[ARTNOTES] 26_09

It really seems that it has arrived, and has affected directly: we are talking about the crisis and its relation with art. The market has stopped, the sales have decreased and the difficulty to sell art pieces “getting good margins” has undergone a collapse. There is still a market, a more reliable market, safe and not much risky, and galleries opt for the consolidated values: the time for adventures and risks seems to be undergoing a bad moment. It is significant the itinerary we covered in Chelsea this same month: nothing relevant, nothing risky, not much movement and galleries that “are there no longer”. It is revealing that the best bet, and the most interesting one we could see, was Gagossian Gallery with Piero Manzoni. An important fact for the experts since it was the only gallery with public inside. In the know! And since we are talking about the crisis, which seems to be the topic of the day, we remain in the USA looking at the MET: it reduces the staff and suspends salaries for the second time in two months, and announces a new cut for July; to sum up, 377 dismissals in the last year. The MoMA also reduces its budget a 10% for the time being. Other less important museums within the American scene have more difficulties, even to open the doors, and several significant artistic agents keep a problematic line between the treasury and the fiasco open. The directors of museums severely question the investment on exhibitions and say, without blushing, that maybe they were organizing many and very banal ones, and yet the ‘anything goes’ is a thing of the past. Partly, we thing this is good since it will clear up the scene and the artistic renewal is more than necessary but, on the other hand, it is a significant fact that the artists will be the most harmed ones: nothing strange but a great disadvantage at the moment, although many of them go on saying “I do not notice the crisis since I have suffered it”. Meanwhile, the 22nd edition of Maastrich 2009 was held with 239 galleries. A new showdown to see the reality of the market, and people said that the ‘safe’ sales marked the interest in the event. On the other hand, the crisis also seems to attack the nomenclatures and concepts. The fourth triennial of the Tate Britain, was dubbed by the curator with a new adjective: ‘altermodern’. A concept that emerges in a social and political critical moment (the same happened with the altermodern movement in 1973 with the oil crisis) with the aim of placing the postmodern in another order. The triennial has gathered 17 artists from different continents and working with different media and in different places, that is, what French people call ‘another globalization’. Let’s wait for news and be attentive to them; despite all these things, the moment is exciting.

Art Collection Fundación María José Jove: Wassily Kandinsky

Text: Rampant (1934). Susana Cendán Collection art: Fundación María José Jove

 

IN THIS ISSUE:

Watched:

BULLFIGHT AFTERNOON. Manuel Allué
FÉLIX BONILLA GERENA. SOBRE EL CUERPO DEL DELITO. Amable López Meléndez

MADRID FASHION WEEK. Wearing sculptures, my body. Román Padín Otero

EN LOS EXTREMOS DE LAS MANIFESTACIONES:ALFREDO GARCÍA REVUELTA – FERNANDO SÁNCHEZ CASTILLO. José Manuel Álvarez Enjuto

INTERVIEW:

Glòria Picazo

National exhibitions: information and Reflection on Current Exhibition Practice in Spain

International: A look at the more interesting proposals beyond our frontiers, from our correspondents in New York, Geneva, and Berlin.Regular columns from New York and Portugal (also in Portuguese)

Culture: Film, music, and the performing arts. The most attractive events: festivals, meetings...

Art Notes

Public Announcements: detailed information on courses, seminars, workshops, competitions and awards

Agenda: Calendar of exhibitions in Spain and Portugal

Art Collection: Fundación María José Jove. Wassily Kandinsky

Suscriptionn: receive [ARTNOTES] at home