A Saint Cloudi Park

LARS TUNBJÖRK

Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk makes deadpan portraits of office spaces and suburban life.

I Love Borås is Lars Tunbjörk’s document of an aimless journey around Sweden between 1988 and 1995. Supermarkets, parties, small town streets, amusement parks, gas stations, TV-shows, landscapes, food. During that time Tunbjörk was working on his series Landet utom sig / Country Beside Itself, but these images were not used in that series because they didn’t fit, they were too ugly, too beautiful or too silly. Together they show a darker and more hysteric view of modern western society and Sweden during the economic recession of the early nineties. Text taken from Steidl here

All images © Lars Tunbjork

TURTLES CAN FLY

I recently watched Bahman Ghobadi’s 2004 film Turtles Can Fly. Set in a Kurdish refugee camp, it was visually stunning, had amazing performances from a bunch of young Kurdish kids and was so, so moving. One of my favourite films.

R Y U J I M I Y A M O T O

San -no-miya, Kobe 1995 Gelatin silver print 24” x 20”

Nagata-ku, Kobe 1995 Gelatin silver print 24” x 20”

San-no-miya, Chuo-ku, Kobe 1995 Gelatin silver print 24” x 20”

Suma-ku, Kobe 1995 Gelatin silver print 24” x 20”

Ryuji Miyamoto documents the destruction and rebuilding of cities, often concentrating on the destruction. The photographs of Kobe after the 1995 earthquake are his most well known.

“All I can do is train my eyes and keep watching the world as it goes on changing, scene after scene, again and again.”

IMAGES © Ryuji Miyamoto

IMAGES HERE

THE UNGOVERNABLES.

Danh Võ, WE THE PEOPLE, 2011

New Museum’s Triennial starts this April. The theme is “The Ungovernables”, with the exhibition taking a global focus on new generation, emerging artists aged under 33yrs - the shapers and influencers of contemporary art and culture. Covering drawing, sculpture, video, installation and including performative and researched-based works, “The Ungovernables” includes the result of artist’s residencies over the past year. Also featured are works that take place before, during and after the exhibition, occurring outside the Museum walls.

New Museum explain thematic basis of the Triennial:

Ungovernability is a double-edged sword that pursues a radical change in the everyday, but promises an upheaval that is not necessarily controllable. In terms of this exhibition, “The Ungovernables” is meant to suggest both anarchic and organized resistance: protest, chaos, and imagination as a refusal of the extended period of economic, ideological, sectarian, and political conflict that marks the generation’s inheritance. But the title also suggests a dark humor about this inheritance and the nonsentimental, noncynical approaches to history and survival it requires. “The Ungovernables,” then, is about rejecting incorporation and monetization, recognizing heat, transforming potential, and offering possibilities while maintaining self-awareness, humility, and humor.

“The Ungovernables” is curated by Eungie Joo, Keith Haring Director of Education and Public Programs.

One of the contributing artists is Danh Võ . While I was living in NY, a friend and fellow Guggenheim Intern introduced me to his work. Võ is short listed with four others for the Hugo Boss Prize 2012.

For “The Ungovernables” Võ has deconstructed the Statue of Liberty. WE THE PEOPLE is a Richard Serra-esque installation of thin copper sheets, identical in weight and scale to the Statue, placed on the floor in random order. Perhaps the idea is to unsettle through the deconstruction of the Statue of Liberty, creating a symbol of loss of freedom.

Danh Võ was born in Vietnam in 1975 but grew up in Denmark. He currently lives and works in Berlin.

Images 1+ 2 +3 ©Benoit Pailley, found HERE

Image 4 courtesy Nils Klinger, image 5 found HERE

PROSCENIUM

The Centre for Contemporary Photography in collaboration with publishers M.33, recently launched three beautiful books: Other Stories by Jane Burton, Compass Point by Darren Sylvester and Proscenium by Simon Terrill. Since I can’t choose which one to purchase, I think I’ll have to buy all three! Visit CCP to pick these up.

m33.net.au

ccp.org.au

OPTIMISM AS CULTURAL REBELLION.

“Veil” (detail) - Matthew Stone - 2011

“Veil” - Matthew Stone - 2011

Whilst I was living in New York at the time, Matthew Stone’s 2011 exhibition: Optimism as Cultural Rebellion was one of the shows (of a couple) that I unfortunately missed.

TEXT from THE Hole NYC, the gallery who presented the show:

The title of the exhibition “Optimism as Cultural Rebellion” should be considered a one-line manifesto, perhaps a “mini-festo”. Since 2004 Matthew has developed a personal philosophy of Optimism, defining it as “the vital force that entangles itself with and then shapes the future.” This timely position permeates all of his activities. Matthew Stone operates as an artist in a total sense: his very being, his community, his lifestyle and its expression dictate the creation of his interconnected works. As well as creating photography and sculpture he works in multiple worlds as curator, philosopher, performer, musician, facilitator and cultural provocateur.

‘Rules Forever’ - By Matthew Stone - 2011

http://www.matthewstone.co.uk/

Ivan Pustovalov.

Moscow born Pustovalov’s portfolio includes Art Review, Vogue Russia and Tatler. His personal work revolves around landscapes, portraits and social photography.

Interview here

http://ivanpustovalov.com/

RENOIR

Two Sisters (On the Terrace) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Housed at the Art Institute of Chicago.

“Why shouldn’t art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world.” Pierre-Auguste Renoir

IMAGE HERE

I.P.F

The Independent Photography Festival is on April 2 through 8. Sadly, I’ll be out of town for most of it. I’m especially sad to be missing seeing Aimee Han’s work in print.

Here are some of Han’s beauties.

MORE MARIGOMEN.

http://journal.jennileemarigomen.com/

It’s the third time I’ve blogged Jennilee Marigomen’s work. It’s too good not to!