Marking its eight edition, PULSE New York returns to present 60 national and international galleries, exhibiting a mix of emerging and established artists. Covering a variety of media, photography, painting, sculpture, performance, installation and video art, the fair celebrates artistic practice and a range of talent from 9 May until 12 May.
Anguish and Enthusiasm: What Do You Do With Your Revolution Once You’ve Got It at Cornerhouse, Manchester
Cornerhouse opens Anguish and Enthusiasm on 13 April, an extraordinary group show of new and recent contemporary art investigating post-revolutionary periods and events. Exploring contrasting perspectives and observations from Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and beyond, the exhibition considers politics, change and those who were lost along the way. Featuring new commissions by Sarah Pierce, Andreas Bunte, Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnec and Trust Your Struggle alongside existing work by an array of acclaimed artists including Eoghan McTigue, Pocas Pascoal and Jun Yang, Anguish and Enthusiasm will be accompanied by two Artist Film Forums showcasing shorts contributing to the exhibition’s themes, and events further investigating the outcome of a revolution.
Open End: Goetz Collection at Haus der Kunst, Munich
Open End is the fourth exhibition in an ongoing series of presentations of film and video works from the Goetz Collection in Haus der Kunst. Featuring the work of 14 renowned international artists, the cinematic works in this exhibition explore the idea of the open narrative with regard to the visual aspect and the use of language. As in the modern and contemporary novel, which constitutes one of the most overt aspects of the literary narrative, freer, open, narrative forms take the place of conventional, linear action towards an end point. Likewise, all the films in this exhibition share the trait of being open ended, thus pointing to affinities between the narrative techniques of the novel and visual structuring of contemporary film installations.
Aesthetica April/May Out Now
Aesthetica Issue 52 is now out in the shops. Inside this issue, we start with Amalia Pica’s latest exhibition, which opens in April at MCA Chicago and is the artist’s first major solo museum show in the USA, including 15 of her most significant works. We also look at the Julio Le Parc retrospective on now at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris, presenting a vast survey of the artist’s work from the 1950s to the present day. European Chronicles opens this May as part of Diffusion in Cardiff, which is Wales’ first international photography festival. NYC 1993: Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star is the latest exhibition to open at the New Museum in New York City, capturing a specific moment at the intersection of art, pop culture and politics.
David Bowie Short Films
The Space presents five short films, made in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum, which each explores the genius of David Bowie on occasion of the first full-scale retrospective of his career, David Bowie is, at the V&A in London. Featuring insight from the curators of the exhibition, Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh, music journalist Paul Morley as well as film-maker Alan Yentob, the films examine the many facets of David Bowie, as well as the fascination with his creative output across the past five decades.
6 To See this Bank Holiday Weekend
With four days off and weather that doesn’t compliment outdoor activities or picnics, art exhibitions are an obvious solution for Bank Holiday boredom. However, wherever you are in the world, the weekend is always a great time to leisurely explore local art exhibitions. From Amsterdam to New York we uncover the best in contemporary art in both Public and Private galleries across a variety of practices. Whether it be fandom at David Bowie Is… or destruction in Sara Cwynar’s Everything In the Studio (Destroyed) these shows provoke a range of responses.
Johan Van der Keuken: Up to the Light, Amsterdam
Up to the Light is a celebration of the outstanding work of filmmaker and photographer Johan Van der Keuken. Running 30 March until 9 June at EYE (Amsterdam), the exhibition focuses in particular on the extraordinary way in which Van der Keuken brought together contrasting images in his films and observed a world in constant transition. The artist was a constant traveler, recording what he saw both at home and abroad, and he punctuated his observations in Africa, Asia or Latin America with similar or indeed diametrically opposed situations. He was also one of the first filmmakers to attempt a cinematic translation of time into space.
Art Paris Art Fair
Art Paris Art Fair arrives this weekend at the Grand Palais, hosting 20 countries and 143 galleries the fair presents modern and contemporary art. Taking time to focus on the art scene in the East, galleries from Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia will be represented and for the first time Russia has been invited as a guest of honour. The event opens for the preview 27 March and runs 28 March – 1 April for the public.
Interview with Film Poster Designer Sam Smith
For Carlos Reygadas’ new film release Post Tenebras Lux, the ICO commissioned American graphic designer, Sam Smith to produce the poster artwork. Both an artist and a musician (Smith is the drummer for Ben Folds) he approached the project as a film fanatic and an admirer of Reygadas’ Silent Light. Smith’s bold, abstract and colourful designs tap into Mexican and European illustrative poster traditions. Aesthetica speaks to Smith about his ideas for this project and his continued love for film poster design.
Asian Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Brisbane
The Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT), on at the recently revamped GOMA in Brisbane, Australia, is a pastiche of works from the many regions of Asia, the Pacific, and Australian Aboriginal communities. Because of the vastness and variation of the regions and styles covered by the triennial, APT curators focus for each event on a loose theme, this year’s being ephemeral structures based on the Spirit Houses of the Papua New Guinean people of the Sepik river region.
Birds Eye View Preview: Wadjda
In advance of the Birds Eye View film festival, the BFI preview Wadjda, which tells the remarkable story of a young girl growing up in modern-day Saudi Arabia, and her quest to buy her own bicycle. Seemingly unaware of just how unconventional her interest in owning a bike is, Wadjda tells anybody who will listen about her plan to save up for a bike, encountering the ridicule of her mother and just about everybody else in the process.
New online project: Antipodes by Layla Curtis
A new online art project has launched today on www.antipodes.uk.com alongside a photographic exhibition at Spacex from 18 May. British artist Layla Curtis’ Antipodes is an online and photographic project which pairs webcam images from places on opposite sides of the globe. Curtis’ work has a focus on mapping and the ways we represent terrain and locate ourselves and our movements through space.