Teilen
English summary August 25 - 31
Tate Modern: Cy Twombly – Cycles and Seasons
Monumental scribbles
In the centre of Cy Twombly’s retrospective at the Tate Modern are his cycles: works that had once received most contradictory reviews. In 1964 Donald Judd published a negative discourse about Twombly’s solo exhibit at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York, while in 1983 Roland Barthes essays on Twombly’s oeuvre are among the best he has ever written. The now 80year old American artist has an exceptional position in the canon of art history. In Italy, far away from the dominant American art of Abstract Expressionism, of Pop and Minimal Art, he developed his unique picture language of gestures and signs – positioned somewhere between painting, graphics, and writing. Encoded messages and text fragments deeply rooted in mythology, poetry, and classic literature are closely connected to the passing of time. In The Italians (1961) enigmatic scribbles refer to body parts: breasts, phalli, blood, and semen, covered by multiple layers of colour. Cryptic language fragments and ciphers focus on language and its inherent (in)ability of articulation. Barthes described Twombly’s probing of linguistic borders, going beyond them, and adding additional references, as “baits of meaning”, which Twombly flings at the viewers. Good examples of this are the monumental seasons’ cycles (1992 – 1996) titled Primavera, Estate, Autumno, and Inverno, in which he conveys the four life cycles.
In combination with the composition of the painting, text fragments by Rainer Maria Rilke and Giorgos Seferis evolve into lyrics.
At last the theatrical finale: three of his latest works from the eight-piece series: Bacchus, Psilax, Mainomenos (2005) which Twombly created after focusing on Homer’s Ilias. He transposes Bacchus’ ambivalent nature into vermillion, the colour of blood and wine, and in an orgiastic gesture of euphorically ascending scribbles and loops, he creates a unique and flowing painting technique. The monumental dimension of these sanguine and monochrome works creates a sacral atmosphere of this choreographed installation. Undoubtedly the late works of the 80-year old deserve respect.
Tate Modern
SE1 9TG London, Bankside, until 14. 09. 08
www.tage.org.uk/modern
Kunsthistorisches Museum: Additions, acquisitions of the Art History Museum 1990 – 2008
A kind of résumé?
“Additions, acquisitions 1990 – 2008” is a presentation of those works, which have been added to the collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM) during the Era of Director Seipel. And as he points out: a museum that does not make acquisitions (either in the form of additions or buybacks) disregards the law as well as the instructions of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). According to estimates, the KHM additions and acquisitions of the past 18 years are worth more than eight million Euros.
Among the selection of about 150 pieces, which are being exhibited until November, is the Sphinx, whose acquisition raised a lot of dust. Among the buybacks are Emperor Maximilian's II rose petal set, which was probably stolen by the French in 1805, and a small painting by Lucas van Valckenborch “Imperial walk in the woods at Neugebäude Palace”. Valuable instruments were donated by Evelyn and Herbert Axelrod, and another private collector, Rudolf von Strasser, made both donations and sold some of his treasures; among them 300 glasses.
But there were also some subtractions – in the form of restitutions. But one of the ten paintings – the portrait of Graf Sinzendorf – a restitution made to Bettina Looram-Rothschild, was given back to the museum as a gift.
Kunsthistorisches Museum
1010 Vienna, Burgring 5, until 02.11.08
www.khm.at
Salzburger Kunstverein: Gülsün Karamustafa
The kaleidoscope of identities
Gülsün Karamustafa’s work shown at the Salzburger Kunstverein could have been more opulent, extensive and thereby more diverse. Over the past three decades the artist’s work has been circling around aspects of identity, migration and cultural nomadism of the Turkish society - in a broad kaleidscopical synopsis of poetry and social criticism. The artist, who was born in Ankara in 1946, in the past years mainly concentrated on the narrative possibilities of video taking a clear look at what is going on beyond the “surface” of normative Turkish everyday life.
The topics of her videos are manifold: she interviews former inmates and workers from Moldavia, conveys the social history of Istanbul’s colourful traffic junction Taksim, or shows touching close-ups of weeping Turkish businessmen. The wit and diversity of Gülsün Karamustafa’s work is surprising; after all, her passport had been confiscated for 16 years because of her critical stance against the authoritarian Turkish regime. During this time she dealt with Naïve art, conceptualised textile installations or initiated projects such as her 100-Dollar flea markets.
The colourful and culturally heterogeneous life of the East-West-mega city Istanbul forms part of the richness of Karamustafa’s work. She ironically comments on the position of the Turkish woman, who is wedged between the contradictory positions of Kemalist modernism and traditional attributions.
Fashion and Kitsch are therefore naturally also among the features taken up in her artwork. The Salzburg Kunstverein shows a three-part video installation titled “Tailor Made”, which was produced at an amateur fashion show in Istanbul. In the large exhibition hall her most recent project “The City and the Secret Panther Fashion” is presented. This colourful installation consisting of a video, photographs, video stills, and changing rooms, gives an insight into the underground Panther-fashion in Istanbul. Once again, this exhibit clearly shows that a number of great contemporary female artists are still not adequately represented. Congratulations to the Salzburger Kunstverein - please continue in this direction.
Salzburger Kunstverein, Künstlerhaus
5020 Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstrasse 3, until 14. 09. 08
www.salzburger-kunstverein.at
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum: Bernard Leitner – Pulsating silence
In the sound-roller coaster
A wooden spoon is incessantly beating onto a metal pot. The sound flows over the back of your arms, over your head and down to your legs. Suddenly a buzzing sound from all sides – tinny and vibrant. Goose bumps. Close your eyes and place your feet on the markings of Bernhard Leitner’s “Sound-Suit” (1975), and - despite the technology used dates back to the 70s - you will experience a sound-theatre with Dolby-Surround Sound quality. Now the “Sound-Suit” hangs lifelessly on the wall of the Tiroler Landesmuseum, seemingly defying Leitner’s original purpose of designing it for lively performances. A remarkably simple but effective construction: a cloth draped with a net and four loudspeakers placed under Plexiglas domes.
Bernhard Leitner, born 1938 in Feldkirch, moved to New York in 1968 and was an Austrian pioneer in the New York art scene. Music-guru John Cage was his great inspiration to create new sound dimensions. Leitner, who had studied architecture, provides a spatial dimension to sound. One can even swing on his creations, as for example on his “Sound-Swing” (1975/76).
Illustrations and black and white photographs represent valuable side products of his continued research of sound space. In his sound space sculpture “Serpentinata” (2008) the artist utilizes digital sound technology, and with the help of curved plastic tubes makes the movement of sound visible. Numerous small loudspeakers along the tubes transmit the sonance. “Come and take a ride in the sound roller coaster!” But after a while the initially pleasing tones become unbearable. “Where is the exit?” an irritated tourist asks. Sound-art is truly not a Sunday concert.
Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum
6020 Innsbruck, Museumstrasse 15, until 07. 09. 08
www.tiroler-landesmuseum.at
Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville
 |
|
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
