The Familiar and the Exotic | Last Chance to See | Diane Arbus | Jeu de Paume | Paris

Text by Matt Swain

Diane Arbus (1923-1971)revolutionised the art she practised. Her bold subject matter and photographic approach produced a body of work that is often shocking in its purity, in its steadfast celebration of things as they are. Her gift for rendering strong those things we consider most familiar, and for uncovering the familiar within the exotic, enlarges our understanding of ourselves. In this first major retrospective in France, a selection of 200 photographs allows the viewer the opportunity to explore the origins, scope and aspirations of a wholly originally force in photography. It includes all of the artist's iconic photographs as well as many that have not been publicly exhibited.

The photographs are not arranged chronologically or thematically. Rather, they are presented singularly, accompanied only by the artist’s own titles, giving the spectator an individual experience of each image. There is richness and abundance of work here that serves to demonstrate the wealth of source material Arbus surrounded herself with, both geographically and culturally, particularly in New York. Arbus focused on deviant and marginal figures, turning them into extraordinary people through her distinctive black and white photographs; a hidden world unmasked.

Arbus’ work represents things as they are with striking boldness and purity; couples, children, carnival performers, nudists, transvestites, eccentrics and celebrities are all shown within the prism of their own world, demonstrating Arbus’ unique sensibility with regard to posture and light. A family one evening in a nudist camp, Pa., 1965 shows two females and a male seemingly oblivious to anything other than their own experience. Boy with a straw hat waiting to march in a pro-war parade, N.Y.C, 1967 is one of Arbus’ more iconic works and is immediately recognisable in its simplicity. With an American flag at his side, the boy wears a bow tie and button badges with war-slogans, eliciting both sympathy and understanding.

In other works, there is a darker, underlying mystique. Female impersonator putting on lipstick, N.Y.C, 1959 possesses a sparse, morose serenity in direct contrast to the implied faux glamour one is led to imagine would follow and in viewing A Puerto Rican housewife, N.Y.C, 1963; you are left with the distinct impression that there is something beyond the surface we know nothing about. Similarly, A young man in curlers on West 20th Street, N.Y.C, 1966 continues the female impersonator series. Again, it is the implied suggestion that there is another world beyond the veneer that gives this such an integral sense of connectivity.

Location is a significant component of a number of works. Rocks on wheels, Disneyland, CA, 1962, shows industry amidst the Californian landscape, whilst Couple on a pier, N.Y.C, 1963, reveals the tenderness of lovers, listening to a radio, unfettered by the outside world. A very thin man in central park, N.Y.C, 1961, needs little explanation yet possesses a powerful, other-worldly presence.

There are moments of humour, such as in Santas at the Santa Claus School, Albion, NY, 1964, and the Christmas theme is repeated in Xmas tree in a living room in Levittown, LI, 1963, a delightful picture of domestic festivity. Arbus focused on celebrities too and both Susan Sontag and Norman Mailer are represented here. There is also a self-portrait, Self portrait, pregnant, 1945, which shows Arbus in a bedroom. However, it is the unknown figures, those on the fringes of society and with their own very personal story to tell that occupy the most emotive moments in Arbus’ work. Whether that is because we are aware of her friendships with so many of these people, or because we cannot avert our gaze, acknowledging that we are voyeurs looking in at something personal remains open to debate.

Almost without exception, all of the works feel like a personal encounter where you are engaging directly with the subject. This is the beauty and the mystery Arbus gives to us. A secret intimacy that the whole world is able to see, but with a parallel sense of never quite knowing the absolute truth. As Arbus herself once stated; “A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells the less you know.”

Diane Arbus, 18/10/2011 - 05/02/2012, Jeu de Paume, 1 Place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris. www.jeudepaume.org

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Captions:
All images © The Estate of Diane Arbus LLC, New York

Coggles Street Style Film: Part II

Natasha from coggles on Vimeo.

Over the past month, Aesthetica has featured Coggles' new campaign, Street Styles Series which aim to promote the brand's primary mission of including personality into their designs for people not models. This exclusive short from Coggles is a portrait of style, featuring Danish tattoo artist Natasha. Natasha styled herself for the film mixing vintage pieces with Paul & Joe Sister.

Turner and the Elements & Hamish Fulton: Walk | Turner Contemporary | Margate

Text by Emily Sack

The small seaside town of Margate boasts Turner Contemporary, a gallery that celebrates JMW Turner, who made Margate his home for a number of years, and local and international artists from further abroad. The building designed by David Chipperfield Architects is a rigidly geometric structure that mirrors the sails of the boats that frequent Turner’s paintings.

Within the airy interior, the North and South galleries are devoted to Turner and the Elements, an exhibition that moves beyond classifying Turner as “a painter of colour” and further examines his relationship with the natural world. By dividing the gallery into five sections: Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Fusion, curators Inés Richter-Musso and Ortrud Westheider illustrate Turner's fascination with the latest scientific and technological developments of his time. One of the notable revelations the viewers experience with the organisation of the exhibition is that the works in the Earth segment are almost exclusively from the earliest points in the artist’s career, many dating to the late 18th century. It is as the artist grows and matures that he moves to the sea and skyscapes for which he is best known, and which demonstrate the most experimentation and energy. The show exhibits almost 90 paintings by the renowned British artist, including many watercolours that better demonstrate the innovative experimentation than the more formal oil paintings.

A majority of Turner’s work does not simply study one of the elements but rather explores the forces of nature that result in a "Fusion", the fifth element explored in the exhibition. In some of these paintings the integration of air and water is so profound that the horizon essentially disappears leaving little distinction between sea and sky. Despite his interest in scientific discoveries, Turner had a sense of theatrics that he employed in the vibrant colours utilised and, at times violent phenomena, depicted. An exhibition text recalls a visit of two peers to Turner’s studio in August 1845 where they were confronted with a surprising procedure. Upon ringing the bell, the door was opened a few inches and a woman’s voice asked what they wanted. When they replied that they wished to see Turner, the door was shut in their faces. After a time the woman let them into a room in total darkness. There the gentlemen were left to wait until their eyes adjusted to the lack of light. Only then were they allowed to go upstairs to Turner’s studio. The painter explained to them subsequently that an interval of darkness was necessary after the bright light of the August day to sensitise their eyes to the fine nuances of colour in his pictures. In this way, Turner expands his role as an artist to become a sort of illusionist or entertainer – the purpose is not to simply depict a scene but rather to create a drama and a narrative beyond the ephemeral vignette.

Turner Contemporary is simultaneously exhibiting work by contemporary British artist, Hamish Fulton. Fulton is a self-declared "walking artist" whose first UK public solo exhibition is aptly entitled Hamish Fulton: Walk. The separation by two centuries has an obvious effect on the disparate aesthetics of Fulton and Turner, but both men emphasise the importance of place and have personal ties to Margate and north Kent. Fulton performs individual and group walks throughout the world, which he later documents in a variety of media and styles including photographs, text, and graphic diagrams. The walks Fulton participates in are a sort of pilgrimage, but they are about the journey almost more so than the final destination - it is the process of walking and observing that are important. Building on meditation practices of Buddhism such as circumambulatory temples, the walk is a form of introspection, whether performed solo or as part of a group. On particularly poignant work is handwritten on gridded paper. The last line reads “no talking for nine days,” which highlights the highly personal nature of the practice that elevates the quotidian activity into an art form. Because a walk cannot be sufficiently contained within a gallery space, the works that make up the exhibition only reflect a finished product, not the entire piece. As richly varied as the terrains and cultures experienced, the works vary in size and placement in the gallery causing viewers to approach a low hanging work closely or step back to view a climbing line towards the pitched ceiling.

Set against the backdrop of a bright and crisp winter’s day, a visit to Turner Contemporary is a refreshing taste of nature outside the busy London environment. The natural light penetrates the gallery space imbuing the works with a life-like quality and the simplicity of display highlights the work of Turner in an innovative way. Turner’s influence throughout subsequent art history is obvious in the work of the Impressionists, but beyond the nineteenth century, the paintings remain dynamic and exciting for artists interested in depicting place.

Turner and the Elements, 28 January 2012 - 13 May 2012 and Hamish Fulton: Walk, 17 January 2012 - 7 May 2012. Turner Contemporary, Rendezvous, Margate, Kent, CT9 1HG. www.turnercontemporary.org

Aesthetica in Print

If you only read Aesthetica online, you're missing out. The February/March issue of Aesthetica is out now and offers a diverse range of features from an examination of the diversity and complexity of art produced during the tumultuous decade of the 1980s in Art, Love & Politics in the 1980s, opening 11 February at MCA Chiacgo, a photographic presentation of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's latest opening, Conversations: Photography from the Bank of America Collection. Plus, we recount the story of British design in relation to a comprehensive exhibition opening this spring at the V&A.

If you would like to buy this issue, you can search for your nearest stockist here. Better yet call +44 (0) 1904 629 137 or visit the website to subscribe to Aesthetica for a year and save 20% on the printed magazine.

Caption:
Hamish Fulton Walk - Installation view
Turner Contemporary 2012
Courtesy David Grandorge