JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT – NOW’S THE TIME

Posted on 2015-08-31

he exhibition, curated by one of the world’s leading experts on Basquiat, the Austrian Dieter Buchhart, is one of the most ambitious projects dedicated to this artist in recent years as well as the first thematic examination of his work, which explored issues such as history, identity, and the street culture associated with graffiti and hip-hop.

Jean-Michel Basquiat (b. 1960–d. 1988) was one of the most revolutionary figures of the 1980s art scene—which also included Jeff Koons, whose retrospective will overlap with Basquiat’s at the Guggenheim Bilbao. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, as a child he showed remarkable intellectual and artistic abilities that ultimately led him to create a complex, groundbreaking universe. With each new showing of his work in the United States and Europe, Basquiat’s fame quickly spread, and in a short period of time he became a prolific creator and highly visible member of the New York art scene.

Basquiat was admired and befriended by artists like Andy Warhol, with whom he collaborated on numerous occasions, and his work blazed new trails in contemporary art. His innovative outlook, which continues to inspire present-day artists, raised questions that are still relevant today. In a single work, Basquiat referenced a plethora of images by using symbols, images or texts, and he transferred the context in which he lived to the canvas without clearly defined narratives, presaging the digital era and inviting spectators to think critically about the world around them.

Opposite – Eroica, 1987

Exhibition runs through to November 1st, 2015

Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
Abandoibarra Etorb. 2
48009 Bilbao
Bizkaia
Spain

guggenheim-bilbao.es

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TONY CRAGG

Posted on 2015-08-31

The upright sculptures in the gallery are the result of complex internal formal constructions and geometries that give rise to outer forms that we can recognise, have associations with and give names to. Cragg’s complex polymorphic sculptures reveal aspects of the relationship between the rational internal dynamic of materials and our subjective response to material forms. For Cragg this is not only the essence of all sculpture, but of all our experiences in the world as well. His work is full of movement, growth, dynamism and a sense of wonder at the seemingly unlimited possibilities of sculptural form.

Cragg exhibits two larger bronze and marble works – Over the Earth and First Person, the latter outside the gallery. In these works, Cragg looks not only to nature and the forces of energy found in the organic world, but he also references an enhanced and extruded reality as experienced through technology and the multiple perspectives afforded to us by the pace and prisms of modern life.

Opposite – Over the Earth, 2014

Exhibition runs through to September 18th, 2015

Lisson Gallery
Via Zenale, 3
20123 Milan
Italy

www.lissongallery.com

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FRANK GERRITZ | WINSTON ROETH

Posted on 2015-08-31

Hamburg based artist, Frank Gerritz (b. 1964), and U.S. artist, Winston Roeth (b. 1945), who lives and works in Beacon, New York, have been a happy addition to our gallery program since the beginning of the year. Already present at the annual Groupshow in January, the first dual exhibit with works by Frank Gerritz and Winston Roeth is now on view at Galerie Christian Lethert.

The works by sculptor Frank Gerritz move between three-dimensional space and flat surface. In this intermediate zone between wall sculpture and image he develops his art in a strictly abstract manner, characterized by a geometric form language and sculptural aspects. The surface is developed layer by layer by applying graphite on MDF and paper or paintstick on anodized aluminum in the most precise way, thus creating surfaces which are at the same time opaque and permeable, deep black and reflective. Therefore, the two-dimensional works gain the effect of three-dimensionality so that a dialog occurs between them, the surrounding space and the viewer.

While Frank Gerritz invites the surrounding light and the environment into his works to create aesthetic Bildräume of high complexity, the works of Winston Roeth emerge from an ongoing conversation with the light which reflects or absorbs the color.
The clear and dense color fields of Winston Roeth develop out of many fine layers of pure pigments mixed with water and polyurethane dispersion. He paints and repaints the color on natural painting carriers like slate or wood as well as on dibond till he achieves intensive color shades.

Exhibition runs through to November 24th, 2015

Galerie Christian Lethert
Antwerpener Str. 4
50672 Köln
Germany

www.christianlethert.com

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