Unseen Art Scene (mirror)

As we saw before the way in which, David Adjaye, the architect plays a vital role in the development of art let us now turn our attention to the ideology of economics and a possible utopian ideal. I am confident great artwork of the present and future will follow similar lines to what is being expressed in these few interviews with Michael Albert who echoes the thoughts of numerous activists across the globe. Together they have really come up with various possible solutions to global issues. If the work that is created inside or outside of Africa is more 'Participatory' then the work will being to reflect the thinking of our era on a global basis. Here is a Youtube interview with Michael Albert talking about his book Parecon: Life After Capitalism. An economic model for a better world. This is the first clip of 12. Here are some reviews from Amazon: "Michael Albert is an important thinker who takes us beyond radical denunciations and pretentious "analysis" to a t

Has religion become the new sex in the visual arts? It rather seemed so since at about the end of 2002. It was then that Chris Ofili’s The Upper Room, an extraordinary, room-size installation which has now been re-created in collaboration with the architect David Adjaye at Tate Britain, was first shown at the Victoria Miro Gallery in East London. Ofili’s work consists of 12 paintings of rhesus macaque monkeys, six to a wall, in a long, low-lit, chapel-like space. Each monkey holds up a goblet, and faces towards a large painting at the high-altar end of the room, also of a monkey, but this one is much larger and less determinate in its shape. In fact, it barely has any features at all, merely a ghostly, glittery outline. The title of the piece points with some determination in the direction of Christ’s Apostles and the Last Supper. Ofili’s work has the odour of sanctity about it — we approach the room along a narrow corridor which runs along its outside. At our feet, we see blocks of li

I am going back a bit now to 1996 to take a look at a project undertaken by architect and artist. I am interested in role of the architect in regards to modern art. There has been a lot of talk about the 4th Dimension coming out of places like Brooklyn, Berlin and London. This idea is not new, in fact it goes back as far as the beginning of the last century with the Supremism art movement in Russia founded in 1913 by Kasimir Malevich. The talk at the moment echoes ideas and thoughts of Russia just after the 1918 Revolution and thoughts of a new society of social equality. As the world faces economic depression so thoughts are focused on areas of greater importance, that of spiritual freedoms and as our general interest in consumerism depletes so our interest in ephemeral matters increases. The architect has to deal with the elements of wind, sound and light when constructing a building and these elements are an interesting dimension as yet untapped in modern art. Want interests me is h

KADER ATTIA, JN. ULRICK DÉSERT, JULIEN FRIEDLER, JEFFREY GIBSON, XAVIERA SIMMONS, and CARRIE MAE WEEMS Signs Taken for Wonders Curated by Isolde Brielmaier May 28 – July 3, 2009 Opening Reception: Thursday May 28 2009, 6-8 pm Jack Shainman Gallery is pleased to present Signs Taken for Wonders, an exhibition curated by Isolde Brielmaier. In this presentaiton six artists, Kader Attia, Jn. Ulrick Désert, Julien Friedler, Jeffrey Gibson, Xaviera Simmons, and Carrie Mae Weems, use Africa as their muse as they examine representation, symbolism and the power of the image within the social, economic, political, historical and cultural spheres of the 20th and 21st centuries. Their work explores iconic figures, events and ideas that have contributed, explicitly and implicitly, to the imaging of the African continent around the world. In Signs, the artists use a range of media—painting, sculpture, photography, video, mixed media and installation—to articulate a particular person, idea, event or t

MiddleSea & Saphir Film screenings of Zineb Sedira's previous works MiddleSea, 2008 Video still, courtesy the Artist and Galerie Kamel Mennour, Paris Since 2006 Zineb Sedira has completed three major film projects - Saphir (2006), MiddleSea (2008) and Floating Coffins (2009), using the sea in each to provide a symbolic as well as an aesthetic context. The first two were initially seen as part of a triptych, yet the latest forms a continuing episode rather than a third element. In her earlier 2006 film Saphir she examines the Hotel Es Safir in Algiers, built by the French in the 1930s, and the focus of MiddleSea, created in 2008, is the sea joining and dividing Marseilles and Algiers. Both Saphir and MiddleSea employ protagonists who remain unspecific - the films do not tell us their stories, instead they allude respectively to separation and dislocation or departure and journeying. In each the setting remains unnamed and unspecific. Their lyrical power rests in their ellipsoida

Zineb Sedira, Floating Coffins, 2009. Still from video work Iniva presents the first London exhibition of Zineb Sedira's recently commissioned video work Floating Coffins at Rivington Place. Floating Coffins was filmed on the little known but beautiful coastline of Mauritania, a bird watcher's paradise. It is also where the world's shipping is beached and broken up, drawing parallels with another of the region's characteristics - the habour city of Nouadhibou, which has become a point of departure for African migrants trying to reach Europe. This unique phenomenon on the Saharan shores represents both a hazard to shipping and an ecological threat. Also the sea becomes a space of ‘decline' and an inactive landscape where lifeless ships and human bodies can be found rejected by the sea. Zineb Sedira Acclaimed international artist Zineb Sedira is also showing new photographic and light box works to accompany Floating Coffins at Rivington Place. The installation is pr

The Magical Coast of East Africa Artist: Ed Cross | National Museum of Kenya, Nairobi In a country best known for its Marathon runners Cross attempts to turn the country onto the beauty of itself. In a time of newness and thoughts of authentic independence, Cross identifies the importance of art and the role in which it plays. Art and the artists should be encouraging the development and creation of a permanent aesthetic and through this aesthetic establish a confident yet coherent nation identity. The Cross installations are an integral part of this development as he has tried to shrewdly introduce the country to itself and essentially encourage a National self-worthiness and at the same time dispelling thoughts of the more recent tribal divisions. Art can gather such confidence and national pride, particularly to those that appreciate it. Kenyans in general are far too officious, conformist and ultra conservative; more customary to works of literature than the visual arts but this i

Tribal Gathering in Notting Hill, London Moderism in Tribal Forms This long awaited respectful approach to Africa shows a real shift in the thinking about the works being produced on the Continent. The unspoken and unknown handicap for Africa is that the work being produced is no more than for decoration and practical purposes whereas we in the West like to define and redefine, pigeon-hole and classify for purposes unknown. That being said, Tribal Gathering has presented wonderfully imaginative works and given then a name and hopefully, finally a place in the International Art Arena. Here is a slideshow that will make you see things created in Africa in a refreshingly new light - many thanks to Tribal Gathering for leading the way. This is a great path of consciousness. For more information about Tribal Gathering in London go to the website http://www.tribalgatheringlondon.com

This is a very interesting interview with an extremely intelligent thinker of our time. His perspective is often extremely controversial and refreshing. Christopher makes one see the world in a different way and encourages the individual not to accept all that is read and fed to us by the powers that be but to explore further in order to mine for a deeper truth. This interview will assist those interested in writing about art or literature and preparing talks about International or Cosmopolitan thinking. It will take you on a journey of otherness and will start you on the road of challenging all that is presented as facts. "Hitchens is expanding his influence, showing the next generation how to 'think independently'." - USA Today" N.B. For more information about Christopher Hitchens see Amazon.com

Zimbabwe is right at the heart of the wave of change throughout the entire Continent. This change is coming from the most bizarre places - through dance and movement, music, sculpture, painting and literature. Take a look at this amazing dancer at the Alick Macheso concert. His movement reflects the desire for the abstract. Listen to how the lyrics are deconstructed and simplified and at the same time notice the complexity of the music. Watch in amazement as all these aspects are brilliantly represented through the flow of movement. Recently, I met up with an amazing woman, Vivienne Croisette, previously Vivienne Prince and she along with her husband Joseph have been supporting over 200 sculptors just outside Harare for nearly a decade. Through their constant support they have feed over 1000 families. This is quite staggering and when I met her I knew that Zimbabwe was where all the answers lay. The approach to Africa is a long and drawn out affair. Nothing comes easily but the journey