VK | visits on art, design, architecture and literature

October 4, 2015

Kochel am See; ‘ Willi Baumeister and Paul Klee – Structure and Vision’ at Franz Marc Museum

Willi Baumeister und Paul Klee – Struktur und Vision
– shades of black – Grafik der Nachkriegszeit
4. Oktober 2015 – 10. Januar 2016

opening speeches: Dr Cathrin Klingsöhr-Leroy (director, Franz Marc Museum) and Dr. Christine Hopfengart (art historian, Berlin) and Dr Iris Nocker, Professor at LMU.

A beautiful rainy morning visit, preview at the Franz Marc Museum. Nestling in picturesque natural surroundings the Museum has been presenting Franz Marc’s work within the context of the 20th century in its new building since 2008.

Despite their age difference of just ten years, Paul Klee (1879–1940) and Willi Baumeister (1889–1955) seem to belong to two different generations.
While Klee is to be included among the early avant-garde of the 20th century, Baumeister is associated with the rebirth of modernism in Germany after World War II in particular.
In the process the paths they took often ran parallel.Both painters followed tendencies in abstraction marked by a joy in experimenting with a wide-range of techniques. Their spezial interest in natural, organic forms and new, alien pictorial worlds also makes a comparison between Willi Baumeister and Paul Klee and their artistic developments especially fascinating. Based on the major, representative holdings of works by Klee and Baumeister in the Franz Marc Museum, the exhibition explores the dialogue between the two painters and highlights the common ground they shared. (museum press)

….In the modern exhibition building, which expands the old building with an exhibition area of 700 m2, the work of Franz Marc can be put into a new context. His oeuvre, represented beforehand solely by the collection of the Franz Marc Foundation, can be contrasted with the work of his contemporaries like the “Brücke” artists thanks to the addition of the collection of the Etta and Otto Stangl Foundation. In dialogue with works of German post-war abstraction, Franz Marc can also be appreciated in terms of his effect on the art of the second half of the 20th century. (virtual view of the museum)

Right next to the old building, which housed the Franz Marc Museum for twenty years, came the new building which is home not only to the inventory of the Franz Marc Museum but also the collection of Etta and Otto Stangl.

Etta and Otto Stangl with Maria Marc, around 1950

photos@VK

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September 30, 2015

‘Munich; ‘Aida’ at Bayerische Staatsoper

An amazing night at the opera (monday, sept 29th) “Aida” at Bayerische Staatsoper, opera in four act, by Giuseppe Verdi (libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni after Auguste Mariette Bey and Camille du Locle) and in the role of Ramades the amazing Jonas Kaufman.

A work that gravitates back and forth between the grandest of grand opera and intimate drama. Over and over again, we hear the sound of singing behind walls. Don’t these walls also have ears? The pharaoh’s daughter Amneris is to marry. She has been offered to the officer Radames as a reward for his victory in battle over the enemy. Whom would Aida love if she were not a war prisoner? … The effect of state power and war on human relationships. (Bayerische Staatsoper, press)

Fabulous performances by Krassimira Stoyanova as Aida and Anna Smirnova as Amneris. Ain Anger as Ramfis and Franco Vassallo as Amonastro

@opera media center: Anna Smirnova (Amneris) and Krassimira Stoyanova(Aida)

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center:Jonas Kaufmann (Radames) and Krassimira Stoyanova (Aida)

Musikalische Leitung: Dan Ettinger; Kostüme: Ilse Welter-Fuchs; Choreographische Arbeit : Valentí Rocamora i Torà ;

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center : Ain Anger (Ramfis), Jonas Kaufmann (Radamès), Chor und Opernballett der Bayerischen Staatsoper

Act Two: Amneris has the slaves dance for her and dress her for the festivitiy with which the victorious army will be welcomed. She tricks Aida into admitting her secret love. Amneris taunts her slave with the fact that she is her rival and this makes Aida both proud and afraid at the same time. In order to demonstrate her superiority, Amneris orders Aida to accompany her to the festivities……

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center :Krassimira Stoyanova (Aida), Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

Act Three
On the eve of her wedding, Amneris is taken to the Temple of Isis by Ramfis. She is to prepare herself for marriage by praying there. Aida and Radamès have arranged to meet not far away from the temple. Amonasro, who knows of her secret love, appears and uses his knowledge to put Aida under pressure to discover from Radamès the Egyptians‘ plan for the the next battle. When she refuses he reminds her of her duty to her country and threatens to disown her as his daughter…

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center: Jonas Kaufmann (Radamès), Marco Spotti (Der König), Anna Smirnova (Amneris), Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

Act Four
In spite of the fact that he is a traitor, Amneris still loves Radamès and wants to save his life at all costs. She wants to beg for mercy for him if he will only give up Aida. But Radamès spurns her, all he wants now is to die and he is led before the priests‘ court, accused of being a traitor. He remains silent in the face of the priests‘ accusations and is condemned to be locked up alive and left to die in a dungeon under the temple. Amneris curses the priests and maintains again and again that Radamès is innocent.
Radamès is awaiting death when he sees Aida, who has crept in to be with him. She wants to die in his arms. In their imagination they see the heavens opening to them. Aida collapses in his arms. Amneris begs for peace for Radamès.

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center: Krassimira Stoyanova (Aida), Jonas Kaufmann (Radamès)

photos@VK

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center;Anna Smirnova (Amneris), Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

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September 28, 2015

Munich; OPEN ARTIST STUDIO FOUNDATION: under construction by Georgia Kotretsos for MaximiliansForum in Transformation curated by C9

The Athens-based visual artist and researcher Georgia Kotretsos has initiated a very promising and quite challenging project for the city of Munich, a visionary 10-year project proposal and exhibition “Open Artists Studio Foundation-OASF” which under construction aims to assemble at MaximiliansForum, the Munich art community, the Department of Arts and Culture of the city, and representatives of the Maximilianstrasse flagship brand stores to present and propose an organically-born creative evolution of the space – into a public art studio. The project was presented in the public on September 8, 2015.

Georgia Kotretsos, OPEN ARTISTS STUDIO FOUNDATION: under construction, detail of public video, C9 MaximiliansForum, the Dept. Arts & Culture, City of Munich, organized and curated by C9, Munich, Germany, 2015. Supported by C9, City of Munich, NEON, and Mataroa. Photo credit: Max Greuter | Courtesy of OASF

The OPEN ARTISTS STUDIO FOUNDATION (OASF) is an innovative artist studio model. where upon the physical rehabilitation of MaximiliansForum will offer diverse and interdisciplinary fabrication spaces and technical support at its premises, and access to a network of specialized professionals and services vis its online platform to contemporary artists.

Georgia Kotretsos, OPEN ARTISTS STUDIO FOUNDATION: under construction, OASF public video, C9 MaximiliansForum, the Dept. Arts & Culture, City of Munich, curated by C9, Munich, Germany, 2015. Supported by C9, City of Munich, NEON, and Mataroa. Courtesy of OASF.

OASF hopes to serve both as a creative crossroad and a hub in the heart of Munich, right to Maximilianstrasse as well as globally through its engaging manifold network.

Georgia Kotretsos, OPEN ARTISTS STUDIO FOUNDATION: under construction, OASF public video, C9 MaximiliansForum, the Dept. Arts & Culture, City of Munich, curated by C9, Munich, Germany, 2015. Supported by C9, City of Munich, NEON, and Mataroa. Courtesy of OASF.

Maximiliansforum is a 1600 square meters public exhibition space in Munich. It is located at the underpass of the intersection on Maximilianstrasse and Altstrading. It is situated right under one of the main thoroughfares and most expensive streets of Munich-Maximilianstrasse, after which, the exhibition space is named. the underpass was build from 1968 to 1969 as part of the Munich transport master plan.

Georgia Kotretsos, OPEN ARTISTS STUDIO FOUNDATION: under construction, C9 MaximiliansForum, the Dept. Arts & Culture, City of Munich, organized and curated by C9, Munich, Germany, 2015. Supported by C9, City of Munich, NEON, and Mataroa. Photo credit: Georgia Kotretsos | Courtesy of OASF.

Meeting over the presentation, Sept 8th ,Georgia Koretsos, being amazed how enthusiastic she is about this project and the amount of work, hours, travelling and more she has dedicated to this challenge. Over coffee next day, in some of my questions, here are some of her answers.

GK: OASF is a studio run by artists for artists. It is not an exhibition space or an art-residency but a studio space where priority is given to artists who do not run a full-time studio, to women artists, to parent artists, to European artists and to artist in urgent creative support from around the work – in return of an artwork and five peer-recommendations. Upon the culmination of the project on its 10^th year, 50% of the collection would be passed on to the Dept. of Arts & Culture for hosting at MaximiliansForum the OPEN ARTISTS STUDIO FOUNDATION.

OASF is structured in a way, which will build a community and network of artists. The peer-recommendation aspect of the project will act as the adhesive agent of that building process. Will there be a committee, online sign up timeslots, or an application process… there are all possibilities that are discussed. The online sign-up timeslot for usage of the space seems to be on top of the list right now.

GK: …Quite briefly at its premises OASF will offer research labs; photo labs; sound and video labs; 3D printing labs; book-making and publishing lab; large scale fabrication lab; and services such as grant writing; network match-making; offer specialized and cross-sector creative solutions and partners; web design; programming; legal advice; social sustainability advice; studio visit facilities and much more. OASF is a site-specific 10 year project, offered to artists for free on 24/7 bases, and it’s open to the public.

GK:It only took a day of walking up and down on Maximilianstrasse early in May and in and out the space to identify the areas of interest. Physically being there changed everything. I was not only interested in the space itself but its immediate surroundings too. I needed to familiarize myself with the routes people take to get to the space. The following day a certain degree of criticality towards the current state and use of the site kicked in and it sent me straight to the C9 couch for the next two days, I was literally on my back, flat, eyes-closed thinking about the creative conundrum at hand… dreaming, imagining of what this place could become that it’s not already. That is what got to me, seeing an opportunity being missed, a present being settled for less that it was worth. It is easy to distinct when one comes from less privileged societies, I understand limitations very well, all sorts but what I find hard to accept is the settling notion when confronted with such decisions in advanced societies. What’s the reason behind an institutions being barricaded into and shield from the creative change that’s in process already, when all tools needed to take steps forward are available.

photos@Georgia Kotretsos

GK: Early in 2015, C9 introduced me to the concept of “MaximiliansForum in Transformation”. Later in the spring, an invitation came form C9 supported by the Dept. of the Arts & Culture, City of Munich to visit the space in order to begin my research and then deliver a visionary proposal and exhibition by early September 2015. The truth is that I instantaneously welcomed the challenge for three reasons, firstly because of C9; secondly because of the privilege, challenge and opportunity to dream on a 1600 sq. meter; scale and last the possibility of generating creative capital and traffic into the heart of the commercial district of Munich.

Georgia Kotretsos is a visual artist and researcher based in Athens, Greece. She moved to South Africa in her early teens while the abolition of apartheid was underway. Kotretsos holds a BFA from the Durban Institute of Technology, in KwaZulu Natal, (2000) and an MFA Degree from the School of the Art Insitute of Chicago on a Full Merit Scholarshiop (2004).

With her work, she critiques the conformity of seeing by studying, proposing and practicing liberating and anarchic approaches of looking at art in an effort to support that seeing is site-specific and spectatorial emancipation the source of our art knowledge. Through her research-bases practice, she encourages speculative approaches on how knowledge is and/or could be produced.

Ms Kotretsos has invited Bernd Fasel, to work together on this promising project. Bernd Fasel, is an independent promoter, researcher and senior advisor in the Cultural Creative Industries in Europe. In 2011 Bernd Fesel was elected chairman of the European Creative Business Network (ECBN) foundation in Rotterdam.

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September 17, 2015

Munich: Jean Paul Gaultier “From the Sidewalk to Catwalk” at Kunsthalle der Hypo

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk-a major retrospective of the haute-icon’s phenomenal oeuvre- at Herzog & de Meuron-designed Kunsthalle in Munich, preview opening, September 17th

September 18, 2015 – February 14, 2016.

Thierry-Maxime Loriot, curator of the exhibition, working with Swarovski as the premium partner, opens up Gaultier’s historic archive and amazingly uncovers some brilliant gems. A super spectacle exhibition!

For the past 40 years, the French couturier Jean Paul Gaultier (born in 1952), dubbed the ‘enfant terrible’ of haute couture, has been one of the most influential designers of contemporary fashion. More than any other, his bold and ironic creations have repeatedly challenged our concept of fashion and beauty.

conThroughout his career, Gaultier has made it his mission to challenge conventional views on the social roles of fashion, while audaciously extending the fundamental manufacturing principles of fashion design. He uses a wide range of materials like feathers, crystals, animal skins, jet stones, metal cans or rubber. In his Paris couture atelier, these are finished with superb workmanship – often in unconventional combinations – for his avant-garde creations. Besides his hometown, he finds inspiration in a variety of sources: from the world of pop and mass media or the trends of subcultures like London’s punk scene to different cultures from around the world; prototypical figures like the geisha, the Native American or the torero inhabit his universe, yet always with surprising twists.

…….In addition to his haute couture and prêt-à-porter designs, the show includes costumes for theater, dance, and cinema. Gaultier repeatedly worked together with film directors like Pedro Almodóvar, Luc Besson or Peter Greenaway and created stage outfits for popstars, like the famous bustier worn by Madonna in 1990 that caused a stir on her Blonde Ambition tour.

above photos@VK taken during the opening exhibition

Exclusively for the Munich venue, Peter Lindberg shot the lead image, featuring Jean Paul Gaultier and Nadja Auermann. (photo published at kunsthalle der Hypo website )

This exhibition celebrates haute couture legend Jean Paul Gaultier’s sparkling forty-year career and is Kunsthalle’s first fashion presentation, its 30th anniversary and its 100th exhibition. Enjoy some of the celebrities during the opening evening,

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September 15, 2015

Munich; David Claerbout at galerie Rüdiger Schöttle

My highlight exhibition during the recent gallery weekend openings, David Claerbout at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle. 12.09.2015 – 07.11.2015

The internationally renowned Belgian video artist David Clearbout has created and developed an environment specifically for this exhibition, presenting the audiovisual installation “Radio Piece (Hong Kong)” and the video installation “Highway Wreck,” examining the concepts of time and space.

Installation view: David Claerbout at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, 2015. @Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle
Foto: Ulrike Boehm

The audiovisual installation “Radio Piece (Hong Kong)” from 2015 – a collaboration with RAY Fotografieprojekte Frankfurt/RheinMain – begins with the image of a Zen garden, which in the next progression turns out to be a picture in a small chaotic room. The camera gradually tracks away from this room until only the facades of Hong Kong’s notorious Kowloon Walled City are visible; a district on the Kowloon peninsula, which in 1987 had the world’s largest population density. For a long time, its legal status was unclear until it was eventually torn down in 1993/1994. (gallery press)

David Claerbout, Highway Wreck, 2013, 15 min 35 sec loop
single channel video, HD animation, black & white, silent@Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle

The video projection “Highway Wreck” from 2013 is based on a more than seventy-year-old black and white photograph showing some children and a soldier who are intrigued by the wreckage of a recent car crash. By adding images of laborers and onlookers, Claerbout condensed the photograph to a moment from which its original urgency has become detached and the spectacle thus has been disarmed. (gallery press)

David Claerbout (born 1969, Kortrijk, Belgium) is a Belgian artist working in the media of photography, video, sound, drawing and digital arts, though perhaps he is best known for his large scale video installations. His work exists at the meeting point between photography and film, and is at the forefront of this contemporary dialogue.

I Enjoyed very much the fall ambience of the terrace over a small sushi bar a lovely invitation by Rüdiger Schöttle

Dr. Ralph Senft & Sabine Senft, photo@VK

Brygida Ochaim, terrace photos@VK

and enjoy conversation with lovely Brygida Ochaim always,

Recently exhibition “David Claerbout, Performed Pictures” (10 June – Sept 13, 2015) at Mamco in Geneva

Installation view :David Claerbout at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, 2015.
Foto: Ulrike Boehm @Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle

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September 6, 2015

Munich; a melancholic sunday afternoon reading “Το Παραμυθι της Βροχης” της Τεσυ Μπαιλα

A melancholic Sunday afternoon in Munich glancing again this marvelous book, “Το παραμυθι της βροχης” της Τεσυ Μπαιλα, εκδοσεις Δοκιμακης.

«Μια φορά κι έναν καιρό», άρχισε να σιγοψιθυρίζει η Χριστίνα, «ήταν μια όμορφη κοπέλα. Φορούσε ένα καφέ φόρεμα και περπατούσε μόνη της σ’ ένα κάμπο. Την έλεγαν Γη. Είχε περάσει πολύς καιρός από τότε που είχε για τελευταία φορά καρπίσει. Τότε που καταπράσινα χορτάρια είχαν φυτρώσει στο μακρύ της φόρεμα και κόκκινες παπαρούνες είχαν γεμίσει όλο τον ποδόγυρό της. Μέσα στη γη, κρυμμένο βρισκόταν ένα σποράκι, ένα τόσο δα σποράκι, που όμως το καημένο δεν μπορούσε να βλαστήσει. Χρειαζόταν νερό πολύ, μια γερή κατεβασιά νερού που θα πλημμύριζε το χώμα της γης και θα το έκανε να ζήσει. Ένα περαστικό συννεφάκι άκουσε το παράπονό του. Στάθηκε πάνω από το χώμα και το ρώτησε γιατί κλαίει. Το σποράκι τού είπε τι συνέβαινε. Με λίγο νερό θα μπορούσε να γίνει ένα κατακόκκινο λουλούδι και να στόλιζε τη Γη. “Και γι αυτό στενοχωριέσαι;” το ρώτησε το συννεφάκι. “Περίμενε και θα δεις”. Έβαλε τα δυνατά του το σύννεφο να κλάψει, σφίχτηκε, ξανασφίχτηκε, φούσκωσε τα μάγουλά του, κόντεψε να σκάσει, μα τίποτα δεν κατάφερε. “Τα βλέπεις;” είπε το σποράκι. “Τίποτα δε γίνεται”. Μάταια προσπαθούσε για ώρα το σύννεφο. Δεν κατάφερνε να κλάψει. Άρχισε να θυμάται πράγματα που είχε δει από ψηλά και το είχαν στενοχωρήσει, μήπως και καταφέρουν τα δάκρυα να βρουν το δρόμο τους προς τη γη. Και πάλι τίποτα. Εκείνη την ώρα έφτασε κοντά στο σύννεφο ένα άλλο συννεφάκι. Το αδελφάκι του ήταν. Ήταν γκρίζο και με δυσκολία μπορούσε να κινηθεί στον ουρανό. “ Τι κάνεις εσύ εδώ;” ρώτησε απορημένο που τόση ώρα το έβλεπε να στέκεται εκεί αμετακίνητο. Το λευκό συννεφάκι τού εξήγησε τι συνέβαινε, του είπε για το σποράκι, του είπε για το κλάμα που δεν ερχόταν.
“Θα σε βοηθήσω εγώ”, του είπε κι άρχισε σιγά-σιγά να κλαίει με ευκολία. Το σποράκι δέχτηκε το νερό που το γκρίζο σύννεφο του χάριζε και μέσα στη δροσιά που εισχώρησε στο χώμα άρχισε να φουσκώνει, να φουσκώνει όλο και πιο πολύ, ώσπου στο τέλος έσκασε, κι ένα μικρό, πράσινο φυλλαράκι, σαν κεραία φύτρωσε στο κεφάλι του. Λίγο καιρό μετά μέσα από το χώμα ξεπετάχτηκε ένα τόσο όμορφο, κόκκινο λουλούδι που άλλο όμοιό του κανείς δεν είχε δει. Το φόρεμα της Γης είχε γεμίσει μαργαρίτες, παπαρούνες και τριαντάφυλλα αλλά όλοι μιλούσαν για το παράξενο λουλούδι που είχε φυτρώσει. Τα συννεφάκια αγκαλιασμένα στον ουρανό καμάρωναν, και το λουλούδι λικνιζόταν στον άνεμο που απαλά φυσούσε τα φύλλα του».

Από το ” παραμύθι της βροχής’ της Τέσυ Μπάιλα!

Η Τέσυ Μπάιλα κατάγεται από τις Κυκλάδες; γεννήθηκε στον Πειραιά. Σπούδασε Ιστορία Ελληνικού Πολιτισμού και μετάφραση Λογοτεχνίας. Ασχολείται με τη φωτογραφία και ατομικές της εκθέσεις έχουν φιλοξενηθεί στο πανεπιστήμιο Gakugei της Ιαπωνίας και στην Αθήνα. Είναι συντάκτρια του λογοτεχνικού περιοδικού Κλεψύδρα. Παράλληλα δημοσιεύει δοκίμια σε εφημερίδες και περιοδικά. Κυκλοφορούν τα βιβλία της: Το πορτρέτο της σιωπής, εκδ. Έναστρον, ‘Το παραμύθι της βροχής’, εκδ. Δοκιμάκης και ‘Το μυστικό ήταν η ζάχαρη’ και “Ουίσκι μπλε’ εκδ.Ψυχογιός.

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September 2, 2015

Paros, Cyclades: a true craftsmanship designer; Christiane Smit

While sailing in the Cyclades islands in August, enjoying the blue water, during a beautiful hot morning a visit at Christiane Smit’s studio in the island of Paros; a pure craftsmanship of refined simplicity of hand stitching marvelous bags.

Christiane Smit, born in Netherlands, lives and works in Papos island, one of the most beautiful island in the Cyclades, Greece. She creates leather bags the old fashioned traditional way, using her hands. Each stitch is formed by hand with nothing more than an awl, one needle and a length of waxed linen. Having a passion for natural and organic materials it came natural to her choosing to work with natural dyed hole grain leather form the finest quality showing all original structures and the linen wax wire, which is used in book binding and baskets weaving…

photos @VK, Christiane Smit’ s studio, Paros, Cyclades

photos@Mike Salis

“It all started all when I fell in love with a piece of skin when I was travelling in Turkey, the most butter soft, blood red, piece of goat suede just felt as silk in my hands and I started to design a small evening bag, using a vintage Japanese silk cloth as lining and grey sweet water pearls as handles…and the story takes it from there…”

photos@Christiane Smit

As Christiane says, very few companies can invest the time necessary to hand stitch their items, but the strength and resilience of hand stitching far exceeds the machine made equivalent.

we women, carry our life in our bags, they should be something more than a product, they should be a extension of our own soul and personal style. Unique as every woman is.. versatile and honest good…refined simplicity:uncomplicated and pure..

Christiane’s “Petite Maison Christiane”, was born in 2011. Christiane’s women are effortless chic: sophisticated but relaxed and simple.

Christiane Smit’s inspirations came from living in the Caribbean and travelling through countries as Mexico, Guatemala, Suriname, America and Asia always having a soft spot for all things hand made.

Christiane is working only by order and customized so she cannot come out with a collection every season. The designs stay in the collection and she might make a change during time, for example The Basket Bag she did it in two colours, combined and every year or half year she comes out with a new design. The Basket Bag that has two colours has a lot more stitching than the one colored bag. This bag goes with the summer breeze, bohemian chic, easy to wear from morning till the evening.

“I am passionate about all that’s real, clean and pure things, colour combinations because they created atmosphere. About love and my love for my work, people and working with my clients… enjoying always my passion for hand stitching… craftsmanship and creating”

Christiane Smit studied at University of The Arts London and Amsterdam. She worked in Amsterdam in High End Jewellery, Bvlgari, Pomellato and Pasquale Bruni and High End fashion, Yohji Yamamoto, Comme des Garcon and Giorgio Armani. Travelling to Paris and Milan selecting collections for the different seasons… Life and her dream brought her to Paros island, to create and live by the blue sea where she is inspired.

some photos were taken that beautiful morning at Christiane’s studio, on August 10th, 2015 in Paros.

here a great shot by Christos Drazos and words by Maria Alipranti, Christiane Smit in Paros, “The Tide”

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August 29, 2015

Zürich; art gallery weekend:Löwenbrau Art Complex bldg galleries; Hauser & Wirth; Eva Presenhuber ;Grieder Contemporary ; Maag Areal galleries:Peter Kilchmann et more and the furniture designers INCH

A 24 hour trip to Zürich with my wonderful friend, art advisor /Munich, Martina Tauber to attend the gallery weekend fall opening art scene.

We started with a wonderful exhibition at Bolte Lang gallery with the exhibition “Dirt Club” with Henning Strassburger. A wonderful walk thru with Chaja Lang.

Bolte Lang gallery, Henning Straussburger, exhibition view, photo@VK

Moving to Maag Areal to Peter Kilchmann for Fernanda Gomes; first solo show at the gallery; a beautiful and poetic exhibition. On display, there are new works made out of basic materials, such as wood, plexiglass, paper, threads and metal. Gomes transformed these objects in a subtle way, to create unusual, suggestive connections between the various materials.

Fernanda Gomes at Peter Kilchmann, photos by VK by permission

Next stop at Eva Presenhuber Gallery for Martin Boyce exhibition “Inside rooms drift in and out of sleep While on the roof An Alphabet of aerials Search for a language”

The works of Martin Boyce speak of other spaces.

Of spaces that seem near to us yet remain strange. Of spaces in which the familiarity of the objects collides with the abstractness of their forms, and an echo of history reverberates in the presence of their physicality. Of spaces in which the organic appears in architectural form, the outworn in the untouched, and the everyday in the exemplary. And of spaces that open and shut, that fold the inner outward and the outer inward, of spaces that become passageways in which the expanse of landscape continues to breathe in the seclusion of the interior. (gallery press)

Martin Boyce, “While on the Roof”, 2015, jesmonite,steel and aluminum

Martin Boyce, “Dead Star”(yellow), 2015, painted & blackened steel, photo@VK

Martin Boyce “Dead Star (metal palms0”, 2015, painted steel, brass, cast and painted bronze, 2-parts chandelier, photo@VK

Next stop at Grieder Contemporary “Abstract Horizons” with Shara Hughes, Rebecca Morris, Caragh Thuring curated by Melli Ink. Lovely talk with Melli Ink also about her own lovely ceramic work; Thank you Melli for your lovely book gift.

Sarah Hughes, Rebecca Morris and Caragh Thuring represent a new generation of painters who have discovered working methods and forms of expression enabling each of them to develop a wholly personal and independent visual idiom. All three take great pleasure in the act of painting, in experimenting and in consciously opting for the myriad of possibilities offered by painting as a genre.

Caragh Thuring at Grieder Contemporary

Rebecca Morris at Grieder Contemporary

Continue to Löwenbrau Art Complex galleries bldg at Limmatstrasse ; Martin Creed and Josephsohn at Hauser & Wirth ; Followed by the Season Opening Summer Party
Performance by Martin Creed and his Band

Words and sound play an essential role in Martin Creed’s work. He considers his work as a musician and composer as inseparable from his work as a visual artist. Indeed, his paintings and sculptures can be thought of very much like pieces of music, in which each interpretation is different and in which rhythm and colour plays an important role…(gallery press)

Martin Creed at Hauser & Wirth, photo@VK

We continued to Eva Presenhuber for the Franz West/Möbelskulpturen_Furniture Works and Josh Smith. Thank you Christian Schmidt for walking us thru those lovely exhibitions.

Josh Smith exhibition at Eva Presenhuber gallery, photos@VK

Taking a look at the Pool Project “A Blind Man in His Garden”
The exhibition is curated by de Appel alumni Kris Dittel (b. 1983, Slovakia) and Emma Panza (b. 1985, Italy) and mentored by Lorenzo Benedetti, Director at de Appel arts center, Amsterdam. (on view till sept 27, 2015)

A Blind Man in His Garden is an exhibition that emphasizes subjective narratives, and puts forward a reading of an artwork, or exhibition, based on personal associations, previous knowledge and encounters. The title of the exhibition also refers to Joel Sternfeld’s photograph, A Blind Man in His Garden, Homer, Alaska, which suggests that there is a potential of artworks to trigger single or multiple narratives. By shifting the attention away from the visual experience of a lush rural landscape towards the imagination of vivid sensations, probably felt by the depicted man, the artwork encompasses numerous possibilities to experience it beyond its visual qualities. (curators’ note)

Jorge Pardo, Laverriere Janette,Peter Fischli/David Weiss,Mark Bradhford,Monica Bonvicini

Danai Anesiadou, “L’Adolescente”, 2010

Seth Price, “Untitled”,1985/1996, silkscreen print on metal,114.3x 57.2 cm

Next day, Martina and myself, upon her insistence, we visited the studio of the furniture designers INCH, whom we have seen in Basel in 2013, at the Unlimited restaurant. Inch furniture has stood for teak furniture since the founding year 2004. The founders Thomas Wüthrich and Yves Raschle got to know the woodworking school PIKA during a longer non-profit making work stay in Indonesia. The available knowhow and the exemplary running of the school impressed and inspired the two. The idea for a co-operation with PIKA was born which was a lovely coincidence.

Basel, 2013, Art Unlimited restaurant, run by HILTL vegetarian catering.

one of my favorites at INCH, “Enam”, Solid teak, oiled

A glimpse into the production site of the woodworking school PIKA. The carpentry enterprise was founded in 1953 and in 1971, complemented with a school. Beside manufacturing high-quality furniture, PIKA has also made a name for themselves countrywide as an exemplary education institution.

In the distinctive bridge arches of Zurich’s “im Viadukt”, the showroom Westflügel.

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July 17, 2015

Munich at Villa Stuck ‘Evelyn Hofer (1922 – 2009) Retrospektive’

18. Juni – 20. September 2015

A visit yesterday, on a hot afternoon in Munich, at Villa Stuck, a great exhibition by Evelyn Hofer (1922 – 2009)

Evelyn Hofer’s work has influenced such photographers as Thomas Struth, Joel Sternfeld, Adam Bartos, Rineke Dijkstra, Judith Joy Ross, and Alex Soth.There have been retrospectives of her work at the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne (1994); the Aarggauer Kunsthaus in Switzerland (2004); and the Fotomuseum The Hague (2006). Last year her work was shown in Munich’s Villa Stuck as part of the Goetz Collection in the exhibition “Street Life and Home Stories” alongside the work of the photographers William Eggleston, August Sander, Diane Arbus, Thomas Struth, and Nan Goldin.

When Hofer was eleven her family fled Nazi Germany for Switzerland. She decided she wanted to be a photographer and set about it methodically. She began with an apprenticeship at the Studio Bettina, a portrait studio, and took private lessons with Hans Finsler, one of the pioneers of the “New Objectivity” movement.

Hofer’s studies covered everything from photographic technique to art theory. She didn’t just learn composition and the underlying theories of aesthetics, she also learned the chemistry involved in producing prints. Beginning in the early 1960s she became one of the first fine art photographers to adopt the use of color film and the complicated dye transfer printing process as a regular practice. Throughout her long career, Hofer continued to shoot in both color and black and white – determining which was the more apt for the picture at hand. (from Vivid Remediations)
After spending several years in Mexico in 1942, where published the first photographs in the Mexican magazine Mañana, which was designed in the style of international Illustrated as Life, Hofer draws in 1946 finally to New York. There she takes her freelance work as a photographer for newspapers and magazines and has worked mainly as a fashion photographer for Harper’s Bazaar and later for Vogue…(Villa Stuck press)

Hofer established with her city portraits characteristic motifs and themes that run through her entire oeuvre. Especially her portraits recall the formal structure of the image conception as it is known by August Sander, whose tradition they evolved independently. This city portraits form a central chapter in the exhibition.

On third floor at Villa Stuck, one may see the orders for Time-Life Library in the late 1960s, followed in the 1970s, photo essays for magazines such as Life International, The New York Times Magazine and the London Sunday Times Magazine.

In addition, Hofer characteristic portraits of artists, portraits of literary figures and famous personalities of the late 1970s are represented by the mid-1990s in a range, such as with photographs of Saul Steinberg, Jean-Michel Basquiat or Andy Warhol. Parallel to this series of portraits of unknown models, such as in Just Married (1974), Basque People (1980) or People of Soglio (1991) to see.

Evelyn Hofer Lee Krasner’s Shoes, Pollock Studio, Long Island, N.Y., 1988

Another complex of works created over the years a variety of interiors from renowned houses and villas for magazines like House and Garden and Connoisseur. Photographs of the Villa Medici in Rome, or the Maison de Verre in Paris are classical compositions…

Evelyn Hofer
Villa Medici, Empfangshalle, Rom | Hall, Rome 1982
veröffentlicht | published in House and Garden, Januar | January 1984
Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

In the small last room of the exhibition, Hofer’s still life, a self-contained series of only eight photographs shows in a few shots, the essence of a classic still life composition. With symbolic contents charged compiled for decorative pleasure or viewed from purely pictorial aspects are Hofer Still life mimesis of nature, follow the realistic nature of photography and are also independent works of art formed the inspiration for the painting.

film series: accompanying the retrospective EVELYN HOFER, the Museum Villa Stuck in cooperation with the Workshop Cinema, Fraunhoferstr. 9, 80469 Munich, (documentaries and feature films about and with photographers); film screenings start every Sunday, by 18 clock, on 26.7., 23.8., 6.9. and 09/13/2015, admission € 6, -.

The film series starts with the feature film “High Art” on Sunday 26 July 18.00 clock. Lisa Cholodenko’s first feature film deals with the friendship and love relationship between Syd, a young editor at a New York photography magazine, and Lucy Berliner, a drug-addicted, once celebrated and now reclusive photographer. At the same time the photo scene is mirrored in the New York of the 1990s – the boundary between art and life blurred. The photographs Berliner, all recorded by JoJo Whilden, Nan Goldin’s work is based on.

High Art, USA 1998, written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, Camera: Tami Reiker, average: Amy E. Duddelston, Music: Shudder to Think, Cast: Radha Mitchell, Ally Sheedy, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Sage, Gabriel Mann

on Columbia Film: A conversation with Lisa Cholodenko

Evelyn Hofer (1922 – 2009)
Katalog
Zur Ausstellung erscheint eine Monographie im Steidl Verlag mit einem Vorwort von Michael Buhrs und Beiträgen von Catharina Graf, Andreas Pauly, Sabine Schmid, Bernd Stiegler und Thomas Weski.
Evelyn Hofer
2015. Hrsg. Michael Buhrs und Sabine Schmid
Steidl, Hardcover, 288 Seiten
ISBN 978-3-95829-015-0
€ 35,00

Evelyn Hofer (1922 – 2009): Video zur Retrospektive im Museum Villa Stuck

more here(NYTimes) and photomuseumdenhaag

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July 15, 2015

Munich_at kunstverein_k.m ‘Sudoku’

Yesterday afternoon, a walk through of the exhibition ‘Sudoku’ at Munchen Kunstverein by its director Chris Fitzpatrick.

From 4 July until 6 September 2015, Kunstverein München presents ‘Sudoku’ — an exhibition by Gintaras Didžiapetris, Renée Levi, and Rosalind Nashashibi.

The exhibition is titled after a popular Japanese puzzle ‘Sudoku’ which deductive logic is used to fill a concentric grid of squares with the numbers 1 through 9 in correct locations. Each artist has used the puzzle’s restrictive rules as a productive system for responsively creating new individual work, re-presenting existing work in new ways, and exhibiting it all within a collective installation that is both symbiotic and parasitic. (k.m press handout, edition of 1250 copies)

Nearly 50 works were produced individually, but the resulting exhibition is a more collective affair, which is fitting since the artists have become increasingly entangled over the years. Levi made a series of paintings in response to a film by Nashashibi, who later filmed Levi painting with a mop in her Basel studio. Likewise, Didžiapetris and Nashashibi continue to influence each other’s practices. Through Sudoku the artists’ entanglement is pulled even tighter, into a knot, through which their individual approaches are even more visible. (k.m press)

photos@VK

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Willi Baumeister und Paul Klee – Struktur und Vision – shades of black – Grafik der Nachkriegszeit 4. Oktober 2015 – 10. Januar 2016

opening speeches: Dr Cathrin Klingsöhr-Leroy (director, Franz Marc Museum) and Dr. Christine Hopfengart (art historian, Berlin) and Dr Iris Nocker, Professor at LMU.

Etta and Otto Stangl with Maria Marc, around 1950

photos@VK

@opera media center: Anna Smirnova (Amneris) and Krassimira Stoyanova(Aida)

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center:Jonas Kaufmann (Radames) and Krassimira Stoyanova (Aida)

Musikalische Leitung: Dan Ettinger; Kostüme: Ilse Welter-Fuchs; Choreographische Arbeit : Valentí Rocamora i Torà ;

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center : Ain Anger (Ramfis), Jonas Kaufmann (Radamès), Chor und Opernballett der Bayerischen Staatsoper

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center :Krassimira Stoyanova (Aida), Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center: Jonas Kaufmann (Radamès), Marco Spotti (Der König), Anna Smirnova (Amneris), Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center: Krassimira Stoyanova (Aida), Jonas Kaufmann (Radamès)

photos@VK

@Bayerische Staatsoper media center;Anna Smirnova (Amneris), Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper

Georgia Kotretsos, OPEN ARTISTS STUDIO FOUNDATION: under construction, OASF public video, C9 MaximiliansForum, the Dept. Arts & Culture, City of Munich, curated by C9, Munich, Germany, 2015. Supported by C9, City of Munich, NEON, and Mataroa. Courtesy of OASF.

Georgia Kotretsos, OPEN ARTISTS STUDIO FOUNDATION: under construction, OASF public video, C9 MaximiliansForum, the Dept. Arts & Culture, City of Munich, curated by C9, Munich, Germany, 2015. Supported by C9, City of Munich, NEON, and Mataroa. Courtesy of OASF.

Georgia Kotretsos, OPEN ARTISTS STUDIO FOUNDATION: under construction, C9 MaximiliansForum, the Dept. Arts & Culture, City of Munich, organized and curated by C9, Munich, Germany, 2015. Supported by C9, City of Munich, NEON, and Mataroa. Photo credit: Georgia Kotretsos | Courtesy of OASF.

photos@Georgia Kotretsos

September 18, 2015 – February 14, 2016.

above photos@VK taken during the opening exhibition

Exclusively for the Munich venue, Peter Lindberg shot the lead image, featuring Jean Paul Gaultier and Nadja Auermann. (photo published at kunsthalle der Hypo website )

Installation view: David Claerbout at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, 2015. @Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle Foto: Ulrike Boehm

David Claerbout, Highway Wreck, 2013, 15 min 35 sec loop single channel video, HD animation, black & white, silent@Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle

Dr. Ralph Senft & Sabine Senft, photo@VK

Brygida Ochaim, terrace photos@VK

Installation view :David Claerbout at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, 2015. Foto: Ulrike Boehm @Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle

Από το ” παραμύθι της βροχής’ της Τέσυ Μπάιλα!

photos @VK, Christiane Smit’ s studio, Paros, Cyclades

photos@Mike Salis

photos@Christiane Smit

Christiane’s “Petite Maison Christiane”, was born in 2011. Christiane’s women are effortless chic: sophisticated but relaxed and simple.

some photos were taken that beautiful morning at Christiane’s studio, on August 10th, 2015 in Paros.

Bolte Lang gallery, Henning Straussburger, exhibition view, photo@VK

Fernanda Gomes at Peter Kilchmann, photos by VK by permission

Martin Boyce, “While on the Roof”, 2015, jesmonite,steel and aluminum

Martin Boyce, “Dead Star”(yellow), 2015, painted & blackened steel, photo@VK

Martin Boyce “Dead Star (metal palms0”, 2015, painted steel, brass, cast and painted bronze, 2-parts chandelier, photo@VK

Caragh Thuring at Grieder Contemporary

Rebecca Morris at Grieder Contemporary

Martin Creed at Hauser & Wirth, photo@VK

We continued to Eva Presenhuber for the Franz West/Möbelskulpturen_Furniture Works and Josh Smith. Thank you Christian Schmidt for walking us thru those lovely exhibitions.

Josh Smith exhibition at Eva Presenhuber gallery, photos@VK

Taking a look at the Pool Project “A Blind Man in His Garden” The exhibition is curated by de Appel alumni Kris Dittel (b. 1983, Slovakia) and Emma Panza (b. 1985, Italy) and mentored by Lorenzo Benedetti, Director at de Appel arts center, Amsterdam. (on view till sept 27, 2015)

Jorge Pardo, Laverriere Janette,Peter Fischli/David Weiss,Mark Bradhford,Monica Bonvicini

Danai Anesiadou, “L’Adolescente”, 2010

Seth Price, “Untitled”,1985/1996, silkscreen print on metal,114.3x 57.2 cm

Basel, 2013, Art Unlimited restaurant, run by HILTL vegetarian catering.

one of my favorites at INCH, “Enam”, Solid teak, oiled

A glimpse into the production site of the woodworking school PIKA. The carpentry enterprise was founded in 1953 and in 1971, complemented with a school. Beside manufacturing high-quality furniture, PIKA has also made a name for themselves countrywide as an exemplary education institution.

In the distinctive bridge arches of Zurich’s “im Viadukt”, the showroom Westflügel.

Evelyn Hofer Mädchen mit Fahrrad | Girl with Bicycle, Dublin 1966 Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

Evelyn Hofer Queensboro Bridge, New York 1964 Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

Evelyn Hofer Miranda [Richardson], London 1980 Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

Frühling | Springtime, Washington 1965 Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

Evelyn Hofer Lee Krasner’s Shoes, Pollock Studio, Long Island, N.Y., 1988

Evelyn Hofer Villa Medici, Empfangshalle, Rom | Hall, Rome 1982 veröffentlicht | published in House and Garden, Januar | January 1984 Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

High Art, USA 1998, written and directed by Lisa Cholodenko, Camera: Tami Reiker, average: Amy E. Duddelston, Music: Shudder to Think, Cast: Radha Mitchell, Ally Sheedy, Patricia Clarkson, Bill Sage, Gabriel Mann

Evelyn Hofer, Italien │ Italy 1951/51 © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

Willi Baumeister und Paul Klee – Struktur und Vision
– shades of black – Grafik der Nachkriegszeit
4. Oktober 2015 – 10. Januar 2016

Installation view: David Claerbout at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, 2015. @Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle
Foto: Ulrike Boehm

David Claerbout, Highway Wreck, 2013, 15 min 35 sec loop
single channel video, HD animation, black & white, silent@Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle

Installation view :David Claerbout at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, 2015.
Foto: Ulrike Boehm @Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle

Taking a look at the Pool Project “A Blind Man in His Garden”
The exhibition is curated by de Appel alumni Kris Dittel (b. 1983, Slovakia) and Emma Panza (b. 1985, Italy) and mentored by Lorenzo Benedetti, Director at de Appel arts center, Amsterdam. (on view till sept 27, 2015)

Evelyn Hofer
Mädchen mit Fahrrad | Girl with Bicycle, Dublin 1966
Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

Evelyn Hofer
Queensboro Bridge, New York 1964
Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

Evelyn Hofer
Miranda [Richardson], London 1980
Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

Frühling | Springtime, Washington 1965
Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

Evelyn Hofer
Villa Medici, Empfangshalle, Rom | Hall, Rome 1982
veröffentlicht | published in House and Garden, Januar | January 1984
Courtesy Galerie m Bochum © Estate of Evelyn Hofer

Evelyn Hofer, Italien │ Italy 1951/51
© Estate of Evelyn Hofer