Artipedia - Arts News

Project Arts Centre

Le Truc
Project Arts Centre
Dublin

14 September - 20 October 2007
Opening 13 September at 6pm

Artists: Ulla von Brandenburg, Paul Elliman, Mario Garcia Torres, Amy Granat, Karl Holmqvist, Donghee Koo, Olivia Plender
Special Dead Guest: Lucio Battisti
Texts by: Ina Blom, Aaron Schuster
Curated by: Alexis Vaillant

If you had a choice, would you stay in a society built around transactions, which commands: "Flash. Give me adoration. Flash. Give me a break" (Chuck Palahniuk)? Imagine that - through a collapsing of personal and metaphysical circumstances - you become suddenly invisible to the world. What if this isn’t personally catastrophic, but more symptomatic of finding yourself in the perpetual twilight of a predictably fast-but-not-furious society, where you are stuck between e-fluxing (basis for a common $ space) and the proto-dread of the forthcoming (the one-man cult) - would you look for a way to reinvent yourself? And knowing what you know, would it be possible to live this life unpredictably, randomly? Could you opt for chance operations, a free-floating existence, a complete derangement of the contemporary control that inhabits bodies, imaginations, ideas and futures? Or, would you prefer to be activated by Flash?

If "the best way to predict the future is to invent it" - as asserted by Bureau of Inverse Technology a few years ago - what might emanate from a show curated around "unpredictability"?

Perhaps a big pile of ‘The Financial Times’ subdued by a genuine crystal ball (Karl Holmqvist); a naked guy, spinning like a top on a table belonging to a Korean secret society, who hides his ID behind an eye-punched sack (Donghee Koo); a mini-skeleton’s macabre dance to be discovered behind a penthouse sized Harlequin curtain (Ulla von Brandenburg); a Chemical Scratch Film made by chemically altering celluloid, as if it was driven by Black Noise (Amy Granat); an invisible plinth to be honoured by who-knows-what subsequent artwork (Mario Garcia Torres); Silvia’s italian phone number to be dialed in case you want to talk to someone you don’t and won’t know (Paul Elliman); two written exposures (Ina Blom, Aaron Schuster); a board game inspired by the 16th century Royal Game of the Goose for which rules have been formulated by chance with a dictionary and closed eyes (Olivia Plender). All are exposed and could be suddenly recovered by a group of zombie pre-electronic voices (Luc
io Battisti) that could make Le Truc a creepyminimalistic show which takes chances galore to make you aware of what you know but don’t know that you know.
- Alexis Vaillant

Project Arts Centre’s exhibitions investigate the social, political and artistic responsibilities of contemporary art production.

Please contact Publicist, Aisling McGrane for further information and images: aisling@project.ie or Curator, Tessa Giblin by contacting the gallery.

Project Arts Centre is funded by the Arts Council - An Chomhairle Ealaion and Dublin City Council.

Project Arts Centre
39 East Essex Street
Temple Bar
Dublin 2
Ireland
http://www.project.ie

For more information go to: http://www.project.ie/cgi-bin/eventdetail.pl?id=622

Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art

Secret for Snow Leopard:
Yutaka Sone
19 September - 16 December, 2007

Preview 18 September, 6 - 8pm
7:00 pm: Performance by
Benjamin Weissman
Phenomenolgy of Snow,
a fiction reading

Parasol unit
foundation for contemporary art
14 Wharf Road, London N1 7RW
T +44 (0)20 7490 7373
F +44 (0)20 7490 7373
E info@parasol-unit.org

http://www.parasol-unit.org

Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is pleased to present Secret for Snow Leopard: Yutaka Sone, the first solo exhibition of Sone’s works in a UK institution.

Sone’s great love and fascination for nature, combined with a wholly open approach to life and art galvanizes a highly unconventional art. Working in various media, Sone makes installations, performance art, and films; he paints; and like a traditional sculptor carves hard marble and crystal. A common thread recognisable throughout Sone’s work is his willingness to take risks and experiment, which at times can make some works appear to be unfinished or in a state of flux.

Sone’s work is deeply influenced by his experiences, particularly those he has had during various expeditions in the Himalayas and in the jungle — two very different environments which for him represent extremes of life. In his work Sone fuses art with life, his vision informed by their infinite possibilities and a genuine desire to give tangible form to that which is quintessential in all things. This constant seeking for perfection is evident in all of his work.

In this exhibition, Sone shows several of his exquisitely carved marble pieces, some of which have never been shown before; a recreation of the jungle, a maquette-like architectural landscape that includes snow-capped mountains, rivers and tropical plants, all within the same self-contained world; and some twenty crystal snowflakes.

Yutaka Sone was born in 1965 in Shizuoka, Japan. He studied architecture at Tokyo Geijutsu University, but opted to become an artist. His work is held in public collections worldwide including: Art Institute of Chicago; Daros Collection, Zürich; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Kanazawa City Museum of Art, Kanazawa; Kunstmuseum Bern, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art. In 2003 the Tate acquired Highway Junction 110-105 (2002) with funds provided by the 2003 Outset Frieze Acquisitions Fund. The artist lives and works in Los Angeles.

Secret for Snow Leopard: Yutaka Sone is accompanied by the publication of a full-colour catalogue

Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art is a non-profit space devoted to promoting contemporary art for the benefit of the public. Parasol unit is a privately funded charity with possible and future additional funding from the public and private sectors. The core activity of Parasol unit is to showcase the work of contemporary artists from around the world. Each year, the foundation mounts three or four exhibitions in various media, such as sculpture, painting, installation, video, or photography, for which some works might be specifically commissioned. Each exhibition is usually accompanied by a publication. Parasol unit does not charge admission fees.

Opening hours: Tues-Sat, 10 am-6 pm. Sun 12-5 pm
First Thursday of each month open until 9pm
‘First Thursdays’ is late night art and events in East London

For more information go to: http://www.parasol-unit.org

CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts

PASSENGERS
Opening September 5, 2007 (permanent exhibition)

CCA Wattis Institute for
Contemporary Arts
California College of the Arts
1111 Eighth Street
San Francisco CA 94107
T: 415.551.9210

http://www.wattis.org

Passengers is a permanent but constantly transforming exhibition of emerging international contemporary artists, none of whom have ever had a solo presentation in an American public art institution. For this exhibition the Wattis Institute’s upper gallery has been divided into two separate spaces, one of which features a group show of 11 artists, and the other a solo exhibition. At the end of each month, the solo artist will leave the exhibition completely, an artist from the group show will move into the solo space, and a new artist will be introduced into the group show. Thus, by September 2008 the group portion will have changed entirely from its original incarnation in September 2007, and 12 solo shows will have taken place.

Passengers offers a new format for exhibition making–one that is self-perpetuating, constantly changing, and permanent. It is part of a shift in programming at the Wattis Institute that attempts to rethink the traditional ways in which art institutions organize exhibitions (as static presentations lasting several weeks or months) and to reevaluate the ideas of time and transformation with respect to exhibition practice.

Passengers is specifically designed to allow emerging artists to enter the Wattis Institute program quickly, and the show will adapt according to developments in contemporary art practice. Its title is inspired by the way in which many artists and curators, working in a globalized world, pass through places and become witnesses of our time. Passengers now forms part of this journey, functioning as a vehicle by which artists can come to San Francisco. In this first year they will be visiting from countries as diverse as Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, England, France, Germany, Portugal, and Slovakia as well as the United States–before moving on.

The first 12 artists in order of appearance:

Daria Martin: September 5-29, 2007
Alexandre da Cunha: October 3-November 3, 2007
Ryan Gander: November 7-December 1, 2007
Shana Lutker: December 5, 2007-January 5, 2008
Tim Lee: January 9-February 2, 2008
Annette Kelm: February 6-March 1, 2008
João Maria Gusmão + Pedro Paiva: March 5-29, 2008
Ulla von Brandenburg: April 2-May 3, 2008
Gareth Moore: May 7-31, 2008
Roman Ondák: June 4-28, 2008
Valérie Mréjen: July 2-August 2, 2008
Federico Herrero: August 6-30, 2008

About the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
The CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts was established in 1998 in San Francisco at California College of the Arts. It serves as a forum for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary art and curatorial practice. Through groundbreaking exhibitions, the Capp Street Project residency program, lectures, symposia, and publications, the Wattis Institute has become one of the leading art institutions in the United States and an active site for contemporary culture in the Bay Area.

Founding support for CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts programs has been provided by Phyllis C. Wattis and Judy and Bill Timken. Generous support provided by the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, Grants for the Arts / San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, Ann Hatch and Paul Discoe, and the CCA Curator’s Forum.

For more information go to: http://www.wattis.org