Anthony McCall, Leaving (With Two-Minute Silence), 2009, Computer, QuickTime movie file, 2 video projectors, 2 audio speakers, 2 haze machines, 1 cycle 32 min in 2 parts; edition of 3 + 1 AP, Sean Kelly Gallery
I can’t decide if replacing the term “smoke” with “haze” should make me more or less skeptical of art employing machines generating fog. Either way, I’m surprised to report I enjoyed the slow Olafur Eliasson-esque haze flowing over the light projectors in Anthony McCall’s Leaving in the oversized art section titled Unlimited at Art Basel. It also made me a little more receptive to art evoking the disco club, and various musical movements. A few more highlights after the jump.
mentalKLINIK, PuFF, 2009, aluminum construction coated with impregnated quality kraft papers, pneumatic fountain spray system, holographic laser-cut glitter, vacuum cleaning robots, LED illumination panels, wireless stereo speakers.
These robot vacuum cleaners mostly spread glitter that occasionally shoots out of holes on the stage floor. No grand meaning or compelling aesthetic choices mark this work. By any standard it’s a bad piece, but everyone has their guilty pleasures and this one’s mine. Bring on the uncleanable glitter!
Moshekwa Langa, Babylonia (2009), The Goodman Gallery
Nothing says contemporary art like Black enamel on disco ball.
Moshekwa Langa, Babylonia (2009), The Goodman Gallery
Banks Violette, Not yet titled (Light Spill), 2007 Fluorescent light fixtures, plexi-glass and aluminum, wood, epoxy 100 x 408 x 168 inches
Those who missed Banks Violette’s exhibition at Gladstone and Team Gallery over the summer of 2007 had another chance to view the piece at Basel this year. Steven Stern over at Frieze provides the best take on artist’s work I’ve read, so I’m providing an excerpt of his 2007 review below.
Embraced by Charles Saatchi, the Whitney Museum, fashion designers and glossy style magazines, Banks Violette famously finds inspiration in the mythos of a particular musical subculture: the Slovenian-style polka of the upper Midwest. He came by his intimate knowledge of this hermetic world during his years as a hardware store clerk and amateur trumpeter in Cleveland. Oh wait ”¦ sorry. I must have misread the press release or something. That should be 'Heavy Metal' rather than 'Slovenian-style, etc.'. For 'hardware store clerk' substitute 'tattoo artist'; for 'amateur trumpeter' read 'crystal-meth addict'. Also: Hawaii instead of Ohio.
OK, now we're talking. Because there are musical subcultures and then there are musical subcultures, right? And the kind of art world status that Violette has achieved seems to depend heavily on choosing the right one. Audiences who don't know any more about Slayer than they do about Frankie Yankovic probably have an idea which is conceptually sexier, which opens a path to darker and more interesting places. Or, to be more cynical about it, which makes for better magazine and catalogue copy.
To read the full piece, click here.
{ 19 comments }
Olafur Eliasson-esque?
McCall is Eliasson’s senior, fyi.
Olafur Eliasson-esque?
McCall is Eliasson’s senior, fyi.
Along similar lines to what Stern said, here is a photo of Banks Violette’s garage: http://www.tommoody.us/archives/2007/09/04/banks-violette/
Along similar lines to what Stern said, here is a photo of Banks Violette’s garage: http://www.tommoody.us/archives/2007/09/04/banks-violette/
Along similar lines to what Stern said, here is a photo of Banks Violette’s garage: http://www.tommoody.us/archives/2007/09/04/banks-violette/
@tonik. Hmmm, that was an unfortunate gap of knowledge.
@tonik. Hmmm, that was an unfortunate gap of knowledge.
@tonik. Hmmm, that was an unfortunate gap of knowledge.
Did anyone ever describe Eliasson’s weather project as McCall-esque? Doubtful, because no one knew who McCall was.
The Times Online did describe McCall’s work as Eliasson-esque, however:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3099792.ece
Did anyone ever describe Eliasson’s weather project as McCall-esque? Doubtful, because no one knew who McCall was.
The Times Online did describe McCall’s work as Eliasson-esque, however:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article3099792.ece
Tom, it doesn’t matter what the media says… i know who Anthony McCall is, and know you know who it is and the any Times, online, new york or otherwise, is a dubious source for art history at best. it’s not what they say, it’s what art history says, and artists write art history
so here’d an update: Mr. McCall is an artist who is gaining recognition for his work *late* in his career but his work stems from the same time as Robert Smithson, Richard Serra, Donald Judd, Robert Irwin, James Turrel, et al. and if you care then you’ll know that Olafur Eliasson percolates from there…
Tom, it doesn’t matter what the media says… i know who Anthony McCall is, and know you know who it is and the any Times, online, new york or otherwise, is a dubious source for art history at best. it’s not what they say, it’s what art history says, and artists write art history
so here’d an update: Mr. McCall is an artist who is gaining recognition for his work *late* in his career but his work stems from the same time as Robert Smithson, Richard Serra, Donald Judd, Robert Irwin, James Turrel, et al. and if you care then you’ll know that Olafur Eliasson percolates from there…
Tom, it doesn’t matter what the media says… i know who Anthony McCall is, and know you know who it is and the any Times, online, new york or otherwise, is a dubious source for art history at best. it’s not what they say, it’s what art history says, and artists write art history
so here’d an update: Mr. McCall is an artist who is gaining recognition for his work *late* in his career but his work stems from the same time as Robert Smithson, Richard Serra, Donald Judd, Robert Irwin, James Turrel, et al. and if you care then you’ll know that Olafur Eliasson percolates from there…
I didn’t know about McCall before this post of Paddy’s. It may be that because he got his start in the world of experimental film and wasn’t in NY or California in the 60s and 70s, he isn’t known as a member of the minimalist canon, where tonik and Sean Kelly gallery claim he belongs. It’s unfortunate he isn’t as famous as Olafur Eliasson but there you have it, and until he “owns” light-through-smoke-machine-smoke the way, say, Fred Sandback owns tightly stretched yarn, artists and writers perhaps shouldn’t be heckled for not assigning him his precise place in history. tonik’s zealous advocacy is noted and doubtless appreciated by the McCall revisionist camp.
I didn’t know about McCall before this post of Paddy’s. It may be that because he got his start in the world of experimental film and wasn’t in NY or California in the 60s and 70s, he isn’t known as a member of the minimalist canon, where tonik and Sean Kelly gallery claim he belongs. It’s unfortunate he isn’t as famous as Olafur Eliasson but there you have it, and until he “owns” light-through-smoke-machine-smoke the way, say, Fred Sandback owns tightly stretched yarn, artists and writers perhaps shouldn’t be heckled for not assigning him his precise place in history. tonik’s zealous advocacy is noted and doubtless appreciated by the McCall revisionist camp.
I didn’t know about McCall before this post of Paddy’s. It may be that because he got his start in the world of experimental film and wasn’t in NY or California in the 60s and 70s, he isn’t known as a member of the minimalist canon, where tonik and Sean Kelly gallery claim he belongs. It’s unfortunate he isn’t as famous as Olafur Eliasson but there you have it, and until he “owns” light-through-smoke-machine-smoke the way, say, Fred Sandback owns tightly stretched yarn, artists and writers perhaps shouldn’t be heckled for not assigning him his precise place in history. tonik’s zealous advocacy is noted and doubtless appreciated by the McCall revisionist camp.
i’m not a McCall advocate, so much as an art nerd. learn to read art, and all.
i’m not a McCall advocate, so much as an art nerd. learn to read art, and all.
i’m not a McCall advocate, so much as an art nerd. learn to read art, and all.
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