Art Of The Day Weekly
#279 - from 15 November 2012 to 21 November 2012
AVAF, Alarmante Vision Absolument Furieuse, galerie Hussenot, Paris Photo.
IN THE AIR
Paris, voyage to the heart of photography
PARIS – Some things never change. The Paris Photo fair in mid-November is one of them. Since 1996 it has been an essential pole of attraction for the art market and its amateurs. Every two years its aura is reinforced by an even older event, the Mois de la photo (the first edition goes back to November 1980) that federates exhibitions in museums and galleries under the aegis of the Maison européenne de la photographie. 2012 being an even year it is one of the ‘full’ years with an additional asset, ‘Photo Saint-Germain-des-Prés’ that brings together the gallery owners of the district. In other terms this program is worthy of the Olympic games of photography that has even contaminated other geographic areas, in Berlin or Bratislava, and the first edition of a Paris Photo in Los Angeles is to be held at the Paramount studios in April 2013.
FAIRS
Edward Burtynsky, Dryland Farming #11, Monegros County, Aragon, Spain, Chromogenic color print, 121,9x122,6 cm, Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery
Paris Photo, the Mecca of images
PARIS – Every year the figures demonstrate the importance of the salon du Carrousel in the Louvre. This year is no exception with 151 international galleries from 22 different countries, of which some thirty new ones and over 1000 artists exhibited. The rules have changed and art fairs are no longer limited to lining up stands. They also organize events – conferences, debates or award ceremonies –such as the one of Aperture Foundation for the best photo book for 2012. Three non-commercial exhibitions are also in the program, Livre ouvert, Acquisitions récentes (presenting the policy of three institutions, the Lacma in Los Angeles, the Fotomuseum in Winterthur and Huis Marseille in Amsterdam) and Collection privée that presents the Archives of Modern Conflict, based in London, with 4 million documents.
• Paris Photo from 15 to 18 November 2012 at the Grand Palais.
Photo Saint-Germain-des-Prés
PARIS - Photo Saint-Germain-des-Prés is the second edition of a festival gathering galeries in the area, with exhibitions ranging from Stuart Franklin to Denis Rouvre. From 8 to 30 November 2012.
Photo Off
PARIS - Photo Off holds its third edition with some 20 galleries focusing on young photography. At La Bellevilloise, from 15 to 18 November 2012.
EXHIBITIONS
© Gilles Caron / Fondation Gilles Caron
France, portraits of half a century
PARIS – How can the revolution of the Glorious Thirties in France be rendered? Music, literature or movies are very appropriate, of course. But photography, the media ‘par excellence’ of the end of the XXth century is undoubtedly even better. The exhibition-assessment prepared by Gilles Mora and Alain Sayag takes its inspiration from a huge production to demonstrate the accelerated transformation of rural and agricultural country, where the car, the washing machine and the television replaced the cart, the public washer and discussions on the market place. Humanist photographers, by tradition interested in the theater of society, such as Cartier-Bresson or Dieuzaide, are the first in line. But the choice has been enlarged to less obvious interpreters such as David Hamilton, classified as the photographer of young budding adolescents, or Goude, the great manipulator of advertising. As if to show that the composite drawing is not so easy to do…
• La photographie en France, 1950-2000 from 14 November 2012 to 13 January 2013 at the Maison européenne de la photographie.
Also to be seen in Europe…
The merciless world of Diane Arbus
AMSTERDAM - Foam presents a complete retrospective of Diane Arbus, a photographer attracted by losers, the diformed and the rejected membes of the middle class: an honest portrait of American society in the sixties. Until 13 January 2013.
Photography and visual arts
AMSTERDAM – At Huis Marseille, Viewpoint carries out a rapprochement between photography and the other visual arts, with works by Rineke Dijkstra, Valérie Belin or Mark Melvin. Until 9 December 2012.
The winners of the Deutsche Börse
BERLIN – c/o presents the finalists of the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2012: Pieter Hugo, Rinko Kawauchi, John Stezaker and Christopher Williams. Until 13 January 2013.
Shooting photographs
LONDON – At the Photographers Gallery, Shoot ! Existential Photography brings back to life an attraction from the post war era: shooting ranges where the rifle would turn into a camera. Until 6 January 2012.
AUCTIONS
Stars of the International Herald Tribune
PARIS - In 1887, Gordon Bennett, the heir of a press tycoon left New York and settled in France. An amateur of yachting, of aviation and the social swirl he launched the daily newspaper the Paris Herald. It developed at mind-boggling speed during WW I with the arrival of the American troops in Europe. It became the International Herald Tribune, and changed titles many times as often as it changed hands. Today it celebrates its 125th anniversary with the sale of a part of its funds: 2500 prints in 300 lots. Expert Viviane Esders remained true Gordon Bennett’s watchwords, ‘Names, names, names!’ and centered her selection on the main characters of the time, all at reasonable prices. From Hans Christian Andersen to Simenon, including Kessel, Tolstoi, Truman Capote or the Mahatma Gandhi, this is a true international ‘who’s who’ right in front of our eyes.
• Photographies, International Herald Tribune on 19 November at hôtel Drouot (Le Mouel SVV). IMPORTANT: we learn today 16 November that the sale has been postponed to an unknown date.
Nudes according to Magnum
PARIS - In its sale on 16 November Sotheby's offers a portfolio of 69 photographs of nudes as seen by members of Magnum, from Cartier-Bresson to Abbas, to ceelbrate the 65th anniversary of the agency (photo: Helmut Newton, lot 88).
Focus on the Berman collection
PARIS - Christie's will sell on 16 November a part of its Californian Berman collection: Eggleston, Soth and Epstein will be among the contemporaries, Weegee and Dorothea Lange among the masters of the past (photo: Peter Beard, lot 61).
BOOKS
Thiollier, from ribbons to mines
He was an industralist in the ribbon sector in Saint-Etienne. At the age of 35 he decided to disolve his prosperous company and live from his investments in order to enjoy his great passion, to learn of is surrounding world and take photographs. He was right to do so since today Félix Thiollier (1842-1914) is better known for his services rendered to photography rather than to the textile industry of Forez. He was rediscovered in 1995 during an exhibition at the musée d’Art moderne of Saint-Etienne. When he died he left 18 800 negatives, 910 positive plates on glass and 920 autochromes. He was first interested in local traditions and architecture (with a beautiful series on the Bastie d’Urfé that was then falling to ruins). The catalogue shows it -the exhibition at the Quai d'Orsay is on until 10 March 2013 and recalls the rest as well: rather than sit back and find reason for exaltation in an Arcadian landscape (engine drivers, washer women, forests and ponds), Thiollier looked closely at the industrialisation of Saint-Etienne and drew up a sincere portrait of the 'black town'. For him it was also a cause for aesthetic admiration. Miners' houses, a dump for scrap, people tredging the slagheaps, skies filled with bitumen: these images of the industrial Revolution succeeded in passing the time test.
• Félix Thiollier, photographies by Thomas Galifot, Courtes et Longues/Musée d’Orsay publishing house, 2012, 224 p.,€40.
IN BRIEF
AMSTERDAM - PAN, the ancient, modern and contemporary art fair, will be held from 18 to 25 November 2012.
AVIGNON - The Forum d'Avignon (International conference on culture, the economy and the media) will be held from 15 to 18 November 2012.
LYON - The history center of the Resistance and deportation will reopen its doors on 16 November 2012 after a full year of works.
MADRID - The 36th edition of the antiques fair, Feriarte, wil be held from 17 to 25 November 2012.
NEW YORK - The evening sale of contemporary art on 14 November brought $375 million, the highest total ever achieved at the auction house. No1, Royal Red and Blue by Mark Rothko was the top lot at $75 million.
NEW YORK - Pinta, the contemporary art fair, will be held from 15 to 18 November 2012.
