Filed under: Art News — Alan @ 7:33 am
Anish Kapoor, sculptor, has condemned the barbaric detention by China of artist Ai Weiwei and is calling on the closing of all galleries in protest for a day. He also has dedicated his Leviathan art installation located in Paris that was unveiled Tuesday to Ai.
Ai, 53, is being investigated by China as he was detained at the airport in Beijing when trying to pass through security in order to take a flight to Hong Kong. Gao Ge, his sister, said she had not heard a word from him and was not given any information as to his whereabouts or even if he had been charged with a crime.
It is now over a month that he has been held and not charged and his family still does not know where he is said Kapoor. Under any circumstances this is not acceptable he added. Some European ministers have expressed concern but Kapoor said more needs to be done. In London two exhibitions of major proportions of Ai’s work will open this week in London.
His Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads will be displayed in Somerset House in their courtyard from June 26, Thursday. He Lisson Gallery, from Friday, will exhibit some of his key works that have been created in the last six years.
The British government was deeply concerned said a spokesman from the Foreign and Commonwealth office by arrests and subsequent disappearances in China of artists, journalist’s, activists and others that dare to express their rights of freedom of expression.
Filed under: Art Sales — Alan @ 2:04 am
The British Arts Council is under fire on several counts, but the suggestion that a substantial portion of the Council’s art collection should be sold off to private collectors and investors has met with special outrage. The proposed sale would include works by Sarah Lucas, Damian Hurst and Anish Kapoor, whose sculptures are currently on special exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery. Some of Kapoor’s works on exhibit are owned by the Arts Council.
The Council was created in 1946 for the purpose of buying art work to be loaned to galleries and museums. There are about 7,500 art works in the collection at present, and until now none have ever been sold. The Council argues that selling off art work is not “a sensible solution” to the ongoing financial problem.
MP’s on the parliamentary select committee on culture have sharply criticized what they call the Council’s wasteful spending and poor leadership. They cited the infamous Public gallery in West Bromwich, built with public funds at a cost of more than £52 million, which was in receivership long before it even opened. A Council spokesperson said that was old news and had no relation to present circumstances.
The Committee’s report also recommends that the Council cut its administrative costs in half, on top of the 30% budget cut imposed last year. This would necessarily involve shutting down a lot of smaller art organisations. However according to committee chairman John Whittingdale, the report also offers suggestions on how these bodies could raise funds from other sources and manage their money better.
In other criticisms, MP’s pointed to the high level of funding for the council, noting an increase of 150% from 1998 to 2010. They expressed mistrust of the council’s administrative decisions, suggesting that it’s spending money in the wrong places and/or ineffectively, and makes a poor replacement for its predecessor, the Museums, Archives and Libraries Council.
Public reaction to the committee report is certainly varied. On one side there’s the cry that England’s art, culture and heritage is about to be sacrificed to the government’s financial quandary. On the other side is the cry that the Arts Council is squandering public money and spending too much on itself and its pet projects.
Pretty much regardless of public opinion at this point, the word on public funding allocations is due out on Wednesday, and it is already clear that about half of the 1,300 grant applications will be denied.
Filed under: Exhibitions — Alan @ 10:47 am
Anish Kapoor’s latest sculpture is now up in The Royal Academy of Arts courtyard with an official unveiling set for Tuesday to mark the upcoming exhibition of his work in the gallery.
The statue in the courtyard was inspired by a quote from the poet Rainer Maria Rilke and is made of steel shiny spheres that bubble up around steel statue Palladian buildings to the height of 15 metres.
Kapoor stated that the design is created to enthral viewers due to the fact it looks almost weightless and leaves viewers wondering how it is composed. He also stated that although it bears a resemblance to DNA that is not what he intends the piece to portray.
In 1992 Kapoor was the recipient of the Turner Prize and since then has become known widely throughout the public art world in particular in 2002 when his Marsyas statue was on display in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall.
Kapoor will be given all of the main galleries that are located at the Royal Academy making him the first artist to ever receive the honour of an exclusive solo show.
He stated that the institution houses some of the best artwork throughout the world so he is aware of the honour that he academy bestowed on him by deciding to host a show of his work.
There will be 50 new sculptures included in the show as well as some of his most well known and controversial pieces of work.
