Entries Tagged as 'Texas'

Champerlain Symposium at Chinati

April 6th, 2006 · Comments Off on Champerlain Symposium at Chinati · Artists, Texas

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One of the best features of the Chinati Foundation is the opportunity to see a large grouping of one artist’s work, often in situ, without the distraction of competing artists’ work and the resulting forced academic comparisions. John Chamberlain is one of the “big three” artists at the foundation (along with Judd, of course, and Dan Flavin). It’s a rare and pleasurable opportunity to see whole buildings full of his work — much of which is large and cumbersome, and usually only represented by one or two pieces in museum collections. One of my favorite surprises during our trip in December was the small series of buildings that contained his photos — the blurred, in motion, streaked light of travel shots, of Paris, of circuses — in compositions that match in two dimensions what he accomplishes later, so beautifully, in three.

This month, Chinati is sponsoring a weekend-long symposium on Chamberlain’s work, featuring a whole roster of exemplary speakers, including Klaus Kertess, Steve Nash, and Donna De Salvo. Richard Shiff, director of the Center for the Study of Modernism at The University of Texas at Austin (and Murray’s favorite modern art history professor during grad school), is the moderator.

It’s All in the Fit: The Work of John Chamberlain
April 22-23, Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas

John Chamberlain at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX

January 11th, 2006 · Comments Off on John Chamberlain at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX · Artists, Texas

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John Chamberlain, various works, 1972-1982, Marfa Texas

 

Roadtrip Roundup: More Groceries

January 7th, 2006 · Comments Off on Roadtrip Roundup: More Groceries · Texas

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More from one of Austin’s coolest foodie destinations:  Central Market.

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Donald Judd at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX

January 5th, 2006 · Comments Off on Donald Judd at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX · Artists, Texas

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Donald Judd, 100 untitled works in mill aluminum, 1982-1986

Easily Judd’s best work. Each of the 100 aluminum sculptures are slightly different, underlining Judd’s surprising wit. Unlike Flavin (see below), I found myself inspecting and enjoying every single one, my enthusiasm only strengthening. A bonus for fellow sculptors: the docent explained how they are assembled: there are hidden aluminum dowel rods (he even showed me a “less perfect” work with a small crack, just big enough to see them).

Megan and I are fans of Judd’s writing–this work is the best example of his ideas that I’ve seen.

Ilya Kabakov at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX

January 4th, 2006 · Comments Off on Ilya Kabakov at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX · Artists, Texas

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Ilya Kabakov, School No. 6, 1993, at Chinati (Marfa, Texas). One of my favorite artist writers. A great compliment to the Judds.

Dan Flavin at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX

January 3rd, 2006 · Comments Off on Dan Flavin at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX · Artists, Texas, Writing

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Dan Flavin’s untitled (Marfa project), 1996.

It really is as neat as its image. There are two configurations based off the same general layout. Each configuration is housed in its own building. They are each repeated three times, so the installation consumes 6 buildings. I’ve seen the images but I never realized the real estate impact.

I don’t think this works well for the work. As an audience member traveling through, the first building is magical, the second (the second configuration) seals the deal, the third offers a solid academic defense, the fourth seems less inspired, the fifth seems like a waste and the sixth just underlines the fact that this artist had too big of a budget.

Actually, there could have only been five, but does it really matter? Three would have been perfect.

That said, the magic of seeing this installation is worth the trouble of getting to Marfa alone [a city in the middle of nowhere, Texas]. This is easily Flavin’s best work.

 

Donald Judd at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX (1)

January 2nd, 2006 · Comments Off on Donald Judd at The Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX (1) · Artists, Texas

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Door designed by Donald Judd (at Chinati)

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Table designed by Donald Judd

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Table and BBQ pitt designed by Donald Judd (who knew he had such a sense of humor?)

 

Elmgreen and Dragset: Prada, Marfa

December 31st, 2005 · Comments Off on Elmgreen and Dragset: Prada, Marfa · Artists, Texas

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Just outside Marfa, Texas, Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset’s Prada, Marfa is an installation [created with permission from Prada] surrounded by desert and mountains and nothing else. Inside are Prada shoes and purses; the doors do not open.

The only sign is on the front — the sides are plain — and traffic on the highway travels at 70 mph, so although you can’t miss it as an object on the side of the road, it is actually easy to miss as an artwork. I can imagine a bored child looking out the side of her car window and then having a hard time convincing parents that they just passed a Prada store.

A timely commentary on class differences. Most Prada purses cost more than many area residents make in a month.

The work had the same quality of construction you would expect at a mall and this surprised me. I thought that they would take shortcuts and build for the photo. A pleasant surprise: Marfa’s newest premiere chain is built to last.

Richard Serra at the Fort Worth Modern

December 22nd, 2005 · Comments Off on Richard Serra at the Fort Worth Modern · Artists, Texas

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Richard Serra
Vortex, 2002
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

About 800 Miles Between

December 19th, 2005 · Comments Off on About 800 Miles Between · Texas

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Just outside of El Paso and halfway there.

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Arriving in Dallas.