State of the Art

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Posts by elisabettamarabotto

Bedazzled by JAR

November 21, 2013

Shradha Ramesh reports on ‘Jewels by JAR’ exhibited at Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York:  In 1978, New York born Joel Arthur Rosenthal well known as JAR opened Place Vendôme in Paris. Since then the stalwart continues to rein the contemporary artists of gems. Dedicated to creating the finest of finest dazzling jewels in the world, Place Vendôme is the epicenter of his creation. It is one of his seminal endeavors and key entry point into the jewelry industry. Known for his detail oriented eccentric craftsmanship Rosenthal follows a labor intensive, intricate design process called the pavé technique – a process of placing small stones besides each other on a metal alloy. His creation is lauded not just for its craftsmanship and quality but also his selection of themes and colors. With an overarching theme of ephemeral changes in flowers – buds, bloom or falling petals and butterflies his brooches and rings are a unique sculptural rendition. During the press preview, curator Jane Adlin describes his work “I think Joel is best known for his technique of pavé. He’s discriminating but indiscriminate in his use of gemstones,” Adlin said. “So he’ll mix very, very fine perfectly cut, perfectly flawless gemstones with some that are not. He will use lesser quality stones. He will use lesser-known stones. But the outcome is this extraordinary piece of jewelry, which if you just put it on your dresser or your coffee table it would in fact be a piece of sculpture.”

Photograph by Jozsef Tari. Courtesy of JAR, Paris Raspberry Brooch, 2011, Rubies, diamonds, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Collection of Sien M. Chew

Photograph by Jozsef Tari. Courtesy of JAR, Paris
Raspberry Brooch, 2011,
Rubies, diamonds, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.
Collection of Sien M. Chew. Image Credit: http://jewelrynewsnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/jewels-by-jar-dazzling-display-of.html

In 35 years of making jewelry Rosenthal’s works rarely did he display his work in public. Being opinioned and structured he tends to focus more on quality and the aesthetic value. With particular buyer in mind his craftsmen from Switzerland and France create 70 to 80 pieces a year, Rosenthal feels “Getting the right things on the right people is part of making those things.” He is specific about who wears his jewels, he chooses his seller and sometimes refuses to sell his jewel if the design doesn’t suit the wearer. Rosenthal’s clientele are selective group of ardent connoisseurs and his collection cater to them to name few – Elizabeth Taylor, Elle Macpherson, Barbara Walter, Ann Getty, Mary Pinault and Jo Carole. Having said that, in recent years his auction results have been sky rocketing, his jewels sell for twice the price at auction resale than when they are bought first hand.

Photograph by Jozsef Tari. Courtesy of JAR, Paris Lilac Brooches, 2001 Diamonds, lilac sapphires, garnets, aluminum, silver, and gold. Private collection

Photograph by Jozsef Tari. Courtesy of JAR, Paris
Lilac Brooches, 2001
Diamonds, lilac sapphires, garnets, aluminum, silver, and gold.
Private collection. Image Credit: http://jewelrynewsnetwork.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/jewels-by-jar-dazzling-display-of.html

And for the first time Rosenthal will be represented in United States at the Meteropolitan Museum of Art. A retrospective exhibit the collections are some of his finest creation ranging from earring, brooches and watches lent by private collectors. “JAR has been creating masterworks for over 35 years and hasn’t had a major solo exhibition in the U.S.,” associate curator Jane Adlin says.

A repertoire of 400 jewels designed by Joel Arthur Rosenthal will be on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, starting November 20, 2013 the exhibit Jewels of JAR will be on display until 9th March 2013.

To learn more about the exhibition Click Here.

Contemporary Art meets Buddhism

November 19, 2013

Ipshita Sen of Saffronart shares a note on the Haein Art Project

Haeinsa Temple, Korea

Haeinsa Temple, Korea. Image Credit: http://haeinart.wordpress.com/about-haeinsa-temple/

New York: Viewing art in non-conventional spaces is always refreshing and gives the viewer an opportunity to engage with and understand the art better.  A Buddhist temple in South Korea is hosting a show of contemporary art in an effort to provide a new perspective and to create an interesting juxtaposition between Buddhism and contemporary art.

The Haeinsa Temple is a 1211 year old shrine nestled in the lush valleys of Gaya-san National Park. The temple is dedicated to the Korean Avantamsaka School of Buddhism and is home to the Tripitaka Koreana, the most complete collection of Buddhist texts, printed on 81,258 wood blocks. The buildings and the blocks were designated by the UNESCO as one of the “most important and complete corpus of Buddhist doctrinal texts in the world”. The layout of the temple is typical of a Korean monastery. Stupas, gates, courtyards, and halls are all aligned along proper axes according to geomantic principles and Buddhist symbols, physically illustrating the process of enlightenment. In fact the entire layout of Haeinsa temple resembles a sailing ship with pagodas as masts.

The year 2011 marked the first contemporary art show at the temple, commemorating the millennial anniversary of the wooden blocks, which were initially engraved, with the intent of protection from the invasion from a northern Dynasty. The ancient blocks were lost in a fire resulting from the invasion.

This year, the Haein Art Project at the temple featured new works by 30 artists from around the world; South Korea, India, U.S, Spain, Italy and Hong Kong. Most of the artists were invited to spend two weeks at the temple and create new works that are related to Buddhist thinking, for the project.

The works were scattered around the grounds of the temple. Indian artist Vibha Galhotra created an installation of white flags at the pathway that lead to the temple gates. The flags represented national flags devoid of color thus attempting to erase the borders of a divided world. Other Indian artists featuring in this project were Sheba Chhachhi, Reena Kallat, Shilpa Gupta and Hema Upadhyay. Another work by South Korean artist duo Mioon involved projections of nature and architectural images that sporadically appear and disappear as though an echo of fullness and emptiness in the viewers mind.

For more information read here.

Absolut Kapoor

November 16, 2013

Aaina Bhargava of Saffronart on Absolut’s latest collaboration with Anish Kapoor and his reinvention of the BOTTLE.                              

 London: Artists and Vodka? Certainly not a surprising association, but one that has constantly been given new meaning for the past 27 years by Sweedish vodka company Absolut.  In 1986 Andy Warhol started a long association between Absolut and the arts community by painting their vodka bottle, more recently, this year they have announced Anish Kapoor as the artist who will continue this tradition by creating a unique installation, his interpretation of the absolut bottle.  The work is to be made using Kapoor’s trademark engagement of the viewer with space.  The creation of the bottle will be made with ‘negative’ space employing a sculpting technique that has commonly been featured in many of Kapoor’s previous works, as well as his use of metals and the colour red.  The artist elaborates on this opportunity by stating,

           “Absolut has a long history with artists, from Warhol to many of my great colleagues. The idea of somehow encapsulating whatever it is that one does in a single moment….and kind of making it an Absolut Kapoor. It is a strange notion, but one that I felt I could at least go in pursuit of” –Anish Kapoor.”

Kapoor’s bottle will be one of the latest in the collection including the work of countless established contemporary artists such as Rosemarie Trockel and Louise Bourgeiouse who have contrinbuted through their interpretations of the bottle and it’s meaning [See images below].

Louise Bourgeouis, Andy Warhol, Rosemarie Trockel for Absolut

Louise Bourgeouis, Andy Warhol, Rosemarie Trockel for Absolut. Image Credit: http://images.idiva.com/media/content/2011/Feb/absolut_art_collection_more.jpg

Closer to home, Indian designer Manish Arora designed a bottle in 2009, and soon after Subodh Gupta (in 2011), Bharti Kher (in 2012), and most recently early this year, author Vikram Seth have all participated in this artistic alliance [see images below].

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 Collaboration between brands and the arts community is a common enough occurrence.  For istance you have internationally renowned artists such as Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama who have both worked with large brands like Louis Vuitton, and more recently you have up coming artists like Thukral and Tagra who designed handbags for the Italian brand Etro.  With Absolut you can physically trace this history, starting with Warhol in 1986.  Warhol’s legacy is characterized by the genre of Pop Art, through deconstructing this term, it is evident that he essentially fused the worlds of popular culture and art together, making it more accessible or appealing to a wider audience.  Often these partnerships are accussed of having commercial overtones, or being marketing gimmicks for both the brands and the arists involved, but ultimately what they achieve is greater recognition for the artist and their works, thus providing audiences with an opportunity to discover what contemporary art is, therefore reaching a wider audience.  This focus on the audience and their experience with the work is what makes Anish Kapoor so apt and simultaneously unique as a choice to interpret the Absolut bottle. His works are conceived on the premise of viewers engagement with the space and the artwork – which is this case is the bottle – an object they have probably come across at least a couple of times.  The experience of viewing the installation encapsulates not only a very academic notion the engagement of audiences and space, but the mesh of popular culture and art as well which is extremely reflective of and imperative to the contemporary art scene.  Anish Kapoor himself reflects on this aspect of how an artwork functions (in relation to the audience) and what it can accomplish,        

 

“Art is really all about transformation; it’s about taking a piece of metal, a lump of clay, a bit of cement, or whatever else and turning it into something that it isn’t. That fundamental transformation is truly mysterious; it is something that is in a way is wondrous. That moment of wonder is something that is deeply attractive and we are instinctively drawn to it, it is as if the work is saying come here, come and be part of this wonder, this thing that is happening. And I feel that intimacy with the viewer is something special, something we have to hold on to.” – Anish Kapoor.

The transformation of the bottle is what we are looking forward to, and have great expectations for. 

 For more information click here.

Space Oddity performed by Nikhil Chopra

November 15, 2013

Shradha Ramesh of Saffronart reports on Wolverhampton Art Gallery’s venture with artist Nikhil Chopra

New York: Nikhil Chopra explores the culture of South Asian community and portraiture through ‘Space Oddity’, through an eighteen hour live performance.

Space Oddity is a collaborative contemporary art program by National Trust,Oriel Davis and Wave- Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Meadows Art in collaboration with Shakti, a retrospective response to socio-economic transition in UK and the subcontinent. The overaching theme of the exhibition that is held across Midlands, Wales,Powis Castle and Kedleston Hall explores the power of creative engagement and channels. Wolverhampton Art Gallery invited artist to create a visual commentary on their South Asian art and Indian artefacts.

Founded in 1884, Wolverhampton Art Gallery houses artworks from UK and abroad. The art collection spans over 300 years of art that reflects both 20th British Art collection and 21st art from across the globe.          

Nikhil Chopra, Inside Out, 99 hour site specific performance, 2012. Photo: Shivani Gupta, Costumes: Sabine Pfisterer.

Nikhil Chopra, Inside Out, 99 hour site specific performance, 2012. Photo: Shivani Gupta, Costumes: Sabine Pfisterer. Image Credit: http://www.artlyst.com/articles/indian-performance-artist-nikhil-chopra-to-create-18hour-piece-in-wolverhampton

 Nikhil Chopra’s Space Oddity is a visual documentary of the South Asian community. Space Oddity the title is derived from the 1969 song by David Bowie, the exhibit reflects the socio and economic evolution of London from women’s rights, the empowerment of the working class, booming Western economies and hundreds of thousands of migrants from former English colonies.

Curator Jane Morrow’s responses to the concept “Wolverhampton Art Gallery holds an extensive collection of South Asian art and Indian artefacts, which are testament to the Victorian craze for ‘exoticism’. We are delighted that Nikhil Chopra will be visiting Wolverhampton and responding to our collection with a performance piece specially created for the city.”He would produce charcoal drawings members of Wolverhampton’s South Asian community and gallery onlookers as a way of reflecting Colonial India and examining the role of portraiture.

Born in Calcultta, Nikhil Chopra (b 1974) works in Mumbai. The artist works in the realm of photography, drawing and performance centered on Colonial India and personal experience.

Nikhil Chopra, Inside Out, 2012

Nikhil Chopra, Inside Out, 2012. Image Credit: http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk/events/shakti-nikhil-chopra/

Internationally recognized, Chopra is known for his performance such as Making Worlds at the 53rd Venice Biennale, Coal on Cotton at Manchester International Festival, 2013, Manchester and his character Yog Raj Chitrakar: Memory Drawing II, 2007 Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai. Working across disciplines he leaves an ephemeral visual footprint by blurs the boundaries between artwork and the audience space through integration of drawing and performance. Chopra graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at M.S. University,Baroda, Maryland Institute of Baltimore and Ohio state university. In 2007, he was chosen as resident artist at Khoj International Association.

Three day live performance featuring Nikhil Chopra, Space Oddity, will run from 28th November to 30th November, 2013.

To Know More Click here

 

Subodh Gupta|Recent Works @ Galleryske

November 13, 2013

Elisabetta Marabotto of Saffronart invites you to Subodh Gupta’s recent exhibition at Galleryske, Bangalore

Subodh Gupta, Recent Works @ Galleryske

Subodh Gupta, Recent Works @ Galleryske. Image Credit: http://galleryske.com/SubodhGupta_2013/InvitePage.html

London: Galleryske in Bangalore is currently hosting “Subodh Gupta: Recent Works”. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition of small works. “I’m quite excited about it. The poetry of doing something so small, personal and valuable to me; it’s quite a beautiful experience,” says Gupta.

Subodh Gupta, Note to Self (X), 2013

Subodh Gupta, Note to Self (X), 2013. Image Credit: http://galleryske.com/SubodhGupta_2013/Works/SubodhGupta_12.html

 

The exhibition features a selection of Subodh Gupta’s most recent artworks including installations, sculptures and paintings, all focusing on eating, cooking and travelling.

Subodh Gupta, Thoughts (Detail), 2013

Subodh Gupta, Thoughts (Detail), 2013. Image Credit: http://galleryske.com/SubodhGupta_2013/Works/SubodhGupta_10.html

“The paintings in this show are essentially a sort of diary for me. I have had the opportunity to travel to many parts of the world, and eat all kinds of local cuisine- it’s interesting that sometimes a restaurant in Italy will be identical to something you have probably visited in Delhi. I record my journey through the food, creating a visual archive. It is a way to map my outward movement from India to the rest of the world. As the title “Note to self”, suggests, the paintings are markers of meals had and shared, they are autobiographical in a sense”, explained Gupta.

Subodh Gupta, No Title, 2013

Subodh Gupta, No Title, 2013. Image Credit: http://galleryske.com/SubodhGupta_2013/Works/SubodhGupta_07.html

If you are hungry for more information click here and visit the exhibition! It is on until December 7.