Liz Goldner, Editor

CONTEMPORARY ART, AUGUST 24, 2009

Researching material for the Contemporary Art Dialogue newsletter is a journey around the country and the world – virtually. Here’s a sampling of art trends, theories, to exhibitions and interviews from the contemporary art world.

PSYCHEDELIC ART

The Denver Post writes about Brooklyn painter Fred Tomaselli whose works are at the Aspen Art Museum through October 11. The article says that his works have, "effusive colors, ornate patterns and turbo charged compositions." The artist says, "Maybe it's akin to a pop song. If you like the melody and the beat, maybe eventually you'll listen to the lyrics. But you don't listen to the lyrics initially — you have to love the song.”

His large paintings, many on wood, often incorporate leaves, pills, cutout photos of butterflies, hands and flowers from field guides, gardening catalogs, and magazines.

The Post article explains that the artist has been influenced by old masters, including Hieronymus Bosch and Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Another interesting aspect about Tomaselli’s works is that they incorporate pharmaceuticals, including marijuana leaves, as media. This conceptual approach might be aimed to get the viewer stoned –virtually.

In 2006, a New York Times critic called the artist, "contemporary art's most technically gifted purveyor of psychedelia." To read more about a time when psychedelic art was in the forefront, check out Woodstock 1969.

FULL TIME ARTIST FROM INDIA

A blog from India interviews artist Jatin Das, who has held over 50 solo exhibitions internationally and has had his works auctioned by Sotheby's, Christie's and others.

Das says, "An artist's journey is never-ending. I don't know how 50 years have gone by, but it appears like it happened the other day. I went to study art…in Bombay, at the best art school in the country… It was fertile ground for an aspiring painter. I worked hard day and night. I travelled widely across India and abroad. Wherever I went, I collected handicrafts, antiquities and curios. I am setting up the JDCA in Bhubaneswar to house my collection and also to create awareness about art. I dream of setting up an international quality state and national museum in Bhubaneshwar."

The following statement by Das is most interesting: "Anything, whether it is gardening, cooking, philosophy or music, can be a full-time vocation. It depends on what your inner journey is. It requires the recognition of the talent that you are born with. Today's generation that runs after instant coffee and two-minute noodles cannot flourish beyond a point. You cannot grow unless you pursue your inherent talent."

Jatin Das is a full-time working artist – which is sadly, too rare, in today’s art world. Yet, Andy Wing of Laguna Beach was another full-time working artist. You can read about him at: The Color Field Painting of Andy Wing

CONTEMPORARY ART IN MOSCOW

Another sign that Russia is continuing to strive to move into the 21st century is that a contemporary art museum is being built in Moscow.

A Moscow Times article states, "When the first Moscow Biennale opened in 2005, Mikhail Shvydko referred to contemporary art as 'bullshit' [or whatever the Russian equivalent of that word is]. Two years later, Alexandr Sokolov stepped in to prevent several politically charged works from leaving for an exhibition in Paris, infamously labeling the Blue Noses duo as 'Russia’s disgrace.'"

But Russia is changing its tune. In April, Alexander Avdeyev said. "We should have done a museum and state center of contemporary art 20 years ago.” He then promised the National Center for Contemporary Art director Mikhail Mindlin that "we will help you build a 17-story building for your center to replace its cramped two-story home."

Moscow is one of the few major world capitals without a major contemporary art museum. The city has five serious galleries, two small museums, and a recent growth in privately funded spaces such as Stella Kesaeva's eponymous foundation or Dasha Zhukova's Garage Center for Contemporary Culture – devoted to contemporary art.

The proposed museum is expected to include 25,000 square meters of floor space, a cinema, a café and other amenities. It is slated to open in 2015 at the earliest. To read more about contemporary art, check out our home page.

POSTMODERN ART

Postmodern art is often a controversial subject. In the following blog, the writer says that postmodern art is not so different from modern art.

She says, "Postmodernism is simply the term used to describe the movement that follows the modernist movement. Modernism is a movement in visual arts, music, literature, and drama, which rejected the old Victorian standards of how art should be made, consumed, and what it should mean. On a rough scale, the modernist movement concurred with the twentieth century.

"What is hard to judge is where postmodernism actually began in relation to the modernist movement ending. Mostly because they follow some of the same ideas. Postmodernism art favors simultaneity, fragmentation and discontinuity, emphasizing the need for things like structure and visual likeness to its subjects."

The writer then draws a distinction: "The difference between modernism and postmodernism loosely comes down to the fact that within modernism any distortion, fragmentation or change of human subjectivity is seen as a loss to the art."

She adds, "Modernism brought a new angle and broke down what was commonly perceived and accepted as art and mostly looked at philosophical, political, and ethical ideas which provide the basis for the aesthetic aspect of being 'modern.'

"As opposed to postmodernism which completely removes any barriers and does not have to conform to any ideologies or remain consistent in subject matter common to any predeceasing art forms.

In that sense, the writer agrees with some of the material on our postmodern art page.

LOOK FOR MORE ART TOURS AROUND THE WORLD NEXT WEEK!