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Home , Laura Cottingham, Pisanello

NowHere. Copenhagen Author(s): Tony Godfrey Source: The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 138, No. 1124 (Nov., 1996), pp. 769-770 Published by: The Burlington Magazine Publications, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/887234 Accessed: 13/11/2008 09:28

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http://www.jstor.org EXHIBITION REVIEWS my eye, that these are the work of Pisanello. pared to re-use, according to earlier prac- made and thought about in the 1990s, with They are very close and if, as Schmitt tice, the designs of others. The bear, for recourseneither to the 'artistas staror hero', believes, they too are the work of Michelino, example, in the St Eustaceclearly relies on a nor to the spurious 'isms' that, for Nittve, then Pisanello's contact with the older artist drawingby another artist- althoughhere it characterisedthe big exhibitionsof the 80s. was intimate, and Pisanello's pen-and-ink is given to Pisanello (Parisno. 185). He also From the moment of its inceptionit was also technique was based on his. had a large workshop,and he needed to be assumedthat this exhibitionwould involvea Other works should be entirely disassoci- able to rely on its membersto reproducehis critiqueof the Museum itself. ated from Pisanello. A large chalk drawing motifs and his techniques.To this end they Indeed one of these five constituentsec- near the beginning of both exhibitions were trained, partly in the traditionalway, tions, '?', curated by Ute Meta Bauer, was should more properly be associated with by copying drawings. But Pisanello also no more than a tendentiousdeconstruction Jacopo Bellini, as it has been in the past appears to have taught his pupils to draw of the Louisiana,putting a spotlight(literal- (Paris no.38, no.7). This attribution from life. There is a horse drawing,given to ly) on locked storage doors and gallery is adduced to support that of a series of large Pisanello in the exhibitions, employing his installationdetails. Most of this attemptwas black-chalk portrait drawings, relating to pen and ink technique, but not his mastery upstagedby the inclusionof a section devot- the . The early drawing of Sigismund of the equine form (Paris no.150, Verona ed toJoseph Beuys whose concern with the and the later ones of Alfonso d'Aragona (not no.55). The foreshorteningis botched, and social role of art is as strong as Bauer's,but all by Pisanello, but all by members of his the shape of the skullmisunderstood. At the whose work remainsvisually far more com- shop) do nothing to support the attribution bottom of the drawing,however, is a quick pelling than any of her contemporaryselec- to Pisanello of this series. The heads have sketchof the horse'shead, typicalof Pisanel- tions. been rearranged, lengthened in the cases lo himself, and it may be deduced that this 'Incandescent',curated by the American of (Paris no.125, sheet reveals the artist as teacher. He may Laura Cottingham (the title was derived Verona no.81) and Niccolo Piccinino (Paris even have used members of his shop, once from Virginia Woolf), was ostensibly an no. 121), and feebly flattened out in the case trained,to collect designsfrom elsewhere.It investigationinto how women artiststoday of Palaeologus (Paris no. 118, Verona seems likelythat this was the functionof the can transcend their social and political no.79), although the damage to this last drawingsbelonging to the so-called'Taccuino impedimentsto make a pure or transfigured makes judgment difficult. Fossi Todorow di viaggio'with its studies of costume and art. The combinationof such a vague cura- held that they were copies after Pisanello's copies afterthe antique.It was, therefore,as torialpremise and the selectionof too many medals, made in Lombardy at the end of the a collection of models that these drawings artists (all too often merely representedby , and this view must be cor- were prized. They, and therefore,in a sense one work) made for an unsatisfactorypot- rect. Similarly Cordellier has included a Pisanellohimself, could even be taken over pourri. One of the few signal successes(and group of black-chalk (or chalk and water- as sourcesfor later artists,as the connexion one of the few 'discoveries'of VowHerewas a colour) drawings of animals and heads, with the Bible illuminatedby Taddeo Criv- film, BeforeWe Wake Up of 1976, continuous- which can only be later works (Paris elli and his team for Borso d'Este in ly shown in the lecture theatre,by the Dan- nos.242-53). It seems dubious, in fact, that would seem to demonstrate. ish film-maker Lizzie Corfixen. It was a Pisanello ever used the medium. remarkable prefiguration of Sher- At Cindy the Paris colloquium Mikl6s Boskovits BritishMuseum, London man's Untitledfilm stills,showing a sequence expressed his doubts about the authorship of vignettes,each of a of 'The are: Pisanello.Edited Paola Marini. stereotypicalimage of the Madonna of the quail (Paris no.35, catalogues by a woman: running naked down a street, 537 pp. incl. num. col. pls. + b. & w. ills. (Electa,, Verona no.4). Its attribution to Pisanello ironing, waiting, talking,lying by a stream, relies on since it is 1996; here referred to as the Verona catalogue) and working backwards, Pisanello: aux Vertus.519 incl. 95 col. etc. But generallythis section with its rather in the 1420s. It is true lepeintre Sept pp. pls. always placed early + 352 b. & w. ills. (Editionsde la Reunion des Mus6es testyfeminist line (indicatively,Sue Williams that the head bears some resem- Virgin's Nationaux, Paris, 1996), FF 390. ISBN 2-7118- was representedby her earlierangry paint- blance to the Annunciate in the Brenzoni 3139-6 (the Louvrecatalogue). ings ratherthan her more sophisticated,and but the monument, Child, with His enor- 'See S.K.SCHER, ed.: The Currencyof Fame: PortraitMedals more ambivalent, recent work) seemed mous is too the exh. head, different from the Child of , cat., of Art, strangelyold-fashioned and inappropriate, floating down towards the Brenzoni Virgin. Washington, Frick Collecton, New York, NY, 1994, that the other four sections as no.7. given showed, Neither Mother nor Child look anything pp.52-53, a matterof course, as many female artistsas like the National Gallery picture, which I male. in as an work. persist seeing early In the end, Bruce Ferguson's selection, 'Walking, the attribution of neither this picture nor the Thinking, Walking', was centred on the Virginand Childfrom the Palazzo Venezia in Copenhagen notion of walking,but the was con- is a concept (which anyway ruin) stands up NowHere fused by being made to cover how walking (Paris no.34, Verona no.3). and thinkingcan create art, as well as how So where does this us? in get Missing both The major exhibition of contemporary we walk around a museum. Clearly Gary catalogues was an overview of Pisanello's art in during Copenhagen'syear Hill's Crux- with its five video screenseach working method, the role of his shop and as 'Culturalcapital of Europe',was NowHere showingthe view from head, foot or hand as the actual function of the drawings, particu- at the Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek Hill walkedthrough a landscape- relatedto larly the Paris group. But the evidence (closed 8th September). For this, virtually the theme, but this was not so with a stackof presented in the exhibitions and their cata- the whole permanentcollection was put into Felix Gonzalez-Torres's of a invites a photographs logues interpretation. Pisanello was storageand four independentcurators from sky, except that one stopped walking in hoarder, but the drawings were preserved , the USA, Canada and order to one there were too for a pick up. Again, purpose. Certain motifs defined his were each asked to provide an autonomous many one-off pieces, such as a individual and in photograph style, praise his lifetime section of the exhibition,while two curators from a 1985 performance by Mona was focused on his abilities as a portraitist from the Louisianaitself initiated a fifth sec- Hatoum, which neither linked with other even on his skill in the and, more, depiction tion. The result could be viewed either as worksnor representedthe artistadequately. of birds and animals, especially horses. He one very large exhibition,rivalling Dokumen- At the centre of this section was Giacomet- was conscious of his status as a acutely artist, ta in scale and scope, or as a medley of five, ti's life-size Homme qui marcheof 1960 and fact testified the on by prominent signatures involving altogether 124 artists or groups. next to it Charles Ray's Male mannequinof the medals and the of three signed drawing The number of artists and the quantity of 1990 (made 'strange' by the addition of real- men in elaborate costumes in the British time-basedworks meant that even a full day istic genitals and pubic It was a strik- Museum Verona hair). (Paris no.59, no.28), which was insufficientto comprehend the exhibi- ing juxtaposition but - of this section can be as a kind of - typical interpreted presentation tion fully. the significance remained To this unclear, espe- drawing. end his style had to be The Museum'sdirector, Lars Nittve, had cially in relation to the overall theme. The identifiable. Hence the immediately repeti- asked the curators to address the question juxtaposition was complemented a small tion of motifs over a of But as by period years. 'What is contemporaryart?' and to make painting of a man walking, by Francois Alys, as these were he was also long present pre- exhibitions showing how art was being a Belgian living in Mexico and one of the

769 EXHIB ITI ON REVIEWS

57. Installationof Dgd vu,by FrangoisAlys. 1993-96. (Exh. LouisianaMuseum, Humlebaek).

58. I don'tknow why, but maybeit's moreabstract thisway (with four paintingsby Per Kirkeby, 1983-84), by Joseph Grigeley. 1996. Mixed media. (Exh. LouisianaMuseum, 57. Humlebaek). 58.

very few paintersrepresented in the exhibi- biographicalartists here, Hanne Darboven tery, they were always undercut by irony: tion. Alys'sthirty paintings, generally small, and Eva Hesse as forerunnersofthose artists one was alwaysaware of being a viewer. mainly of men walking, were spread obsessedwith the passingof time. How cur- Overall the five sections were not suffi- throughout the entire museum (Fig.57). rent art relatedto workfrom the beginnings ciently differentiated: Sophie Calle and Along with ten granite benches inscribed of conceptualart was a leitmotifof the exhi- Renee Green, for example, might have with violent injunctionsby Jenny Holzer, bition. Perhaps because of its provisional appearedin any of them, as might the ubi- likewisescattered through the museum and nature and the variable quality of the quitousBruce Nauman (werehe a woman). grounds,they gave an illusionof continuity exhibits,whose concern seemed more often However, the premise of five related but to what was otherwise the least coherent communicationthan production,this was a contrastingsections forming one exhibition section. Alys's paintings, because of their coherentand provocativesection. remains an excellent one, making for far simplicity, obvious hand-made-ness and 'Get Lost', the section organised by livelierviewing than any committee-chosen modesty had, especially when surrounded Anneli Fuchs and Lars Grambye from the or single-focus exhibition. If there is no by such a plethoraof photographicwork, an Louisiana itself took Techno (repetitive obviouslypre-eminent direction in art now, unexpected poignancy. Equally vivid was electronic dance music played either loud perhaps large exhibitions should attempt Janet Cardiff'sLouasiana walk #14, a walk- and fast or slow and smoochy- to lead one more of a dialectic between the various man tour of the gardens in which she to frenzy and relax one after frenzy) as a alternatives. In AowHere,only 'Work in describedboth what we were seeing and her paradigmfor art being made now. Howev- Progress' and 'Get Lost' presented clear memories of previouspersonal events. The er, if Techno purportsto be a pre-digested, options and, taken together, acted as a fea- shortcomingsof the overall selection were dionysiacart (the ego and mind giving in to sible prototype for future exhibitions sur- underlinedby the absence of RichardLong the music'sinsistent beat), the actualart cor- veying art now. (artist-walkerpar excellence) and by an excel- ralled under its banner was far more com- TONY GODFREY lent catalogue essay about walking by plicatedand reflective.After an initialroom Rebecca Solnitt.l filled with nothing but pulsating music, ICatalogue:JWowHere. Essays by Laura Cottingham, Blazwick's section 'Work in there was a sequence of eleven darkened Rebecca Solnitt, Maurice Blanchot, Simon Sheikh, Iwona Nicls LyIlsgo, HeIlrik List, IwoIla Blazwickand Uta Progress'investigated the idea of the con- rooms mostly occupied with video projec- Meta Bauer.Vol. I: 128 pp. with col. pls. throughout. temporaryexhibition as a meeting place - tions. The impression was of some Vol. II: 158 pp. incl. b. & w. ills. throughout. like a site on the internet.Among the vari- labyrinthinenightclub, in which a regres- (Louisiana,Humleback, 1996).ISBN 87-90029- 11-9 ous installations and video projections, sive journey into childhood and walking and 87-90029-09-7. books were left around for one to read, dreams was, metaphorically, evoked. As 2Rist'sSip my ocean,when shown at Chisenhale, Lon- tablesand chairsto sit on. Much of the work accompanimentto an old scratchyfilm of a don, was reviewed in the July issue of this Magazine, approachedthe confessional,such as Eija- train going down a mountainrailway, Stan pp.473-74. Liisa Ahtila's three-screenvideo projection Douglas read extracts from A Lz Recherche in which young women recalled sexual du BempsPerdu relating to liminal states memoriesor Renee Green'sphoto-text nar- between sleep and wakefulness. Peter rative of her stay at the Le Corbusier Unite Land'svideo was of himself dancing naked Minneapolis and Philadelphia at Firminy.Outstanding here was the room and obviously drunk to the sound of disco Fischli and Weiss filledby the deaf artistJosephGrigeley with music: this was too self-conscious to be the myriadhandwritten messages by which dionysiac, either for artist or viewer. If we Just as the historyof philosophyhas been people communicatewith him. This room were conscious of Land's pounding feet, describedas a seriesof footnotesto Plato, so was given a deeper sense of structureand slightly out of time with the music, so we the historyof modernart might be described focus by the inclusionof four smallabstract- could hear Pipilotti Rist's off-tune voice as a seriesof footnotesto Duchamp. Such a ed landscape paintings by Per Kirkeby singing along in the hypnotically insipid history would obviously not include the (Fig.58).With its air of simultaneouslytalk- song that was the sound track to her video grand traditionof modernistpainting from ing aloud and tryingto organisea multiplic- Sipmy ocean. As with Land, such an ironic Cezanne to Picassoto Pollockand beyond, ity of voices into a structure, however interventionundercut the sheer pleasureof but it would encompass the prankish provisional,Grigeley's installation could be the images which, shown doubled like a Dadaist counter-tradition that privileges seen as idiomaticof both this section and of Rorschach blot, were of objects floating idea overimage, irony over beauty, anarchic the whole exhibition. Like the other cura- throughwater down to a seabed seemingly gestureover harmoniousrepresentation. tors,Blazwick included some workby artists perpetuallypink from the light of a sunset.2 The Duchampian 'footnote' as often as made in the late 60s; SusanHiller and Mary Although this and other video projections not takesthe form of a joke challengingtra- Kelly could be seen as anticipatingthe auto- were notable for their sheer beauty or mys- ditional notions about art. Among the

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