Posts Tagged ‘Dada’

The Problem with Open Letters

In these movements we find defiant artists who, disgusted with the pretense of a corrupt civilization, went on to disassociate from the art that represented this civilization. For moral and not formal reasons, they sought to turn the page on the art that had come before—in Dada’s case, traditional and even modernist painting; in the case of Art Informel, on geometric abstraction á la Piet Mondrian. These artists voted with their brushes. Regardless of whether we like its results, this response of withdrawal and rejection is perfectly understandable.

In contrast, today’s artists opt for the activist mode to show their disillusionment with humanity. They vote with their keyboards, venting by e-signing, and then, e-withdrawing their signatures, before e-apologizing.

LG Williams “Salaryman/Superman” at Tana Gallery Bookshelf

LG Williams, Salaryman/Superman, 2011, installation view Tana’s director Tamura Williams’s Kyoto Gallery dealer Baron Osuna of Super Window Project (right) and Williams’s Tokyo Gallery dealer Tamura (left) Still independent curator Shai Ohayon and Beatriz Inglessis The SHIBUHOUSE gang from left to right: Nakajima-san (aka DOPE MAN), Toshikuni-san and TAIKI-SAN (the 3rd house leader) Tana’s latest […]