Jeff WALL, The Crooked Path

Until Sep 11, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels hosts a promising exhibition, the Crooked Path, which mixes 25 photographs by Jeff Wall with other artists’ works, from Atget to more contemporary names such as Thomas Ruff or Mark Lewis. The show has been co-conceived by Jeff Wall, hence giving a fine view at the artist’s inspiration and references.

For those who can’t make it to Brussels, and even for those who can, I recommend viewing the one hour long conference given by Jeff Wall, who made a kind of “guided tour” of the exhibition (http://www.bozar.be/webpage_broadcastitem.php?broadc_id=1354). Wall speaks, in brilliant terms, of photography issues, such as the importance of scale, the role of artifice, or the distinction between documentary and literary approaches. On a more personal note, he comes back to his career beginnings as a minimal and conceptual artist (for the anecdote, Jeff Wall work was included in Lucy Lippard 557087 exhibition in 1969, almost ten years before his first light box image…). Among other references, Wall gives credits to other artists’ work, one fine example being Jean-Marc Bustamante Tableaux series, created as early as the end of the 70’s, all unique (as paintings “tableaux”, standing on their own), an underestimated gem in photography history.

Wade GUYTON, Black Paintings

In the art book world, good surprises are rather scarce these days. So let me seize the opportunity to signal (at last) an outstanding release: Wade Guyton’s Black Paintings, published by JRP Ringier. More than an illustrative project, it is a true artist book, for which everything (from the paper and binding to graphic design) seems to have been thought over in details.

As the publisher’s description states, “for this volume, Wade Guyton first had the book designed, and then printed it on the same ink-jet printers he used for his large-format serial prints on canvas. These pages were then scanned and printed by offset”. The result is that the physical object in itself corresponds well with Guyton’s approach, focused on imperfections. Even better, it is an extension of the work, on the same level than a printer’s drawing or a canvas.

With “Black Paintings” (not to mention the two publications made for Museum Ludwig and Vienna Secession), Wade Guyton clearly fulfills an ambition many contemporary artists are neglecting: making good artist’s books. It sheds a fine light on a very coherent body of work, making him much more than a hot speculative artist.
PS: the closest link I could find with another artist book is Christopher Wool’s Maybe Maybe Not, in which Wool included Polaroids of his paintings, photocopied and photocopied again. Obviously, making art in the age of mechanical reproduction is everyone’s challenge…

Images: courtesy JRP Ringier

Cory ARCANGEL, Photoshop Gradients

The first time I saw a Gradient print by Cory Arcangel was in 2009, during the Frieze Art Fair, on Max Wigram Gallery’s stand. And like many people, I found it extremely beautiful. An even larger example made a similar impact during the Younger than Jesus show in NY New Museum.
As I was already interested in Arcangel’s work (the videogame hacking pieces for instance), I wanted to know more and browsed the Internet blogs for comments or explanations, to find that these Gradient prints did not let people untouched, some claiming that it was pure genius, other stating it was crap. So what is it exactly ?

Gradient prints are easy: yes, everybody could do it in a few minutes. These images are made with Photoshop, using a straightforward treatment. This is exactly the point: technology is making it easier and easier, there is no pain associated with the creative process. To make it even clearer, the title gives the exact Photoshop filter used to create the image. In a way, Arcangel refuses to be an author, in the (almost romantic) sense of the term.

Gradient prints are beautiful: that seems to be a problem to some critics. Beauty is now suspicious, which here again is at the root of the idea. Cory Arcangel works are usually accessible, enjoyable. Technology can be a happy place. On the other hand, there is a satirical note: a simple Photoshop filter can make almost as good a job as many contemporary artists.

Gradient prints are big: this is perhaps the trickiest point. They’re big, so they can sell for big numbers, one could say. It is true that Arcangel’s Gradient prints are perfect trophy objects for the art market, all unique, big and scarce: which leads to the question, is this cynical ? In interviews, Arcangel states that he decided to begin the work when he saw the staggering quality of large digital prints, something which was unachievable a few years ago. The idea was to be use the full power of technology.

Those in Paris can probably make themselves a better opinion. Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery in Paris currently hosts a solo show by NY based artist Cory Arcangel (the show coincides with another solo exhibition in Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof), with four Gradient prints. And yes, they’re beautiful.

Illustration: Cory Arcangel, Photoshop CS: 84 by 66 inches, 300 DPI, RGB, square pixels, default gradient Blue, Red, Yellow, mousedown y=22100 x=14050, mouseup y=19700 x=1800, 2010
Unique C-print — Courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris/Salzburg

Clement RODZIELSKI, Cut Magazines

By cutting out parts of fashion magazines to create abstract compositions, the young French artist Clement Rodzielski reveals the way our clichés of comfort, beauty and dream are pervasively anchored in our readers’ minds. No information here – the titles and texts have been removed – except for bits of images from articles and advertisements. The most illustrative of these images are often views of wild nature, or decorated interiors, two fields that are now commonly associated with well-being. All this, of course, is (voluntarily) all the more fake than it is beautiful.

For those who can, some of Rodzielski’s cut magazines will be shown at Chantal Crousel booth during Artissima Fair.

Images: courtesy the artist.

Mohamed BOUROUISSA, Périphériques

I usually keep a bias towards cautiousness when considering the work of “hot new artists”. A few years, a real buzz surrounded Mohamed Bourouissa, a young photographer born in Algeria and living in France. He received the Voies Off prize at Rencontres d’Arles, and among other things, exhibited some of his “Périphériques” images in the “Younger than Jesus” New Museum show. What a start for an artist who just graduated from Paris’ Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs.
What is it about ? Briefly described, staged snapshots of street scenes in Paris suburbs, striking and beautiful at the same time. The influences are numerous, including of course Jeff Wall. At first impression, I was afraid of being manipulated: struck by no more than clichés of violent suburb areas.

Some time has passed by, and I would now more relate the Periphériques series to Paul Graham’s American night, which is a compliment in my mind. The work is more political than it may first appear to be. Bourouissa is voluntarily playing with social clichés of violence and minorities. People would have probably been waiting for a Nan Goldin type of photographer, with guts and instant snapshots. On the contrary, Bourouissa takes his time, precisely detailing his stages, and borrows his visual compositions from (now) traditional painters, such as Caravagio.
This political stance is even more obvious in his more recent work “Temps mort”, exhibited at Kamel Mennour Gallery. Bourouissa asked jailed acquaintances to take pictures in prison, here again following a precise mandate. Behind the prints, hidden to the view, the artist has inscribed SMS texts, his only link with his characters.

Images courtesy the artist & Mennour Gallery

Oliver SIEBER, Imaginary Club 2 & J_Subs

So far, I had mainly known Olivier Sieber's work from an Internet point of view, for instance through the Bohm/Kobayashi website, an independent publishing project Sieber co-founded with fellow artist Katja Stuke. In a few weeks time, however, I got the opportunity to have a look at several Bohm/Kobayashi books, two of them striking me as outstanding achievements: J_Subs, and Imaginary Club 2. Both are exquisitely printed, and elegantly designed. Full page illustrations, with vibrant yet cold colors, are the most beautiful I’ve seen in a while.

In his Imaginary Club series, Oliver Sieber focuses on people in search for their identity - and I would precise visual identity – whether they are punks, gothic or cosplayers among other marginal groups. The photographer has visited concerts and clubs (hence the title), places where he could find those extraordinary faces. The portraits are shot in a rather traditional composition, that could remind of Italian Renaissance portraits.
The same spirit goes on in J_Subs, though exclusively focused on Japanese characters, punks, rockabillys and psychobillys. The exploration of specific and marginal subcultures once again serves as an opportunity to engage into a visual investigation of contemporary identity.

SANAA & Walter NIEDERMAYR

In May, Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, a duo of architects known as SANAA, received the Pritzker Prize for architecture; which gives me the opportunity to focus on a long-term collaboration between Walter Niedermayr and SANAA. In a way that is quite reminiscent of the relationship between Thomas Ruff and Herzog&Meuron, Niedermayr has been working closely with the Japanese architects, in order to document SANAA’s projects, such as the Glass Pavilion in Toledo, the Moriyama House in Tokyo, or more recently, the New Museum in NY.
The collaboration works perfectly: the pale, almost abstract light that characterizes many of Nierdermayr’s images fits well with SANAA’s minimal buildings, that often play with transparency. It also gives a broader view of the Italian photographer’s talent, who got first known for his man-altered alpine landscapes.

Some of these pictures can be found in a book published in 2007 by Hatje Cantz. For those who make the trip to Copenhagen, the Danish Architecture Centre exhibits a selection of these photographs, until October 1st.