Extinction

November 20, 2018

In an urban environment like NYC or Paris, where staring out of the window and seeing a sky of high-rises is the norm, it’s not hard to feel out of touch with nature—but don’t worry, you’re not alone.

That’s the overwhelming sentiment in Extinction, a new exhibition at the Artemis Fontana Gallery in Paris, on view now through December 2. With work from a wide array of artists, including Edgars Gluhovs, Katarzyna Przezwanska and Gaia Vincensini, the various interactions between humans, their surrounding nature and the inevitable impending doom resulting from the long term relationship between the two, are examined and displayed through every imaginable medium, from embossed leather and painting to digital engraving and video, to name just a few.

Text by Caroline Brown

“Everything is artificial, everything is artifice. Nature no longer exists,” reads the gallery’s press release about the show. “We always start from the contemplation of artifice. That’s why everything’s so chaotic. So false. So desperately confused.”

And while we can’t argue with that, we can use it as a rock bottom realization to begin conversations about a much needed sustainable future—or else, we will be extinct.

View some pieces from the exhibit, below.

‘Extinction’ is on view now through December 2 at Artemis Fontana Gallery in Paris.

Photos courtesy of the gallery.

Art

Visitations

I’m re-reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being and came across this quote from the painter in the story. In it, she says to her lover: ‘You seem to be turning into the theme of all my paintings. The meeting of two worlds. A double exposure.’ I immediately thought of your paintings—am I crazy?

No, that’s a very interesting quote. Yeah, I really like the double exposure idea, of having layers or multiple meanings attached to a single thing. This body of work was dealing with otherworldly subjects, the paranormal—things that are little ethereal.

One of your painting’s is titled 'Astral Projection.' Have you ever experienced it IRL, or known someone who has?

Actually, it’s one of those things that I tried, but never actually quite got it to work. That’s why I made a painting about it. A lot of these paintings are maybe speculations about things that I was interested in, but never quite made happen. I had read a book about it and a friend of mine and I tried to do it, and it never worked out, so I thought it might be interesting to explore that as a painting idea—a sort of failed attempt.

Above: 'Astral Projection' and 'Cryptic Talisman.'

There was a guy in a class I was in once who said he left his body every night, and I remember thinking, 'Wow, that actually happens.' It just seems extremely rare.

And a part of me looks at that and thinks it must be a little scary. It’s inherently interesting. It’s one of those things where whether it happens without knowing about it, or it’s something your actively trying to do, it’s seems a little dangerous. You just don’t know what will happen.

It reminds me of Alex Grey and the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. Are you familiar with him at all?

A little bit. But actually I was looking at a lot of older religious paintings, and it struck me as I got a little older, that they’re pretty mysterious—there’s a lot of strange things happening in those paintings that are sort of inexplicable, whether you’re familiar with the stories or not. I went to Italy a few years ago, and just seeing a lot of these unusual events happening in paintings—I never really thought about it because I hadn’t been looking at that stuff so much at the time, but there are people flying around and strange things happening. So, it was an interesting moment—I looked at them in a new light.

Above: 'Close Your Eyes and Think of Two Questions' and 'Book Club.'

Your paintings are rife with stories. But what kind do you think they tell?

Well, I think what I was trying to do was not tell a particular story, but leave it open to different interpretations. I wanted to give some specific information, but leave them kind of open-ended so people can apply their own experience to it and spend more time with it. I didn’t want to make it too much of a strict narrative. I wanted to keep it mysterious.

What is your experience of the occult beyond the astral projection experiment?

It’s something that has aways fascinated and kind of scared me. I grew up religious, so it was something that you weren’t supposed to dabble with, and then of course, I became fascinated with it. It’s always been this sort of push and pull towards it. Even as I got older, I wasn’t really religious anymore, but something about it still drew me to it and scared me at the same time. I had these moments where I was like, 'I don’t know, could this be real?' It made me questions myself—do I believe in more than nothing? Something? Do I believe in more than what I can just experience? These things are embedded down there somewhere, even though I stopped being religious when I was much, much younger.

What’s the last dream you had that you can recall?

To tell you the truth, I don’t really recall my dreams. I recall them maybe the moment after I wake up, but after that I don’t really remember them. I wake up with a start and then just actively try to get up.

'Visitations' will be on view at Fortnight Institute through October 14.

Photos courtesy of Fortnight Institute.

Art

Breaking Through the Noise

September 18, 2018

The wrath of protest can seem, at times, misguided, ideals become misconstrued, arguments go in circles. Fury at an enemy that has many faces and holds all the cards has led to many a wild demonstration—but then, history favors those who loudly disagree.

The students at the Ecole des Beaux Arts of Paris circa 1968 did just that. In Mexico, the current regime had turned military snipers onto a student protest mere days before Mexico was to host the Olympic games. The Parisian students produced over 500,000 posters as a sign of solidarity with the fallen in Mexico, and in protest of the Mexican regime.

kurimanzutto brings together a collection of these posters for the 50th anniversary of the Tlatelolco massacre. The bold, graphic imagery is clear, furious, earthy—the DIY feel of them is what makes them so immediate, their story so enthralling. Made in makeshift workshops in Paris, they communicate the simplest of messages: resistance is never futile.

View some of our favorite posters, below.

Text by John Martin Tilley

Art

BLOCKBUSTER

September 17, 2018

Everyone remembers the dark, tragic day when their local Blockbuster permanently closed. For some, the video store was more than a convenient place to pick up Jumanji for the third weekend in a row—it was an experience.

At least, that was the case for Harmony Korine. While walking through the long aisles of perfectly-lined VHS tapes, all with their own unique covers, the director (and office issue 5 cover star) became entranced with Blockbuster, obsessing over the labor of love—and angst—which inevitably composed each film.

Determined to bring these feelings back, Korine created his own series of paintings (also called BLOCKBUSTER, natch). Open now at Gagosian, the exhibition features pieces by Korine, created on actual VHS vids, as well other obsolete items you can probably find at your local Salvation Army. Like all of his work, BLOCKBUSTER takes us into Korine’s decidedly bizarre, yet undeniably cool world that merges reality with fiction.