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Art Agenda

Paddy Johnson at Art Agenda: David Altmejd at Andrea Rosen Gallery

by Paddy Johnson on April 22, 2011
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I’m in the cyber-pages of Art Agenda again this week, reviewing David Altmejd’s latest show at Andrea Rosen. The show closes tomorrow, so if it piques your interest get on out there. An excerpt: “Property itself has become a more social endeavor,” Wired Magazine co-founder Kevin Kelly wrote three years ago. The now-famed blog post describes the […]

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Paddy Johnson at Art Agenda: Kai Althoff At Gladstone Presents Punkt, Absatz, Blümli” (period, paragraph, Blümli)

by Paddy Johnson on February 22, 2011
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There's something slightly strange about walking into an installation designed to look like a homemade living room in every way but the lighting. In the case of Kai Althoff at Gladstone Gallery, the cement floor painted bright yellow doesn't exactly scream domesticity either, but the artist has integrated enough interior design elements that the florescent lights hanging from the lowered ceiling is disconcerting. Why arrange a raised nappy rug, a series of paintings in the style of Otto Dix and George Grosz, and a dividing wall of painted plaster mugs as if they were part of a household if they are to be lit like a gallery object in”¦ a Subway sandwich store?

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Paddy Johnson at Art Agenda: The Mammoth Miami Fair Wrap-Up

by Paddy Johnson on December 7, 2010
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I discuss four Miami fairs: Basel, NADA, Pulse, and Seven. From the Basel write up: Affectionately referred to as the Borg ship amongst some bloggers, Basel’s floor plan is basically a large grid of white cubes inside the Miami Convention Center. This format has the ability to make all art look the same, and this year was no different: a rather stale viewing experience. As always, the Modern and postwar art booths are located at the front of the building, while contemporary settles for the back. Probably not such a bad layout tactic—but I expect this is a design holdover from ten years ago when dead artists brought in a lot more money.

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