Friday, July 9, 2010

Minimalism Massimo, 14 Jan to 4 Feb 2010

A scene from the private view

Took Place at The Gallery at Willesden Green, Minimalism Massimo was and exhibition curated by artist and curator Lorenzo Belenguer from Brent Artist Resources and The Gallery at Willesden Green. My work 'Swan Cigarrette Paper folded into a Crane' was presented in the exhibition alongside the work from prominent artists such as Joseph Beuys, Carl Andre, John Baldessari, Martin Creed, John Latham, Jenny Holzer and James Ireland.


A viewer took a closer look at 'Swan Cigarrete Paper Folded into a Crane'


Belenguer said that "Minimalism is back, and not just because of the recession. Artists are rediscovering the use of austere materials in a more elaborate way, but without missing the main point of Minimalism: the beauty of the material."


A closer view of 'Swan Cigarette paper Folded into a Crane', 2000
Dimension: 14 x 6 x 8 mm

Belenguer also quoted W.J.T. Mitchell that "Trivial objects - slipper, pencils, gloves, teapots - no longer seem like innocent, passive entitities, but have "lives of their own," with stories to tell, and voices to tell them; the venerable subdiscipline of "material culture" has news to report."


Front: 'Pure Beauty' by John Baldessari (material: lavender and ginger soap)
Back: 'A sheet of A4 Paper Grumped into a Ball, 1995' by Martin creed


In another statement for the exhibition, Mike Cox suggested that "Ever since Marcel Duchamp boldly exhibited a urinal as his now infamous 'Fountain' piece in 1917, artists have continued to comment on the relationship between people and material obects. Through the erosion of bourgeois artistic values, movements such as Dada, Arte Povera, as well as groups like the Conceptualists and the Minimalists, have all extolled the values of ready-made found objects. It is the democratisation of art for all that strongly influences current British artists. After all of these art movements, artists seem to use found or ready-made objects in a more subtle way. Perhaps the current socio-economic situation allows them to take it to the next step. We have selected a group of artists that work in a minimalist approach to materials but not so minimally, push it to the maximum."


Front: 'Money Creates Taste' by Jenny Holzer (wooden postcard multiple)
Back: 'Filzpostkarte, 1985' by Joseph Beuys (silkscreen on felt)


Other artists selected for the exhibition includes:

Sarah Rose Allen, Lulu Allison, Vanya Balogh, Lorenzo Belengeur. Kiera Blakey, Elisabeth S. Clark, Lewis E. Fox, Myra Fricker, Helen Grundy, Irene Perez Hernandez, Jessica Longmore, Oliver Palmer, Kate Keara Pelen, Dawn Stringer, Andrew Sunderland and Christine Warrington.

Links:

http://www.flicr.com/photos/45684920@No4/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVN1E1-8p2o
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Welcome to the ground

Thank you for stopping over. The Ground We Share evolves from my research study where I make a comparative study between the concepts of the everyday in art practice and Zen.

My art practice may be seen as the result of my interest on the matters of the everyday and Eastern thoughts. Over the years, I have produced a body of cross-disciplinary work that explores the as-it-is-ness of things, and interconnectedness between objects and people. My own cultural background and life experience are often revisited, examined and evidenced in the work within this journey of exploration.

In Zen tradition, mindfulness to everyday trivial is important in their spiritual pratice, my research relates this notion of attentiveness from my work to this tradition. Historically, many important twentieth century artists and art groups who expanded Duchamp’s theory of the ready-made and the everyday were also influenced by Zen teaching from D.T. Suzuki and Shunryu Suzuki that can also be related to this research.

In contrast to the Western sociological perspective on the study of the everyday from important thinkers like Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau; I look at it from a different perspective - through the prism of a contemporary artist that comes from an Eastern background.

This blog provides a space to share my activities and information arising from my work and research. You are welcome to be part of this interconnection by posting your valuable experience, thoughts and comments.