Documenting the Surreal
Recommended article from the current issue of Aesthetica.

Mannequins, chairs, books, bunting, shoes, umbrellas, curtains and even children can be found amongst the scenery of Julie Blackmon's (b. 1966) intricately formulated photography. Combining colour, everyday objects and portraiture, Blackmon's works are endlessly fascinating, and every return glance reveals a new angle or shape. Focusing primarily on the domestic, the layout of her subjects implies an ongoing narrative that is unconcerned with the presence of the photographer.

Issue 54: August/September - Out Now

This issue pays homage to artists who are pushing the boundaries and doing things in new and exciting ways. The pages within are a celebration of creativity in its many forms. It’s the desire to lead, not to follow, which shouts loudly throughout this edition.

We start with the Jason Rhoades, Four Roads retrospective, which opens at ICA Philadelphia and surveys the work of this extraordinary artist. The Rediscovery of the World  is the latest exhibition to open at Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, showcasing a new wave of contemporary Dutch photographers. James Turrell opens three shows simultaneously, each examining the artist’s groundbreaking explorations of light, colour and space. At the moment of being heard is currently on at South London Gallery, and presents works and performances by a group of international artists and composers who are questioning modes of listening. In photography, we look at highlights from Only in England, which juxtaposes the work of Martin Parr and previously unseen pieces by Tony Ray-Jones. We also present a series of works from Joel Sternfeld, who is known for large-format documentary images. Finally, we introduce the talents of Julie Blackmon and Gail Albert Halaban along with a series from Jean-François Lepage.

In film, we speak with Oscar winning director Fernando Trueba about his latest feature The Artist and the Model, which explores the relationship between an artist and his muse. We also chat with Laurent Cantet about his new film Foxfire, set in 1950s America, in which five teenage girls set up a gang to interrogate patriarchal society. In music, we look at the rebirth of headphones as an essential fashion accessory, while Local Natives talk about the release of their second album, Hummingbird, which combines beautiful melodies and Americana. On stage, Punchdrunk’s latest immersive production, The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, has audiences enamoured with the company’s signature experiential work. Finally, Sorcha Carey, Director of the Edinburgh Art Festival, has the last words, speaking about this year’s event.

1. Tickets for the Aesthetica Short Film Festival On Sale Now

The Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2013 will run from 7 – 10 November in 15 locations across the enchanting city of York, presenting a unique opportunity to experience outstanding independent film whilst exploring one of Britain’s oldest cities. Over 200 films will be showcased over the weekend in an eclectic mix of venues including medieval halls, cities walls and boutique cinemas. This innovative approach to screening creates a truly unique experience, attracting devoted film enthusiasts and curious cinematic explorers alike.

The ASFF 2013 Official Selection will showcase the best emerging talent in international filmmaking alongside the achievements of a more established generation of filmmakers. The films selected from an open submission call will run alongside a selection of guest programmes from organisations such as BAFTA and Yorkshire Film Archive, as well as international contributions from countries such as India, Norway and Mexico. A series of masterclasses will also run throughout the weekend, delivered by representatives from Film 4, BAFTA, Film London, Warp Films and Sheffield Doc/Fest among others.

ASFF is accessible via a range of ticket options, offering visitors the opportunity to take in the festival over one day, or explore everything the festival has to offer with a three-day pass. Family tickets are also available, giving parents the chance to bring children along to specially curated family friendly screenings in addition to discovering other areas of the festival alone if they choose. Tickets are on sale now; visit the official ASFF page for more information.

www.asff.co.uk/tickets

2. Brighton Art Fair Ticket Offer

For the 10th Brighton Art Fair, over 100 of the best contemporary artists from the UK and abroad come together. Some have exhibited at the event before, some are brand new, but all of their work is exciting, fresh and exceptional. The celebratory show will run 20 – 22 September.

Painters, printmakers, ceramicists, photographers and sculptors will be exhibiting, with the most original and eclectic work across as wide a variety of methods and subjects as possible. Artists sell their work directly to the public, bringing a personal feel to the viewing and buying process. In meeting the artists, visitors can enjoy learning about their creative inspirations, techniques and future projects.

Artworks are shown in the majestic and historic Corn Exchange at the heart of the city. The fair has built a very strong reputation for presenting beautiful pieces in a relaxed, informal and friendly environment.

To receive a 2 for the price of 1 ticket to this exciting event, please complete the form here - http://eepurl.com/lHbdD - by Monday 16 September, and a voucher will be sent to you in the post before the event. Offer code: Aesth.

www.brightonartfair.co.uk

3. Buy Art Fair Framing Offer

Buy Art Fair and The Manchester Contemporary, the biggest art buying events in the north of England, are at Spinningfields, Manchester, from 26 to 29 September. Buy Art Fair famously offers original work from £50 up to over £5000, and creates new art audiences and collectors across the UK, as well as attracting seasoned experts to add to their collections. Both events are free to enter and include talks and workshops as well as art for sale.

Following its unparalleled success in 2012, Buy Art Fair, the UK's biggest contemporary art fair outside London, celebrates its sixth year, while its sister show, The Manchester Contemporary, will mark its fifth anniversary showcasing world-class, critically engaged modern art.

More than 70 galleries from around the UK will exhibit at the fairs this year, with over 500 artists represented at the free shows. Popular galleries such as Hepplestone Fine Art, Art Dog London and Atelier Rose and Gray will return to exhibit paintings, sculptures, photography and mixed media works to an expected audience of 7,500.

Artists' work for sale includes Damien Hirst, Gary Hulme, Norman Ackroyd and RB Kitaj.

Buy Art Fair and Heatherington Frames are offering Aesthetica readers an amazing 50% off the framing of all purchases from Buy Art Fair 2013 when this is booked during the Fair.  Quote "Aesthetica Framing Offer" to claim.

www.buyartfair.co.uk

4. VIP Tickets for Docks Art Fair

Founded in 2007, Docks Art Fair, the international contemporary art fair in Lyon, is the place to be for art lovers. For its fourth edition, the fair takes up a permanent site. Leaving its temporary structure, it moves a few hundred metres to the south of the Sucrière, the emblematic site of the Biennale of Contemporary Art in Lyon at the tip of the Confluence. This new address is the head office of GL Events, a steel and glass structure designed by Odile Decq, overlooking the banks of the Saone. The fair is settling upon solid foundations – a fitting metaphor for an event which is becoming a permanent feature of the regional and national landscape of the contemporary art market.

This year, 32 specific projects, many produced by up-and-coming artists, will be exhibited to the collectors and enthusiasts who make Docks Art Fair their principal rendezvous for the start of the contemporary creative season. Among these projects is one from the Lyon Higher National School of Fine Arts - a sign of the fair’s investment in the artistic scene of tomorrow.

For a VIP pass, please contact hannah@aestheticamagazine.com.

www.2013.docksartfair.com

1. John Cohen: Been Here and Gone

L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, New York
6 September – 16 November

L. Parker Stephenson Photographs exhibits its second presentation of photographs by John Cohen, and the first ever of his colour work in the country. Between 1959 and 1970 Cohen, himself an active participant in the music scene, captured fellow legends Bob Dylan and Woody Guthrie. The showcase of prints coincides with both the release of Dylan's new album Another Self Portrait 1969 – 1971 and Guthrie's centennial. 

In 1970, John Cohen took photographs of a young Bob Dylan in New York City near Dylan's home in Greenwich Village, and in Putnam Valley around Cohen's farmhouse. Ektachrome slides of these photo sessions were recently unearthed during the selection of unreleased recordings and demos from the period for Dylan's new Bootleg Series album. From these, limited edition prints have been made and are now available for the first time. The deluxe version of Dylan's Another Self Portrait album, released in August, includes a book with over 60 of Cohen's photographs from these early shoots.

A decade earlier, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, a revival of folk music was taking place, and Woody Guthrie, American folk music's most influential figure, was making his last appearances. Cohen spent time with Guthrie during this period and captured intimate photographs of the music icon. Guthrie, who would have been 101 this year, was an inspiration for countless young musicians (among them Dylan) and, for some, his song This Land Was Made For You and Me has practically become a national anthem. The Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, opened earlier this year with an exhibition of Cohen's photographs.

www.lparkerstephenson.com

Image credit:
Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village (with drum on sidewalk), 1970

2. William Christenberry

Fundación Mapfre, Madrid
24 September – 24 November

Regarded as a pioneer of colour photography, Christenberry’s works are unique in their evocative capacity to transform simple imagery into something monumental. He is also a versatile creator who has used other media to encapsulate the memory of his native Deep South. 

The artist’s prolific career has been featured in numerous exhibitions at many of the leading American museums, but European audiences have rarely had a chance to enjoy his work. This show is, therefore, a singular opportunity to take a closer look at his photography series and other facets of his oeuvre. The exhibition focuses primarily on the artist’s photographic output, featuring over 300 photographs, most of which are of the time, and taken between 1967 and 2007. Also displayed are nine sculptures and the installation The Klan Room, which consists of nearly 300 objects. A selection of advertising materials from the artist’s studio rounds out the exhibition. 

www.fundacionmapfre.org

Image Credit:
Blue Trailer, Near Demopolis, Alabama, 1977 © William Christenberry.
Courtesy Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York.

3. Night Contact

Dalston, London
27 September

On Friday 27 September, as darkness begins to fall, indoor and outdoor projections will pop up across a range of venues in Dalston, East London, beaming out inspiring artworks for one night only. Supporting and promoting contemporary image making, Night Contact aims to bring together exciting and innovative photographic works that provoke or engage in conversations with other media, such as film, music and literature. All of the works will embrace the projection format through experimental edits, collaborations with other artists, and the use of sound, narrative, movement, colour and rhythm.

Centred around Gillett Square, a specially installed bank of screens will show site-specific commissioned and curated work. There will be stalls, music, food and drink, with vouchers offering deals at local bars and eateries. Beyond the main square, the festival will break out into a trail of six satellite venues, taking over the streets of Dalston across outdoor spaces, bars and music venues, each showing a programmed screening.

The majority of the work on show will come from open submissions; these will be accompanied by a curated programme to ensure a varied, engaging and inspiring final line-up. In addition to an open call out for submissions, three £1000 grants haven been awarded to aid the production of three new collaborative works. These new pieces will be premiered utilising the three screen setup in the festival hub, Gillett Square.

www.nightcontact.co.uk

Image Credit:
© Maja Daniels. Night Contact Grant winner in collaboration with Anne Hovad Fisher'

4. MCA DNA: Warhol and Marisol

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
21 September – 15 June

MCA DNA: Warhol and Marisol is inspired by the multi-faceted relationship between the artists Andy Warhol and Marisol, and presents their work side by side in a focused selection drawn primarily from the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Key examples of Warhol's celebrated silkscreen paintings and Marisol's figurative wood sculptures illuminate both artists' approaches to portraiture, as well as their similar use of found imagery and serial repetition in their figures.

Andy Warhol and Marisol were both prominent figures in the lively art scene in New York in the 1960s and became close friends. They attended events together and had solo exhibitions at Eleanor Ward's Stable Gallery, where they came to be identified with the rising Pop Art movement. Warhol and Marisol even turned to one another as occasional subjects: Marisol made a sculptural portrait of Warhol in the early 1960s, entitled Andy, which is included in the exhibition, and around the same time, Warhol featured Marisol in some of his early, now legendary, films.

The 1960s were important years for Warhol and Marisol, marking a formative period in the development of their work. Most notably, Warhol began using silkscreen techniques to produce serial paintings, often based on photographs from mass media sources. Included in the exhibition are Warhol's Jackie Frieze of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Troy Diptych of actor Troy Donahue, and the photograph Marisol Sculpture of William Burroughs. Marisol made the first of many portraits, and developed her signature style, using boxy wooden forms to produce sculptures with painted surfaces and three-dimensional additions such as plaster castings or everyday objects. The exhibition presents Marisol's sculpture Six Women, the first artwork acquired by the MCA, along with Self-Portrait and Andy.  

www.mcachicago.org

Image credit:
Marisol Escobar, Six Women, 1965-66. Collection Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.
Gift of the artist, 1968.1

5. Siah Armajani: An Ingenious World

Parasol unit, London
18 September – 15 December

Parasol unit, London, opens the first major survey in the UK of Iran-born, American artist Siah Armajani, who is internationally renowned for his extensive public art commissions, which include bridges, reading rooms and poetry gardens. This exhibition traces the artist’s oeuvre from his early works on paper, made in Iran during the late 1950s, to his mature works, including his most recent structure, the Alfred Whitehead Reading Room, created specifically for the outdoor space at Parasol unit.

Armajani’s work is rooted in his own Persian cultural heritage, his knowledge of Western philosophy, literature and poetry, and his interest in the American vernacular architecture with which he acquainted himself while studying in the USA in the early 1960s. His early works are distinguished by a poetic use of Persian script, a manipulation of traditional techniques, a singular use of space, and a bold vision that employs various media to serve his artistic intent. The combination of text, idea and peculiar usage of space that can be observed in these early works has continued into his mature pieces, many of which have poetry or a philosophical statement as an important element.

Armajani’s post-art school works are often astute architectural models, inspired by generic structures and conveying the idea of house or bridge. They have, through his creative process, developed into a unique catalogue. In Armajani’s structures, the idea always has priority over function. His belief in democracy and open communication as essential requirements for a healthy society, along with his philosophical and political interests, eventually led him to create art in the public realm, for which he is rightly renowned.

www.parasol-unit.org

Image credit:
Siah Armajani: Alfred Whitehead Reading Room, 2013. Wood, plexiglass, brass, glass, 244 x 366 x 488 cm. Commissioned by Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art on the occasion of the exhibition Siah Armajani. Photograph: Larry Marcus.

6. David Wojtowycz: Glen

Works/Projects Bristol
14 September – 26 October

Through the use of watercolour, collage, text, posters, film and sculpture, David Wojtowycz develops a highly stylised parallel world: a world imbued with death, sex, bodily fetish and cinematic myth. Questions surrounding authorship and authenticity remain intentionally ambiguous in his practice. Appropriating images, motifs and materials from a diverse range of cultural sources, products and associations are prefabricated, re-authored and replaced with surrogates that form fragments from an idealised and seemingly excessive life - one that has possibly only existed via its own reproduction.

Individual works are composed into suggestions of narrative cohesion through the creation of environments, often stage-like conglomerates existing between club, domestic, mausoleum and gallery space. Works hung together in lines suggest real or fictitious plots rooted in cinema. The narrative is simultaneously extrapolated and compounded by the juxtaposition of paintings with “found” source materials. Film posters, magazine tears, typed notes and other archival material conjure up hybrid associations of imprecise emotions, fear and desire.

www.worksprojects.co.uk

Image credit:
Untitled, 2013, Detail view.

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Ron Meuck at the Foundation Cartier pour l´art contemporain, Paris

A background synopsis of Ron Mueck reads something like this – a figurative sculptor whose works are included in significant collections around the world, born in Melbourne in 1958, spent his childhood spare time crafting figures, started his career as a model maker and puppeteer for the television and film industries, entered the world of contemporary art in 1996, and proceeded to exhibit with great success in London, Paris, New York, Sydney and then globally.

Personally, I would rather describe Ron Mueck as an illusionist. His magical art lies in the creation of figurative sculptures that appear to be real, in a sense that they are made of flesh and blood, but moreover, have presence in a profoundly individual way, forming unique and evocative characters. This is illusion at its best and it is breathtaking. Emotions and thoughts are present in the eyes of the figures on show. The windows have been created, and so too have the souls. It emerges that the eyes are handmade by Mueck himself, the painstaking process of which is revealed in the accompanying film Still Life: Ron Mueck at work, which has been produced specifically to accompany the exhibition by the renowned photographer Gautier Deblonde. Silicones and resins have been transformed into flesh. Veins that transport blood are visible beneath surfaces of skin that appear soft and humanly fragile. Were it possible to touch the figures, one would anticipate body heat and expect warm moist breath to be exhaled rhythmically from the nostrils. The visual authenticity is striking, and while one could argue that it is a result of exemplary sculpting and model making skills executed in Mueck`s north London studio, it transcends this entirely. The work is neither scale model building nor hyper realism. Rather, in some godlike manner, Mueck has managed to breathe life into his figures.

Another aspect of the experience of illusion is the artist’s use of scale. By making figures much smaller or significantly larger than their conventional human dimensions, the visual spectacle becomes even more baffling. The figures are either very small or very large in relation to ourselves, but are nevertheless made of the same stuff – flesh and blood. Again, the authenticity is striking and the attention to detail beggars belief. Hair, skin, clothing and stitching have all been scaled up or down accordingly to provide an entirely convincing visual reality. It is as if these figures have been drawn down to earth out of some other world, perhaps within the realm of dreams, fairytales or giants. A deep sense of paradox is created. They are of this world, but at the same time they are not. They are apparently sentient living beings, yet they are entirely artificial.
It would be difficult to choose a better location for Ron Meuck`s show than the Jean Nouevel designed Foundation Cartier pour l`art contemporain in Montparnasse, especially on a warm and sunny summers day flooded with natural light. Surrounded by a verdant garden that serves to diffuse the sun, the gallery exists as the perfect glass casing for these treasures. As exhibitions of Mueck`s work are apparently few and far between, this has been a rare opportunity to see his pieces. There is no photography that can adequately record or communicate Mueck`s work. Websites, books and catalogues fall short in portraying the magical quality of his figurative sculptures. These can only be fully experienced `in the flesh`, and yet paradoxically without any tactility, as one is kept at a minimum distance of about four feet from any of the pieces.

Garth Doyle

Ron Mueck, 16 April until 27 October, Fondation Cartier pour l’art Contemporain, 261, Boulevard Raspail, 75014 Paris. fondation.cartier.com

Image Credit
Couple under an umbrella. © Ron Mueck Photo. © Thomas Salva / Lumento pour la Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, 2013.

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