This month sees the publication of two new books on the work of German artist Werner Büttner  – the first entitled Coincidence In Splendour takes a look at his paintings, and the second My Looting Eye his collages. Why is that a big deal? Well, considering that these are the first books on Büttner’s practice to ever be published in English, it means his work is about to become accessible to an entirely new audience. See? Exciting.

For those unfamiliar with Büttner’s oeuvre, here’s a little background. Whilst predominantly known as a painter, he started a series of collages in the early naughties to confidently and pointedly address the nature of composition and subject matter in art practice. By enabling viewers to reconsider artistic conventions and norms, Werner Büttner also addresses social conformity and the ideology of rebellion (interestingly, Büttner originally trained as a lawyer).

Büttner decontextualizes everyday objects to explore the power of meaning in a visually-stimulating and dynamic way. Explaining his seemingly unpredictable, idiosyncratic style he comments: “the artist is a sieve, sifting his environment. Information nuggets of precisely the required size get stuck in the sieve. Now he can work.” My Looting Eye explores the ‘method that lies behind the madness’.

Werner Büttner’s My Looting Eye and Coincidence in Splendor launch on 28th January, 6-8pm at Marlborough Contemporary London. Published by Black Dog Publishing.

Main image: Werner Büttner, Abandoned, 2008, Courtesy the artist and Marlborough Contemporary, London

Tags: Art, Books, collage, Painting, Werner Büttner

Annie Leibovitz is widely considered to be one of the world’s best portrait photographers. Her book Women, which was first published in 1999, celebrates an array of women, from Supreme Court Justices and Vegas showgirls to coalminers and farmers. In 2016, the project is set to continue in the form of a travelling exhibition, making its debut in January at the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station in London.

Over twelve months, Annie Leibovitz’s new portraits will appear in ten cities; London, Tokyo, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Istanbul, Frankfurt, New York and Zurich. The new portraits will display the changes in women’s roles in contrast with those 15 years ago. Alongside Leibovitz’s new work, visitors will be able to view work from the original series and other photographs taken since.

Speaking at a press conference at Somerset House, Leibovitz describes how Women ‘is an unending project, it goes on and on.’ The original project is Annie Leibovitz’s most popular body of work and was a collaborative series with her partner Susan Sontag, who accompanied the subject matter with an essay. Sontag passed away in 2004, but her influence had a lasting effect on Leibovitz’s photography, with Sontag encouraging her to become more intimate with her photographs.

The original book features 100 portraits of women, including public figures like Hillary Rodham Clinton and Gloria Steinhem, and Leibovitz has promised 20 additional images to the project in 2016. At present, only one new photograph from the series has been released, of Leibovitz and her daughters Sarah, Susan and Samuelle. However, Leibovitz has confirmed that new portraits from the series will include Venus and Serena Williams, Amy Schumer and her sister Kim Caramele, Misty Copeland, and Caitlyn Jenner.

WOMEN: New Portraits has been commissioned by UBS and will be presented to the public for the first time on the 16^th January 2016 at the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station in London. Admission is free.

ubs.com

Tags: annie leibovitz, Art, london, photography, Women

From 13th March 2016, Hauser Wirth and Schimmel, a gallery in the heart of the downtown LA art district, will host ‘Revolution in the Making: Abstract Sculpture by Women, 1947 – 2016’, an exhibition featuring almost 100 artworks by 34 female artists. Spanning seven decades, the exhibition aims to reflect on women’s artistic progression in the field of sculpture.

The display will be partly overseen by Paul Schimmel, the former chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art. He has noted that the exhibition is modeled on gallery founder Ursula Hauser’s private collection, which included several pieces by prominent female artists.

The exhibition will explore how integral elements of contemporary art have been pioneered by female artists since the post-world war II era, who in seeking to form their own artistic narrative, expanded and redefined sculpture.

Moving chronologically, the exhibition takes off directly after the Second World War, when sculptors like the legendary French artist Louise Bourgeois and New York artist Louise Nevelson combined feminism and surrealism to create large-scale sculptures and installation art. Moving forward into the 1960s and 70s, works by Post-Minimalist artists including German Eva Hesse and the iconic Yayoi Kusama illustrate how conventional uses of materials changed at this time, with tactility incorporated into sculpture to convey the artists’ presence.

The exhibition continues with artists emerging from the Post-Modernist era and expanding further into the realm of installation art, using videos and being more expansive in their use of space. Concluding with work by a new generation of sculptors, much of which has been commissioned especially for the exhibition, visitors are able to see how artists have built upon the legacy of previous sculptors, while incorporating new uses of colour and materials into their work.

The exhibition will run until 4th September,  2016.

hauserwirthschimmel.com

Tags: Art, Hauser Wirth and Schimmel, LA, sculpture, Women

Intimate, considered and subtle, Emma Tillman’s photographs have had us captivated long before her husband (singer Father John Misty) stepped into the limelight. And whilst she may have earned thousands of new fans after the success of his second album I love you Honeybear, in which she is the proclaimed muse and inspiration for his complex lyrics and idiosyncratic melodies, Tillman’s accolades are all her own.

We caught up with Emma to find out more about her work, photographing love and not getting Instagram.

How did you get into photography?
When I was 12-years-old I took an after school class where the students took pictures and learned how to work in the dark room. My mother gave me a camera that had been hers when she was young and I became obsessed with the medium.

Light and shadow play a strong role in your work, what is it that you’re looking for when you take a picture?
I’m looking for a feeling.

Photography by Emma Tillman

Whether your subject is human or an object, there’s strong sense of intimacy in your photographs. What’s your process when you’re working?
I have a gift for communicating my emotions through the lens of a camera. All photographers who take compelling photographs have this gift. There is a supernatural quality to photography that is not often acknowledged, but in my opinion contains all the undeniable fascination of the medium within it.

Your photographs retain a sense of the individual behind the lens, and often you’re in front of it too. Do you find that photography creates and mythologises a character or uncovers the crux of an individual?
It is both. The moment is raw and alive, but somehow also a vitrine of an experience that is just beyond the viewers reach. It is a clear representation of an individual but yet you must put your own imagination into it to complete the story for yourself. It is mercurial, imagination runs wild. That’s the good stuff.

Photography by Emma Tillman

People regularly revel and empathise with other’s misery but in the photographs that you take of your husband there’s a clear sense of joy and celebration. Do you ever feel conscious of this?
I choose my moments. At this time in my life couldn’t take a photograph of someone I love in pain.

Your self-portraits and portraits of other women reclaim the idea of the gaze, like early Cindy Sherman photographs. There’s a sense of exposure without exploitation. Why is it important for you to capture the female body in this way?
I like to photograph other women naked because it is simple and the lines are lovely. There aren’t any distractions to contend with in the picture. As for photographing myself, I can’t help but be drawn to the endless mystery of it. I come back to it again and again. My own face, my own body. It holds a lot of secrets.

Photography by Emma Tillman

How has the rise of instagram affected your relationship with the lens, if at all?
Oh I can’t stand Instagram! To say too much about it would be to marginalise myself, but I can say that from Instagram I glean how much our culture relies in the comforts of sentimentality and try to run in the other direction, artistically speaking.

You’ve also worked in film, how was that experience? In terms of story telling, which medium have you found gives you more narrative freedom?
I don’t know if a comparison can be drawn. Film satisfies an urge for me which has always existed, to tell a story. Photography is more playful. The feeling about it changes, the style changes. It is more about  subtraction than addition, which is how I think of film.

Photography by Emma Tillman

What was the last record you listened to?
It’ll be Better by Francis and the Lights.

Favourite equipment to shoot on?
I have a few cameras. A Pentax from the 1970s, A Nikon from the 1980s, a Minolta from the 1990s.

Who are the exciting photographers to watch?
I like the work of Amanda Charchian and Aneta Bartos.

What’re your upcoming projects?
I am finishing a book of photographs, Born with a Disco Ball Soul. I’m also in pre-production on a feature length film I wrote. We’re shooting the film in Summer 2016, in New Orleans.

What’re you looking forward to for the rest of 2016?
My book, my film, and Christmas.

Find all of Emma’s work at lovetheghost.tumblr.com

Tags: Art, emma tillman, father john misty, Music, photography, Women

If there’s one thing we’ll never tire of, it’s a great coffee table tome. And the latest offering from fashion journalist and fashion photography specialist Jérôme Gautier – Dior: New Looks – is the perfect kind of thing to lose yourself in on a wintry Sunday afternoon.

Since 1947, when Christian Dior first showcased the irreversibly influential ‘new look’, the house of Dior has been at the forefront of revolutionary design prowess, and this book chronicles some of the most beautiful moments of that time-spanning journey, resulting in a satisfyingly dense catalogue of breathtaking couture and iconic imagery.

Woman modeling black velvet visor with rhinestone pin and satin scarf, both by Dior, 1952. Image by © Condé Nast Archive/Corbis

From Irving Penn to Peter Lindbergh, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton, Willy Vanderperre, Mario Testino and Patrick Demarchelier to name but a few – the list of revered photographers with work nestled between these pages is endless.

Given the recently announced departure of the brilliant Raf Simons from the house, this book comes at the ideal time. It is a chance to marvel at all that has come before, and appreciate the sheer amount of history that the new artistic director will have to shoulder in the future.

Peter Lindbergh, 2012; Christian Dior Haute Couture by Raf Simons, AW12

Dior: New Looks by Jérôme Gautier (Thames & Hudson) is out now.

dior.com

Tags: Art, book, couture, Dior, Fashion, jerome gautier, New Look, photography

The Pirelli 2016 Calendar has been met with contrasting reviews. Most people have been singing its feminist praises; in a markedly new direction compared with previous years, the calendar has welcomed a diverse array of successful women, and offers varied and mostly clothed images of female bodies, diverting from its usual display of artful nudity. Others have noted that while the calendar celebrates female empowerment, it also limits the sexual attractiveness and femininity of the women on its pages. It suggests that women can be either successful or beautiful, but not both.

To interpret the Pirelli 2016 calendar in this binary way would overlook the point of the pictures, in Leibovitz’s words they are to show the women exactly as they are. The calendar shows us that our bodies can be used in different ways; to represent power and strength, like the striking shot of Serena Williams’ rippling back muscles. Or as a comedic device, like the photo of Amy Schumer topless and surprised, suggesting that she didn’t get the ‘clothes on’ memo this year. These are ways that men’s bodies have been presented for a long time in the media. More than showing that flaws or quirks can be beautiful and sexy, these pictures invite us to look past the sexualisation of women’s bodies and to start noticing the other things a body can do, like be strong, powerful, suited and booted.

February, 1972, Sarah Moon

The calendar has gone viral on social media, and no matter how it is interpreted, having an iconic publication like the Pirelli calendar joining and extending the conversation about female representation can only be a good thing. Just a year ago, Pirelli’s calendar was a spread of high profile supermodels in various states of undress. The calendar may be just one small step for womankind, but it is one big step for Pirelli and towards the cultural shift we are all yearning for.

December, 1987, Terence Donovan

pirellicalendar.pirelli.com

Tags: amy schumer, annie leibovitz, Art, Patti Smith, photography, Pirelli, serena williams

Christmas shopping. Two words that strike fear into the hearts of even the most hardened of consumers. But turn that frown, upside down, as Nat Breitenstein’s Grand Magasin Deux (a continuation of 2013’s successful Grand Magasin) is back at Bethnal Green’s French Riviera for a festive take on the “experimental examination” of a shopping experience.

For just five days (from 16-20 December) customers can peruse a plethora of unexpected delights from various artists at this unique pop-up shop, in which every single thing on display is for sale as part of a “playful exploration of labour, value, art and commerce”.

From ceramic pots and painted plaster pineapples and pomegranates, to turned timber and pom-pom vases, cast glass receptacles, furniture, drawings, prints, houseplants, Victorian Stereoscopes and lingerie – there is no shortage of things promising to capture both the eye and the imagination.

With no defined limits, the creatives involved have imagined a series of collectibles with the loose theme of a “shopping show” – the only condition? That the pieces created are affordable.

Artists taking part this time around include: Daisy Addison, Fay Ballard, Nat Breitestein, Owen Bullett, Harry Burden, Stuart Carey, Pippa Choy, Dan Coopey, Will Cruickshank, Denise de Cordova, Marie D’Elbee, Thomas Dozol, Tom Ellis, Kris Emmerson, Jessie Flood-Paddock, Seana Gavin, Ludovica Gioscia, Lynn Hatzius, Holly Hayward, Joey Holder, Siân Hislop, Samuel Levack and Jennifer Lewandowski, Bryan Mills, Nicholas Pankhurst, Berry Patten, Sonya Patel Ellis, Lyle Perkins, Marianne Spurr, Nicola Tassie, Jennifer Taylor, Cicely Travers, Bea Turner, Jeremy Willett and Lucy Woodhouse.

Grand Magasin Deux takes place from 16-20 December, 2015. Open daily, 12–7pm and by appointment.

You can find French Riviera at 309 Bethnal Green Road, London, E2 6AH.

frenchriviera1988.com

Tags: Art, christmas, culture, French Riviera, interiors, lingerie, london, pop-up shop, shopping, unique

British photographer Tom Sloan is making pictures the old fashioned way – by letting the journey dictate the result.

What initially pulled us towards Tom’s work was a recent trip he took to Wales – Merthyr Tydfil to be more specific – which produced a stunning series of photographs documenting the kids in and around the town. When we asked him what prompted the project, his response was so unselfconsciously thoughtful, that we knew we had to know – and see – more.

“I had been in the Forest of Dean area making pictures and came across two lads night fishing who were from Merthyr,” he told us. “They described the place to me and talked about what it was like growing up there. It sounded tough but at the same time quite romantic. They were honest about its problems with unemployment, benefit culture ect but they also described it as having a close knit community and it being a true Welsh industrial town. One of the lads was a keen boxer but had injured himself badly in a motorbike accident, he talked about training daily in and around the town as a youngster. One of the things I remembered them saying was that because of its geographical location in the Merthyr Valleys it was always shrouded with a thick foggy mist from the surrounding mountains, all of this got me interested.”

It got us interested, too. Here, along with a brief interview, we present you with a curated edit of some of Tom’s work. We think you’ll enjoy it.

What first drew you to making pictures?
I made short films as youngster, when I was 10 – 12 years old. They were very action-based as you can imagine. I used my Dad’s video camera. It was obviously all analogue, but I’d take it seriously and spend a lot of time editing, acting in them and making my brothers get involved. I was actually quite clever then, I worked out how to use a dodgy old editing machine my uncle bought from a car boot! But that was the start of me framing the world through a lens.

Can you remember the first photograph you saw that made a strong impact on you? 
There have been many photographs that have made an impact on me, it’s a tricky question… Chris Killip’s ‘Seacoal’ pictures fascinated me. I would say it wasn’t just the individual pictures, although each one is incredible with such impact, it was the body of work as a whole and the world it showed me. It woke me up to telling a story with pictures. I was introduced to him when I started studying photography at university, aged 21.

Cameron, Merthyr

When did you first pick up a camera? What did you take pictures of?
I took up photography when I was 16. I was told I had to fill my schedule up at college by an extra four hours per week, I was doing retakes of my GCSEs! I’d spent a lot of time enjoying myself at school… perhaps too much! I came across GCSE photography and thought it sounded interesting, a good mix of the creative and the technical. In my first lesson I was shown a variety of photography books, one was a Don McCullin book. I loved his early pictures of his friends in Finsbury Park and the work he made up north in Bradford. I began trying to shoot gritty black and white in Southampton. I had the docks, some dodgy friends and rough areas to explore.

When did you realise that you wanted to make photography your career?
It was a simple decision weirdly. I remember I’d been to stay at my dad’s for the weekend when I was about 17, we were heading back to Southampton in the car, he was asking about jobs and careers etc and I just came out with it, and it felt right. I’ve been indecisive in other areas in my life, but deciding to be become a photographer felt right.

What are the realities of being a photographer these days? Is it as romantic as it sounds?
This question moves nicely from the last… Yes and no! It’s very tough, confusing, exciting and unpredictable! But interesting in so many ways. You have to stick to your true self and your gut instinct, which is difficult at times. I think the point I want to make is, for me, photography as an art form meant I’d have to go out into the world and find people and places and go on adventures. That’s what would interest me when I looked at photographers work, I loved the mystery of how they got the pictures, the process. It almost doesn’t become just about the individual picture, the work becomes about the photographer and the journey. Going back to the question though, for me the most romantic aspect of being a photographer is the freedom the days can hold.

Merthyr

If you had to choose one of your pictures to best act as an example of your style, what would it be and why?
Umm tricky again… I like the picture I took of these two lads in Croydon, riding on the back of a moped. It’s certainly not my best picture but it sums up what I’m interested in when it comes to photographing these types of lads. There’s a sense of living the way they want to live, slightly wild I guess. I want a hint of excitement, I think this picture holds that.

Is there anyone that has influenced your work over the years?
Loads of people have influenced me, from photographers I’ve worked for to people I’ve looked at over the years. Strangely, although I don’t look at his work so much nowadays and it’s quiet different from my own work, I was a huge Wolfgang Tillmans fan. When I first saw how he displayed his work it blew my head off! His exhibition ‘If One Thing Matters, Everything Matters’ was a real influence on me. He curated and edited his work to have such an amazing rhythm. Others include: Paul Graham, Martin Parr, Juergen Teller and Glen Luchford.

Much of your work depicts youth, and young people – is there a particular reason for that?
Without trying to sound cliche, I guess they give you something honest? I like the excitement of being young as well, you can get up to a lot. I used hang out with huge groups of kids when I was growing up and we had so much fun, it was wild. Weirdly, you don’t see that so much now. I think teenagers spend more time online than hanging out at the local rec.

Sam, Merthyr

What was your childhood like? Where did you grow up?
My childhood was pretty normal. I grew up with my two brothers in Southampton until I was 10, when my Parents divorced. My dad moved to a tiny cottage in the countryside, we stayed in Southampton. My mum remarried a few years later and the family grew, I gained two step brothers and a step sister. I had a pretty eventful teenage period, hung out with the type of kids I photograph, took drugs, went to parties, roamed the streets, usual stuff.
Do you have a dream project that you’d like to make reality one day?
Well it would be in the UK to start, I love making work here, I understand it! I think it’s a special, hugely diverse place. It would be shot on the outskirts of the city where the countryside and the city meets – my favourite territory! It would be a space where the teenagers own the land… To be honest I’m sort of shooting this bit by bit as I go along… I think…
What’s inspiring you right now?
Road trips, I’m enjoying making work outside London at the moment, I get really inspired by the countryside.
What would be the highest compliment someone could ever pay your work?
That I’m considered authentic. That means I’m on the right track.
tomsloan.co.uk

Sam, Merthyr

Cameron, Merthyr

Cameron, Merthyr

Cameron, Merthyr

Sam, Merthyr

Merthyr

And here’s some more of Tom’s work…

Tags: Art, British, photography, pictures, tom sloan, YOUth

Everyone likes winning things. Even those who give off the most authentic air of indifference to life, love winning things. It is with that in mind, then, that we sound the drum-roll and let you know about the brilliant Banner Repeater Fundraiser, which is happening as we speak.

For just £5, you will be entered into a lottery to win some amazing prints, publications and multiples from the enviable Banner Repeater portfolio. These include, but are not limited to: Turner Prize winners, British Art Show 2015 artists, and more, such as Hannah Sawtell, Laure Prouvost, Jesse Darling, Benedict Drew, John Russell, Erica Scourti, Emma Hart, Elizabeth Price, Critical Hand Gestures, and there are also some highly collectible BANK tabloids, too.

The BANK. Issue 24. Published 15th December 1997

So what’s this all in aid of, then? Well, creativity. And the space to exhibit it. As we’ve previously mentioned – and we all know far too well – continued budget cuts to arts funding mean that the visibility of challenging work in public spaces is under threat, and places like Banner Repeater are having to do things like this, in order to survive. Let’s all help them, shall we?

All you have to do is take a simple cyber jaunt over to their website, here, and click to buy yourself a ticket. The lottery will then be pulled on 4 December at a fabulous party, with a DJ set by Paul Purgas. This will all take place at L’Entrepot, 230 Dalston Lane, London, E8 1LA (next door to Hackney Downs train station).

So what are you waiting for? Enter now, go to a party, have fun, maybe win something really fucking cool and support art. It’s a no brainer.

Find Banner Repeater on Platform 1 at Hackney Downs Rail Station, Dalston Lane, Hackney, E8 1LA. They’re open: Tue-Thu 8-11am, Fri 8am-6pm; Sat-Sun noon-6pm.

Bannerrepeater.org

Tags: Art, BANK, banner repeater, banner repeater fundraiser, collectible, fundraiser, Hackney, Limited edition, london, Turner Prize

Navigating the minefield of the creative industry at a time when housing costs have reach crisis point, funding for the arts is being monumentally slashed, and any kind of government support is a joke – is nigh on impossible. Luckily, there’s a force for active change in our midst. It comes in the shape of 26-year-old artist, feminist and curator Sophie Giblin, who is a founder of the award-winning Kollektiv art community, and determined to satiate the need for real, practical ‘how to’ knowledge for creatives just starting out. Sophie has put together, along with designer Sarah Todd and developer Luke Phillips, a free online manual that cleverly, and plainly, details how to do various things such as run collaborative projects, use alternative funding methods like crowdfunding and open galleries in derelict spaces.

“Life as a creative can be tough. Funding is being cut, rent is high, inspiring opportunities are scarce. It all seems really miserable, but we can and must stay creative. The new youth led DIY collectives shouldn’t be deterred by the difficulties. They deserve a helping hand and that’s why we’ve made everything we’ve learnt over the past two years completely open source. We like to choose collaboration over competition.” – Sophie Giblin

Everything you could want to know – from how to handle a problematic landlord to prepping a space for an exhibition – is beautifully categorised and easy to navigate, via the website’s no fuss (but still aesthetically pleasing) scrolling design.

Readers and fellow creatives are also encouraged to engage with the project by tweeting any thoughts and additional questions with the hashtag #KollektivSchool – further ensuing there is no dead end to the invaluable information being provided.

Kollectiv has been running as a Kickstarter funded organisation for over two years now, and its overall message is this: “make ideas into realities, don’t settle for unfair treatment and learn by taking the lead. Make your own way and regret nothing. Show the #haters what you’re made of and don’t let the realities of post education stifle your creativity.” We’re down with that.

kollektivgallery.com/manual

Tags: Art, Books, collaborations, creatives, exhibitions, funding, gallery, help, ideas, kollektiv, manual, sophie giblin, start-up

Geology has never been considered the most feminine science but the oeuvres in a new showcase from creative science agency super/collider are anything but masculine. Witness Carly Waito’s stunningly realistic oil paintings of gemstones (main picture) and Jessica Herrington’s crystal and rock inspired sculptural works, while Sophie Rose Asquith’s Sylacauga 1954, Thixenhale 2013 (pictured below) leverages black-and-white photography to eerily represent extraterrestrial geology.

The mixed media show is designed to represent the resurgence in female fascination with geology, minerals and meteorites, with beguiling results. Many of these artists are fascinated by how these jewels develop through immense pressure and time – parallels with everyday life, perhaps?

super-collider.com; 25 September – 30 October, Print House Gallery, 18 Ashwin Street, London E8 3DL

Tags: Art, Geology, Women

Mum/Mamma/Maman: the word signifying ‘mother’ is almost a universal term – and with good reason. The authority of Mamma is particularly synonymous with Italy, so its seems only fitting that what the Trussardi Foundation’s latest contemporary art exhibition at Palazzo Reale in Milan will explore the mother figure as a subject of admiration, myth, historical significance and artistic inspiration. Curated by director Massimiliano Gioni (the artistic director of the Venice Bienale 2013), the show will run from August 25 to November 15.

127 international artists will be exhibited over 20,000 square feet, analysing the iconography of motherhood in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Highlights include work from Julie Den Hagg (pictured above, courtesy of Rineke Dijkstra and Marion Goodman Gallery), Anna Maria Maiolino (below, first picture, courtesy of Galleria Raffaella Cortese) and and Joan Jonas (below, second picture, photograph by Roberta Neiman). The Great Mother aims to celebrate women’s power, not only as a life-giving, creative force, but also the story of female empowerment over the course of the past 100 years. No subject will be overlooked, from gender struggles to sexual politics, and one of the exhibition’s goals is to encourage women to be active participants in the representation, rather than just its subject.

Until 15 November, fondazionenicolatrussardi.com

Tags: Art, Mother, Trussardi Foundation

European capitals have long been considered to be temples of art, with a roster of household names to bolster their reputations – Madrid has Picasso, Florence has Leonardo da Vinci, Paris has Monet. Copenhagen, however, is current cool kid on the block when it comes to the art scene, and Chart Art Fair might just be the place to discover a corresponding famous face. From 21 -23 August, the fair will be holding a unique exhibition of contemporary Scandinavian artists from 28 countries at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts Kunsthal Charlottenborg. Its unique presentation will propel the viewer through a unique and distinctive experience of the many different facets of contemporary Nordic art.

One of these facets is performance, and as such the fair will feature Spectrum, a programme created by Twin’s own art editor, Francesca Gavin. Intended to demonstrate how performance can be relevant, engaging and complex, Gavin’s programme will focus on Nordic artists who work in different areas such as architecture, sound and textiles.

Friday will see Tori Wrånes create dramatic aural audio works, while on Saturday, Sirra Sigrún Sigurōardóttir will focus on spectrum and movement through interactive spaces and David Mullett will leverage a psychedelic virtual reality. For the final day, Nadine Byrne and collaborators Julie Verhoeven and Peter Jensen will channel a variety of mediums including sound, sculpture and textiles.

Gavin has also created series of special projects: Video Video presents a series of video works from artists such as Joe Winograd, Katarina Löfström, Martin Erik Andersen, Rhys Coren, Samuel Levack and Jennifer Lewandowksi, and Sara Ludy, with the films being shown on designated screens in shop windows around Copenhagen.

Elsewhere, Carsten Höller’s graphic works (pictured) are a highlight, as are pieces by Franz West, John Kørner and Jaume Plensa, to name but a few. With accompanying events covering architecture and gastronomy, the fair looks set to chart a stylish voyage of discovery into Scandinavian culture.

chartartfair.com

Tags: Art, Chart Art Fair, Copenhagen, francesca gavin

Perhaps one of the most hotly anticipated exhibitions of the year opened at the Phillips gallery in New York a few weeks ago: “Complicities”, by Brigitte Lacombe.

Famed for her photojournalistic approach to cinema, this is the first time in her 40-year career that she has exhibited her work in the Big Apple.

Lacombe is best known for her portraits and reportage in both black and white and colour, capturing private moments on set. These include large format prints of Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Dustin Hoffman, Andy Warhol, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Moss, amongst others.

The late, great, Richard Avedon used to regard her work with envy – a true compliment indeed.

Adding to the occasion is the opportunity to buy some of Lacombe’s original prints, so get yourself down there before it finishes on 30 July.

phillips.com

Tags: Art, Brigitte Lacombe, new york, photography

At aged 72, clad all in black and with messy hair, Judith Bernstein may not strike you as particularly political. But searching her name on Google rapidly proves otherwise: she is listed repeatedly as a feminist, psycho-sexual artist, with several references to her work being so erotic that it was censored. She was a founding member of A. I. R. Gallery, the first gallery devoted to showing female artists, and an early member of Guerrilla Girls, Art Workers’ Coalition and Fight Censorship. Bernstein’s oeuvres d’art sit at the intersection of pop, feminism and protest: it seems fitting that now, with the current resurgence of pro-female feeling, Mary Boone Gallery in New York is holding a major exhibition of her work.

Voyeur, curated by Piper Marshall, will feature pieces selected to highlight the way Bernstein confronts conservative gender politics with sexual aggression. The war-time phallus has been a recurring theme for the artist since 1964, but this exhibition in particular will focus on female genitalia, which Bernstein insists on calling the ‘angry cunt’: “I like to use that word. I like to rub it in…it takes the rawness away.” Works include Crying Cuntface, where the vagina is a head with horn-like cock eyes, and Quattro Cunt, a grid of four open faces shooting phallic-eyed glares at each other.

Voyeur at Mary Boone Gallery, from 7 May to 27 June.

maryboonegallery.com

Tags: Art, Feminism, Judith Bernstein

It’s highly likely that every wardrobe contains a much loved, battered pair of Converse, if not two.  This week, the iconic brand continues to cement itself at the cutting edge of cool with the launch of Made by You in London.

The campaign celebrates how each pair of Converse starts off as a blank canvas, before each stain, each tear and scuff, becomes a self-portrait of its owner. Fans across the world have offered their Chuck Taylors for sneaker portraits, and the resulting exhibition showcases the diversity of the wearers and their stories.

Converse have curated a selection of the sneaker portraits by international icons including Patti Smith, Jefferson Hack, Andy Warhol and Glenn O’Brien, as well as British representatives from various fields including Agi & Sam, Sibling, Sean Frank, Sam Taylor and Shay Ola. Each person has also shared their Six Word Story, a snapshot of their Chucks experience and life attitude.

Chuck fans in the UK now also have their own chance to celebrate their stories and their sneakers, as London-based artist Damilola Odusote will create an original Made by you art installation in Shoreditch.

The resulting exhibition features thousands of polaroids of Londoners wearing their Chucks and sharing their Six Word Stories, assembled into a structure of London’s iconic outline. 
Supported by students from Central Saint Martins, Damilola will construct the installation by hand within a gallery space on London’s Shoreditch high street.

3 – 10 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6PG

converse.co.uk

Tags: Art, Converse, Shoreditch High Street

Acne Studios is probably the most well-known brand under the ACNE umbrella, which was founded in 1996 as an international creative collective. Their latest project, Curater, is a digital exhibition system that showcases artworks from internationally renowned artists, in your own home.

Using high-definition, purpose-built, wireless and ultrathin LED-canvases, users can experience the artworks on their own wall, turning their living room into their own gallery. With a closed subscription based system, you’ll be invited to join (but can sign up on their website), however their is an initial distribution of a maximum of 500 users. 50 of which, will receive Curater screens at random when the launch takes place, sometime in the next 12 months.

So if you fancy your own personal art experience, sign up to be one of the first enthusiasts in the know.

curater.com

Tags: Art, Curater

Thanks to feminist art historians like Griselda Pollock, Rozsika Parker and Linda Nochlin (Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?), alongside visionary female art activists such as Guerrilla Girls, and high-profile visionaries like Marina Abramović, Yayoi Kusama and Tracey Emin – all of whom have defied statistics when it comes to the male/female success ratio in the art world – there are increasingly more and more signs of recognition for the value, influence and stature of female artists.

Doing their own bit to ensure that cultural landscape remains is Girls Only. Girl-power gang, women-only wolf-pack, riot grrl clique – however you describe them, the transatlantic collective is an experimental community uniting female artists, encouraging conversation, creativity and expression from a new wave feminist stance. Twin caught up with the group’s founder and curator Antonia Marsh, to find out more.

How did Girls Only evolve?
After I graduated from my Masters in curating, I felt that I needed to generate my own voice as a curator so I decided to work on a project of my own. I left San Francisco for NYC, rented the first studio I viewed and started kitting it out. The first resident started within that month.

So were you an artist yourself too?
I’ve only recently started making art myself but I studied art history and have been working in the art world assisting and curating for ten years now.

What was your vision for the project?
To create a safe space for female artists to talk about and share their work with one another, outside of the exclusivity of a largely patriarchal art world. This vision has developed organically over time – while it remains, what I want more for the artists now is for them to be able to show their work in an exhibition context as much as possible.

So what’s the process – from bringing a community of women together, to promoting the art?
It mostly starts with a conversation or an idea for a smaller project and then snowballs. We  do a lot of things – from film screenings to talks and discussion groups, exhibitions, school trips and studio visits – there is a lot of space for artists to get involved.

Were you ever concerned that by calling the group ‘Girls Only’, it immediately alienates men and becomes a feminist conversation?
Of course, this was a major concern from the start of the project. However, with this in mind the choice of name was deliberate. There’s nothing wrong with a feminist conversation, in fact I believe it’s really important that they are engaged with it. Girls Only is not about excluding men, it’s about including artists and providing them with the time, space and money to make work, that might not otherwise have such an opportunity.

At the moment with the under-representation of women in the commercial art world, and in museums and gallery shows, they are the artists that need these opportunities the most.

You’re obviously aware of activists like Guerrilla Girls and the Bunny Collective – do you think we’re having a renaissance for female artists, particularly thanks to the internet?
We actually did a performance project in homage to the Guerrilla Girls in New York! There’s definitely a lot more conversations about it, and I’m doing whatever I can to push in that direction.

Yet there are still many challenges facing female artists. What do you think is the glaringly obvious one?
I think whether or not to identify as female in relation to their work and whether that should be part of their artwork. I think many female artists actually feel inhibited by this and don’t feel the need to relate the work they’re making to their gender. I would imagine that with the burgeoning conversation surrounding feminism in the cultural zeitgeist at the moment, it can be hard to escape constant questions as to where they position themselves, and their practice in relation to this.

And do you think there has been any shift in male attitudes towards women in art?
Not really. I hope they’re freaking out though.

Me too, particularly with so much emerging talent out there. So who are your personal trailblazers – the ones who really shaped freedom of expression for women in art?
Judy Chicago, Cindy Sherman, Carolee Schneeman, Jenny Saville, Tracey Emin, Sarah Lucas.

You recently collaborated with Anti-Agency in London – what was the purpose of pairing up a casting agency with the art world?
Lucy Greene and Pandora Lennard from Anti-Agency approached me after the first Girls Only exhibition in London. A lot of the girls they represent are extremely talented young female artists, and they wanted to give them a chance to show their work. After doing studio visits with them I was really impressed and they were fantastic to work with, I’m really proud of how the show turned out.

And what’s next on your to-do list?
Well the residencies have officially started in London, so at the studio we will have two artists living and working, and at the end they will show their work at different spaces. Our website is also launching, and we are opening temporary studio and exhibition spaces in Paris, Copenhagen and Berlin so we can collaborate with local artists. Hopefully then we will put together a book of everything we’ve done so far.

And finally, how can women continue to ensure the art world keeps recognising their contribution and talent?
Honestly I think the answer to this is really just to keep on making art. It’s as simple and beautiful as that.

girlsonlynyc.tumblr.com

Image One: Girls Only Founder & Curator Antonia Marsh – pic credit Chad Moore | Image two: Artwork by artist Bella Howard from the Anti-Agency x Girls Only Exhibition – Pic Credit, Tas Gaitanos | Image three: Artwork by artist Arvida Bystrom from the Anti-Agency x Girls Only Exhibition – Pic Credit, Tas Gaitanos | Image four: Artwork by artist Nicole Fitch from the Anti-Agency x Girls Only Exhibition – Pic Credit, Tas Gaitanos

Tags: Anti-Agency, Antonia Marsh, Art, Girls Only

Allen Jones knows how to sell sex. Since he first exhibited his fibreglass women in the late 1960s – the prototype fembot, down on all fours, arse practically over head, strapped into bondage gear – he’s owned it. They were – are – the literal representation of sex-on-legs. And who’d have thought that the place to get a little artistic perversion in London these days would be at the Royal Academy?

It’s clear that Jones’ coterie of fetishised furniture sculptures represents a very specific sort of fantasy. It’s everyman erotica; pert tits, big lips, hard-bodied, submissive, available. Serving you cocktails, ready to take your hat. They’re expensive whores on all fours. Yet, even as a feminist, you have to relish in how aggressively politically uncorrect it all is. Jones makes incredibly, obviously, seductive art. And you might feel a bit grubby about it afterwards, but then we’ve all been there, right?

Jones’ paintings provide a little counter balance to the implied misogyny of his sculptures. In these colourfully kitsch scenes he paints about power-play with cross-dressing inferences, of the dominate female, the submissive male, of the animalistic rituals of mating and the delicate interplay of coupling represented in the form of dance. It’s the paintings and later sculptures that suggest a much more complex side to Jones than the ones his critics would have you believe. To reduce Jones to a fetish artist, means you ignore a lot of the richness and ambiguity in his work. And it’s this that makes you want to go back and take a second look at the sculptures – maybe it’s not all about oppression and submission, maybe there’s something deeper at play? Maybe it’s not a male-female thing after all. Maybe she’s in control. Hell, maybe she’s even enjoying herself. Imagine that.

Allen Jones RA is at the Royal Academy, London until 25th January 2015

royalacademy.org.uk

IMAGE CREDIT: Allen Jones RA, Body Armour, 2013 Photograph, 127 x 127 cm London, Private Collection / Image courtesy of the artist © Allen Jones

Tags: Allen Jones, Art, fashion photography, Royal Academy

This year, Freize London adds to its repertoire of platforms for performance-based installations with ‘Live’, fashionably supported by Alexander McQueen, the Associate Sponsor of the art fair for the second year running.

Visitors will be able to watch a restaging of Robert Breer’s self-propelled Floats, and experience the sensation that they themselves are moving whilst actually remaining motionless, or relax by ‘vacationing’ during an installation from Tamara Henderson. Another of the 6 selected galleries, Shanzhai Biennial, will reconceive Frieze as a lifestyle brand, with products available for purchase.

‘Live’ is a major new initiative that is designed to integrate an important part of Freize’s history into the modern fair – the continuing commitment to showcasing the most experimental and ambitious art to capture visitor’s imagination.

freizelondon.com

Tags: Alexander Mcqueen, Art, Frieze, london