Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

The Original Playboy's Retrospective

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In Moscow, they are holding an exhibit of Gunter Sachs’s photography and art collection because the heir to a German industrial fortune embodies the jet set aesthetic. So The Moscow Times tells us:

162_2A bobsleigh champion in his youth, he became a renowned photographer, documentary filmmaker and art collector who introduced Andy Warhol to Europe and discovered Claudia Schiffer. Sachs was among the first to promote pop art and surrealism in Europe as president of the Museum of Modern Art in Munich. With personal contacts with artists like Cesar, Salvador Dali, Alan Jones, Andy Warhol, Jean Fautrier, he contributed greatly to the popularization of modern art. Continue Reading

Moscow Gets an Education in Art

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The Moscow Times gives a detailed review of the Pinault/Garage show of Contemporary art:

curator Caroline Bourgeois worked closely with architects to expose the old, red brick walls and dazzling glass-and-metal ceiling. “We had a shock when we came here, it was really extremely beautiful,” she explained. “We Koons, Caterpillar in Chainssaid not to hide the space — we didn’t want to put walls in front of the viewer.” [ . . . ] The next section, “Society of the Spectacle,” is more diverse. Borrowing its title from Situationist theorist Guy Debord’s famous critique of consumer culture, it takes a phenomenological approach to entertainment through works that either examine it or outright celebrate it. Bourgeois’ intent, however, is to raise questions and doubt in the viewer’s mind by juxtaposing the works on their own. “I was very concerned that everyone could get something from this, whether or not they have the background in the theory,” she said. “Anyone can understand it on a different level.” Continue Reading

The Face Gets a Close Up

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Daria Zhukova re-emerges as the face of the art market after a brief hiatus. Her recent show of works from Francois Pinault’s collection has been getting good press. Here she sits down with Peter Aspden of the Financial Times:

Her enthusiasm for the project is palpable. She takes my napkin to show how the parallelogram structure of the building has been adapted over the past 12 months to form a versatile home for future exhibitions. She says she only ever thought about the Garage as a space for hosting “6,000 square metres of amazing contemporary art”.

[ . . . ] Zhukova says the introductory element of the Pinault show, curated by Caroline Bourgeois, is deliberately conceived. Moscow is a reluctant embracer of novel art forms and she wanted to show a panorama of contemporary art to what may be a grudging public. “I am sure a lot of people won’t understand it. A lot of people will be confused and sceptical. The most popular art movement here is Impressionism, that’s what we were taught was beautiful.” She knows it’s a long way from Renoir to the hyper-polished hearts of Jeff Koons or the raw visual jokes of Maurizio Cattelan. [ . . . ]

I say one of my worries about contemporary art is that it can appear over-decorative, and shows little sign of engagement with social and political issues. “That can be true but maybe people are tired of political art and want something beautiful.” [ . . . ]Continue Reading

Moscow Waits for No One

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Photo Credit: The Garage, CCC, Moscow

Read Kate Sutton’s perceptive and informative Diary entry at Artforum.com. She describes the frisson of interest around Moscow’s Garage Center and what it was like to be one of the many artists there who did not get the Koons treatment. Here’s a taste, but please read the whole entry here:

LAST THURSDAY, Moscow’s Garage Center for Contemporary Culture at long last reopened with a survey of works from François Pinault’s collection. According to curator Caroline Bourgeois, the exhibition’s title, “A Certain State of the World?,” was punctuated long before the economic crisis; nevertheless, over the past few months, this question mark has presided over the Garage’s activity––or, more fittingly, inactivity, as the space has remained closed since its much-feted Ilya and Emilia Kabakov retrospective last September. In the time since, the Moscow art world has occupied itself by inventing more and more outlandish conspiracy theories (implicating the Chelsea football team, rumored to be distracting Garage sponsor Roman Abramovich, and the Jewish Community Center, which was said to be plotting to take over the building) and speculation as to whether the Garage would ever reopen at all increased with the Pinault show’s delays.

State of Grace (Artforum)

Zhukova Facing Facts in Moscow

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The future of the art market rests upon the expansion of wealth and stability in the so-called emerging markets. By no means a foregone conclusion in these challenging and uncertain times. What will become of any of these regions remains to be seen though the long-term energy needs of the planet suggest equilibrium will return. While we wait for those economies to find their natural level, we can only wonder what role art will play. Which is why the continuing efforts of Dasha Zhukova to promote Contemporary art using commercial resources is noteworthy. The  Times of London thinks so too:Continue Reading

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