Summer Exhibition Guide - Part II
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Düsseldorf | Köln | Berlin | Venice | San Francisco |
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In June, Pamela and Lily and I led one of the gallery’s art tours in Germany. Though we’ve been doing these once or twice a year since 2015, the 2020/21 hiatus made this trip particularly sweet. |
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Artists’ studios, private collections, exquisite meals, inspiring architecture and curating, all in the company of makers, thinkers and writers; it’s the back-stage pass to one of the richest modern and contemporary art regions in the world.
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Click here to see new work in Jutta Haeckel's studio |
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Our home base is always Düsseldorf, the affluent capital of the most populous state in Germany, and the location of the world’s most influential art school — the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. |
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Click here to see work from Stefan Kürten's studio |
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The omnipresence of the academy, with its students, distinguished professors and alumni, combined with a history of art patronage beginning in the 17th century, numerous museums, ambitious private collectors, a dynamic gallery scene, and a city that acknowledges the importance of artists living in their community by subsidizing studio spaces, creates an ecosystem that’s unparalleled. |
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Click here to see new work from Bernard Lokai's studio |
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Click here to see new work from Driss Ouadahi's studio |
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Artists’ studios are highlights of these trips. Being in an environment where art is made, seeing the images and objects the artists surround themselves with and are inspired by, and engaging in lively dialogue fueled by good coffee and paint fumes is intimate, informative and inspiring. |
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Click here to see work from Birgit Jensen's studio |
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Click here to see work from Cornelius Völker's studio |
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We always visit the Swiss architect Peter Zumthor’s exquisite Kolumba Museum in Köln — in addition to being one of the most beautiful works of contemporary architecture in the world, it’s the venue for some of the most inspired museum curating I’ve ever seen.
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On this trip, we included a visit to his stunning Bruder Klaus Field Chapel on a rainy morning walk through a beautiful rural landscape… a great double feature! |
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But the most noteworthy part of these excursions is the generosity and openness of the community of artists, curators, writers, gallerists and collectors who welcome us into their homes and the intimacy of their studios. |
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This trip hammered home that we are social creatures who need to be exposed to new places and ideas and who blossom in the light of thoughtful conversation… that art, and sharing it with other people, is healing and transformative. |
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Surabhi Saraf @ SFMOMA: "Beyond All Polarities, We Are ____" |
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| photo: Dallis Willard, courtesy of SFMOMA | |
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Surabhi Saraf and Laura Hyunjhee Kim of the Centre for Emotional Materiality (CEM), along with Ashwini Bhat, presented a multi-sensorial experience at SFMOMA on July 7th.
Matthew Harrison Tedford writes, "The performance had a unique feel unlike anything I can remember. The ambient music, the continuous pulsing of the celestial blob, the text from the videos (“release,” “bodies porous like sand,” “who will you be tomorrow?”), and the ritualistic activity at the center of the gallery all created a meditative atmosphere. But it was not austere, it was social and lively while remaining quiet and contemplative..."
Read more about it on SFMOMA’s blog here.
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Upcoming Event: Andrew Schoultz and Alicia McCarthy |
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Andrew Schoultz: Yonder installation view |
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Thursday August 4, 5 - 7 pm Cocktails @ 5pm Program begins @ 6pm Join us in the gallery for a conversation and exhibition walk-through of Andrew Schoultz: Yonder with artists Andrew Schoultz and Alicia McCarthy. |
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After our Düsseldorf trip, I traveled on to the 12th Berlin Biennale to support gallery artist Driss Ouadahi’s participation. While there, I became familiar with some remarkable artists and new practices that I'm excited to share and to watch develop.
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Driss Ouadahi’s large-scale architectural paintings hang in the first room of the Hamburger Bahnhof. Having just been in his studio and hearing him talk about ideas of migration and mobility, it was inspiring to see the works ensconced in this grand exhibition venue which was once a rail terminal. Driss is an extraordinary painter, and his interest in politicized space and architecture as boundary expands the ideas that the medium of painting brings to the current dialogue.
I returned multiple times and each time noticed how the paintings—one an abstracted exterior, the other a claustrophobic passageway—slowed and drew visitors into their simultaneously political and personal spaces.
Other highlights:
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Moroccan-born Myriam El Haïk’s installation and performance at the KW Museum poetically explored the idea of documenting time and the experience of sound, while contextualizing her mark-making within a larger cultural history.
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At Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg, two installations stood out for me. An innovative floor-based video display by Imani Jacqueline Brown deals with the racism at the heart of Louisiana’s ecological degradation and the creation of “Death Alley,” an 85-mile stretch of land along the Mississippi River containing over 150 petrochemical plants and refineries. A multi-disciplinary artist who describes each series of her work as a discrete “story,” Tammy Nguyễn created 14 large-scale paintings depicting the stations of the cross that conflate and contrast Christian iconography and the Vietnamese landscape.
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Taloi Havini’s stunning hanging sculpture at Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz is dance made solid. An undulating spiral of stoneware beads, it refers to an historic system of exchange used in the Pacific Islands and around the world.
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The Gropius Bau was one of my favorite visits. The museum itself, a gorgeous building right next to one of the last large sections of the Berlin Wall still left standing, is absolutely worth the trip anytime, but I went for the Beirut and the Golden Sixties exhibition. Both the content and the totally audacious curating (paintings hung on giant documentary photos, oh my!) were incredibly powerful.
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At the end of my last day in Berlin, after walking more than 10 miles, I ended up at a delightful rose/biergarten. This spot was full of the most beautiful, fragrant flowers, with families and small groups gathered for an afternoon snack and cool drink. It was brimming with life in all kinds of ways—with graffiti-tagged walls coexisting happily with prim roses and plastic chairs. A wonderful reminder of the hidden gems and friendly welcomes of my entire journey in Germany.
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Pamela's Report from Venice |
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Judith Belzer and I spent three days in Venice to see the Biennale – a first for both of us. What a treat to experience modern and contemporary art in the context of Italian medieval and renaissance architecture, sculpture and painting — all in the company of an accomplished painter and teacher.
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Highlights include:
Biennale Arte: The Milk of Dreams This biennale takes its title from a book by Leonora Carrington (1917–2011) in which the Surrealist artist describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination — a world where everyone can be transformed into something or someone else. With an emphasis on artists from traditionally marginalized communities, including women, there are three thematic areas in particular: the representation of bodies and their metamorphoses; the relationship between individuals and technologies; the connection between bodies and the Earth. Palazzo Grassi: Marlene Dumas - Open-EndedThe presentation brings together over 100 works by the South African artist, with a selection of paintings and drawings created between 1984 and today, including unseen works made in the last few years. Peggy Guggenheim Collection: Surrealism and MagicThe exhibition’s point of departure are paintings from the Peggy Guggenheim Collection that reflect the Surrealists’ interest in the occult. Don’t miss the gallery featuring Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini and Dorothea Tanning. In the words of Grazina Subelyte, Associate Curator at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, they “rejected the notion of women as passive accessories in a male hero’s quest for adventure and supremacy. Instead, they depicted female protagonists as active agents in narratives reflecting their deep interest in magic, mythology, and witchcraft.” Galleria Accademia: The Young TintorettoThe show brings together 26 exceptional paintings by Tintoretto, from the collection of the Galleria Accademia as well as from the Louvre, the National Gallery in Washington DC; the Prado, the Uffizi, and numerous other international museums.
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Hosfelt Gallery is located at 260 Utah St, between 15th & 16th streets. Wheelchair accessible entrance at 255A Potrero Avenue. For more information call 415.495.5454 or visit hosfeltgallery.com. Open Tuesday through Saturday
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