Don’t believe the hype about contemporary art | Art and design | guardian.co.uk

by Paddy Johnson on May 27, 2011 · 3 comments Fresh Links!

{ 3 comments }

Alex Carlill May 28, 2011 at 8:04 pm

not that Jones is a particularly worthwhile critic, but I think you’ve missed the point of this piece – he’s not saying that contemporary art is rubbish, just that, looking back at the proportion of artists from any given era that are considered “memorable”, the number of contemporary artists acclaimed as such now is probably an exaggeration… which is a fairly weak/useless point, but not a criticism of contemporary art per se or a claim that it’s less valuable than that of previous eras or movements.

Anonymous May 30, 2011 at 10:31 am

I get that this is the point — I just meant to demonstrate the weakness of this piece as a discussion point. In reality there is a lot to discuss when we talk about the state of contemporary. Very little new is being made right now, I’m seeing a lot of reliance on modernism (particularly in Europe), and I feel like part of that is a reflect of current curator taste. None of this comes up in that article though, which is really about nothing. Jones is too frequently a very lazy critic IMO.  

VIKTOR MITIC June 1, 2011 at 8:57 pm

Viktor Mitic
 
developed a distinctive and provocative method. Mitic makes a bold statement and uses a symbol of 21st century – a gun- as a method of creation. Using both celebrities and religious figures, such as Marilyn Monroe, Jesus and John F. Kennedy, he painted portraits onto canvas and then used more than one million rounds of ammunition and various guns to outline them. The project culminated in a show, documentary film and a book titled ‘Art or War’.
Mitic’s most recent series entitled ‘Rain’ creates an interesting partnership between our environment and art. The entire series was painted outdoors with oil paint, pigment and acid rain. The mixture of natural elements and paint create a truly unique series that showcases the beauty of nature’s contribution to the world of art and enables an unusual physical interaction between the two.
Rain series was first exhibited at the prestigious Muramatsu Gallery in Tokyo, Japan in 2008. In 2011, Mitic debuted a painting from the series, titled ‘Galaxy’ at The Koerner Hall in Toronto for the ‘AUTIST’ charity gala.
Viktor has recently had many successful solo and group shows of his paintings in Japan, Europe, Canada and most recently in the United States at the Armory show in NYC. Viktor Mitic lives in Toronto.
 
Viktor Mitic, a University of Toronto graduate, classically trained in art schools in Europe. Mitic has produced a major body of work that spans a career of over two decades. Mitic has successfully integrated various materials into his recent body of work: charcoal, graphite, oil, acrylic, watercolour, pen and ink, and Japanese traditional natural pigment.
Moved by the destruction of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan – ancient artwork created in the 6th century- he recently

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