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Operating as usual
THIS SCULPTURE DOES NOT HONOUR THE CONTRIBUITIONS OF MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT - A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR A MORE CREATIVE PRESENTATION OF A HIGHLY INFLUENCIAL WOMAN !!
Maggi Hambling's sculpture in tribute to Mary Wollstonecraft has been 10 years in the making. The internet wishes it were a bit less nude.
THE JOY OF WHAT WE DO #16 !!
Today, in our first November blog The Joy of What we Do, we are reflecting on the British Armistice flag.A few weeks ago, we were engaged examining a historical collection abroad, which included an original Armistice flag used to announce the end of the first World War. The standard is in fragile condition and has numerous repairs and some staining. We discussed potential treatments and new display methods.
What stood out to me personally, suddenly I remembered stories told by family members who had experienced both WWI and WWII. They talked about their parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends who were either injured or lost their lives during those conflicts, along with unbearable daily hardship. I was a child then, and I cannot express how humbled I felt when I condition-checked this historic banner. It made me think of the pain and anguish these hostilities caused, the sacrifices millions of people made, and how privileged I am to live such a sheltered life.
© Renée Pfister, 2020.
#artforever #thepowerofart #armisticeday #armisticeflag #historicart #flagsandstandards #reneepfisterartconsultancy
THE POWER OF ART #27 Anne Harild !!
Our first November blog in the Power of Art series presents as work by Anne Harild who creates film animations, site-specific installations and collages. She investigates the inherent use of architectural structures and their physical appearances in her work.
During her residency at the Florence Trust in St. Saviours Church in Highbury, London, she created the 6.17-minute animation Looking Glass. Harild was interested in exploring the relationship between the small temporary structure which she had built from discarded windowpanes and the vast permanent edifice of the church. The process entailed rehearsing the movements of the glass sheets and experimenting with the reflections over a period of months. She then eventually filmed the animation over 24 hours examining how the changing light transformed the space.
Harild collaborated with the composer Edmund Finnis, who create a soundscape in response to the materials used in the film, during this project. He recorded the striking of glass and manipulated the sound digitally afterwards. The reason for this collaboration was to explore similar interests and the same materials in two different media to investigate how they complimented each other.
https://vimeo.com/18840826
Anne Harild, ‘Looking Glass’ (film still), 2010, archival pigment print, edition of 10, H420 x W594 mm.
Courtesy and ©Anne Harild, Edmund Finnis and Renée Pfister 2020.
#danishartist #edmundfinnissoundscape #artforever #reneepfisterartconsultancy #powerofcolour #anneharild #lookingglass
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OUR NEXT ARTIST IN FOCUS!!
THE VIRUS IN MY HEAD – BEAT KUERTt – ARTIST IN FOCUS - NOVEMBER 2020 !!
https://vimeo.com/474803425
The latest work by Beat Kuert, ‘The Virus in My Head,’ is a recollection of memories from his youth and a reflection of his inner-self during the time of lockdown, in response to this strange and unusual event. His explanations resulted in what he calls il libretto visivo – a visual booklet featuring his main character, Solome, and himself in obscured circumstances and surroundings.
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Video: Courtesy and ©Beat Kuert, Ben Sound, Piano Moment, https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free.../track/piano-moment and Renée Pfister (text), with the assistance of Galina Matveeva, 2020. All rights reserved.
To discover exciting artists and more. Subscribe to our newsletter. bit.ly/SignUpRP Video: Courtesy and ©Beat Kuert, Ben Sound, Piano Moment, https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/piano-moment…
OUR NEXT ARTIST IN FOCUS!! The Virus in my Head – Beat Kuert – Artist in Focus - November 2020
https://vimeo.com/474803425
The latest work by Beat Kuert, ‘The Virus in My Head,’ is a recollection of memories from his youth and a reflection of his inner-self during the time of lockdown, in response to this strange and unusual event. His explanations resulted in what he calls il libretto visivo – a visual booklet featuring his main character, Solome, and himself in obscured circumstances and surroundings.
To discover exciting artists and more. Subscribe to our newsletter.
bit.ly/SignUpRP
Video: Courtesy and ©Beat Kuert, Ben Sound, Piano Moment, https://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/piano-moment and Renée Pfister (text), with the assistance of Galina Matveeva, 2020. All rights reserved.
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THE POWER OF ART #26 STATHIS DIMITRIADIS !!
Our last Power of Art blog in October is dedicated to a work by Stathis Dimitriadis.
Stathis Dimitriadis attributes his inspiration and curiosity for artmaking to the daily stimuli of the urban environment. Everyday images of building constructions, road grids, flows of people and objects are feeding into his fragile assemblages. He compares this approach with a dive into a treasure box - continuously observing, selecting, connecting and creating, in an attempt to reveal new meanings as well as preparing the ground for future conceptions.
He fabricates ceramic elements using repetitive processes of throwing, hand-building, or breaking. Like a construction worker, Dimitriadis embraces whatever materials he has at hand, including discarded and found objects. Although his methods are disciplined, accidents of the unusual and unexpected occur, creating a temporary lapse of rationale and control. These momentary escapes to freedom form unique entities which are bigger than a sum of parts; they offer full meanings only when seen in totality – like life itself. Furthermore, these spatial arrangements have similarities with the way we form our thoughts, memories and how we communicate. On the one hand they are frantic, colourful and textured; on the other hand, they are simple, organised and banal and remain as 'imperfect' and 'unfinished' as the artist himself.
Stathis Dimitriadis, Menstrual, 2014, Ceramic body, red paint, light bulbs and holders, H440 mm x W360 mm x D280 mm
Courtesy and ©Stathis Dimitriadis and Renée Pfister 2020.
#artforever #thepowerofart #menstrual
THE JOY OF WHAT WE DO #15 !!
Today, we are concentrating on the preparation of new permanent exhibition displays in the museum’s environment. Developing innovative curatorial content takes much time and thought and requires curators to be accustomed to the museum collections. Different approaches can be pursued, ranging from chronological to thematic presentations. Combining the artworks of several different periods and media can take many forms, be incredibly diverse, and reveal and convey distinctive meanings. However, the public can easily be misled thinking curating is only about selecting beautiful artworks and displaying them together. Repeatedly, expensive high-end luxury brands offer their latest fashion and accessory collections as curated presentations. Sadly, the term has become overused and is undervaluing the role of this academic profession.
Over time, curators acquire a huge amount of knowledge and become experts of specific art movements, artists, and periods. They also write essays and captions for exhibition catalogues, are involved in new acquisitions, give subject related talks, and much more. Moreover, these specialists are also familiar with other public, private, and corporate collections, which is beneficial in case artworks from other institutions and individuals are borrowed to highlight specific points of a narrative. Collaborating with exhibition designers who create models of the exhibition spaces with images of the chosen artworks to visualise and agree the displays are an important part of the exhibition delivery. Despite these painstaking, detailed preparations, last-minute changes during the installation are common, and artworks can either be shown in a different part of the gallery than originally planned or rejected entirely. The reasons can vary and include, for example, curatorial dislikes, lack of anticipated pivotal moments, and insufficient display areas; therefore, modifications occur when seeing the artworks in situ.
Courtesy and © Museum of Modern Art, New York, (image) 2019 and Renée Pfister (text), 2020.
#artforever #thepowerofart #thejoyofwhatwedo #exhibtionmockups #curatorsnarrative #curatedexhibitions #reneepfisterartconsultancy
THE POWER OF ART #25 ELVIRA BACH !!
The German artist Elvira Bach is presented in our next Power of Art blog. Her self-portraits represent the artist in domestic settings. Bright colours and energetic strokes are the trademark of her distinct visual voice, which propelled her to be a key member of the German Neo-Expressionist movement ‘Jungen Wilden’, ‘The Young Wild Ones’. Soon after her participation at Documenta 7, 1982, Bach broke away from the group. To her, continuing to paint in an angular, alluring and energetic style was of highest importance, portraying her exotic and erotic demeanour.
Womanhood is a recurring theme in Bach’s painterly vocabulary and can be observed in Zauber and many of her other paintings and lithographs. The figures she depicts are always wearing heels but in a way that they are merged to their body like a new limb, in what seems a vigorous statement of sexualised femininity, which is not lost even with motherhood and the increasing housewife duties it brings. There is something incredibly captivating in her pictorial compositions, which, combined with some of her audacious poses, lead us to believe she holds extraordinarily strong views on her sexuality, lived with great freedom and, seemingly, fulfilment.
Elvira Bach was born in 1951 in Neuenhain, Taunus, Germany. She studied at the Staatliche Glassfachschule, Hadamar and the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin. From 1972 ‐ 1981 she worked at the Schaubühne Halleschen Ufer, Berlin, financing her academic
studies. In 1982 she was invited as Artist in Residence at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Bach was the first woman artist to participate at Documenta 7, in Kassel, Germany, and became a leading female artist of the Junge Wilden, the German new expressionist art movement. She also spent long periods living and working in Senegal. Her works are shown extensively in galleries and museums around the world and are held in collections such as, the Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, Canada, and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. She lives and works in Berlin.
Elvira Bach, Zauber, 2014, lithograph, H670 mm x W810 mm
Courtesy and ©Elvira Bach, Vera Schuhmacher and Renée Pfister 2020.
#artforever #angularart #youngwildones #veraschuhmacher #reneepfister #thepowerofart
HE GALLERY CLIMTE COALITION TO CUT CARBON EMMISSIONS !!
https://news.artnet.com/market/gallery-climate-coalition-1917341?utm_content=from_www.artnet.com&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EUR%2023%20October&utm_term=EUR%20Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BMORNING%5D
THE POWER OF ART #24 ROSEMARY CLUNIE AND BEN OKRI lunie and Ben Okri !!
Today we invite you in our The Power of Art blog, to enjoy an artwork by Rosemary Clunie and a poem by the Nigerian poet and author Ben Okri.
Clunie’s painterly expressions are bursting with symbolic and poetic associations. She draws inspiration from Paul Klee, the Fauvists amongst others. Her deeply personal visual language stems from her imagination, propelling the viewer into an otherworldly sphere. Clunie often depicts beings and mysterious places, signaling spirituality and wisdom. These concoctions are strongly evident in her paintings and drawings and can be perceived as visions or prophecies.
In Greek mythology oracles are creatures or priests through whom deities are communicating. Apollo, located in Delphi on Mount Parnassus above the Corinthian Gulf is one of the oldest and most famous oracles, it was the place where he would reveal hidden knowledge or the divine purpose through such a person. Clunie’s mystical compositions are enchanting and embrace a higher realm we often fail to notice.
About The Sea Dreamer, Clunie said: “This painting has always felt to me like an image from an ancient time, when heroes set sail on dangerous epic quests."
Rosemary Clunie is a painter, printmaker and video artist, born in Scotland and living in London. She has exhibited widely since 1991, including the World Economic Forum in Davos, and Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, and her paintings are held in eminent private and public collections. Her last major exhibition, at ROSL in Mayfair, was a collaboration with Booker prize winning author Ben Okri, arising out of their book The Magic Lamp, published by Head of Zeus in 2017. The FT stated her work "recalls that of Joan Miró or Quentin Blake", while the New Statesman wrote: "Clunie's use of colour is billowing, rich and dreamlike."
"What lingers in the soul
Often eludes the eye;
And the birds of heaven, without wings –
O how much more sublimely do they fly."
Ben Okri: "On Klee" (published in "Wild", 2012 by Rider)
Rosemary Clunie, The Sea Dreamer, 2014, acrylic on paper, H420 mm x W297 mm
Courtesy and ©Rosemarie Clunie, Ben Okri and Renée Pfister 2020.
THE LATEST MA SUBMISSION AT GOLDSMITH !!
https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/31-tons-of-carrots-goldsmiths-mfa-show-1912145?utm_content=from_www.artnet.com&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EUR%20October%205%20PM&utm_term=EUR%20Daily%20Newsletter%20%5BAFTERNOON%5D
Rafael Pérez Evans dumped 31 tons of carrots at Goldsmiths College, London, for "Grounding," a piece in the school's MFA show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ea7LcWKhXdc&feature=emb_title
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THE JOY OF WHAT WE DO #14 !!
Following on from our Power of Art blog, where we presented a monumental sculpture by Elisa Bracher, it raises the question of how large scale and heavy sculptures are moved and installed safely.
Prior transport and installation, risk assessments, and method statements must be in place to ensure the welfare of staff, the public, and the artworks. Risk assessments look at the control of risks to people and how these are managed, whereas method statements demonstrate each step of the action to achieve the planned outcome securely. These documents must be prepared by a qualified technician and signed off on by an authorised person.
Naturally, there are further considerations, such as transport methods, road closures, parking restrictions, street and building access, the weight of the sculptures, its centre of gravity, and floor loads, along with the necessary equipment, tools, and working load limits to move these objects into the exhibition spaces. Site visits are therefore recommendable, to gather valuable information at the artist’s studio and venue, to prevent any unexpected surprises. Understanding the nature of materials used, conservation, and display requirements are additional factors to be taken into account. Documenting and recording this valuable data will benefit future installations.
Courtesy of Barford Sculptures Ltd and MTEC and ©Renée Pfister (text and image).
#artforever #artfollowers #heavysculptures #weightypresence #liftingsculptures #metalsculptureart #reneepfisterartconsultancy
THE POWER OF ART #23 ELISA BRACHER !!
Today's Power of Art blog presents a sculpture by the Brazilian artist Elisa Bracher's. Her monuments are concerned with propping, leaning, tilting, suspension, gravity and balance. The individual components of her huge pieces are fabricated either from wood, stone or metal. As each beam rises, forming a tilted structure they seem to tip, echoing an edginess with a weighty presence. She mysteriously balances the mass of her giants and one wonders how the sculptures were erected and why they do not collapse. Her metal spheres are typically suspended with their weight being supported by stainless steel wires or constructed devices.
The influence of Brazil's political and cultural ambitions can be witnessed in Bracher’s engagement with both the public realm and the gallery environment: she presents narratives of modernism with a sense of the monumental, contemplating upon her country’s society and development. Often her sculptures are displayed in São Paolo’s streets and plazas and provoke controversy, they are a critique of the space. She stated people say, “you have destroyed this place, but I laugh and say: art is wonderful, it creates a place where there was no place, and destroys this place, all in one move.”
Elisa Bracher, No title, 2011, wood, acquired into the collection of Centro Cultural, São Paulo in 2011, H5500 mm x W3000 mm x D2500 mm.
Courtesy and ©Elisa Bracher and Renée Pfister 2020.
#tiltedsculpture #balancedmonument #culturalambition #sculptureinthepublicrealm #gravityandbalance #elisabracher #reneepfisterartconsultancy #artintheplaza #weightypresence
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THE POWER OF ART #13 ALEX PEARL !! Alex Pearl is a multimedia artist whose current work plays with ideas of agency, anxiety and automatic systems, he is the next artist in our ‘Power of Art’ series, celebrating beauty and freedom 'Thaumatrope with Rose', 2020, is one of a series of flickering animated gifs that mimic the workings of the 19th century optical toy, the thaumatrope. A thaumatrope, literally wonder turner, consists of a card disc with different images on each side. When the disc is spun on its axis the images are combined to form one. The most common thaumatropic iteration is a bird and a cage, a play on the binaries of nature and culture. The gif, however, allows multiple images to be flashed before the viewer’s eyes. Endlessly looping, it breaks down causality and the viewer is involved in a moment without beginning or end. This is completely unlike the experience of cinema in which the expectation and fulfilment of consequence is central to its narrative. The gif, in presenting a ceaseless return produces an uneasy space for habitation, a vibrating moment in time. Courtesy and ©Alex Pearl and Renée Pfister 2020. For information about our services contact [email protected]
HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2019 FROM RENEE PFISTER ART & GALLERY CONSULTANCY !! SUBSCRIPE TO OUR NEWSLETTER !! bit.ly/SignUpRP Video: Courtesy and ©Fabian Forban, image and music: Intergalactica, Renée Pfister, with the assistance of Galina Matveeva, 2019.
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FESTIVE SEASON 2016 !! To discover exciting artists and more. Subscribe to our newsletter ! eepurl.com/Uurtf . Thanks for watching. reneepfister-consultancy.com/ Music: Courtesy of Free Xmas Mp3 (Ding Dong Merrily) freexmasmp3.com/ Artwork: ©Pip Dickens, Between Wu and Yu, 2009, oil paint on canvas, H1525 mm x W1525 mm Renée Pfister with the assistance of Laurianne Simonin, 2016. All rights reserved.
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Renée Pfister brings over 20 years of experience in working in the museums and art world where she applied her MA in Museums and Gallery Management to academic and collections management roles. As part of the curatorial team at the British Museum she was involved in realising major projects such as the Great Court and the Weston Gallery of Roman Britain. At the Tate Gallery she worked as a Registrar and was responsible for managing acquisitions and groundbreaking International Programme exhibitions. During her time at Tate she participated in an exchange programme with the Museum of Modern Art, New York, working in the Office of Registrars. She joined Gander & White in 2006, as Associate Director for Museums & Galleries, and oversaw the strategic business development of Museum and Gallery department.
In 2009 she returned to the public sector and was employed at the Science Museum as Collection Manager where she managed the Collection Management team and approximately 200,000 objects. More recently she worked for the late Sir Anthony Caro as an Exhibition Strategist. Since 2010, she manages her own Art & Gallery Consultancy, and offers advice and services for international collectors, artists and museums. In addition, she lectures and delivers art related courses at City University, Sotheby’s Institute of Art and other UK institutions.
Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art
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Guildhall Art Gallery and London's Roman Amph
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