walks around the cliffs.” “When we can involve people in the to the experience of life itself. “We land on this earth In his thirties, while living and backpacking in community with the artwork, it seems to resonate for a set amount of years and then we’re gone,” he Australia, Munro struck upon the idea for Field of more with the community,” Maguire says. “So that says. “What I’m doing is what a human being does. Light at the massive sandstone Ayers Rock—also was really a plus.” You’re here and then you’re gone.” called Uluru—in central Australia’s Northern But not all locals are keen on cooperating. Installations can be massive. A recent exhibition Territory. He was awed by the innate beauty of the Unexpected visitors to the Minnesota Landscape at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum included scene and sketched out designs for illuminations Arboretum caused a ruckus, upending the delicate a version of Munro’s popular Field of Light that that would mirror the powerful natural forces he filaments that made their way across the ground incorporated tens of thousands of individual stems felt emanating from the spot. to feed the luminous bulbs. Building mechanic of fiber optics. The work ran the length of nearly “If I’d been a decent painter I might have painted Jeff Stuewe’s investigation of the outages three football fields. That’s almost twenty-four a picture,” Munro says. “But I was a crap painter.” unearthed a cadre of non-ticketed guests. “We’ve acres covered in lights, fed with a slowly changing It would be another twelve years before those been blaming it on the turkeys,” Stuewe says. “But spectrum of color that seemed to make the hills early sketches became the first iteration of Field I think the rabbits have been culprits too.” The wild undulate and breathe. of Light—and the works’ inaugural run happened animals had Stuewe and his team scurrying to the “It’s harmony in a way that is almost bio- in the artist’s backyard. By then, Munro was reconnect stems to their wires. mimicry,” says Paul B. Redman, Longwood in his mid-forties, his father had died several “We’ve had our issues, but we’ve been able to president and CEO, of Munro’s capacity to blend years before, and he found his own sketchbooks deal with it,” Stuewe says. “Everybody loves the his work into nature. The artist’s 2012 exhibition brimming with ideas never realized. With his exhibit. That’s the biggest thing.” in Kennett Square covered twenty-three acres and mother’s admonishments in the back of his included two versions of the Field of Light concept, mind—“Be a doer, not a talker”—Munro took out Bruce Munro will be the featured artist at the Green Box incorporating 27,000 illuminated stems. Although a loan and created Field of Light on the grounds Arts Festival this July in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. “they’re not living, breathing things,” Redman says, around his farmhouse. Word of the work spread For more information, please visit greenboxarts.org.

SUMMER 2017

NecessitiesWHAT TO SEE, WHAT TO READ, AND WHAT’S HAPPENING WHERE PHOTOGRAPH BY JASON WYCHE JASON BY PHOTOGRAPH

The last stop for Kehinde Wiley’s A New Republic is the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, on view now through September 10, 2017. This overview of Wiley’s career is organized by the Brooklyn Museum and includes around sixty oil paintings (including Mrs. Siddons from 2012, above), sculptures, and stained-glass works. Wiley’s juxtaposition of old-world mastery with modern African American subjects New School highlights the lack of diversity often found in traditional European portraiture. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art is located at 415 Couch Drive in downtown Oklahoma City. The museum is open from 10 A.M. until 5 P.M., Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is $12, with discounts available to seniors, children, military, students, and groups.

ARTDESK 05 NECESSITIES

SUMMER 2017

HappeningsBY LEE ESCOBEDO NEW AND NOW IN ART & PERFORMANCE

LOUISE LAWLER: WHY PICTURES NOW to Margaret Meehan, the program seeks out of Ukraine selected Dallas Contemporary It captures intimates moments which exist Museum of Modern Art / New York, New York artists of various backgrounds and techniques executive director Peter Doroshenko and somewhere between elation and ugly crying. and pairs them with a guest curator to produce assistant curator Lilia Kudelia to present an Through July 15. davidbsmithgallery.com EXHIBITION a show. For this iteration, the program has exhibition of photographer Boris Mikhailov The first New York museum show for American selected Doerte Weber, a weaver who works at the Ukrainian Pavilion. Mikhailov is a ANNUAL DELTA EXHIBITION artist Louise Lawler, WHY PICTURES NOW, with bast fibers made from agave plants and well-known Ukrainian artist who, through a Arkansas Art Center / Little Rock, Arkansas will feature oversized images of the artist’s other items. socio-political lens, captures the ramifications GROUP EXHIBITION conceptual practice, tethered into a collage- Through August 27. artpace.org of political dread. like form of photographs of past works, Through November 26. labiennale.org and The Annual Delta Exhibition, now in its 59th installations, and places where Lawler’s work ukranianpavilion2017.org year, provides exhibition opportunities to artists has shown over her forty-plus year-career. from (or born in) Arkansas and the nearby states Since she is known for working within the FOCUS: Katherine Bernhardt of Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, context of where she is exhibiting, to subvert Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth / Fort Tennessee, and Texas. Four awards are up for and thwart buildings and spaces, it will be Worth, Texas grabs for jury-selected work: the $2,500 Grand interesting to see her work within MoMA itself. Award, two $750 Delta Awards, and a $250 EXHIBITION Through July 30. moma.org Contemporaries Delta Award. Previously seen at the Dallas Art Fair with Through August 27. arkansasartscenter.org WE WANTED A REVOLUTION: Black London’s Carl Freedman Gallery, Katherine Radical Women, 1965–85 Bernhardt will show nearby at the Modern LEARNING TO SEE: Renaissance and Brooklyn Museum / Brooklyn, New York in its acclaimed FOCUS series, which places Baroque Masterworks from the Phoebe artists in an intimate and thought-provoking Dent Weil and Mark S. Weil Collection GROUP EXHIBITION exhibition. Bernhardt, a Saint Louis–area native, Saint Louis Art Museum / Saint Louis, Catherine Morris, senior curator of feminist art has shown her vibrant, graffiti-inspired work Missouri at the Brooklyn Museum, and Rujeko Hockley— internationally, from Belgium to Puerto Rico. EXHIBITION now assistant curator at the Whitney—worked Through July 9. themodern.org together to create a showcase exploring radical Learning to See serves as an excellent primer black feminist concerns and history. The show to art of this period and a rare opportunity for surveys a period of two decades where the a detailed viewing, combining three centuries’ intersectionality of radical political momentum worth of movements, materials, and themes. and avant-garde art-making had just begun. Celebrating a generous gift to the SLAM of more These dense subjects and themes are tackled JUSTIN KORVER: The Expressive Mark than 150 works collected by art conservator through a reclaiming of various disciplines, & Other Ideas I Stole from Painting Phoebe Dent Weil and professor of art history including photography, painting, video, Hello Studio / San Antonio, Texas Mark S. Weil, masterpieces from Albrecht Dürer, printmaking, and sculpture. Rembrandt van Rijn, and other Renaissance and EXHIBITION Through September 17. brooklynmuseum.org Baroque artists will be on display. San Antonio artist (and co-director of Hello Through July 30. slam.org Studio) Justin Korver presents an installation focused on tools and workmen as the GUERRILLA ART PARK 2017 “patriarchal antithesis”—beings defined not Oklahoma Contemporary Showroom / by how they look or what they are, but on how Oklahoma City, Oklahoma utilitarian they are. A response to feminine PUBLIC ART objectification, Korver’s work balances the effeminate with power. Through July 2. In bustling midtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma hellostudiosa.org Contemporary presents its second installment of this outdoor sculpture exhibition. Guerrilla LYGIA PAPE: A Multitude of Forms Art Park sets public sculpture at the site of The Met Breuer / New York, New York Oklahoma Contemporary’s future arts campus SHADE: Clyfford Still / Mark Bradford and features the work of local artists like Nick RETROSPECTIVE Denver Art Museum and the Clyfford Still Bayer, Molly Dilworth, Beatriz Mayorca, and Brazilian artist Lygia Pape receives the Museum / Denver, Colorado Joe Slack. first major retrospective of her work in the Through September 30. EXHIBITION United States. Pape was an artist in Brazil oklahomacontemporary.org during a time when the country depended American artist Mark Bradford is known for on Eurocentric ideas of art and formalism. A examining gender, race, and place. He will be pioneer within the Concrete movement, Pape representing the United States at the 2017 Venice incorporated film and performance in her Biennale. At the Denver Art Museum, Bradford’s work. works are on display alongside those of the TANIA PÉREZ CÓRDOVA: Smoke, Nearby Through July 23. metmuseum.org preeminent abstract expressionist, Clyfford Still. Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago / Meanwhile at the Clyfford Still Museum—next Chicago, Illinois RONI HORN door to the DAM—a series of works by Still and Nasher Sculpture Center / Dallas, Texas curated by Bradford is on view. These venues EXHIBITION connect the two artists’ ideas on the color black INSTALLATION The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago as an instrument of mark-making, palette, and brings in Mexican artist Tania Pérez Córdova This summer, artist Roni Horn installs eight socio-political microscope. to suggest a new perspective on time and of her solid cast glass sculptures to bask Through July 16. denverartmuseum.org and its constraints. She charges objects with an in the glow of the light-filled main gallery clyffordstillmuseum.org urgency through their interplay with the people of the Nasher Sculpture Center. These they belong(ed) to. Viewers find themselves sculptures are time-consuming and labor- ADAM MILNER: Desirable Objects thinking about authorship, possessions, and intensive to complete—each taking nearly David B. Smith Gallery / Denver, Colorado ownership in strange and dynamic ways—a four months. Under director Jeremy Strick, EXHIBITION necessary exercise more than ever, in our fast- the Nasher has become an incubator for the paced digital society. Dallas art community. Through August 20. Adam Milner’s works have a surprising Through August 20. mcachicago.org nashersculpturecenter.org intimacy to them—they don’t require a gallery setting for viewers to feel a connection. DOERTE WEBER: Checkpoint BORIS MIKHAILOV: Parliament Milner’s work includes videos of him dancing Artpace / San Antonio, Texas 57th International Art Exhibition - La in Dances for People I Miss (2015); Discreet, a series of photos of past lovers who do not EXHIBITION Biennale di Venezia / Venice, Italy want to be photographed; and photographs of BIENNALE The multiple residency opportunities at San a stack of decaying roses in a Mexican gallery Antonio’s Artpace make it one of the best Dallas will have representation in this year’s in A History of Man (2016). Yet, Milner’s work is programs in the region. From Ryder Richards Venice Biennale. The Ministry of Culture not a replacement for the real-life experiences.

06 ARTDESK SUMMER 2017

ART MARKET | ArtMarket highlights purveyors of fine goods and their favorite objects.

Marfa resident Peggy O’Brien peruses the selection at the Marfa Book Company.

Marfa Book COMPANY Tim Johnson, a Nashville native turned longtime Marfa resident, is the owner and manager of the Marfa By TIM JOHNSON with ALANA SALISBURY Book Company. Johnson shares with us a few of the goods—besides books—that can be found in this Photography by JOHN JERNIGAN focal point of the community, now located inside the Hotel Saint George. marfabookco.com

Rabbitneck Objects Eileen Myles Benoit Platéus Norden August Etta Chinati: The Vision Moritz Landgrebe Lustig Ring and Green Aloha/irish trees vinyl Sculpture, $1,200 Monhegan Candle,$55 The Etta Tunic, $175 of Donald Judd Sculptures, $950 Kepes Cuff record, $30 Belgian-born Benoit Norden is a California- August Etta is a collabo- Monograph, $75 Moritz Landgrebe is a $155–$220 Eileen Myles has pub- Platéus has exhibited based home goods ration between designer This book, published by Marfa-raised artist and This acrylic jewelry is lished several novels his work in painting, company and the Katrina Jane Perry and the Yale University Press, is designer who works with handmade in Brooklyn and books of poetry over photography, and producer of wonderful Mendez family of textile a thorough pictorial and steel rods and powder by artist, art director, and the past four decades, sculpture in numerous scented candles. Inspired artisans from the Oaxaca textual survey of Donald coating to produce New Mexico native Laura including the forthcoming countries. These small by a trip to the coast of Valley in Mexico. Each tex- Judd’s innovative and distinct art objects in a Tiffin. Even though Tiffin’s Afterglow. This limited- resin sculptures were Maine, the Monhegan tile is produced by hand internationally admired manner partially derived jewelry takes inspiration edition vinyl LP is a made for an exhibition at candle has notes of on a loom, and takes as public-art institution in from concrete and from the Swiss Style, art collection of new and old the Marfa Book Company sandalwood, tobacco, many as four days to com- Marfa, the Chinati Foun- kinetic art. deco, Bauhaus, and de poems, some of which and are based on bottles cinnamon, and leather. plete. August Etta donates dation (see page 14). Stijl movements of the have never been printed that store photo chemi- 5 percent of all profits early- to mid-twentieth before. Aloha/irish trees cals used in traditional to Fundación En VÍa, a century, her choice of came out in May and was darkroom printing. Oaxaca-based nonprofit bright colors is equally produced by Fonograf supporting social and reminiscent of the 1980s. Editions, a vinyl record- community development only poetry press. in the region.

ARTDESK 07 NECESSITIES

TOP 9 | Exploring nine artworks that move curators, tastemakers, artists, and the art experts of our time.

KNOWNArt FOR HIS ROTHKO oEXPERTISE,f DAVIDAll ANFAM SELECTS Time HIS NINE FAVORITE ARTWORKS.

EL ANATSUI Black River (2009)

SIMON RODIA JONAS BURGERT Watts Towers (1921-1951) Stück Hirn Blind (2014-2015)

3. JONAS BURGERT 5. HENRI FANTIN-LATOUR DAVID ANFAM, PhD, is the senior consulting curator Stück Hirn Blind (2014–15) Flowers and Fruit (1866) and research center director at the Clyfford Still In mid-career, the Berlin-based Burgert Many masterworks hit us immediately. Museum in Denver. “Rather than picking obvious must count among Europe’s most virtuoso Some by “quiet” artists, often occupying contemporary hits, maybe your reader might instead draftsmen in paint. He deserves to be better the sidelines, gradually seduce. For me, enjoy the personal and the unexpected,” he says. “So known in the United States. Superficially Fantin-Latour epitomizes the latter type. He these are favorites, not all-time greats. No matter reminiscent of the panoramas of Bosch and rubbed shoulders with realism, impression- from when the works date, in my eyes their staying Bruegel, Burgert’s imaginative work thrives, ism, and symbolism, yet ultimately belonged power always keeps them ‘contemporary.’” Anfam is so to speak, in the long shadow of Aus- to none. The still lifes are the real deal. Just based in London. chwitz. Do not, though, look for historical or a supreme coolness with flashes of passion- political meanings. Do behold a wondrous, ate color. The ravishing beauty lies in the phosphorescent universe of devastation, apparent modesty.

1. SIMON RODIA 2. EL ANATSUI endless metamorphosis, and enigma. Courtesy of the Toledo Museum of Art, Purchased with funds from the Watts Towers (1921–54/55) Black River (2009) Photograph courtesy of the artist and BlainSouthern Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey, 1951.363 This site-specific sculptural ensemble As I trudged through a dull Venice has a special importance because I still Biennale, there suddenly arose in the 4. DIEGO VELÁZQUEZ 6. CINDY SHERMAN ask myself how, in December 1977, Arsenale’s vast spaces a glowing mirage. The Spinners, or The Fable of Arachne (ca. 1657) Untitled #474 (2008) a deaf twenty-two-year-old English Close up, the treasure for the eyes In a century that produced amazing pictorial Whether referencing art history, student arrived by public transport to a changed into dross, a “tapestry” woven, wizardry, Velázquez subtly excelled. Under Hollywood, or everyday characters, violence-prone, outlying neighborhood albeit intricately, from old bottle tops. scrutiny, his brushwork seems economical. Sherman is our contemporary Morpheus, of Los Angeles? The towers represent an From colonialism—its rapine, chicanery, From the right distance, it becomes a mira- shape-shifting a myriad of times into ever icon of outsider art and a lasting tribute and impoverishment—El Anatsui has cle of fleet illusion. Here, two worlds coexist. new guises and situations. Except, unlike to one man’s enigmatic fortitude. plucked the darkest narrative threads to A workaday foreground segues to the silvery the classical god, she never lulls us to Spiraling upward in a drab setting, galvanize his brilliant visual alchemy. mythic background, which includes a Titian sleep. Instead, her photographic critiques they are like a poignant tribute to an Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Courtesy of Towles Fund figured as a tapestry. The layerings are of identity, society, gender, reality, and for Contemporary Art, Robert L. Beal, Enid L. Beal and Bruce A. Beal unknown god. Acquisition Fund, Henry and Lois Foster Contemporary Purchase Fund, endless. artifice confront us outright. By turns, Photo © 2011 Museum Associates/LACMA Frank B. Bemis Fund, and funds donated by the Vance Wall Foundation Photograph © Museo Nacional del Prado / Art Resource, NY they manage to intrigue, interrogate,

08 ARTDESK SUMMER 2017

DIEGO RODRIGUEZ VELAZQUEZ The Spinners, or The Fable of Arachne (ca. 1657)

PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA Resurrection (ca. 1458)

HENRI FANTIN-LATOUR CINDY SHERMAN Flowers and Fruit (1866) Untitled #474 (2008)

TITIAN The Flaying of Marsyas (1570-1575)

shock and, yes, make me laugh my lunch, only once around a quarter- head off—as does this Upper East Side century ago. Yet that “once” lasts a matron, captured to the smallest detail. lifetime. With the almost frightening Courtesy of the artist and Metro Pictures, New York fixity of a Byzantine Christ in Majesty, he rises above fallen humanity— 7. TITIAN the earthly and divine levels have, The Flaying of Marsyas (1570–75) unusually, different vanishing points— Despite its fame, this testament and with a gaze that, as it were, will must nevertheless be here, not least never blink. because I have seen it in diverse Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY places: Washington, DC, New York, London, Madrid, and the Archbishop’s 9. MARK ROTHKO Palace in Kromˇerˇíž. A scene of Homage to Matisse (1954) horror—the satyr being flayed alive, a How could I omit Mark? In 1990, little dog (usually symbolizing tender I encountered this rarely seen fidelity) lapping the blood, and another canvas in the gritty ambience of demonic satyr with a water bucket a huge warehouse on the Chelsea to prolong the agony. Every square waterfront (as it was then). Matisse inch of the late Titian’s painterly died on November 3, so it is an elegy tale pulsates with life and death. dating from very late 1954. Soon Existentialism for the Renaissance. after, Rothko’s style began to change, Erich Lessing / Art Resource, NY growing darker and more dense. The watershed timing, the title, the utter 8. PIERO DELLA FRANCESCA sureness of touch, and the blazing Resurrection (ca. 1460) antiphony of old gold against inky MARK ROTHKO An old postcard reminds me that I blueness mark a unique summit. Homage to Matisse (1954) saw this fresco, after a substantial © 2005 Christie’s Images Limited

ARTDESK 09 NECESSITIES

Ben Barry Printed Matter Photograph by Adrian Whipp THE IMPORTANCE OF s a sophomore in high nascent tech company was hir- erett Katigbak) began setting it in the physical world: Barry school in George- ing designers. He submitted his up as a print studio. “We set up made Mark Zuckerberg per- BEN BARRY’S ANALOG town, Texas, Ben Bar- portfolio on a whim. A month a space on the side so we could sonalized, embossed statio- ATTITUDE ry, now thirty-four, later, he had accepted the job start making stuff,” Barry says. nery so the Facebook founder wouldA log on to the achingly and was planning his move “More and more people found could send handwritten slow dial-up connection and across the country to California; out about it and liked what we thank-you notes. BY RACHEL MONROE search message boards for early it would be the first time he’d were doing. We got more and The night before President Adobe Photoshop tutorials. He ever lived outside of Texas. more support until it was an Obama’s visit to the Facebook taught himself to do the kind of Barry’s graphic-design official team with a budget.” offices, Barry worked into the image manipulation that was colleagues were shocked that early-morning hours to create a cutting edge, for a sophomore he’d leave behind a highly limited edition screen-printed in high school in the late 1990s: desirable job in Austin for a job poster commemorating the text that looked like it was on with a company not known event, which the president fire or frozen in a cube of ice. “I for its aesthetics. “[Facebook’s signed the next day. wouldn’t exactly call it graphic founders] were focused on In 2014, Barry left Facebook design,” Barry says. making sure it worked and that to open his own design studio, After graduating from the it was fast. They were thinking Nonlinear, in Portland, Ore- At Facebook, Ben Barry began the University of North Texas in about speed, reliability, infor- gon. “I get some of the cooler Hacking Facebook project (2009– Denton, Barry honed his skills mation density. It was built One Hundred Patterns (2014) projects around the fringe of 2012), creating increasingly larger at a graphic-design firm in by engineers, not designers,” was designed by Ben Barry in technology,” he says. installations of the word “hack” around Austin. One day, he logged on Barry says. collaboration with Jessica Svendsen. Today, Nonlinear is de- the early Facebook campus in Palo Alto, to Facebook to find a targeted Nonetheless, at Facebook, scribed as a small visual-design California, and later Menlo Park. ad informing him that the then Barry felt that he’d found In short order, what soon studio with an interest in tech- kindred spirits. “That very first became the Analog Research nology, science, art, architec- week, I remember thinking: Lab was outfitted with ture, politics, the environment, these are my people. I had a screen-printing equipment, and social good. small group of friends in col- letterpresses, a laser cutter, and “So much of our time and lege who were computer nerds a Risograph. attention is put into creating who were also creative. This In 2012, Fast Company logos or symbols, and that’s was like being surrounded by deemed Barry “Facebook’s satisfying to me,” Barry says. those people. And they were all Minister of Propaganda,” “I like to go deep with what- smarter than me.” thanks to his work refining ever I’m working on and In 2010, the growing and reinforcing the compa- know that I have considered company had acquired several ny’s internal culture through every angle, every line, and properties, including a ware- posters, booklets, and other every mark of this thing.” house. The company had no printed matter. The ARL’s immediate plans for the large work also ensured the digital FIND MORE DESIGN WORK BY BEN BARRY: space, so Barry (along with Ev- company was still grounded nonlinear.co // @benbarry // @nonlinear.co Self-Rule Tools BROOKLYN’S LIBERTY LABS BECOMES A NONPROFIT URBAN

CO-OP FOR ARTISANAL CRAFTWORKERS BY ALLISON MEIER

oused in a 6,000-square- collaborative shops, but they’re few foot warehouse on the and far between and can be expensive. HBrooklyn waterfront in The challenge in New York is the cost the neighborhood of Red Hook, of doing everything, but there are the Liberty Labs Foundation is people here who can actually afford a passion project for New York to buy things that are still hand- or City’s best wood and metalworkers. custom-made. Our idea was to provide Affordable studio space and shared below-market rent and space by administrative costs have led to a keeping members’ costs low by sharing magical—even freeing— experience: the administration and functioning of collaboration between its maximum the shop among ourselves.” capacity of seventeen members. Even as members operate Receiving 501(c)3 nonprofit status independent businesses within Art fabricator Kelsey Knight Mohr, a member of the in 2016, the facility is bustling with the space, the connective spirit of a Liberty Labs studio, focuses on soft sculpture.

artisanal activity. Fine furniture, art, cooperative is in full bloom, whether KOTEN JOHN and large-scale commissions come it’s deciding who cleans the bathroom together through the whir of drill or giving tips on using the table saw. technology, like a lamp based on magazines, that he became interested presses, lathes, and band saws. “Everyone pitches in, and everyone Apple’s spinning progress wheel. Jon in a woodcraft workshop. There, he “Our idea was to create something feels very fortunate that we can have Billing incorporates Japanese-style rediscovered the creative energy similar to a cooperative,” says John this kind of space in New York City,” woodworking into furniture through that originally drew him to media, Koten, co-founder. “There are other Koten says. kumiko patterns and shoji screens. including a ten-year tenure as editor in Current members include co- “Liberty Labs is unique in a lot of chief at Worth magazine.“I found this founder Reed Hansuld, whose custom ways,” Hansuld says. “The open-book environment to be what I liked about furniture combines unexpected platform creates trust and a sense journalism when I first got into it,” he contemporary forms with traditional of responsibility and ownership for says. “You’re around a bunch of people techniques, like a cantilevered rocking members. Our space is here to cater to who are trying to do interesting things chair built from walnut. Pat Kim also the growth of young businesses, and and explore truth and beauty.” brings an elegant experimentation we are always seeking to improve. It’s a Koten affirmed that every day to his wood designs, with walnut nurturing oasis amid a difficult pursuit.” at Liberty Labs “there’s going to be rocket ships and oloid-shaped kinetic Koten has a passion for boats, but something new in the works that Co-founder John Koten and designer Pat sculptures made from maple. Evan it wasn’t until he left print media, as surprises and inspires me. Inspiration Kim (PK Designs), treasurer and member Desmond Yee’s more conceptual the CEO of Mansueto Ventures and is a huge part of a collaborative shop.

JOEL SEIGLE JOEL work plays with totems of popular editor in chief for Inc. and Fast Company Everyone is a muse.”

10 ARTDESK SUMMER 2017

OUTLIER | Contemporary thought regarding the issues of today.

BY BRIAN TED JONES WITH LOUISA McCUNE TIGERNADO Regulating the Practice of Keeping Wild Animals as Pets

ME MT ND

OR MN VT NH MA ID SD WI NY WY MI RI CT IA PA NE NJ NV OH Dangerous Wild IN DE UT IL Animal Laws CO WV MD KS VA CA MO KY Bans most dangerous wild animals as

NC pets, such as big cats, bears, wolves, TN primates, some reptiles (21 states) OK AZ SC Bans some species of dangerous wild NM AR animals as pets but allows others (14 GA states) MS AL Does not ban dangerous wild animals TX LA as pets but requires permits for some species (11 states) AK Does not regulate or restrict dangerous FL wild animals at all (4 states)

Source: The Humane Society of the United States, 2017 HI

N MAY 7, 2015, The Washington states do have laws, breeders and behaviors such as self-mutilation, and often end up being shuffled Post quoted a tweet by Adam owners are moving to Oklahoma to head-bobbing, and incessant pacing.” from home to home or discarded at Barnett of Tulsa. This was accommodate their market and desires. Lisa Wathne, a captive-wildlife roadside zoos or auctions. Others the day after a rash of severe In 2016, the authors of The specialist with the Humane Society are turned over to breeders who Oweather pounded Oklahoma for Oklahoma Animal Study reported says, “Cute and agreeable baby supply the pet trade and keep this more than eight hours straight. The that of all the animal categories animals purchased as pets become vicious cycle going.” storm snapped trees and power they examined during their three- aggressive and territorial when And especially in a state with as lines, tore roofs off buildings, and year investigation, exotics in they mature. They quickly become much severe weather as Oklahoma, flipped vehicles. private possession were the least unmanageable and inevitably Armstrong says, “It’s not a question It also may have freed tigers. documented in the state. (The report must be relegated to life in a cage of if they get out, but when.” “Today’s storms have freed animals was published by the Kirkpatrick from Tuttle, OK’s Tiger Safari,” Foundation, which also publishes Barnett’s tweet said, before listing the ArtDesk.) This is true, in part, because storm’s effects: Oklahoma law on exotic animals is virtually non-existent. 1. Tornadoes Federal standards apply to 2. Flooding businesses that exhibit exotic 3. Hail animals, like Tiger Safari, and 4. Lightning municipalities will sometimes 5. Tigers impose local ordinances that restrict exotic ownership. But Oklahoma lies “This is Oklahoma,” Barnett concluded. in a minority of sixteen states that KFOR, a local Oklahoma City do not ban outright the ownership of TV station, reported from the town dangerous exotic animals as pets—a of Tuttle on the evening of May 6 list that would include tigers, lions, that “the owners of Tiger Safari have bears, chimpanzees, and many more. confirmed that some of their exotic Moreover, Oklahoma state animals are on the loose.” Within a director of the Humane Society half-hour, KFOR followed up and of the United States, Cynthia the county sheriff’s office explained Armstrong, says governing that Tiger Safari was able to account dangerous, wild exotics isn’t for all its creatures, which included just about public safety. “Most a seemingly anxious hyena. Still, wild animals kept as ‘pets’ are the incident—dubbed “Tigernado” confined to backyards, basements, on Twitter and elsewhere—raised or garages and lead barren, boring serious questions about the way the lives—devoid of anything that they Raja the Siberian Tiger lies on a platform at Tiger state of Oklahoma regulates exotic- would experience naturally in the Safari in Tuttle, Oklahoma. There are about 5,000 animals. The state is considered wild,” she says. “With no means to captive tigers in the United States—more than the among the worst for exotic animal meet their instinctual needs and 3,200 tigers that currently exist in the wild.

oversight. Because other neighboring desires, many develop psychotic OKLAHOMAN SISNEY/THE STEVE

ARTDESK 11 STUDIO

INGÉNUE

SCOUT FORSYTHE began dancing at age eleven in Encinitas, I love a good entrance. You’re in such an exciting time in your career. What else California. From there, she trained at the San Diego School of Ballet do you feel like dance and being a ballet dancer at ABT provides for you? That’s a with Maxim Tchernychev, a former dancer with Moscow’s famed big question. It is. I think what American Ballet Bolshoi Ballet. At seventeen, she joined the Studio Company of Theatre has been able to give me is really learning about myself. I know American Ballet Theatre. Now, at twenty, she rehearses daily and that’s very cliché. During the winter, I always get really sad because of performs as a member of American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet seasonal depression. I remember someone saying, “Your dancing (the ensemble of a ballet company). Here, she chats with ArtDesk is very melancholic right now. It’s something I’ve noticed in your dance editor LARRY KEIGWIN about life as an up-and-coming movement,” and that’s how I was feeling as well. dancer in a prestigious, storied company in New York City. When I’m feeling very happy, people tell me, “You’re dancing lively right You’re going to laugh, but we like to now.” I think that’s really cool to go out and dance. Some of our most know and to discover that my fun memories we have in New York emotions come through my dancing. City, outside of the ballet world, are Every level you hit in your personal when we go to salsa clubs or just life comes out in your dancing. somewhere we can dance without any technique or any judgment. Do you have words of wisdom for even younger dancers? What are you looking forward to in the season? Number one, don’t rush. Don’t let any outside influences tell you you’re I’m really excited for Onegin. That’s too old or you’re not going to make a brand-new ballet for me, and I’ve it in time. Listen to everybody’s never performed it or seen it. The wisdom, but in the end you have music is beautiful, and it’s just a great your own path. As long as you stay LARRY KEIGWIN: Tell us about a day in ballet. I love Swan Lake and Giselle. true to that and who you are, the hard the life of Scout Forsythe. work will pay off. Have a really good You premiered a new work, a ballet by perspective, and enjoy all of the sad SCOUT FORSYTHE: I usually wake up Alexei Ratmansky, one of the world’s and happy and hard and frustrating around 8 a.m., have my breakfast, greatest choreographers.Tell me about and enjoyable moments. and then walk to the studios. I live Whipped Cream and the New York very close, so I’m able to walk in premier. the morning. The best thing is to be outside and just kind of get the body Whipped Cream is a very whimsical, moving in a natural way. I get to fantastical, dark, and exciting ballet. the studio around 9:30 a.m. Usually There’s never a dull moment. I am one of the first people there. Sometimes I set up the barre, or Mark Ryden designed the sets and sometimes someone else beats me to costumes. He was great to work it. We take class from 10:15 to 11:45 with, and everything he created was a.m. We have a fifteen-minute break, just amazing. His imagination with and you either change your leotard Alexei Ratmansky’s imagination for or get a bite to eat. Then we rehearse ballet is just—I think that’s a really from noon to 3 p.m.We have an hour good marriage right there. On-stage, break for lunch, and rehearse from 4 we’re constantly moving, and the to 7 p.m. only thing you can see is a little circle of our face. We are covered head to I have to ask you, how do you relax toe in white—even our hands have keeping such a busy schedule? What do gloves on. But it is so cool, and we you do that helps you unwind? enter on a slide. Like, we slide onto the stage. On Sundays, I promise you, I’m in my bed until probably two in the afternoon. We have two days off, Sunday and Monday. I like to walk American Ballet Theatre is one of the most prominent dance companies in the world, and around and discover new parts of the its commissions include works by noted choreographers such as George Balanchine, Twyla city. I love going down to the Lower Tharp, and Jerome Robbins. By an act of congress in 2006, ABT became “America’s National East Side or on to Brooklyn and getting Ballet Company.” Since its founding in 1940, ABT has established a seventy-seven-year lost. And I’m a very avid journaler. repertoire of classic ballets and contemporary works. abt.org

12 ARTDESK SPRING 2017

UNION SQUARE: A DAY IN THE LIFE Twenty-year-old Scout Forsythe of California is a member of American Ballet Theatre’s corps de ballet in New York City. She was photographed on May 9, 2017, by ArtDesk photographer Erin Baiano, who also was a member of American Ballet Theatre for six years. Baiano is based in New York City, and her work has appeared numerous times in ArtDesk, T Magazine, and Vanity Fair. Forsythe appears in Whipped Cream, the much anticipated new work by choreographer Alexei Ratmansky (pictured below in the black T-shirt).

ARTDESK 13 MARFA

“IT IS NOT A CHOICE to be remote, but the fact is that you can’t do anything very large and serious in the middle of society.” — DONALD JUDD

The Chinati Foundation Carries Donald Judd’s Ambitious Vision Forward Square One

HEN DONALD JUDD was a young soldier in 1946, he took a bus from Fort McClellan in Alabama all the way across the country. He was particularly struck by West Texas, its quality of light and wide-openW spaces. “Dear Mom,” he wrote. “Van Horn Texas. 1,260 population. Nice town beautiful country mountains.” Three decades later, Judd, then a successful artist and a leading member of the minimalist movement, had grown disillusioned with the New York art world. In the 1970s, he returned to West Texas, moving his family to the small high-desert outpost of Marfa. Two years later, with support from the Dia Art Foundation, Judd began constructing a museum that would embody his ideas about art, architecture, and landscape. The eventual result of his labor, a collection of large-scale installations housed in a former military base, opened to the public as the Chinati Foundation in 1986. Judd’s original vision for Chinati involved a permanent showcase of three artists: himself, John Chamberlain, and Dan Flavin. The museum’s attention to which art was shown, and how and where it would be installed—not to mention its remote, difficult-to- reach destination—set the Chinati Foundation apart from other institutions of its time. “He had no models,” says Jenny Moore, Chinati’s director. Even now, as the idea of establishing art outposts outside major cities (Dia:Beacon; MASS MoCA, Crystal Bridges) has become more familiar, “Chinati still remains unique in that it’s a situation for art founded by an artist himself,” Moore says. “He wanted to create what he considered the ideal experience for his work, and he extended that to other artists, the ones he thought were the best of their time.” Or as Judd himself put it in a 1990 interview: “The work is in Texas because I live there. ...It is not a choice to be remote, but the fact is that you can’t do anything very large and serious in the middle of society.” The center of Chinati’s permanent collection is Judd’s 100 untitled works in mill aluminum, which is housed in two former artillery sheds. Judd wanted Chinati to focus on works of art that were “inextri- cably linked” with the surrounding environment; the boxes are perhaps the most striking example of this. They each have identical exterior dimensions but different interiors, and they shift color throughout the day as the sun hits them from different angles (Chi- nati offers periodic sunrise and sunset viewing). Over time, Judd’s vision for Chinati expanded. Alongside work by Judd, Chamber- lain, and Flavin, the collection now includes works by Carl Andre, Ingólfur Arnarsson, Roni Horn, Ilya Kabakov, Richard Long, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, David Rabinowitch, and John Wesley. The foundation regularly hosts temporary exhibitions by artists like Larry Bell and Zoe Leonard. When Judd died of cancer in 1994 at age sixty-five, the Chinati Foundation found itself at a crossroads: how would it continue to further the singular vision of its founder when he was no longer around to provide guidance? Marianne Stockebrand, a German curator and Judd’s partner in the last years of his life, took the helm of the foundation after his death. With the help of Chinati’s associate director, Rob Weiner, and a small board of trustees, they worked to ensure the museum would not only live on but continue to expand in accordance with Judd’s vision. Six years after Judd’s death, Chinati unveiled a significant installation of work by Dan Flavin, housed in six former army barracks. “The fact that a project of that scale could be accomplished

14 ARTDESK SUMMER 2017

“IT IS NOT A CHOICE to be remote, but the fact is that you can’t do anything very large and serious in the middle of society.” — DONALD JUDD

Square One By RACHEL MONROE

DONALD JUDD 100 untitled works in mill aluminum (1982-1986) Permanent collection, the Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas Donald Judd Art © 2016 Judd Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Photograph by Douglas Tuck

ARTDESK 15 16 MARFA

EL COSMICO BY NICK SIMONITE Burrito lunchtime tradition.Marfa and flavorfulwrapssalads area Foodfellow Shark’s tourist. fresh alocalor it agood place tobefriend cooking; communal seatingmakes Mediterraneanhome menu serves outside ofValentine, Texas. by Elmgreen+Dragset,isjust Marfa, programming. The must-see Prada FM for NPRshows andstellarlocal Public Radioat93.5 tune intoMarfa When you’re aboutanhour fromtown, fromMarfa. about athree-hourdrive International Air andSpace Port are andMidland International Airport FOOD: GETTING HERE: ARTDESK an artist himself.”an artist for artfounded by that it’s asituation remains in unique “CHINATI STILL MARFA, TEXAS Stellina’s ever-changing daily a dozenothergalleries, foundations, andmuseums, isnotoriously Marfa, Texas, homeoftheChinati Foundation andmorethan

Both El Paso Both ElPaso difficult to getto butalwaysworththetrouble. POPULATION 1,733 moving forward. Theplan, whichwasdevelopedin Plan,” whichoutlinesabroadvisionfortheinstitution stability, Chinatiembarkedonthecreationofits“Master time passes, thatwon’talwaysbethecase.” closelinksto Judd,” Moorebeginning hadvery says. “As historic buildings. “Manypeoplewhowerehereatthe popularity ofthefoundationisputtingastrainonits draw visitors. Themuseumisatanothercrossroads: the 2013 atatimewhenmanymuseumsarestrugglingto who countsJudd’s workasamajorinfluence inhisdesigns. architectRandElliott,palpable,” saysMarfaContemporary wind. Marfaisminimal—aplacewherethecreativespirit international artsdestination. “Judd’s spiritblowsinthe Foundation hashelpedtransformMarfainto an monument to lightandspace”byArtnet.com. in themaking, andwasdeemedan“emotionally resonant installation isIrwin’s largestworkto date, sixteenyears installation byRobertIrwin, untitled(dawnto dusk) . The In permanent 2016, thefoundationopenedalarge-scale butthriving.” that pointChinatiwasnotjustsurviving inspiring,”Moore says.here wasvery “It indicatedthatat 1950s motel turned minimalist retreat. 1950s motelturnedminimalist retreat. filming. The ThunderbirdHotelisa and JamesDean,stayed in1955 during cast ofGiant, HotelPaisanoiswherethe The historic recently, anoutdoorpoolandlounge. the a lively barand fine-diningrestaurant, hotel scene. The SaintGeorge boasts George isthenewest additiontoMarfa’s excellent peoplewatching. baked goods—and toenjoy some tosamplelocalproduce and Marfa Saturday mornings, stopby Farmstand homeysetting. On inacasual, burritos cooks updelicious, filling breakfast WHERE TO STAY: With thefoundationenjoyingaperiodoffinancial Chinati hasseenannualattendancenearlytriplesince Over itsthreedecadesofexistence, theChinati Marfa BookCompany,Marfa and,most including ElizabethTaylor Hotel Saint The sleekHotelSaint Marfa Maid high-altitude tourofthetown.MarfaMaid a Gliders, FAA-certifiedpilotswillgiveyou offers somehistoricalperspective.AtMarfa until theschoolswereintegratedin1965, town’s Hispanicchildrenwereeducated School, aone-storyschoolhousewherethe tents, tepees,andtravel trailers. the El Cosmico, ahipcampgroundadjacent to WHAT TO DO: Photograph byJamesEvans Elmgreen +Dragset’s Chinati Foundation, rentsoutswanky Blackwell A visittotheBlackwell Prada Marfa HOTEL PAISANO BY LESLEY BROWN VILLAREAL MARFA CONTEMPORARY BY JOHN JERNIGAN nity to doit.” thingscanhappenifthere’snary awilland anopportu- by thatsenseofpossibility. It’s areminderthatextraordi- York,” Moore says. “People comehereandareinspired that wasn’tpossiblewherehewaslivingbefore, inNew dreams. “Judd couldcreatesomethinghere onascale Foundation, aretheprecisionandambition ofthose Judd, andwhatcontinuesto drawpeopleto theChinati see happenhere.” fortunate thathewrotesomuchaboutwhatwantedto the keyto theclosetthathasallanswers. But we’re Donald Judd Do?’”Moore says. “Well, wehaven’tfound stickers aroundtown thatsay, ‘WWDJD’—‘WhatWould to chimeinhasnotbeenasimpletask. “You’ll seebumper existing structuresaswellfuturedevelopment. late April, ofChinati’s takesinto accountthepreservation collaboration withthedesignfirmSasakiandunveiledin tour, areencouraged. andreservations Visit chinati.orgfordetails. through Sunday, most of the collection is available only by guided Row1 Cavalry inMarfa, Texas. Opento thepublicWednesday The Chinati Foundation/La Fundación Chinati islocatedat Ultimately, whatremainsinspiringaboutDonald Bringing Judd’s visioninto thefuturewithouthimthere (2005)

—Rachel Monroe screenings, andconcertsaroundtown. about open-micnights,readings,film marfalist.org forup-to-dateinformation meditation group.Besuretoconsult space hostsyogaclassesandaweekly skilled masseusescanhelpyouout;the need spacetorelaxandunwind,theWell’s and talkswithexhibitingartists.Ifyou classes. Dairy offersfarmtoursandcheese-making offers tours Marfa Contemporaryofferstours

STELLINA BY JANEAN MANN

SUMMER 2017

BY RYAN STEADMAN

Robert Irwin in his studio Light & Space Photograph by Mark Mahaney

garden. “They change with the way you move While it’s always safe to say that installation artist around, and the boxes often reflect one another. Robert Irwin thinks bigger than most, he seems to have Irwin’s piece is all about that kind of experience of contingency. You slow down, move around, look, outdone even himself with his latest project. think. You try to figure why that shadow on the scrim has a glowing patch of golden light at the edge, he painter turned purveyor of light has Yet by the seventies, Irwin, along with a small and before you do, it’s gone. After a while, nothing spent the last sixteen years perfecting group of like-minded West Coast artists known seems simple any longer. You’ve expanded.” his most important artwork to date: loosely as the Light and Space movement, had For Irwin’s extraordinary piece, untitled (dawn a former hospital on the grounds of turned toward making art from pure light. Like to dusk), the artist refurbished the C-shaped theT Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas, which Flavin, Irwin worked with fluorescent lights but building and turned it into a luminescent he’s turned into an architectural, sculptural, soon became more known for installations that wonder that both brightens and darkens as the and phenomenological wonder. The Southern employed natural light—often in conjunction Texas sun passes across the sky. The long rows California native was invited by the foundation with colored scrims or tinted gels—to create of windows on either side of the building have to turn the crumbling building, which was built in magical visual effects. been outfitted with a subtle tinting material, 1921 as part of the army base that became the late Since then he’s created more than fifty-five which creates sequential gradiations of light minimalist Donald Judd’s legendary art theme “site-conditional” artworks, including major throughout the rooms. Meanwhile, Irwin’s park, into a permanent installation that would pieces at both the Getty Center in Los Angeles signature scrims are also present, bisecting each harness the artist’s preferred medium—light. and Dia:Beacon in upstate New York, and he has wing of the building to both capture and deflect “Robert Irwin has pursued perception as an been the subject of countless museum exhibi- natural light. artistic medium for more than sixty years,” says tions around the world, the most recent of which Jenny Moore, director of the Chinati Foundation. was last year’s lauded show Robert Irwin: All the “He recognized early on the extraordinary nature Rules Will Change at the Hirshhorn Museum and of just being aware, through our senses and our Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC. consciousness, of the world around us, and what a Although Irwin isn’t the household name that magnificent thing that experience is.” other Chinati artists might be, like Judd or John Irwin, now eighty-eight, began his career in the Chamberlain, that will change thanks to this late fifties as a painter, first gaining recognition via ambitious artwork. the famous Los Angeles talent incubator Ferus “Irwin is one of the most important and Gallery with a series of miniature “hand-held” influential American artists, though he is not abstract paintings that viewers were allowed to as well known as he should be,” Moore says. pick up and touch. These paintings, despite being “The installation at Chinati is the culmination relatively tiny, had a powerful effect—flying in the of his more than six decades exploring light, Installation exterior of untitled (dawn to dusk) (2016) face of the preconceived notion that American and it synthesizes all the elements of his © 2016 Philipp Scholz Rittermann, courtesy of the Chinati Foundation abstraction had to overwhelm with sheer size, as a consideration—architecture, light, plants, spacial © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Jackson Pollock or Barnett Newman would. relationships, conditions of the site.” Irwin’s career has been marked by an almost Even the roof (or lack thereof) comes into play: restless desire to experiment—with both ideas areas of it have been completely removed to offer and materials—making him a difficult artist viewers a different kind of sunlit state. Irwin also to pin down, despite the universal praise he’s designed the building’s inner courtyard, planting received from the art world and most notably a grove of paloverde trees in a raised planter to from Judd himself. So it made sense to have provide shade and beauty. Irwin added to the impressive list of artists on When entering the completed work, one permanent display at Marfa. soon realizes that there likely isn’t an artist more “Marfa was made for Irwin’s particular genius. perfectly suited for Chinati. For it’s here in this Don Judd wanted a permanent place for works flat, sun-drenched space where a big thinker like that would keep changing all the time, like his Irwin can use an entire building as his canvas and 100 untitled works in mill aluminum, that constantly the sun as a paintbrush to maximum effect. Installation interior of untitled (dawn to dusk) (2016) look different as the light and weather and season © 2016 Philipp Scholz Rittermann, courtesy of the Chinati Foundation shift,” says John Walsh, director emeritus of the Robert Irwin’s untitled (dawn to dusk) is on view at © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York Getty Center, for whom “Bob” created the central the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas.

ARTDESK 17 FEATURE Forward Fashion THE FUTURE OF FASHION ARRIVES AT OKLAHOMA CONTEMPORARY

CUTECIRCUIT iMiniSkirt (2014)

rom digital to wearable, these futuristic ensembles are now incorporating code at Oklahoma Contemporary’s summer exhibition. CODED_COUTURE opens June 29 and takes technology to the runway with clothing and accessories that feature code as a key element of design. FThe work of international designers and artist collectives in this exhibition provides a global perspective on computer-generated fashion. CuteCircuit, a duo of British designers Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz, has created the iMiniSkirt, which displays live tweets and reacts in real time to audience input. Prototype dresses developed by Chinese designer Ying Gao are a nod to Iris van Herpen’s otherworldly designs, using advanced fabric technology to interact with its surroundings. CODED_COUTURE recognizes the integration of design, tech, and art, embracing fashion as a means of

self-expression and creative innovation. —KELLY ROGERS

YING GAO (NO)WHERE (NOW)HERE (2013)

18 ARTDESK N O R M A L S A P P A R E L (2014) SUMMER 2017 Forward Fashion

CODED_COUTURE Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center will present a twenty- second-century fashion show on August 5. FutureFashion, a live, immersive event, exhibits the work of Oklahoma artists and their take on high-tech design. > Models clad in avant-garde jewelry and clothing will display different perspectives on the future of fashion. > “It’s fun to predict things,” says Dylan Mackey, who, alongside Rose Swift, is a producer of FutureFashion. > Swift says it’s important to approach today as the future. “I want people in Oklahoma City to see what happens when fashion meets technology,” she says. “Science and technology can be fashionable and warm, [and] embracing them can lead to beauty and a better quality of life now and in the future.”

For more information about FutureFashion and CODED_COUTURE, please visit oklahomacontemporary.org.

ALISON TSAI ARTDESK 19 CODING_NON_STOP (2013) ARTSOCIETY

ArtSocietySEEN + SCENE

Spring Dinner The Fourth Floor, Kirkpatrick Oil and Gas Building

The 2017 Spring Dinner was held on the fourth floor of the Kirkpatrick Oil and Gas building on Wilshire Boulevard in Oklahoma City. The annual fund-raising dinner for Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center was chaired by trustee Rachel Shortt and Christian Keesee, president of Oklahoma Contemporary. Attendees included Michael Whittington of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art; Brad Simons; Nancy Anthony, president of Oklahoma City Community Foundation; Dr. Amalia Miranda Silverstein and Annie Bohanon.

Photography by Chris Nguyen

20 ARTDESK SUMMER 2017

Dallas Art Fair Preview Gala Fashion Industry Gallery in Dallas, Texas

Patrons and collectors were the first to preview and purchase works featured at the 2017 Dallas Art Fair during the Preview Gala. In attendance were NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson and his wife, Chandra; Howard Rachofsky, a noted Dallas art collector; Gavin Delahunty, senior curator of contemporary art for the Dallas Museum of Art; Puerto Rican artist Saki Sacarello, Francisco Rovira Rullán, founder of trailblazing gallery Roberto Paradise; Dallas-based collectors Derek and Christen Wilson; Detroit-based artist Jonathan Rajewski, Tracey and Rick Brown; and Ekaterina Kouznetsova and Michael Dylan. The annual gala benefits the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas Contemporary, and the Dallas Museum of Art.

Photography by Daniel Driensky

ARTDESK 21 ARTSOCIETY

Frieze New York Randall’s Island Park, New York City

This spring, Frieze New York partnered with Americans for the Arts Action Fund to #SavetheNEA by encouraging fair-goers to sign a petition to the United States Congress and contribute to the Arts Action Fund. More than 200 exhibitors participated this year, including Cheim & Read (New York), White Cube (London), and Travesía Cuatro (Mexico and Spain).

Photography by Mark Blower

STANDING ROOM ONLY Two galleries were named the 2017 Stand Prize winners: New York gallery P.P.O.W, recognized by Frieze for their presentation of New York’s rich history of art, and Simone Subal gallery, winning the prize for galleries aged twelve or younger for their display of feminist pop artist Kiki Kogelnik. Gallery representatives included Institute of Contemporary Arts, London’s Stefan Kalmár; P.P.O.W co-founder Wendy Olsoff, and Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Rita Gonzales.

22 ARTDESK SUMMER 2017 Contributors

JIM CHOLAKIS | Jim Cholakis is a native of Albany, New York, and attended Providence College, where he played basketball and baseball. A longtime resident of New York City, he says he CONTEMPORARY ARTS, PERFORMANCE, AND THOUGHT enjoys going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where “I always end up in two sections: the classical wing (wall frescoes from ancient Roman homes) and the American wing (Winslow Homer To make a donation, please and Thomas Hart Benton). He copyedits ArtDesk, Want to Vanity Fair, and Forbes magazines. visit any of these three JOHN CLIFFORD | Graphic designer John Clifford says he loves transforming the average into arts organizations online: something exceptional, making the complex get every clear, and turning the ugly into something beautiful. His firm, Think Studio, focuses on oklahomacontemporary.org identity, digital, and print design. Clifford, issue of an author and a partner in Design to Protect marfacontemporary.org Elephants, Clifford designed the inside cover patterns for this issue of ArtDesk. ArtDesk greenboxarts.org KATHY McCORD | ArtDesk subscribers can thank Kathy McCord for making sure the magazine delivered arrives in their mailbox. McCord has provided Kindly donate $25 or more to Oklahoma the Kirkpatrick Foundation board of trustees with Contemporary, Marfa Contemporary, or diverse administrative support for more than thirty Green Box Arts to have ArtDesk mailed years, adding ArtDesk to the mix in 2013. Originally to your from Massachusetts and a self-professed Yankee at directly to you. heart, she has called Oklahoma City home now for forty years. She says her good-luck song is Penny mailbox? If you are a past subscriber, please Lane by the Beatles. email [email protected] to Donate. update or change your address.

PUBLISHER...... Christian Keesee EDITOR IN CHIEF...... Louisa McCune DANCE EDITOR...... Larry Keigwin MANAGING EDITOR...... Alana Salisbury ASSISTANT EDITOR...... Kelly Rogers ART DIRECTION...... Steven Walker

DESIGN, EDITORIAL, AND CIRCULATION ASSISTANCE

Kathy McCord, Jim Cholakis, Jerry Wagner, Tiffany Kendrick

ARTDESK TYPOGRAPHY Austin | Novel Pro | Unit OT

KIRKPATRICK FOUNDATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHRISTIAN KEESEE, Chairman GEORGE BACK, ROBERT CLEMENTS, ELIZABETH FARABEE, MISCHA GORKUSCHA, DAVID GRIFFIN, REBECCA MCCUBBIN, MARK ROBERTSON, GEORGE RECORDS, AND MAX WEITZENHOFFER LOUISA MCCUNE, Executive Director ELIZABETH EICKMAN, Advisor

This issue of ArtDesk is dedicated to the memory of Mila Trent Hill, a member of the board of governors of the Historic Green Mountain Falls Foundation and a lifelong friend of our publisher, Christian Keesee. Her memory will forever remain in our hearts.

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER Kirkpatrick Foundation, founded by John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick in 1955, is an Oklahoma City philanthropy supporting arts, culture, education, animal well-being, environmental conservation, and historic preservation. CONTACT US Please direct letters to: [email protected] or Editor, c/o ArtDesk, 1001 West Wilshire Boulevard, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116.

ArtDesk is a quarterly publication. Electronic documents can be sent to [email protected]. Kirkpatrick Foundation, ArtDesk, and its assignees will not be responsible for unsolicited material sent to ArtDesk. Please note: ArtDesk is published by the Kirkpatrick Foundation; no donations to Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, Marfa Contemporary, or Green Box Arts are used in the creation of these publications. Copyright 2017. All rights reserved. Visit us at artdeskmagazine.com and @readartdesk. Please be kind to animals and

ARTDESK 23 AT WORK | At Work features the desk of a leading artist, architect, or performer in the contemporary arts.

Yoko Ono is considered one of the most important performance and visual In the Middle of a Cloud artists of our time. Her desk, overlooking Central Park, was made for her by her friend Keith Haring. The double-rainbow photograph on her computer screen was taken at her farm. Ms. Ono says, “The rainbow is always in our minds.”

24 ARTDESK To dwell is not to shelter, we should know. —DAVID MASON Green Box Arts Festival Where Great Art is Created and Experienced

Saturday, July 1 - Sunday, July 9, 2017 Green Mountain Falls, Colorado

“An annual tradition in Green Mountain Falls, a place where people live in natural beauty on all sides, and prize the interpretation of nature by artists” Rocky Mountain PBS

Photography courtesy of Tom Kimmell, David Lauer and 2017 participating artists.