Seen by tens of millions of people The figure has been seen and shared on social media over the past few days by tens of millions of people. It’s what’s known as an “art toy”, a figurine now sold as a work of art – we can also see it as a...
Tefaf, Maastricht: a spectacular antiques fair through hell and high water
An air of bleakness The world is at a standstill and it seems as though the love of art is unable to change anything. China aside, the announcement of the temporary closure of museums in Italy, the cancellation of the Art Basel Hong Kong fair and the fair in Dubai at...
Hans Ulrich Obrist goes green: resolutions and warnings. A video interview
https://youtu.be/ot4aupt4VkY History of contemporary art Swiss-born Hans Ulrich Obrist (born in 1968) is now part of the history of contemporary art. The artistic director of the Serpentine Gallery in London has become a phenomenon in his own right thanks to...
Steve McQueen at the Tate Modern: the man with two brains
The filmaker There are certain rare people who seem to have two brains. This is the case of the English filmmaker and artist who lives in Amsterdam, Steve McQueen (born in 1969). Turner Prize In 1999 the video artist was awarded the Turner Prize, Britain’s highest...
Eugenio Lopez: a video interview with the very influential Mexican collector
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe5XsVzwOwo Trends in contemporary art There are trends within contemporary art. Mexico It’s been several years since Mexico started to become an attractive country for fans of current artistic creation. Firstly because certain...
Edward Hopper: Explore the American painter’s landscapes, like Barack Obama
In the Oval Office It was Barack Obama who, during his presidency, chose to hang two paintings in the Oval Office, one above the other. We recognized them as two views of Cape Cod, the coastal area which was a favourite of the Kennedys. More generally, they were two...
Ingres: a treasure trove of 4500 drawings that inspired the best of Picasso. Do you know Montauban?
Pilgrimage in Montauban Picasso didn’t wait for the invention of the high-speed train or the arrival of airliners when he specially embarked on the interminable journey three times to the little town of Montauban, situated 54 kilometres outside of Toulouse in the...
Peter Saul: before his exhibition at the New Museum, a video interview with the artist who’s been caricaturing America for over 50 years
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa1pKj2F8cU What he is not This is an artist of whom it’s easier to say what he is not, as opposed to what he is. Peter Saul (born in 1934) is not a pop artist in the true sense, as you will often read. Extreme distorsions...
Francis Alÿs: video interview with the great nomadic artist on the occasion of his exhibition at Amsterdam’s Eye Museum
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlbMXLQWvfg Walter Benjamin The visionary writer Walter Benjamin once said of Marcel Proust (1) that he admired “his astounding way of using the great poets’ method of taking their metaphors from everything that is close at hand...
Adam Lindemann: Video interview with the dealer who benefits from million-dollar records while championing the lost causes of the art market
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USq6Bc5oZvU Symbol of love Imagine a gleaming red heart made of metal measuring 2.7 metres and weighing 1500 kilos which is suspended from some sort of golden thread. A symbol of love no doubt but also at the same time the...
Gabriel Orozco: A video portrait of the Mexican art star
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGHryRqArlg The theme of movement They say that what best characterizes the work of Gabriel Orozco (born in 1962) is the theme of movement. Impatient This may well be true, because he himself can’t keep still. It was hard...
Francesco Vezzoli at the Musée d’Orsay: a grandiose homage to decadence. A video interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PwFht9Ua1c Pastiche, nostalgia, nihilism In history there are moments of great fruitfulness that are, however, described as decadent. These occur when what is believed to be the high point of a civilization begins to all decline...