Blaise Bulletin

Ai Weiwei’s Beijing

blaise — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:42:05 +0000

I found Ai’s piece in Newsweek to be the epitome of bravery and truth. Just had to re-print it as a gesture of solidarity and support:

Beijing is two cities. One is of power and of money. People don’t care who their neighbors are; they don’t trust you. The other city is one of desperation. I see people on public buses, and I see their eyes, and I see they hold no hope. They can’t even imagine that they’ll be able to buy a house. They come from very poor villages where they’ve never seen electricity or toilet paper.

Every year millions come to Beijing to build its bridges, roads, and houses. Each year they build a Beijing equal to the size of the city in 1949. They are Beijing’s slaves. They squat in illegal structures, which Beijing destroys as it keeps expanding. Who owns houses? Those who belong to the government, the coal bosses, the heads of big enterprises. They come to Beijing to give gifts—and the restaurants and karaoke parlors and saunas are very rich as a result.

Beijing tells foreigners that they can understand the city, that we have the same sort of buildings: the Bird’s Nest, the CCTV tower. Officials who wear a suit and tie like you say we are the same and we can do business. But they deny us basic rights. You will see migrants’ schools closed. You will see hospitals where they give patients stitches—and when they find the patients don’t have any money, they pull the stitches out. It’s a city of violence.

For a man imprisoned and conditionally released, neither neighbors nor strangers nor Beijing’s officials nor courts can be trusted., Chien-Chi Chang / Magnum Photos

The worst thing about Beijing is that you can never trust the judicial system. Without trust, you cannot identify anything; it’s like a sandstorm. You don’t see yourself as part of the city—there are no places that you relate to, that you love to go. No corner, no area touched by a certain kind of light. You have no memory of any material, texture, shape. Everything is constantly changing, according to somebody else’s will, somebody else’s power.

To properly design Beijing, you’d have to let the city have space for different interests, so that people can coexist, so that there is a full body to society. A city is a place that can offer maximum freedom. Otherwise it’s incomplete.

I feel sorry to say I have no favorite place in Beijing. I have no intention of going anywhere in the city. The places are so simple. You don’t want to look at a person walking past because you know exactly what’s on his mind. No curiosity. And no one will even argue with you.

None of my art represents Beijing. The Bird’s Nest—I never think about it. After the Olympics, the common folks don’t talk about it because the Olympics did not bring joy to the people.

There are positives to Beijing. People still give birth to babies. There are a few nice parks. Last week I walked in one, and a few people came up to me and gave me a thumbs up or patted me on the shoulder. Why do they have to do that in such a secretive way? No one is willing to speak out. What are they waiting for? They always tell me, “Weiwei, leave the nation, please.” Or “Live longer and watch them die.” Either leave, or be patient and watch how they die. I really don’t know what I’m going to do.

My ordeal made me understand that on this fabric, there are many hidden spots where they put people without identity. With no name, just a number. They don’t care where you go, what crime you committed. They see you or they don’t see you, it doesn’t make the slightest difference. There are thousands of spots like that. Only your family is crying out that you’re missing. But you can’t get answers from the street communities or officials, or even at the highest levels, the court or the police or the head of the nation. My wife has been writing these kinds of petitions every day, making phone calls to the police station every day. Where is my husband? Just tell me where my husband is. There is no paper, no information.

The strongest character of those spaces is that they’re completely cut off from your memory or anything you’re familiar with. You’re in total isolation. And you don’t know how long you’re going to be there, but you truly believe they can do anything to you. There’s no way to even question it. You’re not protected by anything. Why am I here? Your mind is very uncertain of time. You become like mad. It’s very hard for anyone. Even for people who have strong beliefs.

This city is not about other people or buildings or streets but about your mental structure. If we remember what Kafka writes about his Castle, we get a sense of it. Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.

Exhibiting: A Social Experiment

blaise — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 03:53:11 +0000

We’re pleased to be turning over our Watermill exhibition space, The Old Stone Boys Club, to Chelsea’s Salomon Contemporary for a limited-run pop-up show. Take a look, and stop by next week…

Artists choose Artists
A Social Experiment
organized by Charlotte Kidd and James Salomon

Old Stone Boys Club
938 Montauk Highway, Water Mill
Friday 19 August – Sunday 21 August 2011, open 11am – 8pm
Reception for the artists: Friday 19 August, 6 – 8pm
(This exhibition runs for one weekend only)
Directions: >> www.osbch.com <<

A Social Experiment will present the work of six New York artists
alongside one artist of their choosing:

Hunter Barnes with Rebecca Schiffman
Jamie Diamond with Jeff Fichera
Joey Frank with Dustin Yellin
John Gordon Gauld with Rosalie Stone Morris
Nir Hod with Christina Kruse
Wilmot Kidd with Jesse Langille
Jane Moseley with Paige Mead

The exhibition runs concurrently with Artists Choose Artists at the Parrish Art Museum where seven distinguished East End artists serve as jurors, each making two selections from online submissions and studio visits. Artists include Alice Aycock with Kryn Olson and Mike Solomon, Ross Bleckner with Renate Aller and Mary Ellen Bartley, Dan Rizzie with Ross Watts and Tad Wiley, Matthew Satz with Terry Elkins and Liliya Lifanova, Gary Simmons with Perry Burns and Melinda Hackett, Agathe Snow with Alice Hope and Nella Khanis, and Frank Wimberley with Fulvio Massi and Julie Small-Gamby.

The opening reception for Artists Choose Artists will be at the Parrish Art Museum Saturday, 20 August at 7pm. >> www.parrishart.org <<

For an additional information please contact James Salomon at (917) 617-0828 or via email at james@salomoncontemporary.com.

Exhibiting Lautaro Cuttica Driftwood Equine Sculptures

blaise — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 05:08:20 +0000

We’re proud to be exhibiting an iconic life-size sculpture by prodigal artist Lautaro Cuttica at our Hamptons exhibition space. On view until the third week of August, this work has become the artist’s hallmark, fashioned out of locally sourced driftwood into an equine form. Please contact Blaise + Co. for private sale inquiries.

Lautaro is the 23-year-old son of Buenos Aires-born artist Eugenio Cuttica. Currently studying at Cooper Union, as did his older brother and sometimes collaborator Franco, Laurato’s monumental sculptures have become renowned on the East End for using a mysterious organic material to imbue the horse form with a sense of delicate majesty. As Sag Harbor Express reporter Annette Hinkle wrote last year: “Lautaro likes the way the driftwood gives form and brings life to the horses. ‘It has time embedded in it,’ he says. ‘You can see that. It has a round shape and this makes it easier to fit together with other pieces. It puts fluidity in the horse.’”

_________________

Perhaps you’ve seen them around. They’re tall. They’re majestic. And they’re made entirely of driftwood.

They are the wooden horse sculptures of Lautaro Cuttica of East Hampton. There’s one living at the EECO Farm’s stand on Long Lane in East Hampton and some on the lawn of the Cuttica family house and studio on Newtown Lane. In Sag Harbor, Romany Kramoris Gallery currently boasts a mare and foul pairing. There are also any number of residents who have taken notice and bought them for their homes.

Lautaro, a 22 year old thesis student at Cooper Union, comes from an artistic family. Though he built the first horse sculpture as a romantic gesture, these days, his studies keep him so busy that making horses is now a family enterprise. Father, Eugenio, an accomplished painter also with work at Kramoris Gallery, creates the faces, while brother, Franco, 20, who is just starting at Cooper Union himself, focuses on building the bodies.

“He pretty much took over the whole thing this year,” says Lautaro of his brother. “I wanted to let him work on it so I could make some paintings in my studio.”

The Cutticas are originally from Argentina. The family moved to the U.S. when Lautaro was nine for political and economic reasons. While father Eugene discovered his artistic passion over the course of a lifetime, for Lautaro, art has been ingrained since day one.

“Art is in my blood. It’s part of my upbringing,” says Lautaro. “If it wasn’t, I don’t know who I would be.”

“Sometimes with artistic parents I feel it can be difficult,” he adds. “I was put into art very naturally, while my father found it through his own motivation as a safe haven from a volatile family. It’s my starting point, which he found. It’s so akin to me that sometimes I can lose track of my objectives.”

But Lautaro is very clear that he’s one of those people for whom art is a commodity. Though he likes the fact that people see value in art, it’s still important that his work come from an authentic place. That was certainly the case with the first driftwood horse which he made for his girlfriend when he was 15.

“I wanted to give her something to make her feel indebted to me and stay longer, but she broke up beforehand,” says Lautaro. “I was ready to burn the sculpture in effigy for her. But my father put it on the lawn instead and in three days it sold for $3,000. I thought maybe there’s something in this.”

“It was scheme. That’s what it was,” says Lautaro. “Now I’m the one laughing.”

He adds that the quality of sculptures has improved greatly in the years since. While he has been commissioned to create other animals, including a deer head suitable for mounting and a full size bull, the horse remains the focus.

“I think the horse is the most pleasant, beautiful animal probably,” he says.

But before the horse comes the driftwood, and the Cutticas spend a lot of time scavenging local beaches for material (last weekend’s storm provided a bonanza) and after organizing it by shape, color and potential body part, the building process begins.

“We build several horses at once,” explains Lautaro. “It’s similar to Henry Ford and the assembly line. If you’re building one horse and need a piece, you’re looking all over the yard for the piece that works. But if you see a neck piece that’s good and you’re building five horses, you can use it where it fits.”

Franco, a 2008 Ross School graduate, began helping with the sculptures two or three years ago, at first as a hobby. He feels that building the sculptures has helped shape his own artistic career, and is now starting his freshman year in architecture at Cooper Union.

“Recently, what has changed my artistic senses is mostly architecture,” says Franco. “I trained at Pratt for a year. Architecture is a lot of rigor, working hard and putting thought into your work. Now the driftwood horses are turning out better, my drawing and anything else I do is better. It’s very demanding to practice architecture, but that control is very useful.”

“There’s an engineering aspect to horse building,” adds Franco. “It’s like making models for architecture.”

Hosting Grey Area in the Hamptons

blaise — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 04:01:20 +0000

Earlier this month we had the pleasure of handing over our Watermill exhibition space to our friends Manish Vora and Kyle De Woody as they intrepidly constructed the first of many pop-up shops for their new online venture, Grey Area. As an online shop for Contemporary artist-designed objects, Grey Area aims to embrace that blurred line between art and object by showcasing items such as jewelry, furniture, and limited editions by well-known and emerging artists. My favorite part of supporting this project was getting to know some amazing new talents over the delights of a po’ boy and sweet tea food truck, and a kissing booth. Lower East Side gallerist Allegra LaViola brought the ever-charming Sarah Kurz to tempt collectors and shoppers with her artistic offerings, which were, in this case, her delightfully pink-painted lips puckered up for an artistic smooch or two. Equally playful were artists Jennifer Catron and Paul Outlaw’s old-school cajun food truck, conveniently parked behind the casually at home Aaron Young Tire Swing. Artist Anne Koch added a layer of confident mystery with her ephemeral yet playful video work, and ever-fabulous fashion, exhibiting artist Peter Dayton snatched up a set of cigarette lighters by Tom Sachs. Taking full advantage of their captive audience of weekending collectors, the Grey Area team planned several evenings of unique programming for the Whitney Contemporaries, The Contemporaries, and the Watermill Center. Thanks to signage manufactured by John Doffing on the utterly unique Walls360 material (the same which artist Damon Johnson painted on for our March 2011 exhibition, The Beautiful Chaos: A Style Installation), everyone between Manhattan and Montauk knew to come check out the pop-up for limited edition Zaha Hadid sandals, Elizabeth Peyton beach towels, and Shelter Serra fake Rolex watches. While you patiently wait for the forthcoming pop-up locations in Los Angeles, Miami, and every fashionable art mecca in between, satiate your need for discovering utterly cool objets d’art at www.ShopGreyArea.com.

The Collector Series

blaise — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 15:00:29 +0000

Last week Blaise + Co. launched The Collector Series, a new members group for emerging art enthusiasts which we formed in partnership with Company. The group will consist of collectors, artists, curators, critics and art-world aficionados invited to come together several times a year at a private party, where they’ll be exposed to a new emerging artist and enjoy a related discussion before delving into, naturally, some delicious cocktails. Many of us are already members of various museum and collector groups, but after a while they just don’t do the trick; unless the programming and guests are perfectly picked, they can become quite rote. Learning about art is all about exploration and discovery, and should encourage you to roam a bit out of your aesthetic comfort zone while meeting some new like-minded friends. We’re going to shake things up a bit with The Collector Series by reinvigorating the art world with the spirit of artistic adventure. This inaugural gathering highlighted the work of four new media artists who are making quite the impression on the New York art scene thanks to their innovative mode of manipulating high technology into creative expression. One of the most enjoyable aspects of planning The Collector Series launch was bringing these artists together to show their work to a new audience, in the perfect environment. Luckily for us, the exquisite video-painting exhibited by Jason Varone is unfettered by the gallery system and available for private sale. My curatorial participation in this project was a fantastic way to introduce friends and colleagues to Jason’s work. Speaking of curatorial practices, thank you to Company for showcasing Blaise + Co. as their first Curator, where I combed through the Market offerings to hand-pick a cohesive collection. I even added a work for sale by London-based print maker Sara J. Beazley to the mix.

Dispatch from ArtMRKT Hamptons

blaise — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:00:18 +0000

Earlier this month we stopped by ArtMRKT, the latest in Contemporary art fairs to hit the July jet set version of Manhattan – the Hamptons. While selling a luxury good to rich folk gathered on the east end of Long Island is akin to shooting fish in a barrel, I was curious to see how ArtMRKT would fair debuting only one week after it’s competitor ArtHamptons set up shop for the fourth consecutive year. Intrigue is only peaked, of course, when one learns that ArtMRKT Managing Director Max Fishko used to work for ArtHamptons founder Rick Friedman. We could delve into those details, but why focus on the drama when we’re sure to stumble upon another art world tella novella tomorrow? Let’s do something novel and focus on the artwork itself. For those of you who couldn’t make it out to Long Island to check out ArtMRKT, here’s a sampling of the art shown. What do you think? (Of the art work, not fabulous gallerist Zev Eisenberg modeling my sunnies.)

Get Yours!

blaise — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:58:20 +0000

I come across so many calls for artists that I actually think not that many artists – at least those whom I know or work with – are aware of. Many are kind of worthless, a bunch are absolute gems, and a few are just begging for a submission from any of the many talented artists whose names I could rattle off. Gathering all of these listings and organizing them into something you can actually be bothered to drudge through, well, sucks. But nothing is worst than a lost opportunity! Our Opportunity Listing helps artists to avoid such a pity by emailing them a monthly listing of calls for submissions and other participatory opportunities. Being a professional artist is no joke! It’s damn difficult to get your work out there in the public sphere, or to even motivate to attempt such an annoyance when you’d probably just like to hunker down in your studio and do some actual creating. Unfortunately, it’s a necessary evil if you want to earn a living as a fine artist. Why not make it a little easier on yourself? Here is just one of the many availabilities – this one for photographers – which you as an artist should at the very least be aware of:

The Politics of (e)mergence

blaise — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 15:00:25 +0000

I love reading about the successes and accomplishments of a fellow Chapin School alumna, in particular when she has helped to pave the way for professionals such as myself. I especially love reading about these achievements when I’ve already had the pleasure of hearing about them months before, while still in the planning stages. Even better? Getting my preview of these fabulous plans from the creator herself! This past winter Helen Allen Smith, founder of PULSE art fair, was nice enough to take an afternoon to meet me for coffee. Having graduated from the same prep school in New York, she very kindly agreed to let me pick her Contemporary art-infused brain over espresso. We chatted about my background and her own experience, and the trials and tribulations of working for yourself, but the highlight was getting hear of her soon-to-be-hatched plans to launch Washington D.C.’s first emerging art fair, (e)merge. While I can’t spill the beans on the ideas Helen generously shared with me over coffee, I can point you toward her recent article on Artinfo, where you can gather all the details on the fantastic panels, programing, and opportunities for under-represented artists to step up and show their talent. exhibitors – galleries, non-profits, and artists – will be vetted by a panel of art world impresarios including Yvonne Force Villareal, collector Mera Rubell (owner of the fair’s venue The Capitol Skyline Hotel), and artist Nico Vascellari. Artists – GO FOR IT and apply! As for the rest of you – will I be seeing you this September in D.C.?!

Announcing the July Host of Collaborate

blaise — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:22:01 +0000

WHAT?
COLLABORATE is an online forum for international emerging artists to connect with one another as they navigate their careers. Artists use COLLABORATE as a valuable tool to integrate themselves with their peers, share ideas, and get feedback. Any artist can participate in this virtual space, which is completely free of cost or obligation, by simply requesting a log-in name.

WHO?
Each month, COLLABORATE is hosted by a different art world influencer who facilitates the dialogue by posting discussion topics and holding live chat sessions. We’re proud to have UK-based artist CHANTAL POWELL as our July guest host! Chantal’s engaging installations are informed by her Ph.D on the psychology of human relationships, and have been most notably exhibited at the 53rd and 54th Venice Biennales. Her work often draws on a sense of nostalgia, as she is interested in exploring the fragility of the private moments that shape our lives. Well-suited to lead this month’s dialogue, Chantal’s work is frequently the product of collaborative efforts with fellow artists.

WHY?
Blaise + Co. is a creative business development specialist catering to emerging artists. We provide professional artists with an alternative to the traditional gallery system by curating exhibitions and offering a menu of strategic services. COLLABORATE is our gesture of appreciation of the artists to reinforce our commitment to, and understanding of, their industry.

WHEN?
The conversation is going on right now! Since the March launch, participating artists have furthered their creative processes and professional careers by engaging in the dialogue.

WHERE?
COLLABORATE lives right here on the Blaise + Co. website. Check in regularly to see what everyone’s talking about!

Dispatch from ArtHamptons

blaise — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:13:03 +0000

This past Thursday I attended the vernissage of ArtHamptons, the East End’s leading post-war and Contemporary art fair, now in it’s fourth year. Last year’s iteration was fantastic, and I was happy to have met president Rick Friedman at the opening of my own exhibition of works by Puerto Rico-based artist Felix Bonilla Gerena, Loves of Bajura. Himself a collector of 20th Century American art, with a special love for Abstract Expressionist works, Mr. Friedman has a keen eye and understanding for what the collector visitor wants to experience in an art fair. Set-up just a few minutes from my family’s home in Bridgehampton’s Sayre Park, this year’s opening night was a great opportunity to soak up the latest offerings from approximately sixty galleries visiting from Soeul, Boston, and everywhere in between. Benefiting East Hampton’s own Long House Reserve sculpture garden, this preview evening kicked-off the flood of 10,000 expected visitors over the fair’s run. It’s fascinating for me to visit an art fair, of course to broaden my own aesthetic horizons and learn about some new talent, but also to observe how that particular fair is a reflection of it’s particular market. I love to take notice of the cities from which the galleries visit, which artists seem to reappear from the 2010 fair, which artists I also saw at NADA and Scope in Miami this past December, the size and positioning of certain dealers’ booths, and of course aesthetic trends. I noticed a slight pick-up in Lucien Freud-esque painterly works executed in earthy and seemingly light-saturated tones, well suited to the famous East Hampton and Montauk sunlight which infused artists from Eric Fischl to Julian Schnabel. On perhaps the opposite end of the spectrum, wall-mounted sculptures of neon-light tube text are always an ever-popular Tracy Emin-like addition with the fashion-conscious collector set. Not surprisingly, the same collector base is always easily enamored of logo-based artwork, such as a mixed-media piece showcasing the Chanel symbol (which we also noted at last year’s NADA in Miami with crystal-studded large-than-life sculptures of a Starbucks cup, for instance. Both of these booths were overflowing with interest). East Hampton’s own Eric Firestone Gallery seemed to garner fairly significant interest with a booth comfortably installed with “edgy” but not overly conceptual or challenging work perfectly suited to the young and curious collector looking to reach beyond traditional media for his Tribeca loft, but not quite willing to venture into the intellectual rigors of a video installation or Minimalist sculpture, for instance. Observing the tone of art offered is a great way to infer how each dealer defines his or her collector base, which is definitely a useful exercise for any emerging artist looking to gain a better understanding of that particular market.