Annette Messager at the Hayward Gallery in London

Annette Messager
The Hayward Gallery
4th March - 25th May 2009


Annette Messager (born in 1943, lives and works in Paris) is widely regarded as one of Europe’s most important contemporary artists. The retrospective Annette Messager: The Messengers, presents an overview of the artist’s career and reveals her use of an astonishing and affecting repertoire of forms and materials (among them soft toys, stuffed animals, fabrics, wool, photographs and drawings). Mixing aesthetic registers and playing with remarkable virtuosity on our senses and feelings, this exhibition presents a panoramic survey from the intimate and conceptually driven pieces Messager made in the early 1970s to the very large sculptural installations of the past 15 years, in which movement plays an increasingly important role.


To learn more: www.haywardgallery.org.uk

Quote of the day

My quote of the day: "Tilda Swinton reminds me of David Bowie, Thin White Duke era"

Antony's exhibition in la galerie du jour in Paris

Ghost by Antony Hegarty

There was a time when I was totally obsessed by Antony. Antony remains one of my favourite artists and I am really happy to post this article on the exhibition he will have in Paris at la galerie du jour, agnès b's space.


We knew that Antony took the fashion designer's hat for a special dress he made but we didn't really know he was a visual artist. Burnt drawings, and other artworks are exhibited are part of the show. The main difference this time - the exhibition was previously displayed at galerie Isis in London - is that Antony collaborated with three other artists. Hs artworks' are juxtaposed with works from American photographer Peter Hujar, Kiki Smith and new york photographs by Alice O'Mailley.


The show will open on 7 April at galerie du Jour, in Paris and will be followed by two concert of the genius at Le Grand Rex.


To learn more:
www.galeriedujour.fr
www.antonyandthe johnsons.com

Lou Reed for Supreme

The new icon of the next Supreme Collection is Lou Reed ! After Kate Moss, Raekwon, Dipset, or Kermit the Frog it's the New York singer who has been selected by the Streetwear brand.

And surprise last week, New York itself woke up with ad posters everywhere with the famous Velvet Underground singer. T-shirts should also be produced and sold-out in 5 min, as usual...

Thanks to Allen for the images.

Exclusive Interview with artists Kolkoz

Art is Alive catches up with collective artists Kolkoz and I have to say that the answers are worth it. Thanks Kolkoz for doing this interview !

Can you please introduce yourself ? How would you describe yourself and how would you describe your art?

Je m'appelle Benjamin Moreau, j'ai 35 ans et une moustache bizarre collée sous le nez. j'ai rencontre Samuel Boutruche lors d un tournoi de golf, ou nous avons termines second ex-eco, nous avons échangés nos coordonnées pour fêter cette étrange coïncidence et de fil en aiguilles nous avons décidés de monter une entreprise commune du nom de Kolkoz.

Au sein de Kolkoz nous élaborons des projets destinés a nous inventer chaque année de nouveaux métiers. (nous occupons chacun dans cette entreprise le rôle de DRH)

Ainsi, cette année, nous avons décidé d être peintre. A dire vrai, ça n'est pas facile tout les jours, la bohème, mais on aime bien quand même.

Do you feel like you belong more to the fashion universe or to the contemporary art world? Perhaps design and architecture rather than fashion and contemporary art or rather clubbing ?

Je ne sais pas trop ce que veux dire le mot RATHER... J'imagine que c'est une sorte de couteau très coupant, mais sinon je ne me sent pas trop proche de la FASHION (je ne sais pas trop ce que ca veut dire non plus d'ailleurs). A savoir si le DESIGN coupe en rondelle l'architecture plus que le clubbing, il faudrait faire des essais en laboratoire, apportez-moi des échantillons, on verra ce qu'on peut faire.

Do you believe that frontiers exist between fashion and art?

Sûrement, une sorte de ligne Maginot, oui.

What is the role of an artist in today's world?

C'est justement la question que l'on se pose souvent, et c'est certainement pour cette raison que nous changeons de rôle aussi souvent. Pour avoir le plaisir de se poser la question le plus longtemps possible.

Does living in in Paris influence your creation's process ?

Oui, nous déjeunons souvent a Montmartre en ce moment.

What other artists, designers, architects do you feel close to?

Les freres Dalton, Sacco et Venzetti, bien sure, mais aussi, Patricia Carli, Bob Geldof ou Marie Myriam...

How far do you hope to go artistically speaking?

Toujours plus a l'ouest.

What gallery do you work with?

Emmanuel Perrotin

Why did you choose this gallery ?

On aimait bien le galeriste.

Would you consider to do something else if you were not an artist ?

J'aurais aime être Boucher, personnellement.

Do you consider that "art is alive"?

Bof, ça dépend des jours.

What's your relation with le Baron ?

Assez bonne.

What are your upcoming projects ?

Nous projetons avec Samuel de construire une sorte de sculpture en forme de passage, ou il est impossible de circuler. Elle fera idéalement 3,5m de haut par 2,5m de large, et possédera une enseigne lumineuse ou sera inscrit le mot "EMOCLEW". Recto et verso.

Who would you dream to work for/with ?

Avec Samuel Boutruche.

To finish with, what would wish to this blog?

Je souhaite a ce blog de rencontrer le succès qu'il mérite. Je lui souhaite également une bonne santé, car après tout, c'est le plus important.

Thanks to Marlen Melone, you're a star.
To learn more: www.kolkoz.org

Raven Row's inaugural exhibition, London

Raven Row's inaugural exhibition - to open on 28th February - is the first large UK show of the collages and mailings of New York artist Ray Johnson (1927-1995). Johnson used radical means to construct and distribute images, inadvertently inventing the ‘mail art movement’. He made art out of social life – both real and imagined – gathering celebrities, the art world, and friends into his work. His influence on twentieth century art far exceeds the recognition he receives.

‘Ray Johnson. Please Add to & Return’ will be the largest exhibition yet of Johnson's work in Europe. Significantly, it will be the first anywhere to represent Johnson's mailings, objects he regarded as gifts and thus contrary to the market, equally with the collage works he made for gallery exhibition in the sixties and seventies. Also included will be the collages he subjected to a seemingly endless process of reworking and overlaying that were found signed with multiple dates and neatly arranged in his house at the time of his death.

Raven Row is a new non-profit contemporary art exhibition centre at 56 Artillery Lane, Spitalfields, London. Constructed within two eighteenth-century silk merchants' houses onto which 6a Architects have added two contemporary galleries, the art centre stands on a part of the street that was known as Raven Row until 1895, when it was absorbed into Artillery Lane.

To learn more:
http://www.blogger.com/www.ravenrow.org

David Lachapelle in Paris

Kitsh, trash-religious, show-bizz photographer David Lachapelle is having a big retrospective at La Monnaie in Paris. You may like it or not, but one has to admit that some of the photographs are fascinating. It will run until 31 May 2009.

To learn more:

Exposition David Lachapelle 6 février au 31 mai 2009

www.monnaiedeparis.com

www.davidlachapelle.com