Oh Yah, Jenna Gets Political: North Korean art show stirs controversy in Vienna

Ah, art; it never seems to amaze me how some people’s common sense is so easily jettisoned in exchange for some proverbial self, or political, promotion in order to cast a sheet of delirium to the outside world. I am in no means in any political position in which I am able to intellectually comment on the state of certain countries, however, I am fluent in art’s ability to portray unrealistic, and often misguided, images that delude onlookers. This month an exhibition is being showcased at the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna of North Korean art, offering a rare look into the isolated country’s art scene. Though, enraged critics have called the show a bold example of political propaganda.
Children basking in the sun, well fed and clothed in brilliant colors, beaming farm women feeding geese and ducks, is how North Korean painters have depicted their famine country. The founders of the Communist administration, Kim II-sung and his son Kim Jong-il appear dominating in shades of deep red and royal blue; Stalinian architecture is even displayed throughout the exhibit. Kim II-sung and KimJong-il proudly displayed their own portraits seem to emit an encouraging demeanor to support North Korea’s path to its revolutionary future.
One may believe this exhibit to be a welcomed glimpse into this secretive country, and perhaps better understand North Korea’s isolation, yet, the absence of any background explanation on the totalitarian nature of the country is what caused suspicion to this art exhibits agenda. North Korea is the last dictatorship in this world and I think it is crucial for the world to be reminded of this fact instead of masking its authoritarian regime behind children with flowers in their hair and women joyfully shopping on flourishing streets. I think art, like morality, needs to always have a line that should be cautious of crossing. North Korea is a totalitarian country and their art serves the glorification of the leader and his system. The picture strike me as extremely cynical where children watch tiny kites fly in a dream like trance which, can be seen, as a kinder world that is out of reach.
Art has no borders. Yet, it makes me wonder whether it is capable of changing anything, in this case, the political situation of a country. Yes, you may get a slightly different view or new understand through art but how can one decipher the motives behind the artist especially coming from a country whose regulations and rules regarding the construction and distribution of their art is highly controlled. I suppose all one can do is appreciate the aesthetic beauty of the paintings and to neglect the motives of the paintings construction.

Say Whaaaa Wednesday: Painter, Baker, Candy Art Maker!

My wonderful, long time friend is currently interning in New York at The Museum of Modern Art (Much lurrrvvee Jory, you’re helping me climb back into a realm of inspiration!). She let me know of a delectably sweet artist who has an interesting artistic palette: creating paintings, sculptures that portray landscapes of cake, candy, fudge and other delicious confections.

Will Cotton is a New York based painter who not only paints such sugary swamps that occasionally include nude women but also sculpts gumdrop sculptures with slices of ganache cake and other sweets. Beautiful curvaceous women lay atop mountains of scooped ice cream that evaporates into blues and pink clouds. The women’s serene gaze embodies the blissful vision of the Renaissance artists who strived to immortalize a foreboding theme of heaven and gluttony.

I find Cotton’s work to be extremely intriguing and lack any preventative unfettering for the female body that the modern feminist may conjure up; I can imagine they believe he is equating the female body to the seductive and, commonly deemed voracious, allure of candy which I boldly refute (hey, that would be a good essay!). His work does bear the burden of seduction but it is masterfully complex and is delivered in a clean and reverential way that truly portrays his oil painting technique. Cotton’s paintings are remarkable in his ability to capture the Renaissance technique of foreshortening to create a sort of soft depth while revealing a uniquely modern concept.
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Say Whaaaa Wednesday... The Beauty in Elephant Dung

I have noticed my posts have been flooded with controversies in art; the absurd never fails to spark my imagination and reestablishing my conception on the glorious freedom of artistic expression. I recently came across a British painter named Chris Ofili whose artwork is best known for its rich, complicated and very much scintillating images of Religious figures adorn with glitter and, here’s the interesting medium, elephant shit. His work is less painting than painting like objects, and is fascinating to look at.

Ofili’s Nigerian heritage strongly influences his paintings and it was one particular piece titled The Holy Virgin Mary that involved a lawsuit, former mayor of NYC Rudy Giuliani and a mob of angry Christians. The painting was exhibited in 1999 at the Brooklyn Museum of Art as apart of the “Sensation” exhibit where young British Artists toured their work from Berlin to NY. The painting is a black African Mary surrounded by female genitalia cut from porno magazines, and elephant dung. The shit was formed in shapes to resemble the cherubim and seraphim; commonly seen in images of the Immaculate Conception. Giuliani threatened the museum to take the offensive piece down or he’d withhold the city’s funding towards the exhibit and museum itself; he overtly labeled the piece to be “disgusting” and “sick”.

I think the painting is lovely. Ofili’s use of bold color, shades of purple and blue look the way our souls feel when trying to understand our own imagination in the dark. It revels in early European Modernism and I can’t help but hear the voices of Harlem Renaissance poet’s whose low voices mumble the absurd within the dark, smoky confines of a underground jazz club. There is A LOT of art out there that does not deserve any kind of recognition as being labeled “art”. However, I find Ofili is venturing into a world where there exists a hierarchal struggle between the method and the artistic merit their work embodies. Elephant shit or not, The Holy Virgin Mary is strikingly beautiful and does make a bold statement, I find, that lacks any sort of insulting connotations besides the fact that animal feces tend to stink, rather bad. Could he have used a different medium to create such a piece? Absolutely. Though, what kind of fun would we have discussing a painting that was created strictly using traditional methods; talking about elephant dung is a lot more enchanting, no?

Say Whaaaa Wednesday... The Thorn in the Ass of Real Art

I do not believe this type of exhibit is profound in anyway, rather, I see it representing an aspect of art that appears to be surfacing more and more; through mundane and dull inspiration comes a supposed creative outlet that in turn becomes labeled “art.”

Gregor Schneider, a German artist, created an exhibit in which already-dying volunteers were to lay throughout an art gallery, in the view of uneasy onlookers who were anticipating nothing more than an unusual physical image of death’s beauty. The entire idea is creative, controversial (we all love controversy) and highly intriguing, however, I can’t help but see this exhibit as a representative for a new wave of art that appears to capture an essence that requires no capturing; death is nature’s doing, why should the artist gain recognition for a subject matter that, not only has been way over analyzed, but that is impervious to any of our own hands?

I hate to bash artists, I do admire their attempts at creative innovations, yet I can’t help but see this as a lazy path from a dull mind; a mind that is out of distinctive material to create art that is, in itself, it’s own essence. I suppose my view on such radical contemporary art is similar to my perception on the cinema of the 21st century where novels and comic books, old films and more are recreated. There seems to be no originality anymore.

I tend to believe I am one of those people who are fascinated with death. I find it utterly romantic in a way. There is something about the notion of nothingness… death is simply not anything; it is the absence of presence, a place in time where there is no return, where the howling of a wind blows right through its very spirit and never returns. Tell me how is that not dreamy? Look, I don’t want to get off track here; art is art, whether it is controversial or not and I understand and appreciate that very concept. If people find this type of contemporary uninspired art to be “art” so be it. I must however make a bold statement regarding such pieces: The only thing an artist such as Schneider relies upon is the transparency of his naive audience who will applaud such thoughtless expression in the name of art when he is simply reinstating an age old concept of the inevitable demise of humankind. It’s been said and done before.

An Enchanted Retrospective in Paris- François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne

I have always have been enamored with art nouveau paintings, architecture, furniture and jewelry; its high art, fantastical and imaginative structure always takes me to a wistful, make believe world where I read philosophical literature in a wired bronze chair engraved with golden rabbits hopping about in leafy tutus, as if dancing about the piece’s legs and arm rests. Classic huh?
French husband-and-wife artists, François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne have constructed such extraordinarily beautiful art nouveau pieces where sculpture and furniture mingle. They have charmed art collectors with their whimsical and sensual sculptures. Friends of the couple include Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford and Reed Krakoff who all admire his botanical-inspired furniture and elegant way of interpreting the natural world.
In mid March the duo’s work will be showcased at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. François-Xavier and Claude Lalanne’s designs act as a sense of absurdity where bronze sheep will adorn the court yard of the exhibit and animal inspired furniture, include a monkey themed desk, will be displayed for the public.
Their pieces are simply delightful and celebrate an artist’s elegant oblivion to the boundaries of fine and decorative art. I love the special blend of luxurious sensuality and earthy irreverence which truly embodies the Parisian way.

(Source: New York Times)

Say Whaaaa Wednesday... Wait a minute, this isn't my camel?!

There is never an end to the unusually intriguing list of controversial art creations is there? I came across a piece created by Human Mulji, a Pakistani artist, titled “Arabian Delight” in which a taxidermy camel is stuffed into an oversized suitcase. Brilliant isn’t it? However, this kind of work was a little too far out for the Arabs to handle at Art Dubai in 2008 where it was showcased. They had strong resentment towards the piece as they felt the camel, which is their national animal and a fluent symbol of pride, was being shown in an offensive manor.

It is said the piece was constructed to reveal the neglected issue of the import-export business of contraband by way of personal luggage; more importantly, some claim it was a strong reference towards the young men imported by Arabs to serve as camel-jockeys.

Whatever the case, I am still unable to define my personal intake on this piece. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the originality and believe in the whole “art for the sake of art” thing; I tend to steer clear of any analytical and philosophical interpretations of art. I think what’s turning me off is, quite simply, the ugliness of camels. Let’s face it, camels are rather homely animals. Is that vain I cannot see paste the physical appearance of an art piece in order to appreciate its purpose? Perhaps… perhaps, and that is all.

F*ck It Friday... It's Got to be a Chocolate Jesus

Yummm… you know if the lord was made of chocolate I’d probably be religious. Actually I take that back, there are bigger, and more substantial, issues I have with Christianity rather than the fact that their savior lacks a delicious coating of sweet candy. For “F*ck It Friday” I came across a rather popular piece of work that was showcased at The Laby Gallery in Manhattan in 2007. Cosimo Cavallaro created a 6-foot replica of Jesus Christ hanging from the cross titled “My Sweet Lord”, made of chocolate. The piece was revealed during Easter and stirred up a lot of controversy in the brief 2 day showing. Art Director Matt Somler took down the piece and resigned immediately after feeling tremendous pressure from religious communities.

I am not seeing the big deal here? It’s a Chocolate Jesus, where’s the controversy in that? Cavallaro didn’t through a tutu and paint a swastika symbol on the guy’s forehead or anything? This type of pious suppression is exactly the issue our contemporary world is facing in regards to religious tolerance. Look, I’d like to think I am an agnostic atheist; I don’t believe there is any sort of deity that dictates my life, however, I also don’t believe there is any conclusive argument that proves there is not a god. I am not trying to bash Christianity, well yes I am actually. I suppose I have just grown tired of religious jack asses infiltrating every aspect of our social and political culture in order to ease their insecurities, after all, they have been doing it since the beginning of time. Tom Waits wrote a lovely song about a chocolate Jesus and sums up my conception on the whole matter:

"When the weather gets rough
And it's whiskey in the shade
It's best to wrap your savior
Up in cellophane
He flows like the big muddy
But that's ok
Pour him over ice cream
For a nice parfait."

The Body and Blood of Art... really.

The spectrum of artistic creativity has an extremely long and winding plane that seems to be warping in and out of consciousness every minute. Does that even make sense?
An artist by the name of Gunther von Hagen has created a controversial form of art that has ruffled a lot of the tight wads feathers. His art is a display of partially dissected corpses in varying poses, mostly sporting positions. Von Hagen’s exhibit will be arriving in my city, Calgary, in May 2010 at the Science Center.

I am utterly fascinated by such a brilliant way to expose the bleak reality of the human body’s inevitable demise. Not only is von Hagen unearthing the complex beauty of our biological inner workings, his art reflects a notion that the conventional world seems to cast as arrogant: Our bodies do not hold any type of significant substance, our physical selves are ultimately flesh and bone which will whittle away into the nothingness of our world. He is elevating the concept of self identity by illustrating the misappropriation of value that is placed onto our physical bodies.

Am I going out on a far out limb here? Is von Hagen taking his anatomist background and simply experimenting with art? Maybe… all I know is the radical fusion he is creating sure made my mind go to a tea party with Charles Darwin and Jean-Paul Sartre.