Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

People Watching Through Formaldehyde

April 30, 2009 by Marion Maneker

Kate Sutton went to the opening of the Hirst retrospective at the Pinchuk Arts Center in Kiev and filed this ArtForum Diary entry on the event. Here are some all-too-brief selections from an essay that should really be read in full:

Daniel Craig and Victor PinchukIn press notes, the exhibition is loosely termed a retrospective, but the majority of the works on display are new paintings, many making their world debut—and potentially final stop, if rumors are to be believed—in Kiev. The show is not without its share of cutesy curatorial moments and good-natured self-consciousness.  [ . . . ] In the sixth-floor SkyArtCafe, Ukrainian art stars (and PinchukArtCentre regulars) Ilya Chichkan, Masha Shubina, Zhanna Kadyrova, and Sergey Bratkov offered tips for avoiding the irrationally stingy champagne pours. (Bratkov ordered two glasses at a time, while Kadyrova simply grabbed the bottle, flashing a sweet smile at the dreadlocked bartender.) Curators Daniel Birnbaum and Francesco Bonami were perpetually “just here a minute ago,” as was artist Andreas Gursky, who has developed something of a following in Kiev since his own exhibition in the space last September.

Soon after the SkyArtCafe hit capacity, guests were bussed to a dinner at Kiev’s Puppet Theatre, a hilltop palace that combines display windows of creepy wooden puppets with a grotto-themed garderobe and a ritzy rooftop patio. It took several loudspeaker announcements to redirect guests from the open bar on the roof to the small theater for the evening’s entertainment. Even then, guests were reluctant to commit to a seat, and people congregated in the aisles so as to better calculate which row Pinchuk might choose. (For the record, the collector took a PR-friendly seat in the very center, between Jeff Koons and Ukrainian enfant terrible Chichkan.) [ . . .  ] The crowd eventually dispersed for dinner, dancing, and further distraction. Tate director Nicholas Serota, Gagosian’s Victoria Gelfand, and Stedelijk Museum director Gijs van Tuyl were all spotted skirting the edges of the dance floor, where a pop band put Ukrainian folk accents (read: lots of kicking and whooping) to covers of songs like “Hotel California.” Bianca Jagger chatted amiably with Koons and GCCC founder Dasha Zhukova, while onlookers cast covert glances to see whether Daniel Craig (whose arrival had triggered a wave of whispered “It’s Bond, James Bond!”s—which apparently never gets old) would try his hand at the whooping. Alas, no such luck.

Love Hirst (ArtForum.com)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Hong Kong Comes in LightHong Kong Comes in Light
  • NY Cont. Day Sale ResultsNY Cont. Day Sale Results
  • Judge Doesn't Like Secrets in RestitutionJudge Doesn't Like Secrets in Restitution
  • Panama Papers Show Nahmads Control Disputed ModiglianiPanama Papers Show Nahmads Control Disputed Modigliani
  • Restitution Family Gets Another Painting BackRestitution Family Gets Another Painting Back
  • Revolutionaries for AboriginesRevolutionaries for Aborigines

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • After Pandemic’s Rapid Change, Sotheby’s Has 8 Predictions for 2021
  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • A Season of Improvisation: Fall 2020 New York Modern and Contemporary Art Auction Analysis
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Roy Lichtenstein’s Top Ten Auction Prices
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • How to Chant Like an Auctioneer
  • Aboudia, Zemba Luzamba, Dickens Otieno Anchor Contemporary African Art Sale at Artcurial in Marrakesh
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor