Rashid Rana Solo Show Opening at Lisson Milan and Flashbacks to Lalla Essaydi

Rashid Rana at Lisson Gallery 

Last week I went to Rashid Rana's opening at Milan's Lisson gallery. Rana, one of the most famous and definitely the most expensive (since this term nowadays is more impressive and for some is a key element of whether or not to visit an exhibition opening) Pakistani artist. I am used to gallery openings when few give a speech and do praise an artist standing next to him, visitors bring the flowers and gifts, but in Europe I do not think it is a tradition or maybe I arrive too late and miss the event's culmination. 

Rana entered space one hour later when everyone were already in the courtyard enjoying Italian wine and cold cut, so his arrival remained unnoticed to the majority of the crowd. Another observation, those who come to the exhibition openings, at least, from my very scarce experience, do not recognize the artist. In the world of Google search this ignorance, especially when one visits a solo show is a bit disrespectful. But again, I might be wrong. 

Rana is indisputably talented, but after reflecting and comparing his current exhibition with his earlier works, I incline to say that there is a bit of distantiation and less innovation in the works that are now on view: when looking at the pieces it might not be obvious that Rashid Rana made them, but when asking oneself whether Rashid Rana could have be the author of these pieces at the exhibition, the answer is "yes". 

"My work is often a three-way negotiation between myself, my immediate physical surroundings and what I receive – whether through the Internet, books, history or collective knowledge.” 

Rashid Rana, ArtReview, 2013

Rashid Rana, Notions of Narrations II, 2013. C-print, 228 x 323 cm. Image Source: Lisson Gallery

"Would anyone in this room know where the hell is Baku?"

- Would anyone in this room know where the hell is Baku? Seriously, Baku? So Dina, my friend Dina, went there and made a show of Lalla Essaydi in Baku!
- When was it?
- This autumn and before she was curating Love Me, Love Me Not pavilion at Biennale. 
- Oh
- Btw, Essaydi did not come up with anything new. Shirin Neshat has been doing that already. But you know what, after knowing her personal story I have started to appreciate her more. 
-?
- She has been married to a Saudi and then when they separated he was keeping the children and all those stories. So her Harem series is actually about her life with her husband!

I overheard this monologuous dialogue in the lower lever of the gallery sitting between three ladies, Middle Eastern by their appearance, whose English accent revealed they all have been living or visited often UK. It was difficult not to hear their conversation, despite I tried to read the press release - the reason why I sat down. Still, I did not want to be impolite and intervene with "Yes, I know where's Baku" comment. Later, however, when helping the same young lady to order a cab, I have brought up this topic and we both laughed. 

Shirin Neshat, from Soliloquy series, 1999. Gelatine silver print, 25,4 x 33 cm 

Lalla Essaydi in Baku's Museum of Modern Art

Beyond Time and Beauty exhibition was the one mentioned in the conversation. I am glad I had a chance to see Lalla Essaydi's works live so soon after discovering her participating in a group show She Who Tells a Story in Boston's Museum of Fine Art earlier last year.

Born in 1956 in Marrakech, Morocco, Lalla Essaydi has been working in variety of media, recently devoting herself to photogpraphy. Despite she was educated in Europe and the USA, many years spent in Saudi Arabia have shaped her works. Lalla Essaydi’s photography is a contemporary reflection of Orientalism that is traced back to the nineteenth century art of Ingres, Delacroix and Gérome.

“In my art I wish to present myself through multiple lenses – as artist, as Moroccan, as Saudi, as traditionalists, as Liberal, as Muslim. In short, I invite the viewer to resist stereotypes.” 

Lalla Essaydi

“<…> the subject of Harem Revisited are clothed in elaborate caftans and their environments are now covered with these richly adorned fabrics. The draperies are dense and have such rich embroidery and complex patterns that when seen altogether, the effect is dizzying, essentially turning the women themselves into objects of decoration, camouflaged within their environments. They become, in effect, a metaphor for the essence of Essaydi’s exploration. These vintage textiles, which were created between the 17^th century to the early 20^th century for use in wedding ceremonies, to decorate palaces and the harem area, were all generously loaned to Essaydi from the Nour and Boubl er Temli collection.” 

Dina Nasser-Khadivi, exhibition curator  

Lalla Essaydi, Harem #19b, 2009. Chromogenic print mounted on aluminium, 101,6x76,2 cm (40x30 in.) 

Lalla Essaydi, Harem #19b, 2009. Chromogenic print mounted on aluminium, 101,6x76,2 cm (40x30 in.). Details

Lalla Essaydi, Harem Revisited #39, 2012. Chromogenic print mounted on aluminium, 101,6x76,2 cm (40x30 in.)

 Lalla Essaydi, Harem Revisited #39, 2012. Chromogenic print mounted on aluminium, 101,6x76,2 cm (40x30 in.). Detail

 Lalla Essaydi, Les Femmes du Maroc: Harem Women Writing, 2008. Chromogenic print mounted on aluminium, 122x152,4 cm (48x60 in.)

Lalla Essaydi, Les Femmes du Maroc: Harem Women Writing, 2008. Chromogenic print mounted on aluminium, 122x152,4 cm (48x60 in.). Details

“In the works from the Bullet Revisited series, a scene is set the sort of room one finds in Orientalist painting. Each room – its tiles, woodwork, and other décor, as well as the women’s clothing – is reproduced in faithful detail. But these scenes are created with bullet casings that turn the domestic space into a psychological one, charged with the violence within contemporary society.” 

DDina Nasser-Khadivi, exhibition curator 

Lalla Essaydi, Bullets Revisited #3, 2012. Chromogenic print mounted on aluminium in three parts, 122x152,4 cm (48x60 in.) each.

Lalla Essaydi, Bullets Revisited #21, 2012. Chromogenic print mounted on aluminium, 122x152,4 cm (48x60 in.)

Lalla Essaydi, Bullets Revisited #21, 2012. Chromogenic print mounted on aluminium, 122x152,4 cm (48x60 in.).Detail

For more photos from Lalla Essaydi exhibition, click here.

P.S. 

My favorite Artistic Twinship "game" may juxtapose Shirin Neshat's and Lalla Essaydi's works with Chinese Landscapes (1999-present) by Huang Yan who participated in independent Chinese pavilion at the 55th Venice Art Biennale with the works below. 

 Huang Yan, from Chinese Landscapes series, 2001, 100 x 80 cm

 Huang Yan, from Chinese Landscapes series, 2001, 100 x 80 cm

If interested to see more "body art", check out this post called Printed Skin on Pattern Bank blog.

The Rediscovery of Jackson Pollock

I have recently started watching a series of lectures by UC Berkeley Practice of Art from Spring 2011 edition. In his lecture Introduction to Visual Thinking Professor John S. McNamara has asked the class (of probably freshmen, mostly American students) whether they know and like Jackson Pollock. Those, who “really respond to his work” were “a small number of a small number”. I felt some disappointment in the speaker’s voice, so probably to somehow justify such a low awareness the lecturer added that Pollock is “a very hard artist to understand”.

Myself, I have been first introduced to Pollock back in 2004 when as a Business major student, I was also allowed to take art studio classes at Baskin Visual Arts Center that turned into the brightest memories of my entire year at UCSC. Professor Frank Galuszka was very passionate about Pollock and his dripping technique, but at that time I was more into Kandinsky basing my paintings on his color theory after reading Concerning the Spiritual in Art 1910 book. 

The rediscovery of Jackson Pollock happened back in early October 2013 thanks to Pollock and The Irascibles – The New York School at Palazzo Reale, a part of Autunno Americano cultural project that brought Whitney Museum of American Art collection, including one of the most famous Pollock's painting Number 27 (1951), to Milan. Even those who do not like abstract expressionism or are as indifferent as I was before, will find it interesting to attend. Well-curated, with only few minor defects such as broken light (that is probably fixed by now) was giving a special shadow effect to Morris Louis painting, a video presentation by Luca Beatrice only in Italian (watch here) and a bit confusing flow/signage as well as an odd location of a gift shop inside the exhibition space instead of being adjacent to it (right after the first room, yet, with the entrance from the last exhibition hall), the show is a great way to discover and to learn about the first pure American art movement and its key figures. While the focus is on Pollock, exhibition represents other painters of post-war USA such as William De Kooning, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Ad Reinhardt, Clifford Still, Bradley Walker Tomlin, Richard Pousette-Dart. The Irascibles or Irascible 18, as they were called after submitting an open letter to New York's Metropolitan Museum director boycotting American Painting Today - 1950 exhibition are depicted on a famous photograph dressed up in suits as respectful bankers (except Pollock who already made a huge effort by taking off his favorite jeans and wearing a suit). 

In addition, the exhibition has a good mix of learning and fun thanks to video installation showing dripping technique in action as a step-by-step digital process or an option to lay down on a comfy sofa and look up where an extract of Jackson Pollock 51 documentary by Hans Namuth is screened. As far as I know, this is the only time when Pollock was speaking on camera when he was making a painting. 

the digital step-by-step process creates a white space on the floor into Pollock's Number 27 painting. Click here to learn more about this artowrk

 

A brilliant idea of placing the visitors below the screen with the video gives an effect of Pollock painting on you

Jackson Pollock 51 (1951) documentary by Hans Namuth, full movie

The sound is not the greatest, so here's the extract on Jackson Pollock's attitude to painting: 

“I enjoy working on a large canvas. I feel more at home, more at ease, in a big area. 

Having the canvas on the floor I feel nearer, more a part of the painting. This way I can walk around it, work from all four sides and be in the painting, similar to the Indian sand painters of the West. 

Sometimes I use a brush but often prefer using a stick. Sometimes I pour the paint straight out of the can. I like to use a dripping fluid paint. I also use sand, broken glass, pebbles, string, nails, or other foreign matter. 

A method of painting is a natural growth out of a need. I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them. 

Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement. When I am painting I have a general notion as to what I am about. I can control the flow of the paint. 

There is no accident, just as there is no beginning and no end. Sometimes I lose a painting, but I have no fear of changes...of destroying the image. Because a painting has a life of its own, I try to let it live.”

A Position on a Map

Yesterday, on January 21st, the doors of Galleria Patricia Armocida opened to the second in Milan solo show of Philadelphia-based self-taught artist Jim Houser. 

To tell the truth, I have not heard of Houser before, googling brought me to the artist's website that seems to be under construction, so I limited my research to Artsy page in addition to Galleria Patricia Armocida's invitation and pumped up with basic knowledge head to the show.  

By 8 pm, an hour after its official opening, the place was full and noisy. The artist who I have recognized thanks to a photo from his website, was leaning to the wall in the crowded room, looking a bit frustrated probably since he was not understanding the Italian people spoke around him. I managed to exchange only "hi" from a distance as an English speaking Italian involved him into a conversation and I decided to explore the space. 

I have noticed that his cartoon style fits well with the other artists previously shown in the gallery, Steve Powers and Parra whose few works were in the first room. 

Behind flat and brightly colored pieces, lays a story of Jim's own life. Houser picks certain autobiographical objects and repeatedly uses them in his paintings. This recurring meaning a lot to him, yet remains enigmatic to the viewers who just see fun and bright illustrations. So when after exploring the space I found myself next to Jim I decided to take a chance and learn more about these symbols. Below I present you "A BEGINNER'S GUIDE" to Jim Houser's paintings.

If you see birds or leaves, look at their shape with bigger attention: don't they remind you a part of an infinity sign? The full sign is made out of the heads of two birds or two leaves. Thus, any appearance of this shape should direct you to thinking about something infinite. The painting below probably represents Jim's infinite love to his family as he and his second wife has one child so far. 

Arrows we agreed is "up to the point" symbol. This painting, for example, depicting a constellation of arrows creating a circle is about arguments, some words Jim said, should or should not have said. 

I mistakenly thought of the candles as a sign of a romantic love, instead they are more for memories and sadness. 

Cowbow-style hat is a way of "making fun of ignorant American".

Jim has been always keeping journals, where he was making some drawings. From those old days come his fonts and a habit of inserting words almost to every painting. He was surrounded by painters since his friend and a flatmate Ben Woodward was studying fine arts and eventually became an artist himself. 

Old Life, New Life

In a book titled Babel: Jim Houser published few months after Houser's first wife tragic death in a car accident I have found these words in the afterword: "True love is out there. It can change you forever. It can help make the world a new beautiful place." Dec 13, 2004

Jim Houser, GNRS, 2013, Mixed media assemblage on wood panel, 121.9 × 121.9 cm. Source: Jonathan Levine Gallery

The painting above is a dedication to Houser's first wife, a painter herself, who has influenced him and his artistic style a lot (thanks to her he started painting back in 1996). As he confessed in the earlier mentioned book, to commemorate and cherish memories about her he decided to be just like her. He has told me that she liked to paint these shaped leaves, but since she passed away, the background is black. This element represent the Infinite love and infinite sadness from her loss. In his current works he is making a link with his old life and new one appreciating the past and happy for the present in which he is married the second time.

Now, the cartoon stories have obtained a whole new meaning to me and now I can even claim I have my own infinite love representation drawn by Jim Houser in edition of 2 on the gallery invitations made by Fontegrafica: 

If you are interested to see how Jim creates his pieces, check out the first video, the second is about his preparation to the exhibition titled Myself in Black Book Gallery: 

To check out all the photos from the event, please, visit my FB page. 

The exhibition is on until April 18, 2014. Check Galleria Patricia Armocida for more information.

The Kiss in Milan

Nope, not a rock band. Rodin is in town and without much exaggeration this is one of the most gorgeous exhibitions I have been this year and my most favorite in Milan of 2013 that is about to end. 

The curator Aline Magnien was very lucky getting Sala Della Cariatidi which un-finishness made this exhibition so special and magical. Rich decay of the walls incrustrated with antique patina mirrors, pillars surmounted with broken sculptures which shapes only vaguely reminded their original look of topless ladies, and  extensive floral decoration of the ceiling enchant me every time I am in the room. But usually the room always remains a stronger art of itself than the exhibited items. With Rodin sculptures' exhibition, however, the interior was a whole entity. This unity together with how the items were exhibited gave a feeling of sneaking in the sculptor's workshop. Over 60 of the pieces from Rodin Museum in Paris were placed on metal carcasses and untreated wood planks. Curtains from white gauzy fabric was a great alternative to habitual walls or other exhibition fixtures keeping the room open, light and airy allowing a visitor an opportunity to glimpse over the whole exhibition and be simply astonished by its beauty. Selection of Debussy's music pieces, especially my favorite Moon Light, was a good choice to immerse the visitors into romantic mood of Auguste Rodin's world. 

The Kiss in marble, one of four sculptures created in Rodin's studio (the others are in Copenhagen's Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Pennsylvania's Rodin Museum and London's Tate gallery), was in the center of the room visible from almost all the point of the room. Also known as Francesca Da Rimini or Paolo and Francesca, this sculpture is inspired by Dante Alighieri's Inferno (Circle 2, Canto 5) and originally was planned to be a central piece of The Gates of Hell commissioned for a museum of art in Paris. The sculpture was very popular and few hundreds copies in bronze and marble of different sizes have been produced, also after Rodin's death, however, according to the law of 1978, only first twelve copies are considered original. 

NB: If you want to learn more about this piece, keep on reading the post.

The Kiss aka. Faith of Love As Deep as Graves aka. Paolo and Francesca, ca. 1882

 Danaid aka. The Source, 1889

  Last Vision aka. The Morning Star aka. The Wreck, 1902

  Aurora (bust of Camille Claudel), 1895-1897

The Convalescent aka. Silence aka. Melancholy (bust of Camille Claudel), between 1907-1914

When walking along the aisles with sculptures, I had unexorcized feeling of Rodin being inspired by Michelangelo's Pietà Rondanini, the most difficult to complete and thus remained unfinished work of the master which currently is the jewel of Milan's Castello Sforzesco collection. 

xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Michelangelo Buonarotti's Pieta Rondanini that he worked on for 14 years. Reworked many times, this sculpture, 

depending from the angle perspective may seem like Jesus holding Mary vs. Mary cradling Jesus.  

I have seen most of the works in Paris and while still was impressed by each work and overall enjoyed my museum visit, I was not feeling so light and so impressed like I did when visiting the temporary exhibition in Milan. In my opinion, this is the finest example of involving every single element to participate and to tell a story, yet none of them (maybe with the only exception of The Kiss due to its position in the room that highlighted its importance in Rodin's career and art history) were not overgrowing the rest of the ensemble. 

The Kiss from all possible angles

 

The bonus for scrolling all the way down are the two videos on Rodin. The first is BBC's Private Life of a Masterpiece - The Kiss while this link is the masterpieces on its own - visual artist Quayola's Matters inspired by Rodin's sculpture Le Penseur/The Thinker (click here).