Art Unlimited

This sector of the show is for the bigwigs (in terms of scale) of the art world. If I was at the Venice Bienniele it would be de rigeur to have pieces like this. For example, if at the Bienniele the American pavilion had some nice wall art they wouldn't be invited back to that event again. However this is Art Basel which is in all regards a commercial event. Here is an opportunity within the already established confines of a museum-like setting to show some contemporary work. This year's curator created an exhibition that was predominantly about space. From a large mass of landscape photos that are grouped together featuring images of land that has been leveled for construction to a deconstructed wall that the artist cut away the drywall to use in his enormous mobile weighted by the chunks of building material. There is a wall sized photo of a room that you might otherwise actually see in this space. Another room that stops you near it's entrance reflecting your image with mirrors.

The Anish Kapoor (of the Chicago reflective bean fame) wax half circle that is being bisected by a large steel plank. These all deal with physical space. A piece that deals with personal space is a room filled with blown-up photos lining the walls. The photos were found by the artist on the internet. They are of people sleeping on public transportation. Mouths agape and heads at discomforting angles, these subjects were clearly unconscious (title) of the fact that they were being photographed on someone's phone and made public on the internet in their most vulnerable state. The pixelation distorted some of the images because of their size; a pixel being approximately 2 inches in some of the 3 foot photos. The installation was humorous, voyeuristic and shameful to both viewer and victim.

A piece that I didn't photograph because it wouldn't have helped to understand the work is by the newest wunderkind, 26 year old Jacob Kassay. His work was given a large space with a white tent over it to diffuse light. His art dealers will not let his work be sold to anyone but a museum so as to bring up his market value. His background is in photography and he has appropriated the medium in the form of painting. His pieces are almost purely conceptual. They elicit no color other than what they reflect on their silver (literally) surfaces. According to Anthony Huberman in Mousse Magazine, "he makes colorless pieces about color; he makes opaque surfaces about reflection; he makes metal paintings about light; he makes fixed images about movement; he uses chemical means to reach spiritual results; and he animates the techniques of painting and photography by disobeying both." What you will see when you regard his work is a series of several canvases which are treated with a primer and then silver plated. The variations inevitable with the application of anything by the human hand are the only idiosyncrasies in the surface of the pieces and are completely unexpected and arbitrary. The surface is like an old mirror or silver paint that is a bit more diffused and organic. They reflect whatever is around them in a really hazy, myopic way. You can only see reflections of the most crude of color which is why the enormous softbox is installed overhead.

The next pieces I will give as examples have verticality in common. That may be all. One of them is my favorite piece of the show, one is intriguing and one is simply good stock. You'll have to guess which is which!

Kendell Geers/South Africa/ Hanging Piece

Kendell Geers created this piece in 1993 in a response to the tension surrounding apartheid. His family regularly vacationed in Durban, a popular holiday town on the warm Indian Ocean. In a form of violent/non-violent protest, anti-apartheid freedom fighters installed bricks, hanging from cords at the height of a windshield, from overhead passes in Zulu territory on the way to this all-white holiday meeting ground. Driving that last stretch in the car at night, anticipating a blissed out week of relaxation, speeding a little, inevitably had a strong impact and message on those drivers.

This piece was created18 years ago in response to a particular form of political concern. Yet, it still resonates with possibility. It is heartbreaking to me. It speaks about violence. That which we do to ourselves, cause to others, who can duck below it, how to get through it, how to make a wave or avoid a crushing blow. These 20 cent blocks of building material can make a home or break a home. They are a wall that appears daunting but not impenetrable. The first person to walk through them can carefully dodge the bricks, but the one that is bumped by the shoulder sets the pendulum in motion. The brick swings precariously from it's red noose, knocking into the brick next to it. Another person walks though setting more bricks into motion. At some point the act of navigating becomes too perilous for the rest of the group and they have to wait. Perhaps Kendell's message today is that the physics of our actions will come to a head where everything must stop for any of us to get through it.

Dan Flavin/

I didn't catch the title of this work but I spent a bit of time going from one side saying "now you're pink, now your green" to my new Canadian companion of two hours. She and I agreed that the Tuttle piece was equally interesting but I got a better photo of this one. I briefly mentioned the Flavin light pieces when I was at Beacon. These are of another breed- mainly due to the fact that they are in an enclosed space and are colored. I honestly can't tell you what his intention was but he's obviously an important figure in the more recent history of art since I see him everywhere. All I can think of is a Sex and the City scene where Carrie is explaining Petrovsky's art to her friends and she stumbles over her description of his "light installations" and they all wince about the specificity awkwardly.

Mona Hatoum/Lebanon/Impenetrable

I should start by saying that Mona's work is represented by one of the biggest names in the British Art Scene, the White Cube Gallery, which has represented a number of YBA's. This factoid aside, her work struck me immediately due to use of materials, simplicity, and craft. All are impeccable. Materials= barbed wire stretched vertically and suspended mid-air by transparent line. Simplicity= the form is a cube created from perfectly spaced rows of the wire. Craft= its beautiful. The piece seems to float in space like a precariously suspended cube. But upon closer inspection you realize that it is a dangerous material used to keep others out. The delicacy and wonder of this floating cube dissolve into a sense of fear and exclusion. Its lines of wire and the arrangement of them can evoke all of those feelings. Its Brilliant.