Art in NYC: Art Nouveau / Nouvelle Femme Posters by Alphonse Mucha at Poster House

Art in NYC: Art Nouveau / Nouvelle Femme Posters by Alphonse Mucha at Poster House

The recently opened museum of posters presents Alfonse Mucha: Art Nouveau / Nouvelle Femme, its inaugural exhibition of posters and decorative objects; on view from June 20-October 6, 2019

Art Nouveau posters at Poster House by Alphonse Mucha,Sarah Bernhardt/La Plume [1896]
Alphonse Mucha,Sarah Bernhardt/La Plume [1896] Lithograph / On loan from the Richard Fuxa Foundation
Basking in the luxurious decorations, femininity, and beauty of Art Nouveau style of the belle époque Europe, the exhibition of about 80 works by Alphonse Mucha aims to bring back the history and the glory the poster-art. Mucha was a Czech artist who became famous overnight when he designed a poster for Sarah Bernhardt’s play Gismonda in 1894. As the legend goes, on Christmas Day in 1894, Mucha was doing the proofs at the printing house when an urgent  request for a poster came from none other than Sarah Bernhardt herself for a reopening of her play on January 1. Because of the holiday downtime, Mucha was the only one available to do the job. Mucha’s innovative design, subtle colors, and new accents impressed Bernhardt and his new poster style captivated Paris for the next two decades. Mucha’s signature halo-over-the-head design, intricate details and adornments, soft colors, and the double-length layout were perfect for storefront and street advertisement.

The exhibition of Mucha’s major works presents his art in two galleries. One gallery is dedicated to the advertising posters, which include designs for theaters, cookie brands, the beer-producing region, and bicycles and spirit companies among others. The second gallery shows the posters made for decorative purposes.

Art Nouveau posters at Poster House by Alphonse Mucha Bières de la Meuse [1897] Lithograph
Alphonse Mucha, Bières de la Meuse [1897], Lithograph
The exhibition curators rightfully credit Mucha with revolutionizing the world of advertising by placing la femme nouvelle, confident and adventurous in her choices, at the center of his compositions. His collaboration with Sarah Bernhardt, the most famous actress of her time, who herself was a strong, independent, and entrepreneurial person, resulted in such celebrated works as Gismonda, La Tosca, Hamlet, Medee, and other posters. Created for theater plays staring Bernhardt, these works demonstrate “le style Mucha” which dominated the art world from the early 1890s to 1910.  All the works in the exhibition are on loan from Richard Fuxa Foundation in Prague. Alphonse Mucha: Art Nouveau / Nouvelle Femme is on view until October 6, 2019.

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Beyond NY: Contemporary Art at Dia:Beacon in Beautiful Dutchess County, NY

Beyond NY: Contemporary Art at Dia:Beacon in Beautiful Dutchess County, NY

The sanctuary for contemporary art fans, this unique and fascinating art space in Beacon, NY will be a highlight of your trip to Dutchess County,  NY

Dia Beacon Contemporary Art Dutchess County NY
Dia: Beacon Exterior Shot; Photo by Bill Jacobson / Image courtesy of Dia: Beacon

Located in the south-west corner of Dutchess County, the city of Beacon is having its renaissance with colorful art-galleries, artistic collectives, unions and institutes lining up its main street and adding to its creative vibe. Only hour and a half train ride from the city, Beacon offers its visitors a reformative experience of green countryside and vibrant artworks.

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Its most alluring treasure, Dia: Beacon, the art and exhibition space that occupies former industrial box-printing facility for Nabisco (National Biscuit Company) factory, is a delight for contemporary art connoisseurs and those who are open to stepping into an unknown territory. Dia: Beacon collection includes paintings, photographs, sculpture, and multi-media works. What strikes the visitors entering the museum are the streams of natural light. Many of the works are site-specific to fit the space and its lighting arrangements in the most artistically productive way. Andy Warhol, Richard Serra, Gerhard Richter and other contemporary masters contributed and created works for Dia installed here for a long-term or permanently. This type of arrangement seems to slow down the passage of time and makes the artwork an integral part of the space itself.

Explore the collection at your own pace or join an informative tour which highlights the works selectively.

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Art in NYC: Easypieces by Mika Rottenberg at the New Museum

Art in NYC: Easypieces by Mika Rottenberg at the New Museum

A solo museum presentation of the surrealist videos and wall installations by a contemporary artist Mika Rottenberg. The exhibition features a world premiere of Spaghetti Blockchain (2019), NoNoseKnows (2015), and other artworks; on view from June 25 – Sept. 15, 2019

Tuvan throat singer from Spaghetti Blockchain, 2019 video
Spaghetti Blockchain, 2019, Single-channel video installation, sound, color; Produced by Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto; Arts at CERN, Geneva, with the support of the Permanent Mission of the United States to the United Nations, Geneva; Sprengel Museum, Hannover, with the support of Niedersächsische Sparkassenstiftung; and New Museum, New York. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

Opened in 1977, the New Museum  is fully dedicated to exhibiting the works of contemporary art by the living artists. This summer its exhibition galleries are featuring a diverse sample of art coming from various parts of the world. One of the museum’s floors shows videos and wall installations by New York-based, Argentinian-Israeli artist Mika Rottenberg entitle Easypieces.

Taking its title from the Six Easy Pieces, a book by theoretical physicist Richard Feynman, the art on view goes from simple observation of repetitive tasks and bizarre mechanical imitations of innocuous movements to video installations that chain together distant geographical places, exotic sounds, and a visual manifestation of a physiological reaction. In her latest work under a catchy name Spaghetti Blockchain (2019),  Rottenberg easily mixes Tuvan throat singing from Siberia with the visuals from the CERN Anti-matter Lab, and the process of potato-farming in Maine. Its a kaleidoscope of forms, colors, and sounds employed in an impossible attempt to explain and control the uncontrollable.

Mika Rottenberg, Finger, 2018
Mika Rottenberg, Finger, 2018. Artificial finger and mechanical system. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

Her earlier work NoNoseKnows, which premiered at the Venice Biennale in 2015 takes the viewers to a slave-labor-like factory in China where freshwater pearls are manufactured by infecting the life oysters with an irritant. The frames of the arduous work done by women are mixed with the close observation of sneezing from an allergic reaction to a pollutant. Its grotesque and repulsive while at the same time extremely depressing. Yet the process goes on, and on, and on, – exaggerating the absurdity of the modern globalized manufacturing practices.

Come with an open mind and a guest for curiosity.

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Art in NYC: Constantin Brancusi Sculpture at MoMA

Art in NYC: Constantin Brancusi Sculpture at MoMA

Carefully selected from its own collection and archives, MoMA’s exhibition Constantin Brancusi Sculpture presents the ultimate concept of elegance and essence; on view July 22, 2018 – June 15, 2019

Museum of Modern Art Constantin Brancusi Mlle Pogany 1913
Constantin Brancusi, Mlle Pogany, version I, 1913. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. © 2018 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris. Photo: Imaging and Visual Resources Department, MoMA

Graceful and ascetic, the works by Constantin Brancusi, the forefather of the modernist sculpture, are on view at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) until June 15, 2019. A gallery housing the show projects an air of the highest purity and beauty that the object can reach. Brancusi was well-known for his aim to represent the object’s essence stripped bare from its superfluous covers. MoMa’s exhibition of the wisely selected artworks pinpoints exactly that.

Each piece in the collection shows the core and the inner soul as conceptualized by the artist. And while Brancusi was constantly perfecting his depiction of certain ideas be it a bird, a fish or a muse, each sculpture on view conveys a sense of successful resolution in the hands of the master.

The exhibition features 11 sculptures and an array of photographs, films and rare drawings from the MoMA collection. The works are organized in a loose chronological order starting from the early works from 1908 and leading to the later pieces from the 1940s.

 

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Art in NYC: Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim Museum

Art in NYC: Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim Museum

The Guggenheim Museum presents Hilma af Klint: Paintings for the Future; on view until April 23, 2019

Hilma af Klint, Group IV, The Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood, 1907
Hilma af Klint, Group IV, The Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood, 1907 from untitled series; tempera on paper mounted on canvas, 315 x 235 cm The Hilma af Klint Foundation, Stockholm / Photo: Albin Dahlström, the Moderna Museet, Stockholm

The Guggenheim Museum in New York City presents an extensive expose of works by Swedish artist Hilma af Klint. Stunning and mysterious, af Klint’s large and small paintings of abstract forms and shapes were created years before Abstract art took its place in the hearts and minds of artists and the public.

A graduate of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm, af Klint started developing her own expressive language from 1906. Stripped bare from imagery, her works were way ahead of the established giants of Abstractionism like Kandinsky, Mondrian or Malevich. Yet af Klint’s art remained unknown to the public partly due to her belief that the world was not ready for her art and in accordance with her wish to show her works 20 years after her death.

Many of af Klint’s paintings were inspired by and served as a medium to express the spiritual beliefs which emerged from occult teachings and Theosophy. The cycle of the large bright-colored canvases at the entrance of the exhibition was conceived as The Paintings for the Temple. The lively palette of pastel colors with pink symbolizing femininity, yellow for masculinity, and gentle blue for the universal unity express the unseen world channeled through the art. Walk up the spiraling hall of the museum to absorb the art created a century ago in all its untouched novelty.

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