C #16 Art Theory Criticism 1 C#16 EDITOR'S NOTE Some six years ago, with the creative This has been a remarkable period for SUPERVISORS support and enthusiasm of Lizzie Per- our programme and this particular John Slyce rotte, who was then Course Director, cohort of students will be remembered Michele Robecchi we launched a pilot venture from within as a crowning experience. They have PROJECT MANAGERS the programme in Modern and Con- been largely responsible for creating a temporary Art at Christie's Education in supportive and collegiate atmosphere Celeste Baracchi COPY EDITORS London. Our aim was to initiate a stu- with no small amount of hard work, but Constance Carakehian Gretchen Cline Gretchen Cline Maura Derossis dent-run publication that would gather a great deal of laughter and fun too. As Claire Durborow Claire Durborow together critical writing, features and a chapter comes to a close, they have Edmée Lepercq Kaitlyn Kane interviews exploring aspects of the eco- our heartfelt thanks for this and more. Edmée Lepercq system that makes up contemporary art We are very proud of our students in MANAGING EDITORS and its varied practices. Before you is Course C from the year 2015-16 and I Giulia Franceschini PICTURE EDITORS C#16 – the fifth issue in the series. hope something of the unique qualities Kaitlyn Kane Giulia Franceschini they brought to the collective experience Carmela Tafaro Constanza Santilli As with previous editions, students of the year shine through in the writing formed an editorial board and proposals and design of these pages. As originally CO-ORDINATORS DESIGN & LAYOUT for submissions were received. Designers conceived, this is entirely their venture Celeste Baracchi Celeste Baracchi came forward from within the cohort and and venue. Qihao Shao Constance Carakehian copy editors pored over texts, returning Yudaikha Singh Jackie Dreier queries and suggested changes. Dead- I would like to thank my long-standing Claire Durborow lines were set and inevitably bent to the friend and colleague Michele Robecchi COMMISSIONING EDITORS Catherine Harbuz demands of production schedules. Over for lending his expertise and charm to Maura Derossis Edmée Lepercq the years, the magazine has expanded to C# and joining me in a supporting role Fabienne Maitland-Robinson Qihao Shao include writing that represents some of across these five issues. As these students Lucy Middleton Constanza Santilli the independent research our students make the transition from course work to Ekaterina Ryzhkova Yudaikha Singh carry out and also now offers material fashioning their own professional prac- Constanza Santilli Luke Strong Doyle from The Arts of China and that pro- tices, we wish them well and know they duced by MSc students in Art, Law and go out into the world as excellent ambas- Business. As I write here, C#16 is near- sadors for Christie's Education, London. ing the final stages before it goes live and John Slyce reaches out to a global constituency of Senior Lecturer, Modern and Contemporary Art Front Cover readers. and Art World Practice Felix Gonzalez-Torres Untitled (March 5th) C#16 1991 ONLINE 2 3 29 54 78 TRIPLES SCULPTURE AS PLACE: AEROSCENE: TOMAS SARAS- APPROACH GALLERY CARL ANDRE CENO by Luca Santilli HAMBURGER BAHNHOF ESTER SCHIPPER GALLERY by Constance Carakehian by Kaitlyn Kane INTERVIEW 32 6 EMOTIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN 56 81 TOM HUNTER ZABLUDOWICZ COLLECTION OLAFUR ELIASSON 'EMPIRES' BY HAUNG YONG by Yudaikha Singh PING by Carmela Tafaro PALACE OF VERSAILLES by Claire Durborow MONUMENTA, PARIS FOCUS PIECE FOCUS PIECE by Gretchen Cline 35 10 ROBERT SMITHSON FOCUS PIECE INTERVIEW JEAN LUC NANCY by Kaitlyn Kane 59 by Edmée Lepercq 84 KENNETH ANGER CULLINAN RICHARDS by Constanza Santilli GROUP SHOWS SOLO SHOWS by Celeste Baracchi 14 39 63 ELECTRONIC SUPERHIGHWAY MONA HATOUM DANIEL LEE WHITECHAPEL TATE MODERN by Maura Derossis TAIPEI FINE ARTS by Jackie Dreier by Karen Lin 43 17 GEORGE SHAW 66 CONCEPTUAL ART IN BRITAIN YAYOI KUSAMA TATE BRITAIN NATIONAL GALLERY by Catherine Harbuz VICTORIA MIRO by Ekaterina Ryzhkova by Giulia Franceschini 20 46 IN THE AGE OF GIORGIONE 70 BEN URI: 100 FOR 100 FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES CHRISITE'S SOUTH KENSINGTON ROYAL ACADEMY by Lucy Middleton by Caitlin Playle HAUSER & WIRTH by Shanyu Zhong 23 49 DIGGING A HOLE IN CHINA ALEX KATZ 73 MICHAEL DEAN OCT CONTEMPORARY ART SERPENTINE GALLERY TERMINAM SHENZHEN by Michelle Mahadi SOUTH LONDON GALLERY by Lynn Fan by Celeste Baracchi 51 26 ETEL ADNAN 76 DUBUFFET THE LATE PAINTINGS AFTERWORK SERPENTINE GALLERY PARASITE HONG KONG by Luke Stong Doyle TIMOTHY TAYLOR GALLERY by Runan Zhang by Frédéric Maillard 4 5 C#16 INTERVIEW TOM HUNTER Carmela Tafaro Tom Hunter's photographs capture the people tenderness and compassion. Adopting this classic and places of his local community in Hackney, pictorial style for squatters and travellers, Hunter East London. Born in Dorset in 1965, he stud- elevates their status and gives them a visible place ied at the Royal College of Printing and was the within society. first photographer to have a solo show at Lon- don's National Gallery. His practice is as polit- At the same time reviving and reinventing the ical as it is meticulously composed; it toys with Modernist concern of the relationship between the tradition of old masters such as Vermeer the individual and society, Hunter's works are and the Pre-Raphaelites (Persons Unknown, both championing politics and beauty, whilst re- 1998, and Life & Death in Hackney respectively) maining politically aware in a non-documentary and captures with acute sensitivity the zeitgeist way. of the 1990s and life in London at that time. His subjects are family and friends, people he lives These are edited excerpts from the conversation. with, and his East End neighbourhood. CT: Let's start with your practice: how do you Empathy is at the heart of Hunter's photogra- capture the people and places in your pictures? phy: there is a remarkable humanity in the way these people and their places are portrayed; a TH: I think it is a negotiation, a conversation with deep sense of dignity rendered through many the people. I start off with the basics: I do ten pic- little details and photographic techniques. For tures and with each taking of a photograph, little example, Woman Reading Possession Order, things change. So I normally do a Polaroid to be- 1998, arguably Hunter's best-known work, gin with, then I take that and it's a sort of basic static and tense, and then you talk to them, sug- a slight drop of the chin, tiny movement of the borrows the composition and the sumptuous pose of where I wanted it to be within the room, gesting maybe to drop the hand slightly, to turn eye, slight movement with the hair, the change colours from Vermeer's A Girl Reading At An the situation or the landscape. This gives me a the face slightly, and then you do another pic- of direction of a finger, a drop of the shoulders: Open Window. Like Vermeer, Hunter portrays rough idea on how they fit into that. ture and then hopefully they relax more, they it's tiny little movements that can make it look everyday scenes that give his subjects – ordi- start fitting in the surroundings more and finally relaxed and natural or tense and awkward. So nary people – a quiet nobility. The 17th Cen- The first thing is to set them up in the situation. they drop their preconceived ideas of how they it's just trying to find the right balance tury Golden Age of Dutch painting has had a I then make a couple of photographs and try to should look. Everyone thinks that they will look deep impact on Hunter's practice, especially in see whether there is harmony between them and good in photographs in a particular way, as when This is why I see it as a conversation. So rather the way they dealt with the people: not kings, their surroundings - only then I start taking the they take selfies, so you have to try to break that than taking lots of pictures and hoping some- queens and generals, but milkmaids and other pictures. You do notice that people take a while down. Also, it's the tiny little things that make thing turns out, it's more of a pace of slowly subjects busy in daily activities, captured with to relax, so the first pictures are always still and all the difference: just a movement of the head, shifting, moving and relaxing into a situation > Tom Hunter Woman Reading Possession Order 1998 Cibachrome print mounted on board 150 x 120 cm 6 7 where at some point – suddenly – it all comes stage. So I love that element that you look at the This series is a celebration of life, the life I was model would be the perfect way of expressing together. They sit right and that feels ok, but that picture and you go: "Wow there is a girl in the living at that time and when I look at them, they the area and the situation: I thought it would be can take a while. And that's probably why I don't canal and it's real!" – but actually she is not in bring back a lot of memories, some happy, some perfect for a museum. I though it would not be use models really: models have this preconceived the canal, it is not real, she is not there: it's just sad and some distressing as well. They bring sellable, as I really wanted to avoid the commer- ideas of what they think they should look like a picture.