Andy's Birthday

 Yesterday would have been (by most reports) Andy Warhol (a)'s 92nd Birthday.

More I find out about the artist the more I'm conflicted as to how I feel about Andy and his work - undoubtedly he's cast a shadow over Art and celebrity as we now view it and the story he brings of the American success story continues to resonate 

I went to the Tate Modern exhibition ahead of 'Lockdown' and did find quite a lot of work that was impressive  (along with some  curious memorabilia- like wigs).

 

 

The Sad Story of 'Boom for Real' Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

A Ticket to see

I think I've seen some of Jean-Michel Basquiat's work at the Saatchi Gallery before and certainly heard his name mentioned by others so decided to visit exhibition of his work at the Barbican Gallery.

It's a big exhibition with a lot to see including a full length film that he was in (it includes Debbie Harry too) - so if you're going allow enough time.

No longer with us

Basquiat was part of the flowering of an American/New York  rebirth in the late 70's/80's where Keith Haring Fab 5 Freddy and others started to bring work from the street to the attention of galleries and collectors (as well as Andy Warhol).

Early recognition of his gifts meant that he was able to pursue his own passions and he was the epitome of (and listed as in Wikipedia list!) an Auto-Didact.

What came out of the exhibition though for me was something of a rather confused body of work - so sad that Jean- Michel's life was not longer and he was unable to fully realise his early potential and  promise.

UK TV and US Consolidation 

Changes in the US TV market as customers increasingly 'cut their cords' means that Discovery TV has been able to  complete an agreement for merger with Scripps Network.

Discovery TV which has one of the highest paid bosses in the world has performed poorly over recent years and failed to make the strategic changes needed as it is outmanoeuvred by new players like Netflix and Amazon TV.

The repercussions are likely to be felt at UK TV where the BBC's commercial arm mulls over taking full control of UK TV (where Scripps was a major shareholder) - this though is small fry in the mega business that TV has now become. 

UK TV is one of a number of 'second level' TV operations reliant for audiences  on BBC TV re-runs.

It would indeed be sad if Publicly owned  TV was so far weakened that all commercial TV needed to care about was the bottom line - it is (I still think) more important than that -time will tell

Second week of Intro to Tate Modern and at home to (39)

What I like about the Tuesday morning Intro to Tate Course (CityLit) is how absolutely packed it is with 'stuff'  - and at the end of it you've got things to think about and follow up - 17 of us this week and I think too many more would be a challenge in such a busy exhibition space.

Untitled by Rudolf Stingle (1993)

We started at the same point as we had the previous week on the fourth floor but what I and (and I think others) had not observed is that this itself was a 'work'.

In fact this work has already challenged my distaste for the 'Untitled' label - what would/could you call it? It's this or the minimal Orange Carpet I suppose.

The work allows the viewer to engage and make a mark  - reminding me of those early cave paintings but I suppose it's a touch of subversion too in what many of use take as a sombre viewing experience.

Seems the artist Rudolf Stingle has a bit of history of these works - CarpetRight anyone?

We took a look at Mondrian's works too and it generally on closer observation felt more complex than a quick look would suggest -I remain amused about his falling out with a colleague who started doing some non linear work (although he started in a representational style) .

Sparse even by Mondrian's standard

And with added Blue and Yellow

And nearby building reminded me of the 'De Stijle' style too 

We took a look at works by important America 'pop Artists' Andy Warhol and Ed Ruscha too

A variety of prints of an Electric Chair 

Another  famous work by Andy 

Andy gave good quote too and Ed used (and uses) text .

An example of the man's words

Ed Ruscha  uses words in his works

As well as  Pop we had a look at some interventionist works as well as (perhaps) conceptual (isn't it all?).

Parthenon of books by Marta Minujin - it's about Argentina and made from books  that were banned during the junta time there

And nearby two works about Coca-Cola their appropriation of  a font (Antony Caro)  and printing slogans on mass produced cultural symbols (Cido Miereles) .

A bit out of character for Caro?

Look at the words added 

How are photographs of intervention viewed as Art - does a photograph stand in effectively?

Salt Flat (1968) And a  Directed Harvest (1966)  both  by Dennis Oppenheim 

These two I find aesthetically pleasing and interesting as (perhaps) a reference to some of the Walking Art of this period.

After this we spent some time in the Switch looking at work which I again would characterise as being about materials (more about this later).

Clocking in at £52 21

At this weeks visit we also asked ourselves about the White Cube gallery concept - walls that do not intrude or comment on the work - seems a white floor too would be excessive and they're generally neutral and in case of Tate Modern Wood.

Front Doors (all roads lead home)

As they say and here it does..

Said to have been used by Steptoe & Son

The Old Front Door looks the same