BAIO – THE NAMES
2016-02-08Vampire Weekend bassist Chris Baio released his debut solo album under the Baio moniker last year. He’s now dropped a video for “The Names,” the title track from the record.
TweetLUKE TOP – LUCKY PENNY
2016-02-08Luke Top, singer and co-founder of Fool’s Gold, will be releasing his debut solo record Suspect Highs from which Lucky Penny is plucked.
Shot on one roll of 8mm film by Stephen Paul.
SAUL LEITER
2016-02-08Saul Leiter moved to New York intent on becoming a painter, which he continued in parallel with his photography, yet ended up working for magazines such as Harper’s Bazaar, Elle and British Vogue and became known for his fashion work.
As early as 1946, and thus two decades before the 1970s new colour photography school (William Eggleston, Stephen Shore et al), Leiter was using Kodachrome colour slide film for his free artistic shots, despite it being despised by artists of the day. Instinctively for him, colour was the picture.
“I don’t have a philosophy, I have a camera.” Saul Leiter
An iconoclast who pursued his vision through signature framing devices, bold hues and relective surfaces, Leiter manages to transform seemingly ordinary street scenes in close proximity to his New York apartment into visual poetry.
Opposite – Taxi, 1957
Exhibition runs through till April 3rd, 2016
The Photographers’ Gallery
16-18 Ramillies Street
London
W1F 7LW
thephotographersgallery.org.uk
Tweet
BERNHARD FUCHS
2016-02-08The works originated between 2010 and 2014 in the Upper Austrian Mühlviertel are neither solely images of forest nor landscapes – “they are something in between”, says Bernhard Fuchs. Living in Dusseldorf today the artist describes the Mühlviertel as “the place of his origin”, which is a recurrent theme in his works. This intimacy with the “internalized area” is reflected in the atmospheric pictures. Here Bernhard Fuchs deals “with the prosaicness, with unspectacular situations.” Through a selective attention this prosaicness becomes something special.
The woodlands by Bernhard Fuchs are always deserted and are presented in different seasons – the nature itself becomes the main event and similar to painting by Jacob van Ruisdael the sky and the light become the actual protagonists. The act of walking in the landscape and of perception are the integral parts in works by Bernhard Fuchs, whom Helga Meister (Kunstforum International) precisely described as a “meditative poet”.
At the basis of the works by Bernhard Fuchs lies the interest towards ephemeral everyday situations which unfold their calm impression through an inner reflection. In doing so the artist oscillates between the narrative level of his personal memories and the precise expressions of formal-artistic questions.
Opposite – Haslach, Sommer 2012
Exhibition runs through till February 20th, 2016
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf
Hanauer Landstrasse 136
Frankfurt am Main 60314
Germany
MAROESJKA LAVIGNE – LAND OF NOTHINGNESS
2016-02-08Namibia is a country of deserts with barren stretches that yield only to subtle variations of the same aridness. Maroesjka Lavigne invites you to step into this unforgiving environment with her newest work, Land of Nothingness. From this desolation, Lavigne composes a visual symphony. The animals and the very landscape in which she finds herself appear to respond to her camera lens. The resulting images are harmonious compositions that showcase the natural rhythm of the desert with wildlife sightings and staggering landscapes as highlights to the monotony.
Though at times the sameness can be hard to navigate, Land of Nothingness uncovers the unexpected beauty often hidden in plain sight on the scorched earth of the Namib. Lavigne reveals the carefully balanced order that comes with life on an unrelenting desert. Four Giraffes shows the cadence in which all of nature moves. These giants tower over every other animal on Earth but are dwarfed by the majestic wildness of the desert, becoming a part of the pattern of the land. Evidence of human encroachment on the natural beauty of Namibia is few and far between, this is a place at the mercy of the rule of the elements.
Gaze shows just how minute human influence is when their presence can be nearly mistaken for parched vegetation. Lavigne has ventured into a world devoid of the consumer culture and instant gratification to which we have grown accustomed. In this is a place where hours of driving pass before you see anything other than sand dunes you must confront your own insignificance.
Opposite – Lunch, Namibia, 2015
Exhibition runs through till March 26th, 2016
Robert Mann Gallery
525 West 26th Street
New York
NY
10001
BERTRAND LAVIER – WALT DISNEY SERIES
2016-02-08Walt Disney Productions is but one of several distinct bodies of work that Lavier has developed over the years, and which he refers to as chantiers. The term means ‘building site’ in English: a reference to the fact that each corpus is a work in progress, and therefore a mechanism through which to deal with constantly evolving issues about the nature of art, and the way that it is both appreciated and exhibited. Another famous chantier encompasses threedimensional objects that have been covered in a thick layer of paint, one that is identical in colour to whatever lies beneath, right down to the smallest details. Except for the paint, Lavier’s objects look exactly like the original – which confuses the viewer’s visual perception. The cabinet in this exhibition is a typical example of this process. Lavier describes these works as being painted sur le motif, a 19th-century artistic term that means ‘the painting of objects’ or ‘what the eye actually sees’. In this chantier, the idea is taken to a literal extreme. Yet by playing with such ambiguous words and concepts, the artist is also inviting the viewer to consider the true nature of this cabinet: is it an ordinary object or an artwork? Thus Lavier questions our notions about the way in which works of art are perceived, valued and accepted.
Opposite – Walt Disney Productions 1947-2015 N°7, 2015
Exhibition runs through till February 20th, 2016
Xavier Hufkens
St-Jorisstraat 6 Rue Saint-George
B – 1050 Brussels
Belgium
