10 more options to substitute the coercive Autumn art fairs’ agenda

Starting from next Friday – when the Zurich art weekend is going to open – and until the next edition of Art Basel Miami Beach – 3 December – practically every week in the calendar will have its art fair with art people constantly travelling to the same places. But at the point we are today a lot of them have started complaining that: 1) the art fairs’ pattern has become too predictable; 2) these events are sucking money that could instead be better employed, for instance, in the art production; 3) certain artists end up producing just for feeding the monster, and not out of a genuine creative need; 4) generally the same people visit the same galleries everywhere they go. And that is part of the reason why contemporary art is rapidly getting old and contemporary art collections are becoming so conformist – that is apparently the opposite of what they are expected to be. Therefore, if a new art geography is what you are looking for, the exhibitions listed below might help you to take a useful break from the narrow corridor that art fair business has created in the last decade for the sake of city councils, big sponsors and some extraordinary powerful dealers . Then returning to an art fair will probably seem again a great experience.

 

Davis Rhodes, Société, from 16 September

The artist described the 9 foamcore works presented at Team gallery in New York at the time of his last solo exhibition (2012) as pieces of “total freedom from hierarchy, alienation or the pressure of identity”. Almost three years have passed since then, but the title chosen for this new presentation – Untitled’ 15 – makes us predict that he has wisely taken the way of coherence. Collectors must be supportive.

 

Rodrigo Matheus, Ibid., from 12 October (date to be confirmed)

The rapidly emerging brazilian artist’s next solo show will take place at Ibid.’s London venue during the days of Frieze Art Fair, and it will be the first main solo show of Matheus in Europe. In the meantime, he will participate at the Lyon Biennial and he will also take part to the next edition of 19th Contemporary Art Festival Sesc_Videobrasil. Rumours say that the two galleries representing the artist, Fortes Vilaca and Ibid, are working on a monograph book about his work.

 

Michael Dean, Mendes Wood DM, from 3 October

The jump from London, where the artist lives and works, to Sao Paulo is apparently a long one. But if White Cube decided to open a new venue there too it means that the link connecting the Brazilian art capital with London is stronger than ever (as the career of artists such as Adriano Costa and Rodrigo Matheus are also proving).

 

Gedi Sibony, Galerie Neu, from 16 September

Galerie Neu told us that Sibony will present pieces of his trailer works, similar to those shown at Venice Biennial and presented at Neu’s booth at Art Basel 2015. This will be the third solo presentation of the artist at the Berlin based gallery, after those in 2008 and 2012. Also for the 37 years old New York-based artist coherence seems to be the best way to walk.

 

May Hands, T293 Rome, from 15 September

The show is title “Freschissimi”, the Italian adjective to say that something is extremely fresh generally used by fruit or fish sellers at public markets. British artist has spent the entire summer in Italy, preparing the pieces that are going to be exhibited at T293 and at BACO, in Bergamo, in a further solo presentation of her works opening on 24 September. As announced by the title, the artist’s experience in the country will play a key role in this new step in her career.

 

Patricia L Boyd, Jan Kaps, from October (date yet to be confirmed)

Her manipulation of the printed image with external elements is a promising way to new discoveries in the realm of photography. Or, better, in that of the three-dimensional artworks (and sculptures) including photography. She is generally not included in the group of the post internet artists, but from a formal point of view there are certainly many similarities with what artists such Timur Si-Qin, Simon Danny, or Katja Novitskova are experiencing at the moment.

 

Santo Tolone, Frutta, from 17 September

There is a lot of expectation for the first solo show at Frutta gallery, in Rome. He will play at home, since he has recently moved from London to Milan and his partner in life Alek O. is represented by Frutta gallery too. No detail has been given by the gallery yet. But you can bet that memory will still be at the very centre of his sophisticated way to sculpture, space and info. The tile is “Come, quando, fuori, piove”, that is an Italian verbal trick to remember the priority of symbols in card games.

 

Dana Schutz, Petzel, from 10 september

After a long period of success – and failures – of abstract art, many insiders are predicting a new season of figurative art. If that happens, or perhaps is already happening, Schutz exhibition will certainly be taken as an evidence of the new trend. “Fight in an elevator” is the chosen title.  Are energy, movement, saturated colours and brilliant compositions going to be the evergreen ingredients of this possibly new episode of the great history of painting? Kantarovsky, Euler, Brodmann or Thorton would say so.

 

Ugo Rondinone, Sadie Coles, from 11 September

The Swiss born artist is rapidly ascending the high mountain of creativity, and the show dedicated to his partner in life John Giorno that he will curate at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (see our last post) is proving that Rondinone’s sensitivity is living a of state of grace. Don’t miss them both, he is one the most talented artists on the scene at the moment.

 

Torey Thornton, Stuart Shave/Modern, from 4 September

For the young bike hero painter this is the first main show in a leading gallery. Will the market still be in love with his instinctive painting? Or, will his instinctive painting be seductive as it used to be at the very beginning of its career? This time a convincing show is strongly required.

November 12, 2015