Tag Archives: Exhibitions

Arts & Literature, Books, Exhibitions, History, Museums, Videos

Exhibits: Printed In 1085 – A Thousand Years Of Books At The Huntington Library

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The Huntington (August 25, 2023) – The history of printing has many missing pages. Li Wei Yang, Curator of Pacific Rim Collections, searched the library for the first documented connections between the great printing cultures of China and Europe.

Printed in 1085: The Chinese Buddhist Canon from the Song Dynasty

April 29–Dec. 4, 2023

The oldest printed book in The Huntington’s collection, the Scripture of the Great Flower Ornament of the Buddha, is on display in “Printed in 1085: The Chinese Buddhist Canon from the Song Dynasty” in the Library West Hall.

The exhibition delves into the circumstances of the book’s creation and its religious significance while broadening visitors’ understanding of Chinese textual tradition. Additional materials related to the text are on display to provide historical context.

The book is in a specially designed display case that allows Huntington visitors to have a unique experience when viewing the sacred text. Though the book was meant to be read by flipping from one page to the next, in the exhibition it is expanded in a custom case designed for maximum visibility, offering a rare opportunity to view the miraculously preserved relic and observe its unique bibliographic characteristics and exquisiteness.

More than 900 years old, the book is part of the 5,850-volume Great Canon of the Eternal Longevity of the Chongning Reign Period. Produced during the Song dynasty (960–1279) between 1080 and 1112, the accordion-style book fully unfolds to a length of 31 feet. It is one of the longest sutras, or collections of aphorisms, in the Buddhist canon and is a compendium of doctrines and ritual practices widely followed throughout East Asia.

The text presents a vision of the entire universe as consisting of elements that all interpenetrate (like mirrors reflecting in mirrors) within the body of the Cosmic Buddha. According to Li Wei Yang, curator of Pacific Rim Collections at The Huntington, it reflects the notion that “I am you, you are me; we all are Buddha.” It is not known whether the Buddha himself actually spoke the words found in the Scripture of the Great Flower Ornament.

Rather, it is likely that his followers, over centuries of adaptation and interpretation, incorporated the essence of his teachings into this and many other Buddhist works that have survived.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Profiles, Videos

Exhibitions: Artist Frida Kahlo In South Australia

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ABC News In-depth (August 17, 2023) – She’s one of the most famous artists of the 20th century, known for her colourful self-portraits. But what else do you know about Frida Kahlo? We visit an exhibition to find out more about her artwork and learn about her interesting life.

Frida & Diego: Love & Revolution

THE ART GALLERY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

24 Jun – 17 Sep 2023

Art Gallery of SA exhibition to explore the enduring allure of Frida Kahlo - InReview

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo is remembered for her self-portraits, pain and passion, and bold, vibrant colors. She is celebrated in Mexico for her attention to Mexican and indigenous culture and by feminists for her depiction of the female experience and form.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Profiles, Reviews, Videos, Views

2023 Exhibitions: ‘Banksy – Cut & Run’ In Glasgow

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CBS Sunday Morning (August 13, 2023) – Putting together the first authorized exhibition in 14 years of works by the anonymous street artist Banksy required extensive planning and a cover story to hide its true identity until it opened, unannounced, in Glasgow this summer.

Photo Credit Banksy

The show will feature work from across his career titled CUT & RUN: 25 years card labour! Stencils from 2008 until 2023 are on display at this historic event.

Correspondent Seth Doane explores the art and the mysteries of Banksy’s world, including the continued speculation about the artist’s true identity, a closely-held secret for decades.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Previews, Views

Exhibition: ‘Tree & Serpent- Early Buddhist Art In India 200 BCE – 400 BCE’ (The Met)

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art (August 3, 2023) – A virtual tour of Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 BCE–400 CE. Featuring more than 140 objects dating from 200 BCE to 400 CE, the exhibition presents a series of evocative and interlocking themes to reveal both the pre-Buddhist origins of figurative sculpture in India and the early narrative traditions that were central to this formative moment in early Indian art.

Tree & Serpent: Early Buddhist Art in India, 200 BCE–400 CE

July 21st–November 13th, 2023

With major loans from a dozen lenders across India, as well as from the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States, it transports visitors into the world of early Buddhist imagery that gave expression to this new religion as it grew from a core set of ethical teachings into one of the world’s great religions. Objects associated with Indo-Roman exchange reveal India’s place in early global trade.

The exhibition showcases objects in various media, including limestone sculptures, gold, silver, bronze, rock crystal, and ivory. Highlights include spectacular sculptures from southern India—newly discovered and never before publicly exhibited masterpieces—that add to the world canon of early Buddhist art. On view: July 21st–November 13th, 2023

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Reviews

Art Exhibitions: ‘Manabu Ikeda – Flowers From The Wreckage’ (Canada, 2023)

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art in whistler

Manabu Ikeda:
Flowers from the Wreckage

June 24 – October 9, 2023

Audain Art Museum, Whistler, British Columbia, Canada (July 22, 2023) – Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage features Ikeda’s meticulously detailed pen-and-ink drawings that are filled with astonishing images.

This Japanese artist seeks inspiration from his surroundings to bring attention and awe to viewers, as a way of sending warnings about the painful reality of environmental disasters. Central to his practice are metaphors of grief and the undeniable aspects of life that are often beyond society’s control, including the fundamental forces of Mother Nature. Ikeda’s drawings also reveal human resilience and the ability to rise above devastating situations when it appears impossible.

Curated by Kiriko Watanabe, the Audain Art Museum’s Gail & Stephen A. Jarislowsky Curator, this is Ikeda’s first solo retrospective in North America showcasing over sixty works from national and international collections. Flowers from the Wreckage includes Foretoken (2008), Meltdown (2013) and Rebirth (2013-16), a selection of Ikeda’s large-scale drawings that relate to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake; the most devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power disaster in the country’s recorded history.

Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage will be on display in the AAM’s Tom and Teresa Gautreau Galleries from June 24 to October 9, 2023. A full colour exhibition catalogue featuring essays by Kiriko Watanabe and comments by Manabu Ikeda will be available for purchase in the Museum Shop.

Manabu Ikeda, “Territory,” 2004
Manabu Ikeda, “Territory,” 2004

pen and acrylic ink on paper, mounted on board, 17″ x 23″ (Takahashi Ryutaro Collection, courtesy the Audain Art Museum, Whistler, B.C.)

Manabu Ikeda Studio Gallery

A studio has been set up in the Museum’s architecturally stunning Upper Galleries, where visitors have the opportunity to observe the process of Ikeda drawing his latest work and interact with him during open studio hours.

Manabu will be in studio on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from 3:00pm to 4:30pm until August 30. Museum guests are encouraged to come and witness the Artist’s incredible talent and learn more about his techniques. The studio will be open for viewing Thursday through Monday until September 4.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Podcasts, Reviews

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

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The Art Newspaper (June 29, 2023): In the final episode of this season, James Goodwin, a specialist on the art market and its history, tells us about what high inflation and interest rates mean for the art market and what lies ahead.

As Spain heads to the polls in July, we talk to Emilio Silva, president of the Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory in Madrid. What could the election mean for the controversial Spanish laws of Historical Memory and Democratic Memory relating to the Civil War of 1936 to 1939 and the period of Francisco Franco’s fascist dictatorship?

And this episode’s Work of the Week is a project by the Swedish duo Goldin + Senneby. The work, called Quantitative Melencolia, involves recreating the lost plate for Albrecht Dürer’s famous engraving Melencolia I. It is part of the exhibition Economics: The Blockbuster, which opens this week at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester, UK.

Economics the Blockbuster: It’s not Business as Usual, Whitworth Art Gallery, until 22 October. The Manchester International Festival, until 16 July.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Podcasts, Reviews

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

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The Art Newspaper (June 22, 2023): The Art Newspaper’s editor, Alison Cole, and London correspondent, Martin Bailey, join our host Ben Luke to review the National Portrait Gallery after its £41m revamp.

We talk to Nancy Ireson at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia about the exhibition William Edmondson: A Monumental Vision. Edmondson was the first African American artist to have a solo show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in the 1930s, but has rarely been shown in museums on the US East Coast since.

And this episode’s Work of the Week marks the 75th anniversary of the arrival in the UK of the Empire Windrush, a boat carrying passengers from the Caribbean. Zinzi Minott, the choreographer and artist, has made a film called Fi Dem about the Windrush on this anniversary every year since 2017. She tells us about the latest iteration, which is at the heart of a new exhibition at Queercircle in London.

The National Portrait Gallery is open now. Yevonde: Life and Colour, until 15 October.

William Edmondson: A Monumental Vision, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, 25 June-10 September.

Zinzi Minott’s Fi Dem VI is part of her exhibition Many Mikl Mek Ah Mukl, Queercircle, London, until 27 August.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Podcasts, Reviews

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

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The Art Newspaper (June 16, 2023): As her new series for the BBC, Africa Rising, takes Afua Hirsch to Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa, we talk to her about the artists and art scenes she encountered and what she took away from her experiences.

The Liverpool Biennial’s latest edition opened last weekend and has a South African curator, Khanyisile Mbongwa, and an IsiZulu title, uMoya: The Sacred Return of Lost Things. The Art Newspaper’s contemporary art correspondent, Louisa Buck, visited the biennial and reviews it for us. And it is Art Basel this week, in its original Swiss location, so this episode’s Work of the Week is one of the most notable works for sale at the fair.

Valentine was painted by Jean-Michel Basquiat in 1984 and given to his then girlfriend, Paige Powell, on Valentine’s Day. Jeffrey Deitch, who is selling the work at Art Basel, tells us its story.

Africa Rising: Morocco is on the BBC iPlayer now. The Nigeria episode is on BBC Two on 20 June at 9pm for UK viewers and on BBC iPlayer, and South Africa is broadcast on BBC Two at 27 June at 9pm. For listeners outside the UK, check your local listings.

Art, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Museums, Podcasts, Reviews

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

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The Art Newspaper (June 8, 2023): Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood on their collaborative art, Wayne McGregor on his new choreographic work—a collaboration with the late Carmen Herrera—and Whistler’s Mother returns to Philadelphia.

Ahead of an exhibition of their work in London in September, we talk to Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood—who has created the artwork with Yorke for every Radiohead album since 1994, as well the visuals accompanying Thom’s solo records and side projects including the recent records by The Smile—about their collaboration.

A new work for the UK’s Royal Ballet by the choreographer Wayne McGregor premieres at the Royal Opera House in London on 9 June. Untitled, 2023 is a collaboration with the Cuban-American artist Carmen Herrera, developed before Herrera’s death last year at the age of 106. We talk to McGregor about the piece and the intersection between visual art and choreography.

And this episode’s Work of the Week is one of the most famous pictures in the world: Arrangement in Grey and Black, better known as Whistler’s Mother, by James Abbott McNeill Whistler. It’s part of an exhibition called The Artist’s Mother: Whistler and Philadelphia, curated by Jenny Thompson, and we speak to Jenny about the work and the show.

Art, Art Galleries, Arts & Literature, Exhibitions, Previews, Videos

Sculpture Exhibitions: ‘Bloomsbury Stud: The Art Of Stephen Tomlin’ (2023)

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Philip Mould & Co Films (June 2, 2023) – Starting off at Charleston House, where Stephen Tomlin’s friends, lovers, and sitters came together, this exhibition film traces Tomlin’s life and career, revealing the stories behind the artworks on display in ‘Bloomsbury Stud: The Art of Stephen Tomlin’, on view at the Philip Mould Gallery from 5th June until 11th August 2023.

Bloomsbury Stud The Art of Stephen Tomlin

 

Stephen Tomlin, the Bloomsbury group’s primary sculptor, immortalised the faces of Bloomsbury’s best-known characters, including Duncan Grant, Lytton Strachey and Virginia Woolf. With inexhaustible charisma, disarming good looks and undeniable talent, Tomlin captivated his contemporaries, and references to Stephen ‘Tommy’ Tomlin pepper countless biographies of 20th century figures.

However, until recently, that was where his story remained. Now, this exhibition aims to return Tomlin to the artistic spotlight where he belongs.