The Body in Women’s Art Now: Part 2 – Flux 

7^th September – 5^th November 2010 ROLLO Contemporary Art, London
7^th November – 5^th December 2010 New Hall Art Collection, Cambridge

Flux is the second exhibition in the three-part series The Body in Women’s Art Now, curated by Philippa Found, Gallery Director of ROLLO Contemporary Art.

The Body in Women’s Art Now exhibition series looks exclusively at artworks created by women artists since 2000, in which the body is central. Each exhibition focuses on a different theme surrounding the use and representation of the body in women’s art today, to explore the issues emerging in body-based art of the last decade. Over the series, the exhibitions present a new generation of women artists using the body in art.

The exhibitions will travel between ROLLO Contemporary Art, London and the New Hall Art Collection, Cambridge – a public exhibition space within the University of Cambridge, and home to the largest collection of work by women artists in Europe.

The Body in Women’s Art Now: Part 2 – Flux investigates artworks that present the body as a site of instability and flux, and includes works by Tracey Emin, Cecily Brown, Nathalie Djurberg, Tiina Heiska, Sarah Lederman and Helen Carmel Benigson (Princess Belsize Dollar). The exhibition brings together up and coming artists alongside established artists, working in a range of media, from abstract painting and multi-layered video works, to sculptural works. Examining the focus on the body of the adolescent in art, transgressive and rebellious bodies, and the uncontrollable and sexual nature of the female body, the exhibited artworks reinterpret and disrupt traditional representations of the female body, to present a contemporary body of flux, freedom and sexuality. The exhibition investigates how the body in flux becomes a vehicle to explore the complexities of contemporary feminine identity, to celebrate female sexuality, and at times explore the darker side of human morality. 

The Body in Women’s Art Now series forms part of the current climate of exhibitions aiming to review contemporary art from the perspective of women artists – such as elles@centrepompidou at Pompidou Centre, Paris, WACK at MOCA, Los Angeles, and Global Feminisms at Brooklyn Museum, New York – and aims to give significant women artists greater visibility in the United Kingdom.

Images:
1.  Tracey Emin, Suffer Love XI, 2009, Mono-print on paper, 21 x 29.6 cm
© the Artist, Photo: Stephen White, Image © Tracey Emin. All rights reserved, DACS 2010
Courtesy the Artist and White Cube
2.  Cecily Brown, New Louboutin Pumps, 2005, Oil on linen, 206 cm x 205 cm
©Cecily Brown. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Photo by Rob McKeever

Darren Almond: The Principle of Moments

September 3 — October 2, 2010
White cube, Mason’s Yard

An exhibition of new works entitled ‘The Principle of Moments’ by Goss-Michael Collection artist, Darren Almond, will be on display at White Cube beginning tomorrow, September 3rd.  Known for works that meditate on notions of time, landscape and travel, as well as political and historical memory, Almond brings these themes together in two bodies of work: a series of time-lapse photographs taken in the Faroe Islands, and a film installation shot in northern Siberia.

‘Anthropocene: The Prelude’, is a new three screen film installation which continues Almond’s ongoing interest in the city of Norilsk, about which he first began making works in 2002.  On entering the basement gallery, the viewer is confronted with a pair of vertical, floor-to-ceiling screens that depict abstracted sections of ice cracking and splitting as if from an intense, unknown force. The footage is inverted and reversed , making the viewer feel as if they are trapped underneath the ice, while subtle shifts in tone and colour make its surface seem at times dry, or, at others, more like a river of molten lava.  The third screen, which almost covers the back wall of the gallery, presents a virtually static shot of the most northerly train track in the world – the Talnah-Norilsk-Dudinka railway, photographed in the harshest of winter conditions. The tracks recede into the distance but the snow and wind soften its linearity, blurring the image so that it looks like a piece of found footage, or an archival film. The film is perhaps the most ethereal of Almond’s works to date, an effect enhanced by the haunting soundscape created specifically for the film by composer Max Richter.

In stark contrast, Almond’s new series of time-lapse photographs, installed in the ground floor gallery, depict the wild, green landscape of the Faroe Islands, also close to the Arctic Circle. Almond began photographically documenting the passing of time in 1996 with his work ‘Tuesday (1440 minutes)’, which used the artist’s empty studio as the setting to record the passing of a single day. Here, the location encompasses many different kinds of landscape: a cliff edge, a mountain, a sea, a waterfall and a town, while its extreme geographical location means that it experiences very diverse weather. Almond shot a photograph every minute for every hour of every day during the course of a week, around the longest day of the year. During this period the light barely disappears, but the extreme weather creates striking results: a mountain appears and then disappears, clouds create rain that then feeds the waterfall and the sun sinks behind the mountain so the sea is obscured by shadow. Arranged in sets of 24 framed panels, one for each day, the photographs present a constantly shifting canvas and a melancholy register of the passing of time.

Image: (c) the artist, Courtesy of White Cube

Whilst most are traveling South to some summer sun the really smart thing to do here in England is to travel North away from the hoi polloi, the city dust, the heat, the skin damaging UVA and enjoy the gentle soft rains and breathe the clean air to one of the most underpopulated parts of UK.

Whether fishing on the Tweed is your thing, or celebrating the Glorious Twelfth on the grouse moors, it is the most wonderfully beautiful place to be.  Just remember to pack an extra sweater though – you will probably need it!  

An hour or so away we were in Edinburgh and not only visited the Festival but had a splendid evening at the 60th year of Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo  – which is a bonanza of beautiful boys in uniforms performing amazing feats of physicality and high energy dancing and marching.   All this colour against the backdrop of Edinburgh castle – beautifully lit; accoustically evoking many deep emotions with brass bands and bagpipes;  soldiers acting out the risks and dangers  of their service to us which is a potent reminder for us of today’s conflict in Afghanistan.

Fortune swung my way again and I was privileged to be staying in the most delightful home of one of our most distinguished noble families and what a joy to observe some of the greatest works of art as one glides down the great staircase for breakfast.  These works are, of course mostly portraits, but represent a couple of the finest works by Pompeo Battoni (1708-1787) and many more.   Security issues prevent me from revealing too much, which I write with huge sadness, but alas these days in our grand Stately homes, this has to be taken into consideration. 

The London Design Festival is a nine-day celebration of design in the world’s creative capital. The Festival is a platform for the widest spectrum of design disciplines, brought together as a unique and accessible programme.

Now in its eighth year, The London Design Festival is firmly established as a major cultural and commercial event.  Last year London hosted a rich mix of over 200 commissioned installations and exhibitions pus over 150 launches, private views and parties, cementing its reputation as the design capital of the world.  The 2010 Festival promises an even greater diversity of activity taking place across the capital – from the Festival hub at the V&A to spaces across the city filled with design from partners across the UK and around the world.

Many Londoners saw the spectacular installation in Trafalgar Square during the 2009 Festival.  The Tournament, by Spanish designer, Jaime Hayon, featured a giant chessboard with 2m high ceramic chess pieces, providing both a design statement and compelling entertainment for the public.

This year promises an equally stunning and exciting spectacle  with an immense mechanical octopus taking up residence in Trafalgar Square.  The Festival – working with leading car designer and manufacturer Audi – has commissioned German designers Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram.  their creation, Outrace, will take the form of eight massive industrial robotic arms from Audi’s production line.  Custom software developed by the designers will allow members of the public to temporarily control the installation and write texts in light traces drawn by the synchronized mechanical tentacles.  The resulting ‘light paintings’ will be recorded using specialized high-definition video equipment and published online.

London Design Festival, September 18 -26, 2010

Outrace, September 16 – 23, 2010

Have you ever wanted to invest in art but felt you didn’t have the financial means to do so?  Well, here’s your chance!  This year, Dunn and Brown Contemporary is hosting the 2010 Five x Seven event benefitting Arthouse at the Jones Center.

2010 marks the 11th Anniversary of Five x Seven (also known as 5 x 7), Arthouse’s annual fundraiser, art splurge and exhibition. Five x Seven is an art sale and exhibition benefiting Arthouse exhibitions and educational programs. Hundreds of recognized contemporary artists with strong Texas ties create unique works of art on identical 5” x 7” boards. Each board is only $100. With hundreds of works to choose from, this is your chance to have first pick and build or add to your art collection. All pieces are displayed anonymously – only when you purchase a work of art will you discover who created it.

Five x Seven will be on display at Dunn and Brown Contemporary August 27 & 28.

The Main Event
Friday, August 27,  6 – 8PM
Preview from 6 – 6.30 / Sale begins at 6.30
Free Admission

Dunn and Brown is located at:
5020 Tracy Street, Dallas

1. Permanent Gallery

2. Rotating Gallery

3. Project Room

They are so cute and come in an array of colours.

They are only available when you visit the new GMF.