Hello Kitty celebrates her 35th Birthday at Sketch in London!

Chief designer,  Yuko Yamaguchi talks to Dazed Digital on behalf of "Kitty White."

After the Fair...

Some notes on Frieze Art Fair, brought to you by Art Rabbit and The Art Newspaper. 

Ai Wei Wei is Tweeting from his sick bed

Wei Wei is currently recovering from brain surgery in a Munich hospital after being assaulted by Chinese police last August. (police brutality taken just a bit too far, I’d say). He’s been uploading photos of himself onto a Twitter feed during his hospital stay. Read more about this in The Art Newspaper online.
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A giant ibis in Hyde Park

An Ibis in Hyde Park! Artist Simon Gudgeon's sculpture is the first to grace the grounds of Hyde Park in almost 50 years. Read the article in the Telegraph.

I want Charlie Brooker's Job!

Check out Charlie Brooker's column published on 14 Sept., titled, 'What links Lord Mandelson, Damien Hirst and the music industry?' -- and you will know why I am such a fan of his work! I couldn't have said it better myself but I would really like the editorial autonomy (not to mention my own column in the Guardian) to try!

My Name is Charles Saatchi and I Am an Artoholic

New paperback from Phaidon -- Charles Saatchi finally speaks up?
At least you won't have to spend and arm and a leg to find out, the book is priced at a mere £5.95, check it out.

Radical Nature

Exhibition Dates: 19 June 2009 - 18 October 2009, Barbican Art Gallery

Review will be featured on Art Rabbit
http://www.artrabbit.com
and is coming soon!

Image: Tomas Saraceno, Flying Garden (detail), 2006. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York

Keep UK as an International Arts Destination!

The Home Office is making it difficult for touring performance artists to get into the UK by enforcing ridiculous new visa regulations. Following is a petition that you can sign electronically to prevent this from happening.

http://www.petitiononline.com/MCvisit/petition.html

The Manifesto Club are spearheading a petition against the home office restrictions on invited non-EU artists. The group also launched a report in The Times entitled, UK Arts and Culture: Cancelled by Order of the Home Office.

The report illustrates numerous incidents of how the new visa restrictions have led to the jeopardising of many arts events. An example is three internationally renowned poets who were invited to this year's Ledbury Poetry Festival, Britain's biggest poetry event, but were denied access to the UK. The festival director, Chloe Garner, said: “These new regulations make it almost impossible to for us to programme international poets. I feel ashamed that the UK is effectively becoming a fortress.”

The petition has gained over 6,670 signatures including writers Benjamin Zephaniah, Maureen Duffy, Hari Kunzru, artists Antony Gormley, Rachel Whiteread, Zarina Bhimji, Jeremy Deller and theatre pracitioners Nicholas Hytner and Jatinder Verma.
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East End Academy: The Painting Edition

Exhibition Dates: 9 July - 30 August

The newly reopened Whitechapel Gallery is currently exhibiting East End Academy: The Painting Edition, a triennial exhibition featuring artists living or working in east London. The Academy was established in 1932 and is committed to promoting emerging painters and showing off the latest developments in British painting. Some of the works on display were amazing and there seemed to be a theme that contrasted exterior and interior spaces throughout. Artists include, Varda Caivano, Robert Holyhead, Henrijs Preiss, Luke Dowd, Andy Harper, Guy Allott, Lara Viana, Emily Wolfe, Zara Matthews, Bruno Pacheco, Daniel Kelly and Cullinan Richards. Painted works incorporate a range of materials and techniques including large architectural collages, spray paint, photography, oil on canvas, and installations.

The revamped gallery is spacious and modern while still maintaining its historical identity and antique architectural elements. And there are several exhibitions on at the moment including The Bloomberg Commission: Goshka Macuga: The Nature of the Beast (until April 2010) a public venue featuring a historical account of Picasso’s Guernica at the Whitechapel and a tapestry of the incredible painting.

Image: Lara Viana, Frame, 2008, oil on board, 46.5 x 40 cm.
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Absence of God

Exhibition Dates: 20 May - 4 July

Raqib Shaw's first exhibition at the White Cube, Hoxton Square is nothing short of superb. The difficultly when reviewing this exhibition is trying to hold myself back from establishing a hierarchical list of its strong points, there are so many. The intricate detail, which is more than an obvious tribute to Bosch is simply awe-inspiring. If I had to guess, I would say that each painting took years to complete -- but actually I don't think they did. The colours are deep, rich, and inventive. The subject is intriguing, horrific, beautiful, mythological, religious, and comedic simultaneously. Shaw spared no expenses sprinkling gold, rubies, sapphires and diamonds throughout his paintings and sculpture which he uses to comment on man's corruption by wealth and vanity, but which also serves as a pretty strong slap in the face to today's economic disarray.

The only comparison with White Cube, Mason Yard's current exhibition by Tracy Emin which consists of rough drawings of women spread eagle - is a definitive distinction between good art (Shaw) and absolute crap (Emin), pure genius and unimaginative stupidity. Absence of God is undoubtedly the best contemporary art exhibition I've seen this year.
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Thomas Joshua Cooper

Exhibition Dates: 1-30 May
Thomas Joshua Cooper - True
Haunch of Venison

It's like Ansel Adams on crack. Cooper's current exhibition, True reveals his latest photographs from the north and south poles. Shot with his19th-century Agfa camera, Cooper endured some of the harshest weather conditions in the world in areas that are inhabitable by man. His most helpful resources were a local guide and what some might call an extremist sensibility. He evaded capture in Senegal, drowning along the Antarctic Peninsula and freezing at the south pole. This exhibition includes work from some of his toughest expeditions.

Despite the treacherous conditions that Cooper met while photographing his subjects, his photographs express a sublime beauty and peacefulness. Yet there is a strong sense of desolation and loneliness. And despite their beauty, there is only so many that you can take in at once. It's difficult to relate and to penetrate Cooper's photos, it's as if visitors are viewing them from behind a window -- there's something between viewer and photograph and a feeling that one should keep their distance. I certainly think it's best to contemplate on or two and then walk away, the large body of work at the Haunch is a bit overwhelming, in my opinion.
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National Design Award Winners

New York's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum announces the winners of their 10th annual National Design Awards. Pictured is work by winner, Amory B. Lovins, who picked up the Design Mind Award for being -
'a visionary who has affected a paradigm shift in design thinking or practice through writing, research and scholarship'

Other award categories include Corporate Achievement, Communications, Fashion, Interactive, Interior, Landscape and Product Design. For a complete list of winners, visit Cooper Hewitt's official website.
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Recession Savvy Artists Hit the High Street

Art publishing company, Other Criteria, founded by Damian Hirst, Hugh Allen and Frank Dunphy, now has two shops in London, their flagship store on New Bond Street and another on Hinde Street in Marylebone. Plans to open stores in Paris and New York are also in the works. Merchandise for sale includes everything from art books and prints to T-shirts and deckchairs by artists such as Hirst, Koons, Sarah Lucas and John Isaacs.

The first shop was opened in October 2008, while the second one opened its doors in February. So, the question is why now? Well, if Damian Hirst is involved, there's an easy answer to that question - money. In light of the economic downturn, the art buying public is less likely to purchase expensive gallery works, and even if those folks are not swayed into buying limited-edition artist merchandise from a High Street shop, who cares. Extracted from the niche gallery setting, the shop will attract non-gallery enthusiasts, tourists and art lovers. And if that doesn't cast a wide enough net, bargain hunters that are not likely to stroll the High Streets, have the convenient option of shopping online for Other Criteria merchandise.

Encouraging us to spend money whilst saving us a buck; these artists are too good to us.

Tracy Emin has opted to sell her 'masterpieces' directly to the public (lucky us) via her new website. In an interview with Time Out magazine, Emin spouted, "I'm fed up of people getting ripped off on eBay." Right, in an effort to save her fans a bit of cash, Emin is selling T-shirts for £25, what a bargain, thanks Tracy.

At the other end of spectrum are the poor emerging artists that might be able to seize the opportunity to occupy out-of-business store fronts for studio space, retail space, etc. as a means to jump start their career and gain recognition that they couldn't otherwise afford. These are the artists that I would like to see making the most out of an economic crisis. But, the one's that are already millionaires -- they are just taking the piss, now aren't they?

(Image: Other Criteria's Marylebone store)
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Younger Than Jesus

New Museum, NYC
Exhibition Dates: 8 April to 5 July

The first installment of 'The Generational', the New Museum’s inaugural triennial features 50 artists from 25 countries. This is the first exhibition of this caliber in the US. The works exhibited are produced by contemporary artists, born after 1976. According to the Museum, "Known to demographers, marketers, sociologists, and pundits variously as the Millennials, Generation Y, iGeneration, and Generation Me, this age group has yet to be described in any way beyond their habits of consumption. “Younger Than Jesus” will begin to examine the visual culture this generation has created to date."

The premise is based on the notion that the most influential works of art, throughout history, have been made by young artists in the early stages of their career. The exhibition consists of approximately 145 works by artists under the age of 33 from countries including Algeria, China, Colombia, Germany, India, Lebanon, Poland, Turkey, and Venezuela, including painting, drawing, photography, film, animation, performance, installation, dance, Internet-based works, and video games. For a list of participating artists, visit the New Museum's official website.
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Untitled

Untitled is a new film by indie Director Jonathan Parker that takes the piss out of the contemporary art scene. Set in the New York City gallery world, two brothers, — one a brooding avant-garde composer, played by Adam Goldberg, the other a painter of clichéd, highly commercial work — personify the intersection of art and commerce.

In-joke references include everyone from John Cage, Bruce Nauman and Rober Gorber and one of the characters is said to loosely resemble Damien Hirst complete with his love of taxidermy. The spoof work of art, which is a baboon kissing the end of a vacuum hose suggests a Hirst-Koons hybrid.

'Untitled' premiered at the Palm Springs International Film Festival (in Palm Spring California) in January and will be released in cinemas this September.
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Goya visits Madrid’s Reina Sofía

Reina Sofía Director, Manuel Borja-Villel, and Prado Director, Miguel Zugaza have struck a deal that will see 20 prints by Goya go on long-term loan from the Prado to the Reina Sofía. What makes this deal unique is that according to the terms of a royal decree issued in 1995, the Prado owns Spain’s national art collection up to 1881—the birth of Picasso—while the Reina Sofía is custodian of art after that date. The

Goya's 'The Caprices' and 'The Disasters of War"created between 1799 and 1810, and according to The Art Newspaper, this loan "not only stretches the spirit of the 1995 agreement, but reorders a central theme of Spain’s art historical conventions: that modernism began with Picasso. The loans will rotate from a wider selection of 162 works by Goya."

Manuel Borja-Villel recognises Goya's influence on Modernism, “Goya’s influence on his contemporaries was minimal (he was eclipsed at the time by artists trained in the classical style of David and Ingres) but Goya explains better than any other the art of the 20th century. [His influence] can now be traced clearly from Manet through Picasso to Surrealism, Polke, the Chapman Brothers, Rona Pondick, Yasumasa Morimura, David Reekie and so on,” he said. “Nobody expressed the ravages of warfare and the extremes of human experience like Goya; it made him the envy of Picasso, who, as a young artist, copied his signature over and over, as though to absorb the personality and abilities of his one supreme influence."

"When I was rehanging [the museum’s symbolists collection], I thought about the origins of Spanish modernity and how important [it] was not to limit the understanding of the Spanish history of art. Only then [did] I realise how crucial it was to have some works by Goya as reference.”

The Goyas will be hung in a newly refurbished gallery on 28 May at the Reina Sofía, close to other modern Spanish painters such as Zuloaga, Gutiérrez Solana and Darío de Regoyos.

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Drawing Attention

It's back to basics for today's hottest urban artists.

Paying tribute to the art of drawing, DRAW features original drawings by 300 artists in the tattoo, literature, design, illustration, animation, skateboard, music, urban, psychedelic and new contemporary art worlds.

It is the largest contemporary drawing exhibition to emerge out of New York City. The inaugural show in October 2006 kicked off at NYC’s Fuse Gallery followed by SXSW 2007 Music and Interactive-Film Festival in Austin, Texas, then onto London's StolenSpace gallery, where it attracted over 2000 visitors. The show just wrapped up at San Fransisco's Shooting Gallery, but it's not over yet. The six-country world tour continues with future shows in Tokyo, Paris, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Berlin.

DRAW is curated by Erik Foss and Curse Mackey with guest curators Justin Giarla, Jamie O’Shea, Tim Barber, Damien Weinkratz, Les Barany, Brendan Fowler, Mike Aho, Sto, Victoria Perez and D* Face. Visit SF's Shooting Gallery website for a list of participating artists.
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Kuniyoshi

Exhibition Dates: 21 Mar—7 Jun 2009

Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) is one of the greatest Japanese artists sharing the limelight with rival contemporaries, Katsushika Hokusai and Utagawa Hiroshige who dominated nineteenth century woodblock printmaking in Japan.

The exhibition at the Royal Academy is very well organised; galleries are divided by themes ranging from warriors, theatre, women, landscapes, and satire.

As a master of ukiyo-e, 'pictures of the floating world', Kuniyoshi was best known for his samurai depictions, although that was not his only interest. His 'riddle pictures' disguised satirical commentary regarding the political and social events of Japan's Edo period evident in his 'Earth Spider' triptych. He is also credited with created 'the crazy picture' (kyoga) which usually feature animals engaging in human behaviour, such as his woodblock, 'Octopus Games'. And if that wasn't enough, he dabbled in erotica as well, although, he does parallel this with demons in 'Night Procession of the Hundred Demons.'

With their rich colours, vast themes and animated brush strokes that seem to come alive, it's no wonder that today's animation artists get their inspiration from the Japanese woodblock masters.
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Snakes in a Gallery

American Artist, Fred Tomaselli is exhibiting at the White Cube, Mason's Yard for the first time with some new work. In addition to his well-known Gothic ravens, he's mixing things up with snakes, Times Newspaper covers, photograms and a hand-woven tapestry. Photo collage, Tower of Peace Towers, 2007, is compelling in its reference to worldwide peace movements while simultaneously maintaining an ambiguity leaving viewers wondering if the tower is reaching the heavens or blowing up in some sort of apocalyptic explosion.

Tomaselli's complex compositions are thought provoking and require a certain amount of consideration; if you pass them by too quickly you will miss the subtexts hidden amongst the details. But if you're not up for the intellectual challenge, let your mind drift while viewing psychedelically hypnotising works such as Closer, 2009, a photo collage (quite possibly a reference to Tomeselli's hippie days in southern California).

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Mythologies at Haunch of Venison

With a vast & diverse range of contemporary artists and an engaging theme centred on the gallery's previous inhabitants, the Museum of Mankind, Mythologies is a fantastic exhibition, which is arguably a more compelling account of contemporary art than demonstrated by Tate Modern's Triennial, Altermodern.

While some artists represented cultural mythologies and sociological subjects, others concentrated on natural history, albeit tweaked with a bit of fantasy. Each room worked amazingly well together, particularly Gallery 6, (UN)Natural Histories, which provided visitors with an eerie feeling of death, decomposition and rebirth. Hyungkoo Lee's Sylvester & Tweety skeletons are both spooky and humorous.

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Easily the best group exhibition of the year, so far...

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Who is the Greatest Modern Artist?

The Times in association with Saatchi Online have been compiling a list of the best modern artists from 1900 to today based on readers votes.

Nominees include some of the most influential painters, sculptors, photographers, video and installation artists of the 20th and 21st Centuries.

Nominations have been selected culminating a shortlist of 500 artists.

There is still time for you to cast your vote! (No secret who my favourite is)

The top 200 artists will be announced in May 2009.

Whitechapel has reopened

Whitechapel Gallery reopened its doors on 5 April after a major expansion.

They currently have nine different exhibitions to choose from including London-based Polish artist Goshka Macuga, acclaimed for her sculptural installations of artefacts and photographs, derived from art history, politics and anthropology. The artist focuses on a key moment in the history of the Whitechapel Gallery: the presentation of Picasso’s Guernica in 1939. (Pictured on left)

More info on exhibitions and programming here.
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Fiona MacDonald - Morphology

Exhibition dates: 27 March - 2 May 2009 at Maddox Arts

Her wild grasses and unnatural nature is reminiscent of Inka Essenhigh's otherworldly creations, but Fiona MacDonald's style is uniquely her own and combines many different elements and influences. For instance, Cumulissa (2009) featured on the right, seems inspired by Japanese prints, specifically, the iconic cherry blossom, but the rustic fall leaves or small balls of fire at the bottom of the painting add a perplexing twist to the conventional theme.

Sculpture hanging from the trees which appear to be planted in the middle of the gallery and growing out of its roof, resemble organic Christmas ornaments, made from pine cones or something like that but they could just have easily come straight out of the sea, which seems to be another source of MacDonald's inspiration. Many of her 'organisms' resemble jellyfish or squid, namely, Pilot and Symbiotic (2008).

But, I guess that's the point, hence the name Morphology. MacDonald is exploring the forms and shapes of organisms and how through evolution they transforms into something else. Through her painterly style, which entails thick brush strokes and dripping paint, it's clear that the artist's interest spans further than the scientific.

The most exciting part is MacDonald's indulgence in the use of glitter to add a bit of zest and illumination to her bright yellow skies, bravely adding an element of craft work to her paintings. Also, intriguing is her placement of sea anemone-like sculpture atop small antique tables as if to resemble house plants.

MacDonald's palette is vibrant and her naturally unnatural paintings, watercolours and sculptures are a real treat.

Special thanks to my mate, Geoff for inviting me along to the opening :)
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'Altermodern' or Modern Wank?

Exhibition dates: 3 Feb - 26 April 2009

I have to admit, I was skeptical for several reasons. Not least, because of the fact that this is yet another group show lumping together contemporary artists, but even more so because of curator, Nicolas Bourriaud's ambitious bravado in creating and labeling an art movement from a present day perspective, complete with its own manifesto.

Although, after perusing the art work on display at Tate's fourth Triennial, I am hopeful that 'a new modernity is emerging'

The show is refreshingly brilliant. The select group of British artists have broken free from the shadow of the YBA's, who have been the benchmark for British contemporary art for far too long, disproportionately, in my opinion. Even more thrilling was the presence of international artists, for the first time in Tate's Triennial history, such as LA-based Walead Beshty, Parisian Loris Gréaud and Navin Rawanchaikul from Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Super sized works such as Ruth Ewan's 'Squeezebox Jukebox', which is played at 2pm each day, David Noonan's, 'Untitled' silk screen on jute background characters, and Charles Avery's 'Aleph Null Head', a creature from his strange and complex land taken from 'The Islanders' series, combined with kooky yet profound installations and interactive works such as Nathaniel Mellors' 'Giantbum' , specifically, his automated faces mimicking the three stages of digestion, Gustav Metzger's 'Liquid Crystals Environment' and Loris Gréaud's 'Tremors Where Forever' in which visitors walk amongst the vibrations of tremors, are hugely entertaining and original, and seem as if they would feel right at home on any international fairground.

Mike Nelson's 'Projection Room' is one of the superb highlights of the show. Nelson has a way of evoking nostalgia in first time viewers like no-one else. His shabby lived in, yet abandoned interiors are sensational. Keeping viewers at bay, forcing them to be mere observers only enhances their curiosity.

Franz Ackerman transforms Gallery 1 with 'Gateway, Getaway', with a blast of assorted colours and geometric designs interwoven with a bit of nature and culture. As the visitor navigates through the work, he becomes immersed in it and finds an endless amount of viewpoints and perspectives, especially by looking through the many frames provided by the iron cage in the middle of the gallery.

Katie Peterson's 'All the Dead Stars' is also a favourite for me, as you get closer, the intricate details take shape and bring the viewer into the celestial realm that she has created.

There are many brilliant and ingenious works in this exhibition which of course are always accompanied by some absolute crap. In this case, the award for being most bunk goes to Marcus Coates, for being so annoying that it was impossible to sit through his short film. Runner up, Bob and Roberta Smith, although much less annoying, some slightly controversial words written on posters and a refrigerator door, okay, so what? But it is collaborative and each week one piece of work is replaced by another -- and? And, it's still crap. Maybe these two alter egos should sit down and have a chat about making interesting coherent work together.

Overall, I'm not sure about the term 'Altermodern', but I am sure that this show was fantastic and brought forth a lot of great talent. It also marks another step towards the globalised art world encouraging a broader understanding of different cultures and stronger relationships with countries worldwide, all good things.
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