Gauguin, Maker of Myth, Tate Modern

Borrowing to his Impressionist friends, Gauguin creates amazing paintings by mixing coloured touches. Between dream and earthly pleasures, they taste like paradise. The curators chose a thematic display: Sacred Themes, Fictions of Feminity, Taler of Tales,… aiming to show Gauguin as a Maker of Myth. He definitely is. I have been amazed by his Tahitian paintings, I embarked with the painter upon his journey, and it was difficult for me to leave the gallery. I am reading the catalogue whilst writing this post, and I would like to see these landscapes again, go back to 1890s Tahiti and look at these beautiful women surrounded by enchanted landscapes. Pink clouds, lilac mountains, quasi abstract water treatment, everything is absolutely beautiful. For sure, I shall soon go back to Tate to look at it again. Until January 16th 2011.

Empruntant à ses amis Impressionistes, par juxtaposition de touches colorées, Gauguin crée des oeuvres sublimes. Entre rêve et plaisirs terrestres, ses tableaux ont un goût de paradis. L’exposition a un accrochage thématique: Thèmes Sacrés, Fictions de Féminité, Raconteur d’Histoires… en vue de démontrer un Gaugin Faiseur de Myhte. Il l’est. J’ai été enchanté par sa période tahitienne, Gauguin m’a entrainé avec lui dans ses voyages, et il fut difficile pour moi de quitter l’expo. J’ai beau reparcourir le catalogue en rédigeant ces lignes, j’ai envie de revoir ces paysages, retourner au Tahiti de 1892, caresser du regard ces beautés lascives dans des décors incroyables. Nuages roses, montagnes lilas, traitement de l’eau quasi abstrait, tout est absolument beau. Je sais que je retournerai bientôt à la Tate pour contempler encore ces sublimes images. Je ne peux que citer Baudelaire, Harmonie du Soir:

Voici venir les temps où vibrant sur sa tige
Chaque fleur s'évapore ainsi qu'un encensoir;
Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir;
Valse mélancolique et langoureux vertige!

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/gauguin/default.shtm

Miroslaw Barka, How It Is, Tate Modern

Miroslaw Balka has installed his work in the Turbine Hall. You enter in a huge black container. You’re in the dark, with strangers, and you can hardly see anything. The artist invites the viewer in a slow motion dimension. Out of time and space, the waiting begins. Using the title of one of Samuel Beckett’s book, How It Is, the polish artist explores the same themes as the writer. Fear, wait, loneliness, are felt by the viewers during his journey on this particular stage. Drowned in this black void, you stand between the unknown, the darkness and the familiar, yourself. It’s impressive and unexpected. Until April 5th.

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/unilevermiroslawbalka/default.shtm

John Baldessari, Pure Beauty, Tate Modern

John Baldessari is a major conceptual artist living in Los Angeles. The show is a retrospective, including works from the 1960s to 2009. John Baldessari’s practice takes a new turn in 1970 with the Cremation Project, in which the artist burns his former works. He makes tabula rasa. The display pays tribute to the artist’s formal simplicity. Years after years, all his experiments seem to gather on his latest works, the mix of photographs and painting, the use of color, the mutiple frames. It is a very coherent whole. The exibition contrast with Pop Life, next door. John Baldessari’s practice differs from Warhol’s. The Californian artist intend to remove himself from the act of painting, by hiring a sign painter. He hides his face behind a hat for selfportraits, whereas the Newyorker spreads his signature as much as he can. In two opposite ways, both artists challenge the power of images. Tate plays contrast, and displays two radically different sides of today’s art.

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/johnbaldessari/default.shtm

Pop Life: Art In a Material World, Tate Modern

Is it a fair ? An auction ? The best selling artists are gathered at Tate Modern : Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Maurizio Cattelan,… Their works are worth millions. But the price is not the concept. In their practice, they play with the bounds between life categories. Is the artist’s life part of his work ? What’s the difference between art and design ? These are the kind of questions asked by the works on display. If modernity was keen on separating art/high from the masses/low, postmodernity flattens them. Art becomes accessible to everyone. If you couldn’t afford Takashi Murakami’s $100,000 Flower painting at Gagosian, you can always buy the stickers in the museum gift shop. Since it becomes more approachable, art is a part of everyday life and vice versa. As the TV screen on wich is shown Macy’s Thanksgiving parade, the material world is getting thinner. The rooms are sorted by artists. We start with Andy Warhol, again and again, then the followers. Keith Haring’s Pop Shop is open, you can buy badges and tee shirts. Martin Kippenberger’s 1993 exhibition in Centre Pompidou first room is reconstitued as well, Candidature à une Retrospective. The artists explore radically different ways and materials, however, selfportraits are numerous : Gavin Tuck, Ashley Bickerton, Jeff Koons, Andrea Fraser… Regarding artist’s role in the reign of pop, selfrepresentation is always a good way to say « I create, therefore I am ». I really liked the exibition. The atmosphere is exhilarating, the works are appealing : Takeshi Murakami’s Kanye Bear is absolutely kawaï, Hirts’s use of diamonds in Memories of/ Moments with you is amazing, Pruitt & Early’s room is gold painted and speakers play their music… It gives you really good vibes. Just like Alice, follow the Rabbit (the one on the poster).

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/poplife/default.shtm

Rodchenko and Popova, defining constructivism, Tate Modern

Once again, a great exhibition in the Tate. This one focuses on constructivism, especially on Aleksandr Rodchenko and Liubov Popova. After the russian revolution, the constructivist movement aims to change art and society. Art would be a way to create a ideal society. These artists wanted to improve real life through art. Then art could’nt be the same. There must be a breakdown, no more figuration, neither composition. Instead, we talk about construction. How do such committed artists reach their goal ? The first rooms show paintings and graphics works. The line becomes paramount in Rodchenko ‘s works, whereas Popova paints her Space-Force Construction series. They use ruler and compass, so as to erase the artist’s sensibility. Architecture appears as an intermediary between ideal aesthetics and real life. But for both artits, this desire is only reached in the theatre field. In 1920-21, Rodchenko creates his Hanging Spatial Constructions. He liberates the sculpture from the wall as the floor. Then, with Pure Red Colour, Pure Yellow Colour, and Pure Blue Colour, he liberates the oil from the representation. The raw pigments do not depict anything but coloured material. They become objects. Finally, the Constructivists work in the advertising field. They produce lots of posters, selling politics as biscuits. Their style becomes iconic of that period (1920-1924). It is in that way they enter in everyday life. They create an aesthetic matching the political changes and the new ideals. Today, this manner is still effective and dynamic. Russian revolutionists change the society, Russian constructivists define a striking style.

Version française. Encore une fois, une superbe exposition à la Tate. Celle-ci se concentre sur le constructivisme, particulièrement sur Aleksandr Rodchenko et Liubov Popova. Après la révolution russe, le mouvement constructiviste tend à changer l’art et la société. L’art serait un moyen de créer une société idéale. Ces artistes veulent améliorer le quotidien à travers l’art. Dès lors, l’art ne peut être le même. Il doit y avoir une rupture, plus de figuration, ni de composition. A la place, on parle de construction. Comment des artistes aussi engagés atteignent-ils leur but ? Les premières salles montrent des peintures et des dessins. La ligne devient primordiale dans les œuvres de Rodchenko, tandis que Popova peint sa série Space-Force Construction. Ils utilisent la règle et le compas afin d’effacer la sensibilité de l’artiste. L’architecture apparaît comme un intermédiaire entre les idéaux esthétiques et la vie quotidienne. Mais pour les deux artistes, ce désir sera comblé seulement dans le champ théâtral. En 1920-21, Rodchenko sculpte ses Hanging Spatial Constructions. Il détache la sculpture du mur comme du sol. Ensuite, avec Pure Red Colour, Pure Yellow Colour, et Pure Blue Colour, il libère la peinture de la representation. Les pigments ne représentent rien d’autre qu’un matériau coloré. Ils deviennent des objets. Finalement, les constructivistes travaillent pour la publicité, vendant des biscuits comme de la politique. Leur style est iconique de cette période (1920-1924). C’est un moyen d’entrer dans le quotidien. Ils créent une esthétique correspondant aux changements politiques, aux nouvelles idées. Aujourd’hui, cette touche est toujours efficace et dynamique. Les révolutionnaires russes changent la société, les constructivistes russes définissent un style marquant.

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/rodchenkopopova/default.shtm