Can't wait for summer festivals...

Finally, the sun is shining, and in these credit crunch times I’m looking forward to some fantastic free festivals over the coming months. In my mind, festivals are what make the British summer – plastic cups of warm cider, the intoxicating smell of frying onions, floppy burgers and the holy trinity of wellies, cagoule and sunburn. And rather than heading for the bright lights (and inevitable mudfest) of Glastonbury or Reading, there’s something wonderfully homespun about the assortment of local community festivals which spring up each year. As a Leeds University veteran, the city’s annual Hyde Park shindig, Unity Day, holds a special place in my heart.

Leeds’ Hyde Park area is typical of an eclectic city community, with an ethnic mix jumbled up among the constant flux of arriving and departing students, and Unity Day aims to draw this varied community together in a safe environment where everyone can have a good time. That’s my favourite part of the whole experience – the mingling of different groups, seeing children run between their parent’s legs, while student revellers boogie away to bongo drums and dubstep. There are always some great creative types, a graffiti jam, local stalls, delicious food (I’m sure anyone whose enjoyed a festival over the past few years would know that the soggy burgers mentioned above are really a distant memory) and a chance for local acts to let their neighbours know what they’ve been up to. I can’t wait to spend the day lazing on the grass, and wandering between jazz, tea dances, drum and bass, and alternative performers and I’d like to hear of any other community festivals that have earned a special place in your hearts over the years? Or is anyone else a Unity Day regular?

Bring on the summer!

Image credit: Roland Seaton

Art Basel 40 –strong results for 2009

The sentiment reflected throughout the art world has been that of the recession, cut backs and closures. It has been a tumultuous time for all; however, as Wayne Hemingway said to Aesthetica in the last issue a recession can create serendipity and variation.

Now then, how’s the art fair industry holding up? At Aesthetica we work with numerous fairs from Art Beijing, India Art Summit, Art Chicago, Glasgow Art Fair, Zoo Art Fair, Newcastle Gateshead. We know how these events work, and with Basel being 40 years old, it has already been through a recession or two, so how did it go this year?

The 40th edition of Art Basel closed yesterday having attracted 61,000 artists, collectors, curators, and art lovers from around the globe, slightly more than last year and the highest number ever. The participating galleries, art connoisseurs, and the media were unanimous in pronouncing this a strong year for the show. Art 40 Basel demonstrated the health of the high-quality segment within the art market: Collectors rewarded excellent material and strong booth presentations with unexpectedly strong sales throughout the week.

With more than 300 galleries from 29 countries exhibiting works by over 2,500 artists, Art 40 Basel was a triumph. Many artists also attended the event: Stefan Balkenhol, Matthew Barney, Elmgreen and Dragset, Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson, Liam Gillick, Dan Graham, Subodh Gupta, Joan Jonas, Jeff Koons, Mark Leckey, Sigmar Polke, Ed Ruscha, Nedko Solakov, Not Vital and Franz Erhard Walther. And over 50 museum groups visited, as did major private collectors from North and South America, Europe and the emerging markets of the art world.

Participating galleries displayed their most interesting pieces and presented them in carefully curated booths. Many of the stands featured thematic exhibitions and one-person shows, while many galleries presented video works, installations and large sculptures. Paintings, works on paper, and photography continued to be strongly represented. Private collectors came from all continents, as did representatives of almost all the world’s major museums. Many exhibitors reported excellent results given the current conditions, adding that they also made valuable new contacts for the future of their program, and look forward to Art 41 Basel, which takes place June 16- 20 June 2010.


Discussing their experience at Art 40 Basel, gallerists offered this:

“The overall quality of the fair really creates an energy that makes collectors excited about buying art, which has resulted in us doing solid business - not just on the opening but every day of the show.” Mark Payot, Hauser and Wirth, Zurich/London

“We came with no expectations, but it went really well for us. There were many pleasant surprises and we connected with many new people.” Tim Blum, Blum and Poe, Los Angeles

“Business was surprisingly good, which was unexpected. Art Basel still remains the best place to see clients who return for many years, and to meet new ones as well.” Monika Sprüth, Sprüth Magers, Berlin/London

“Art 40 Basel witnesses a return to the roots of the artmarket. Knowledge, sustainability and seriousness move back to the foreground and the program-driven galleries especially benefit from this phenomenon.” Mathias Rastorfer, Galerie Gmurzynska, Zurich/St. Moritz/Zug

“Art Basel was a huge success against sober expectations. Business was very good, and the quality of the art and all the exhibitor booths was superb.” Roland Augustine, Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York

“Art Basel has exceeded all our expectations. Not just in terms of sales, which were strong, but also in terms of the joy and excitement for our artists, who were exhibiting both in our booth and in Art Unlimited. This is an unparalleled venue to expose the greater world to African art, and to introduce our artists to the most prestigious collectors and institutions in the world.” Liza Essers, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg

“We are very happy and sold works by almost all the artists from our program. We could even place the large installation by Hans op de Beck at Art Unlimited with a private foundation.” Lorenzo Fiaschi, Continua, San Gimignano/Beijing/Le Moulin

“At Art 40 Basel we met the highest level of curators and collectors, and many important museum opportunities will arise from this. We feel really honoured that our artist Nina Canell was selected as a winner of the Baloise Art Prize.” Finola Jones, Mother’s Tankstation, Dublin

One of the most spectacular events at this year’s Art Basel was the presentation of “Il Tempo del Postino” at Theater Basel. All three nights were completely sold out and many art lovers extended their stay to experience this unique presentation, which many viewers aftewards described as a “historical art world event”. Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Philippe Parreno as a group exhibition that would occupy time rather than space, “Il Tempo del Postino” (Postman Time) presented a sequential display of time based art on the theatre stage. The Basel edition of “Il Tempo del Postino” was directed by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Philippe Parreno, Anri Sala and Rirkrit Tiravanija; each of the twenty artists - Doug Aitken, Matthew Barney & Jonathan Bepler, Tacita Dean, Thomas Demand, Trisha Donnelly, Olafur Eliasson, Peter Fischli / David Weiss, Liam Gillick, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Douglas Gordon, Carsten Höller, and Pierre Huyghe.

See www.mif.co.uk for more info on “Il Tempo del Postino”

The recession is in full swing, but the show must go on. It’s that type of determination that keeps the art world alive and well. We know that we can’t return to the way it was before, in fact, I wouldn’t want to. I feel it’s given me a positive outlook for the future, and mended some of my careless ways. It’s a highly creative time, energized and full of opportunity – you just have to be open to it.

Aesthetica will be working with several fairs and festivals this summer, check our website for further details.

www.aestheticamagazine.com

Image credit: Bruno Bischofberger

Super Contemporary at the Design Museum, London

Finding myself with a couple of hours to spare at the weekend I went along London’s south bank to catch Super Contemporary at the Design Museum. Having interviewed guest curator Daniel Charny, for Aesthetica’s current issue I was interested to see the logistics of showcasing a timeline of the UK, and particularly London’s, political and cultural fluctuations over the past half century, alongside new innovations from 15 top design makers practicing in London today.

I’m a big fan of the design museum, especially the recent Hussein Chalayan retrospective and this provided a great contrast for the full scope of the institution’s remit. While the Chalayan space felt spacious and separated, Super Contemporary’s occupation of the museum’s first floor seemed to almost shrink the space with so much going on and the exhibition felt both smaller, with a paradoxical excess of information. Charny’s timeline proved to be truly absorbing however - I kind of wish I’d left my friends earlier in order to soak it all up and I feel like I’ve received a comprehensive crash course in the sparser areas of my design awareness. The exhibition faces a difficult predicament in contextualising the four prolific areas of product design, architecture, fashion and communication design within the huge changes of the British cultural, political and everyday realities since 1960 and for me the timeline was the most absorbing asset (despite the fact that Charny had emphasised the centrality of the commissions in our interview) – perhaps I’m too preoccupied with looking backwards instead of forwards!

Of the commissions Neville Brody’s Freedom Space was really striking, enhancing my awareness of being observed to an unnerving degree, but I also looked upon Paul Smith’s kitsch Rubbish Bin with amusement, it combined a traditional racing green with the plastic bunny mould in a manner which Smith has made his own over the years, and hints at the source of the unique extent of his popularity in Japan – paragon of the traditional and the contemporary amalgamation. Paul Cocksedge’s Rain It In was fantastic in its fusion of the dichotomies of art and science, and would prove hugely popular to this nesh visitor. I was also really interested to see Wayne Hemingway’s KiosKiosk, as it built on his ideas which we’d recently discussed on opportunism for escaping rents for new businesses in the recession.

All in all, Super Contemporary was a fantastic visit, another great contribution on the all-encompassing aesthetic possibilities showcased by design today.

Visited the Design Museum recently? I’d love to hear your thoughts…

www.designmuseum.org

Pauline

Image credit: New London Bin by Paul Smith