Gia Lam just might be the perfect place for a Hanoi studio. Green fields and quiet surround Lionel Descostes's home and workspace, both rare finds in our bustling and ever more concrete city. Perhaps this space is especially fitting for Lionel, since isolation has been essential to the development of his work over the last eight years. Completely secluding himself in his studio to think and make, Lionel allowed his work to grow and mature into a truly impressive body. Embroidery takes dedication and patience and Lionel has both in spades. Lucky for us, he's adorning the gallery's walls with his fabric in October. Lucky for you, you're invited. For now, a sneak preview.
An Afternoon with Lionel Descostes
By Gillian, on Tuesday, July 27 2010 15:11 dans Meeting the artists
Tam Ta Video by Vincent Baumont
By Gillian, on Wednesday, July 21 2010 15:14 dans Meeting the artists
Opening of Tam Ta
By Gillian, on Monday, July 19 2010 15:22 dans News of the Gallery
Works by Nguyen Van Phuc, Nguyen Huy An, Nguyen Tran Nam and Vu Hong Ninh. Photographs by Ehrin Macksey.
TAM TA VIDEO!
By Gillian, on Monday, July 12 2010 16:20 dans Meeting the artists
In anticipation of Friday's opening, we offer up this glimpse into the worlds and minds of our Tam Ta artists. Enjoy!
The Dead Photos
By Gillian, on Wednesday, July 7 2010 14:16 dans Art immersion
In the forty degree heat of a Hanoi June, I drove like a deadman through the thick traffic with all of the dust and noise and honking. And it’s funny that later I came across The Dead Photos by Tom Phillips. The pictures are set with careful angle selection and clear intention. They would make you laugh at first, but think more later for the unique effects of these tragic deaths.
As mysterious as the photos, the statement of the series says it all:
“''(...)
To shake all cares and business from our age;
Conferring them on younger’s strengths, while we
Unburthen’d crawl toward death.''”
Dead in the Tunnel of Love 9:13am, February 14th, 2010
Dead at the End of a Straight Northward Walk Across Dartmoor (For Richard Long) 1:14pm, April 22nd, 2010
Dead in Japan 8:04am, March 2nd, 2010
Dead at the End of the Earth 9:01am, January 1st, 2010
Post by Nhung Walsh, Summer Intern
Studio Hop
By Gillian, on Wednesday, June 30 2010 15:10 dans Meeting the artists
On a video mission, Axel, Tran Luong and I sprinted all around Hanoi to see works in progress and catch the Tam Ta artists on film talking about just what makes them tick. Our mission took us to the top floor studio of Vu Hong Ninh, the riverside workshop Tran Nam has been haunting while expert sculptors bring his ideas and his family to life, Huy An's haunt in Trieu Khuc Village and an community art education center that Van Phuc sometimes uses as a place to think and make. All in all, a whirlwind of a couple of days and we're pretty excited to see the video! Again, to hold us over while we wait, some stills....
Hoa Binh Escape
By Gillian, on Friday, June 25 2010 10:47 dans Meeting the artists
In search of the best backdrop for a short video we are making this week, Axel, Tran Luong and I set off for Vu Hong Ninh's family compound in Hoa Binh. We were luckiest to be able to spend a morning there. They are luckiest to be able to spend every morning there. A house on stilts set in a sculpture garden with fruit trees, overlooking a stream, mountains and golf course? Perfection. (I swear, the golf course actually adds to the beauty.) In the middle of the airy downstairs stands Ninh's "Soap Boy," soon to be boldly gesturing on The Bui Gallery's second floor. Come wash your hands in a marble sink, using head, finger, chubby tummy or whichever body part you choose as your soap.
Tam Ta, featuring Ninh's "Soap Boy" as well as works by Nguyen Van Phuc, Nguyen Tran Nam and Nguyen Huy An will open July 16 at The Bui Gallery and will be on view through August 27. Video being edited as I write, check back in a few days for moving pictures. For now, some stills.
Jean-Michel Basquiat at the Fondation Beyeler: 9 May - 5 September 2010
By Betty, on Wednesday, June 23 2010 08:05 dans Art immersion
The art of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) possesses the same intensity and energy that marked his brief life. The artist star died on August 12, 1988, at age 27, of a drug overdose. In the space of only eight years he had succeeded in creating an extensive oeuvre and introducing new figurative and expressive elements into contemporary art.
In only eight years time, he managed to create an extensive oeuvre, and – in contrast to early 80’s Conceptual and Minimal Art – introduced a new approach to figuration and expressiveness into American painting. Basquiat influenced the Neo-Expressionists and became a forerunner of art in the 90’s. His works, studded with skeletal silhouettes, masklike grimaces,pictographs and words, attacked consumer society, social injustice and racism, and they remain highly relevant and explosive to this day. On the occasion of his fiftieth birthday, the Fondation Beyeler is devoting the first large and comprehensive retrospective ever held in Europe to the renowned American painter and draftsman. Comprising over a hundred works, it traces Basquiat’s unique development and sheds light on his place in art history. The retrospective also allows a rediscovery and reevaluation of one of the most fascinating personalities in recent art. Basquiat’s friendship with Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Madonna is legendary. The exhibition, curated by Dieter Buchhart and Sam Keller, enjoys the support of the Estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat, New York.
FONDATION BEYELER Baselstrasse 101, CH-4125 Riehen / Basel, Switzerland www.fondationbeyeler.ch
Shoot Peret
By Gillian, on Monday, June 14 2010 15:38 dans Meeting the artists
Another sunny Saigon afternoon whiled away in Bertrand Peret's studio. The artist has found himself in new digs, with a big new breeze and ample wall space to hang his quickly growing collection of bright and bold new paintings. The mission of this particular jaunt down south had me interviewing Bertrand for a video we are producing featuring his new series of paintings, directed by Antoine Vaillant. In search of the perfect turn of phrase for the camera, Bertrand and I chatted about getting back to the basics and the classics. For him, it's all about the medium: painting. The content is just a pretext for picking up some brushes and some neon and concentrating on the composition at his hand. His work is a testament to the power of instinct and the sometimes overwhelming desire to escape meaning. An admirer of Georges Braque, Bertrand left me with this gem of a thought by the groundbreaking Cubist: "The painting is finished when the idea has disappeared."
Video out in July, show up in October. Anticipate.
STREET ART - IN THE AIR E-V-E--R-Y-W-H-E-R-E
By Betty, on Tuesday, June 8 2010 01:28 dans Art immersion
"Exit Through the Gift Shop’’ is a conceptual Chinese box: a documentary about a filmmaker that’s directed by the subject the filmmaker was too inept to actually make a film about. It’s also one of the best, most karmically satisfying comedies of the year, much to the chagrin of the people who are in it.
EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP Directed by: Banksy Starring: Banksy, Thierry Guetta, Shepard Fairey, narrated by Rhys Ifans At: Kendall Square Running time: 87 minutes Rated: R (language)
”Momentum of the River’s Flow: An Australian’s View of Vietnam’s Long Journey” by Les Horvat - Opening at The Bui Gallery Hanoi
By Axel Garond, on Friday, June 4 2010 11:57 dans News of the Gallery
Hong Kong Art Fair 2010
By Gillian, on Wednesday, June 2 2010 08:23 dans Art immersion
ArtHK 10 just finished from May 27 to 30. In the third year, the fair included various international contemporary artists and those who are seeking new markets. Hong Kong has become an attractive destination for European and Asian galleries to organize special exhibitions. Hong Kong - the world’s third largest art fair - showed more of its cultural than commercial side.
Following are the artworks that appeared in The 10 Art Week Things to See by Weekend Journal Asia.
Tabaimo Art HK, Singapore Tyler Print Institute booth
Tabaimo A 'wallpaper' by Tabaimo
Tabaimo, a 35-year-old artist based in Nagano— her legal name is Ayako Tabata—is known for her fine-line drawings and her animation. Her work is sometimes described as creepy and disturbing. At Chanel's Mobile Art show in Hong Kong two years ago, her video installation "At the Bottom," which viewers peered down on after climbing some steps so they could see into the "well," featured larger-than-life projections of indiscriminate insects in black and white. Crawly. At the art fair this year, this fast-rising multimedia star is getting her own show at the booth of the Singapore Tyler Print Institute, which often features important Asian contemporary artists such as Indonesia's Agus Suwage and China's Qiu Zhijie, as well as established American artists such as Donald Sultan and Ashley Bickerton. STPI has priced the Tabaimo works at the fair between $10,000 and $30,000. One of the pieces on display will be "skinspots," a series inspired by the stress-induced eczema the artist suffers from, a condition she likens to having insects crawl under her skin. In the works she created on cream-colored papers, round holes reveal fragments of insect drawings—butterflies and flies among them. Less crawly—her line drawings here are more akin to a naturalist's lithographs.
Keitai Girl Around town
Noriko Yamaguchi 'Keitai Girl' with her troupe in Paris
Japanese performance artist Noriko Yamaguchi's alter ego is "Keitai Girl" (mobile-phone girl), a white-faced female who poses, dances and marches while clad in a bodysuit covered with cellphone keypads. The artist's playful yet pointed work as Keitai Girl—presented in real life as well as in drawings, videos, prints and photographs—grapples with sexual politics, identity and the man-vs.-machine paradox in the iPad age. A graduate of Kyoto University of Art and Design, the 27-year-old artist from Kobe is part of an emerging generation of Japanese performance artists whose fresh yet carefully choreographed work has attracted critical scrutiny and praise. Bart Dekker, founder of artinasia.com and an Asian art collector, helped organize her visit to Hong Kong along with MEM, the Osaka gallery that represents Ms. Yamaguchi. MEM will have a booth at the fair, where there will be Keitai Girl photos for sale, priced at about $2,500 each. But the real-life version is the thing to see. Keitai Girl will be making small-scale, invitation-only appearances at the Kee Club (dates not yet announced at press time), and a performance at the fair's vernissage—the invitation-only opening night of Art HK 10—on May 26. But you might catch Keitai Girl, and the similarly attired troupe of girls that often accompanies her, on Hong Kong streets. "Any time during the week, the Keitai Girls may march through the streets of Hong Kong," says Mr. Dekker. That's what they did in Paris two years ago: During an international photography show there in 2008, Keitai Girl and her retinue caused a stir by parading along the city's thoroughfares in full costume.
Ai Weiwei and Acconci Studio Para/Site Art Space, Sheung Wan
Para/Site Art Space Ai Weiwei, left, and Vito Acconci
This is not your usual art exhibition. Let's call it an art "happening." What makes it worth mentioning are the artists involved: Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei, of Beijing's Olympic "Bird's Nest" stadium fame, and Vito Acconci, an American architect and installation artist who pioneered performance and video art in the 1970s. Separate from Art HK, the Sheung Wan District gallery Para/Site Art Space has been hosting a "conversation" between Mr. Ai, 52 (with the beard), and Mr. Acconci, 70, since April. On three mornings during art week, the public will get a chance to eavesdrop and even participate. The talks will continue through July 4. Those three exchanges between the artists—about how they work, about Hong Kong, about cities—will begin at 9 a.m. on May 26, 27 and 28, with Mr. Ai talking via Skype from Beijing with Mr. Acconci at his Acconci Studio in Brooklyn. They will be aired live in the Sheung Wan gallery, which also will display 128 photos that document the time the pair spent together in Hong Kong in mid-April.
The work of emerging Japanese artist
Exploring technology, mythology and feminism through bodily transformation and endurance, Yamaguchi camouflages her body with a variety of striking materials to create a second skin, a visual spectacle that was a highlight of the Fair.
Source: The Wall Street Journal; Re-tittle; Butterboom
HOW TO BECOME A HONG KONG ART INVESTOR?
By Betty, on Tuesday, June 1 2010 13:14 dans Art immersion
How to become a Hong Kong art investor
You like art, you want to buy some, but where do you start? How do you go a about it? What should you be looking for? Some local experts give their advice
By Christopher DeWolf 25 May, 2010
You can excuse Magnus Renfrew for looking a bit tired. "I've been on 40 flights in six months," he says at the headquarters of the Hong Kong International Art Fair, on the 19th floor of the Lippo Centre. Since he launched the fair in 2008, Renfrew has made it into a pillar of the emerging Asian art market, thanks in large part to his round-the-world travels to drum up interest in the fair. For this year's edition, which starts Thursday, 150 galleries from 29 countries will come to Hong Kong to showcase their works.
Those aren't the only big numbers when it comes to art in Hong Kong. Last year, Christie's and Sotheby's sold more than US$500 million worth of art here, making Hong Kong the world's third-biggest market for art, after New York and London. Most transactions are private, so there aren't any clear records on who is buying all of this art, but it's well-known that collectors and investors from around the world have been eyeing works by contemporary Chinese artists.
For someone just getting into buying art, though, where do you start? And how do you do it? We asked a few local art experts for advice.
Go out and explore before investing.
1. Get out
Reading the big art publications like Art Asia Pacific is an obvious way to find out what's going on, but too often they'll only lead you to what everyone else is already interested in. "If you want to have 'in' artists, read that," says art critic, gallery owner and Art Walk organizer John Batten. "But I think it's interesting to pick up little gems from young artists and students while travelling around." Batten keeps track of more obscure artists like Ivy Ma and Enoch Cheung by following shows at spaces like the C&G Artpartment, the Cattle Depot and the Art Centre, which all specialize in emerging artists. "The graduation shows coming up in the next month are always good places to start," he says. "You've got to be pretty committed to keep up with it all. And be very careful with hype. There's a lot of hype. Avoid anything like Peak magazine or any wealth magazine, like the supplements in the South China Morning Post."
Asia Art Archive is a great resource for insight on Asian art.
2. Do your homework
You've got no hope of collecting art if you don't know anything about what you're buying. That's where the Asia Art Archive comes in. Tucked inside a nondescript office tower on Hollywood Road, on a dreary strip of tacky decorative art galleries and dubious antique shops, the AAA is Asia's leading resource for information on contemporary Asian art. Researchers stationed across the continent gather information on new artists, exhibitions and trends -- and make all of it available in the AAA's library, which is open to the public. "The people who use this will be students, curators and researchers," says Phoebe Wong, the AAA's head of research. "Interestingly enough," she adds, "not many artists use our facility -- they don't like to look at other artists' work." For buyers, the AAA is yet another advantage of Hong Kong's increasingly well-developed arts infrastructure. "Hong Kong has a lot of potential," says Wong. "People say that the Hong Kong Art Fair is now better than the Shanghai Contemporary, and Hong Kong is a better place for buying and selling because of taxation and things like that."
When it comes to money, Hong Kong really is a great place to buy art, simply because there are no limits on the value of what you can bring into or take out of the city. If you buy a painting on the mainland, by contrast, you might be stuck paying a 40 percent duty on your purchase. That's one of the reasons the big auction houses have set up shop in Hong Kong.
Really fall in love with your investment.
3. Bide your time
Auction houses are to art what Wal-Mart is to shopping: convenient and easy, but lacking the personal touch. Batten advises a slow-and-steady approach to art buying. "The great collections have always been by people who have a vision and who say I have 20 years to do this and I'm going to do it my way," he says. "You don't need to go out one weekend and buy lots of art." Find a gallery you like and build a relationship with it, he says. The gallery will come to know your tastes and will let you know when there's an opportunity you don't want to miss.
Hong Kong International Art Fair, May 27-30, 2010.
4. Visit the Art Fair
"In the West, there's a sense of art fair fatigue," says Renfrew. So heads are turning to Asia for something different. The Hong Kong International Art Fair's third edition will be its largest yet, bringing together art from across Asia with some of the top galleries in the world, including New York's White Cube and London's Gagosian Gallery. Renfrew has tried hard to make the fair accessible, too, by convincing often skeptical galleries to install informational plaques and to make sure their offerings represent the full spectrum of prices, "from US$1,000 to US$10 million," he says. The AAA has been invited to host Backroom Conversations, a series of discussions and educational workshops on art.
"It's important that people buying art engage with it properly," says Renfrew. "It's best to buy something for love rather than money, but if you're buying for money, do your research. You'll start to learn about art because you have to think about it critically."
Shanghai Expo 2010 - Seed Cathedral
By Samantha, on Monday, May 31 2010 12:31 dans Art immersion
With a theme of “Better City, Better Life,” the Shanghai Expo is loosely organized around the idea of sustainable development. There are “urban best practices” pavilions showcasing cities like Vancouver, British Columbia, and Hamburg and corporate pavilions from companies like Coca-Cola and Cisco. But the main attractions are the national pavilions, which range from modest to imposing, simple to lavish, representational to abstract.
By far the most buzzed-about pavilion among both architects and the public is Britain’s “Seed Cathedral,” designed by Thomas Heatherwick. The structure is a six-story cube pierced by about 60,000 thin, transparent rods that extend from it like porcupine quills and sway in the breeze. During the day, the rods — each 7.5 meters, or 25 feet, long — act like fiber-optic filaments, drawing natural light into the building. At night, they project light from inside the structure outward, making it glow like a spiky marshmallow. Locals have dubbed it “the dandelion.”
Each rod, moreover, contains seeds of different plants collected in the Millennium Seed Bank Project, an international conservation effort of the Royal Botanic Gardens.
Before beating out architects including Zaha Hadid, John McAslan and Marks Barfield in the pavilion design competition, Mr. Heatherwick was perhaps best known for art installations.
Article (abridged) from NYtimes by Julie Makinen Pictures from treehugger.com
Art Talk N°8 : Nguyen The Son
By Axel Garond, on Thursday, May 27 2010 11:42 dans News of the Gallery
A lot of contemporary art in China right now is about moving away from tradition in order to develop a 'new way' for the next generation. Key artists such as Xu Bing, Ai Weiwei and Chen Man were the focal point of the evening, as well as the role of art education in developing the thriving art scene in China. As a predecessor in its development, the question of how Vietnam's neighbor is developing its artistic community was perhaps the most important idea exchanged last night in the gallery. As Vietnam looks for its 'new way', she turns outward, like China did before, for a guide, or at the very least, an acceptable influence.
Craft Lesson with Vu Kim Thu
By Samantha, on Monday, May 24 2010 13:19 dans News of the Gallery
As a part of our ongoing relationship with the Singapore International School, this monday we welcomed the sixth grade for a Rangoli 'how to' by current artist Vu Kim Thu. Knee deep in bright pink, orange, green, and purple rice paper, the students learned how to fold, press, and arrange their own rangoli, giving them a break from academics, and a chance to let out their artistic side.
Visual Comparisons
By Samantha, on Saturday, May 22 2010 12:39 dans Meeting the artists
Jackson Pollock and Vu Kim Thu
For an ever evolving artist, the influence of Pollock is perhaps not as direct as the image implies, nor is her work a blatant homage to his - so a visual comparison may seem a little obvious, but beautiful all the same. Both artists moved inside and around their work, ever conscious of the effect of space.
photograph of VKT by Axel Garond, Jackson Pollock by Hans Namuth
KVT LOVES VKT
By Gillian, on Friday, May 14 2010 05:51 dans They talk about us
From the Hanoi Grapevine:
__KVT - Journeys with Lines __ I’ve seen Vu Kim Thu’s installations at the Bui Gallery twice since the opening and the second viewing confirmed my appreciation of them.
The artist seems to work with a single concept, arranging, rearranging, forming and reforming until she lays it to one side or incorporates it into a developing conceptual idea. Occasionally the process is commodified (as in the installation in the main upstairs gallery) but even then the commodity can take many forms… in this case playful. I would have loved to build a pagoda shape with the pieces.
Thu’s great fortune has been to study in art colleges in the US and to have been awarded overseas artist residencies. The upstairs installation is a result of her residency in Korea and shows enormous Korean influence. It seems to be a progression of her earlier line doodle work almost into abstract, loose calligraphing of eye soothing, organic shapes.
The main downstairs gallery is a new departure…not from the line and playing with space, but into color. And who could come away from a residency in India and not be motivated towards rioting color schemes and Hindu cum Mogul lines, shapes and suggested iconography. It’s as gorgeous as suddenly opening your eyes and discovering that you are in a Rajasthani village as the sun rises over golden sand.
It will be fascinating to follow Thu’s line journeys to see where color and moulded shapes take her in the future. She’s been taking her lines on surprising journeys through gallery spaces for the past four years. Her doodling lines have been on slithering and twining journeys that formed into irregular squiggles and organisms that erupted and oozed from walls and corners, inside small cubes and occasionally over and out from traditional wall mounted canvases. Her adventure into a Korean mind space sometimes resulted in a fabric or wall paper effect… at times a stage setting or contemporary dance space. Thu’s work has a great feminine feel to it and this is a quality I hope remains strongly evident in future work.
When I think of Thu’s early installations I am put in mind of octogenarian artist John Olsen who takes his lines on journeys adventuring through landscapes. While Olsen normally allowed his lines on canvas to escapade with colour, Thu’s initially danced and scrabbled in black and white. Both artists took to journeying with the line after opportunities to work overseas where the traditional restraints and conservative practices of their home countries (Olsen 1950s Australia) were able to be shelved, and, probably as well, in Thu’s case, the knots that tie females to expectations and constricted roles were able to be loosened.
The Bui has to be congratulated for promoting work like Thu’s.
My favorite installation is in the upstairs corridor where a horizontal line of rangoli shapes in black and white lead you really effectively from the acid colors and swirls downstairs into the cool, reflective black, white and gray space above.
Not a reviewer, not a critic, “Kiếm Văn Tìm” is an interested, impartial and informed observer and connoisseur of the Hanoi art scene who offers highly opinionated remarks and is part of the long and venerable tradition of anonymous correspondents
Read the full posting at: http://hanoigrapevine.com/2010/05/kvt-journeys-with-lines/#more-18948
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