Vernissages | NYC, Chelsea April 29

Large scale ---and sometimes kitch--- is tonight theme.

Mark Ryder at Paul Kasmin

Fernando Botero at Marlborough Chelsea

Shirazeh Houshiary at Lehman Maupin

Transfer Function at Zieher Smith

Calendar | April 26 - May 2

Monday, h 16:30 | New York

Jeanne-Claude's Memorial | Metropolitan Museum | by invitation only

Wednesday, h.19 | Rome, Art Opening

Gregor Schneider, Fondazione Volume! | Via San Francesco di Sales 86

Wednesday, 6-8 | New York, Art Opening

Remember the Upstairs Lounge curated by Dan Cameron, No Longer Empty | 447 W 16th Street

Wednesday, 6pm | New York, Lecture

Mark Strand, What We See and What We Know, The Frick Collection | 70 street: 1 E 70 street, free

Thursday, 6-8 | New York, Art Opening

Fernando Botero: Monumental Sculpture, Marlborough Gallery | 545 West 25 Street

Thursday, 6:30-8:30 | New York, Performance

Chris Verene, Town Hall Meeting", Postmasters Gallery | 459 W 19 Street

Thursday, 6-8 | New York, Art Opening

Jockum Nordstrom, Mamma Andersson, Who is sleeping on my pillow, David Zwirner Gallery | 525 W 19 Street

Thursday, 6-8 | New York, Art Opening

Shirazeh Houshiary, Light Darkness, Lehman Maupin | 540 W 26 Street

Thursday, 6-8 | New York, Art Opening

Mark Ryden, The Gay 90's: Old Tyme Art Show, Paul Kasmin | 293 Tenth Avenue

Friday and Saturday, 8-9:30 | New York, Performance

Faurot & Paulson, Plow Like Hell, The Chocolate Factory Theater | 5-49 49th Avenue, Long Island City | $15

Saturday, 4-6 | New York, Art Opening

Mark Di Suvero, at Paula Cooper | 534 W 21 Street

Saturday, 6-8 | New York, Art Opening

Claude Monet, Gagosian | 522 W 21 Street

Sunday, 5-7 | New York, Art Opening

Knight's Move, Sculpture Center | 4419 Purves Street, Long Island City

Remembering |NYC, à bientôt Jeanne-Claude...

Artists don't retire, they die. That's all. When they stop to be able to create art, they die.

Jeanne-Claude, September 30 2009.

New York said goodbye to Jeanne-Claude today. Her memorial was celebrated at the Metropolitan Museum of Art several months after her death on November 20, 2009.

Together with her husband Christo, Jeanne-Claude was a major force in the world of large-scale environmental art. New York was their adopted home, having come from Bulgaria by way of Paris. Though Christo provided the creative input in their world-renowned pieces, Jeanne-Claude was the one who made his work come to life with her perseverance and persuasive powers. Their work included such well-known installations as the Gates at Central Park NY, wrapping the Ponte Neuf in Paris, the wrapped Reichstag in Berlin, il Muro Torto in Rome, and the running fence in California.

We interviewed Christo and Jeanne-Claude in May 2009, in their NYC loft. The transcript of the interview can be found at: http://axesmundi.blogspot.com/2008/06/work-of-joy-and-beauty-christo-and.html

We also took a video of the Gates, from a different kinetic experience (from roller skates) :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvnBZjhZ6JI

Jeanne-Claude was eulogized by Mayor Bloomberg, Paul Goldberger, and Philippe de Montebello among others. Throughout the eulogies, the sense of humor and vitality which characterized Jeanne-Claude was evident in the crowd. She will be missed.

Interviews | Robert Cahen

The French video artist Robert Cahen interviewed in the Italian city of Lucca in 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ranElettrike

Vernissages | NYC, Chelsea April 23

Ben Hotchkiss at Ricco Maresca

Jakkai Siributr's Karma Kash and Carry at Tyler Rolllins

Stevie Currie at Elizabeth Harris

Vernissages + Performances | NYC, Jack Tilton Gallery and Martos

Spring has finally arrived in NYC and a new energy seems to renew NYC visual arts. Dance performances harmoniously merge with art installations at two art galleries ---Martos in Chelsea and Jack Tilton in the Upper East Side--- with a remembrance of the 60' happenings

Probably the most outstanding intervention in terms of site-specificity happened yesterday at Jack Tilton's gallery where Malcolm Low's choreography beautifully interacted with Jarbas Lopes's sculptures. The Brazilian artist's sculptures are based on functional objects such as bicycles and bungee chords in "a celebration of life, art and movement".

Malcolm Low's dancers at Jack Tilton's

Patricia Weiss at Martos Gallery

New Architecture in the Eternal City

With 3000 years of architectural history at their doorstep, Romans continually face the question of how to accommodate growth while respecting the past. Two recent projects stand far enough outside the historic center (in Flaminio) that their bold street presence does not offend this great history.

Renzo Piano's Auditorium Parco della Musica, completed in 2002, is a grouping of three sculptural copper-clad forms which house the three auditoria. Situated in a park-like environment, the sculptural forms are given freedom of expression not often found in this dense city.

Nearby is the new (still unopened as of April 2010) Maxxi Museum by Zaha Hadid. A dramatic collage of sweeping geometric forms, the building's energy is barely contained by the site. It's placement in the urban context of the Flaminio neighborhood is unfortunate; a building of this drama needs room to spread out into the landscape, for it is definitively a non-contextual design.

Camminando | NYC, Spring has arrived!

Finally enjoying spring in NYC, strolling at Central Park or by the American Museum of Natural History...

Vernissages | NYC, Chelsea April 15

A quite varied evening with an interesting technology driven exhibition: Jim Campbell at Bryce Wolkowitz.

And nostalgia of Fluxus, Mail Art and Rubber Stamps at the Stendhal gallery:

Jim Campbell's "Exploded View" at Bryce Wolkowitz

Camminando | Roman Aqueducts, an Exhibition of Nature, History and Architecture

Last Monday on my last day of my trip to Rome I was blessed with one the most amazing sunset light, at Parco degli Acquedotti. A few memories of the magical light on these utilitarian monuments, from over 2000 year ago...

Photographs and text are excerpts from the conceptual multimedia project

“Axes Mundi: Perceptions and Understanding of Places as Intersections of Space, Time and Culture”

Exhibitions | Rome, Digital Life

Digital Life is on view from March 2 to May 2 at the newly renovated space La Pelanda, in the former Mattatoio of Testaccio.

The title is not completely appropriate to the works presented in the exhibition, which include not only digital art but several examples of technology driven projects. Nevertheless the exhibition is a compelling survey of some of the most interesting examples of new media in contemporary art.

Participating artists include Michel Bruyère, Mikko Hynninen, Ulf Langheinrich, Emmanuel Madan, Julien Maire, Martux-m, Thomas McIntosh, Christian Partos, Erwin Redl,Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jeffrey Shaw and Shiro Takatani.

la Pelanda dei suini

Events | Rome, Dell'Amore del Danno: Power of Words

Violence against children and violence against women.

If we are fortunate of not experiencing it personally we read about it in the news. But the words and images telling us about these very sad and sometimes horrifying relationships are usually desperate and depressing. In Maria Inversi's books "Corri Amore Corri" and "Io e l'altra" the stories about abused women and children have a chatartic ending, where creativity and imagination become survival means for the victims. Very moving and powerful stories told with a firm, clear still serene tone, with some flashes of hope: the power of language...

On April 9 Palazzo Valentini in Roma hosted readings of stories from the two books and ended with a commentary by Maria Grazia Passuello, director of Solidea a support center for victims of domestic violence.

camminando | Ischia