Hot Hot Hot: 1980s and Basquiat!

Andy Warhol, "Enzo Cucchi (turquoise)" (1982)

Francesco Clemente,  "Red, White, Black" (1998)

"Story of My Country II" (1990)

Jean-Michel Basquiat, "The Dutch Settlers" (1982)

The 1980s are Hot Hot Hot right now. We've seen it in the fashion, music, and unfortunately, hair trends. It was only a matter of time before the surge of popular was noticed in the visual arts. 

However, I wasn't sure whether to post my opinions on the spike in interest in 1980s art that I noticed in Basel in an earlier post. I thought one month devoted to Art Basel was quite enough. But, when I read the latest article about a previously unseen video of Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988), which also remarked on the exhibition of his work at the Fondation Beyeler in Basel, I knew I couldn't keep this to myself.

Not only am I am interested in the art from the 1980s, but I am also drawn to this decade for some very silly personal reasons. Who doesn't love the Brat Pack and Nintendo? Aside with this cult interest in the decade, I am also drawn to this decade because I have been researching it, and in particular the Neo-Expressionists, for more than 2 years now. Neo-Expressionism was a style that burst onto the art scene in the late 1970s-early 1980s. It called for a return to painting and figuration after a nearly two-decade focus on conceptual works and abstraction. 

The images I have included above were all taken while I roamed the hallways at Art Basel; these are just those in the Galerie Bruno Bischofberger area. Of the artists in the images, Francesco Clemente and Basquiat are more of a focus than Warhol, whose art fits more in the Pop Art movement of the 1960s than the paintings of the 1980s.

Clemente is a particularly important part of my thesis, as are Rainer Fetting, Eric Fischl, Ida Applebroog, and Robert Colescott. But enough about my research, lets get back to some current articles and events that highlight these 1980s artists.

While I was at Art Basel, I had the unique opportunity to meet Francesco Clemente at a private dinner for the artist and attend a public interview between the artist and a staff member at the Fondation Beyeler. More than just an interview, it was an open conversation between the two. I must say I was highly impressed by the moderators very loose flow of a conversation that succinctly covered ¨the voyage¨ Clemente's art has taken since the 1970s. They were also able to pull it back to Basquiat, whose work is currently on exhibition at the Beyeler. The exhibition space is incredible. For you Dallas-based readers, the architecture is similar to the Nasher, since the architect was none other than Renzo Piano. Much like the Nasher, the work is highlighted by the blank canvas of the space it sits in. I have to say that I personally prefer the Nasher Sculpture Center's layout, but that may have to do with the amount of Texas sunshine that pours into the glass walls on two sides of the building.

Anyway, back to the 1980s. For those of you budding collectors out there, this would be my little tidbit: keep on the lookout for this art. Non-collectors, students, et al, don't worry. By what I saw at Art Basel and what keeps on popping up in art blogs, magazines and newspapers, I am sure that some 1980s art is headed to a museum or gallery near you, if it isn't there already!

Want to know more about this decade, and in particular Basquiat? Check out the Houston Press' article on their Art Attack blog.

Reverse Artist Interview- Part 1

I've been holding one to this one for a while, but I figured that during the August lull, it would be good to post this. I recently turned the tables on myself and answered my own interview questions. After a few artist interviews, I only thought it fair to have to 'go through' the scrutiny I forced them to endure. 

Enjoy! Oh, and if you have any questions to add, please feel free to comment, there is still Part II to come!

Name: Ester Ippolito

Current City: Oggebbio, Piedmont, Italy

Hometown: Palermo, Sicily/ Dallas, Texas

Preferred Medium: speech, text, ink, photography, printmaking

Education: BA-University of Dallas; MPhil (expected) University of Kent

Website Link: duh. 

Gallery Link: not yet, but one day I will.

Tell me about you work in one sentence: 

I am interested in learning about art: what it is, the people, the history, the motivations…everything. I am aware that there is a wealth of information pertaining to art history and I want to share it with the ‘silent majority.’ In my own art, I am still searching.

Would you prefer to work at a gallery or a museum, why? 
Both. I haven’t decided if I want to go into the public sector or the private sector. I am sure like every other choice in my life, I will have to experience both and see which suits me best. I do know that whatever I do, it should be non-profit. Money complicates things and turns art into too much of a commodity. 


What is your favorite forum/method of sharing information about art? 
Word of mouth, I like talking (especially about art.) In this blog I talk about many different places- but I try to take a local approach. I think that if people step outside their door and find the hidden jems in their own neighborhood, then they are much more likely to do the same thing when they visit another city. Eventually, when I move somewhere a little more permanent I will try to focus on that place, but for now- the world is my playground. 


Your work is selected to show in a gallery or museum in the world, where would you choose? 
If I could curate a show anywhere in the world, I would probably choose something close to home, like the Rachofsky House, and make it a party with friends, music, food, and drinks. I like the idea of taking the art out of the museum and putting it in a home. I think the general public doesn’t relate well to the white walls and empty hallways of museums and galleries. Plus, food and music make art so much more enjoyable! Note: When I say close to home, I mean Dallas. I love Palermo, but I would want to be in an environment where I am surrounded by friends, family, and my history. Stories from my adolescence that creep out of the walls. Not to say that I don't have this in Palermo, I just have much more of it in Dallas. 


In what period of your career did you feel most aware of the needs of your audience, if ever? 
In several instances. In 2005 while touring the Sistine Chapel (Rome) with my sister and her friend, they asked me some questions and all of a sudden, I became their docent. It was fun and I was good at it. In the senior year of my BA I realized that I had to make a choice to between focusing on art history or studio art. Obviously, I chose art history, but it was due to the fact that I had become a sort of art guru for some of my friends and I loved talking about art, especially when it was due to a particular question they asked. After university, I had idealistic goals to work in a London gallery or move to New York and ‘make it.’ For my MA I moved to the UK to achieve these goals, but I realized when I returned to Dallas in the summer that if I couldn’t change the pre-conceived notions about art that my friends and family shared, then what was the point? Art should be shared! So I guess that’s was when I decided to take a grassroots approach. I never gave up on the dream of curating or working in a major art center, I just gave myself a bit more wiggle room. 


The art world right now is experiencing a newfound medium of exchanging information virtually. Do you think that this has affected the relevance of galleries, studios, and museums? 
I think if anything, these places have become more relevant. Blogs like mine have helped to make receiving information about obscure topics so much easier. You can literally find information about anything on the web. This sharing of information makes it easier for someone to know about art events in their own neighborhood as well as abroad. 


Would you rather have your work well known in the art community or well understood in the general population? 
I never got into art to become a household name. I don’t care if I am a faceless entity behind a great project. I would rather be a part of a program that is well received and attended by hoards of people from every aspect of life. 


Who are your artistic influences? 
This is a tough question. When I think of artists from the entire history of art, I am most intrigued by those who went against the grain and did their own thing, whether by snubbing the Academy, art critics, or the general population. Right now I am really into the American Graffiti and Punk artists from the 1980s. Actually anything from the 1980s is of huge interest to me during this phase of my research. But I think the beauty of graffiti art is that it is made knowing it is not permanent, its free to the public, it typically deals with a social issue, and most of the time the artist is only known by their ‘tag’. I guess name wise, (those that I actually ‘know’ are) Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Blek le Rat, Fab 5 Freddy, Lee Quinones, ABOVE, and Banksy. I am also exploring the nature of the art collective and how it fits into our contemporary culture. 


What is it about your work that makes it different from current art historians and relevant in today’s society? 
My take on art is based on two factors: technology and money.

1) We are a generation that experienced the technological revolution at its prime, after most of the major advances had been discovered, but before they had been ‘tested’ on a majority of the population. As such, we got to experiment with this medium and shape it into something that best suits our needs and desires. Art blogs, virtual art catalogs, gallery websites, art-themed social networking sites (ARThood & ArtReview), all appeared because ‘we’ had an interest in them.

2)  I am part of generation that is experiencing the harshness of the market more than our predecessors. There are no jobs without experience and no experience without jobs. Due to this catch-22, I, like many other 20-somethings, have had to become more creative about fulfilling my desires. Although somewhat disappointing in the face of social norms, this situation is great. When money is tight you have to be more inventive whether you are talking about art, making art, or experiencing art. 
Also, due to a need to travel and ‘be part’ of whatever location I go to, I have a very small town approach to the art world. I like to use colloquial terms, I like to explain things so everyone understands and no one feels excluded, and I like it when people who had previously shied away from art begin talking about art. And perhaps the romantic side of me loves to see peoples eyes light up when they experience a work of art.



Its 2012 and as the Mayans predicted, the world ends. Every cultural link is destroyed, but luckily there are few survivors. You are among them and are selected to document our cultural past. What artifact/artwork would you choose to record first? 

I know that I would choose Picasso’s Weeping Woman (1937). But how could you talk about a work knowing that no one would ever again get to experience it first hand?  

But, after studying Postmodernism, I would really love to say none- we should just start over and see how society chooses to shape art history. But the historian in me would be disappointed, so much wonderful work, with so many links to ‘our’ past. Also art history helps artists look at the past for inspiration, but also to see what has been done and avoid imitation/repetition, so I think it would a necessity to have some records of styles, major works, etc. It would be tricky though, how do you teach art history without influencing artists.  

Basel Recap: Satellite Fairs- Volta

Take the experience I had at Liste and consider its opposite: that’s what Volta turned out to be. Engaging, lively, and friendly. Perhaps because it is located in a difficult part of the city to reach, it was great to feel like my presence was welcome. And of course, the art also impressed.

The intersection between historical subject matter and contemporary issues seemed to prevail at the fair.  As seen in Nandipha Mntambo’s hanging relief sculpture as well as in Alexander Tinei’s painting which intersected well with the scientific in Herwig Weiser’s Death before Disko and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s The Company of Colours. Also the edition artist of the fair was Troels Carlsen. His work was set apart from the other galleries and artists and given its own wall, much like at Robert Montgomery’s installation piece at the entrance of the Scope fair.

Death before Disko was particularly spellbinding. As I stood in front of the noisy and bright glass container, I realized that within the central area the very cold hardware was moving. The liquid was pulsating and it became very alive in my mind. When intersected with the electric sounds from below the contraption and warmth emitting from the sides, it felt like I was in the midst of a Frankenstein experiment. This very technological work was coming to life before my eyes.

After a few minutes I broke free from my trance and asked the gallerist some questions. She explained that the black ‘goo,’ for lack of a better term, dimples and spins due to a dual magnet pull. The gallery describes that the piece is meant to “return to the foundations of hardware” to “show how our relationship towards technology is more often emotional than rational.” Considering my initial reaction, I think the piece is rather successful. 

Herwig Weiser, Death before Disko, 2006

speaker, plexiglas,motor, magnetic liquide, light-emitting diode, pc

Galerie Colletpark, Paris

Nandipha Mntambo, Title and Date Unknown, cowhide, resin

Brodie/Stevenson, Johannesburg

Troels Carlsen, View of Several Works at Volta 

Alexander Tinei, Haircut, 2010

120 x 100 cm, Oil on Canvas

Erika Deák Gallery, Budapest

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, The Company of Colours, 2009,

Shadow Box 9, Edition 1 of 6, 1AP

High resolution interactive display with built-in computerized surveillance system

bitforms gallery, New York

Basel Recap: Art Basel

When I entered the Art Basel building, I knew immediately that I was out of my comfort zone and my league. It’s true that I love art, but my first impression was that this fair was what one would imagine if the Uffizi in Florence became a department store for art. Sure the art was impressive; there is no questioning that. But for someone new to this type of fair, it was overwhelming. 

So I did what any good assistant would do and followed my boss around like a lost puppy. Boy, am I glad I did. Not only did I learn the fine art of selective ‘gaze-walking,’ but also I was introduced to more art people than I have word count to list. 

In my jaw-dropped, frozen state my camera skills became non-existent. I apologize for the lack of images; most of the shots I took were to capture the essence of the fair and not so much the art. However, I don’t think I can be blamed for this methodology. Let me explain. I returned to the fair a couple more times during the week. As you can imagine, once was not enough. Each time I just was not able to focus on the art. There were too many people talking too much. Not just talking, schmoozing. The art lost value in this setting. It was just a commodity. As some of the artist and gallery owners reiterated to me, at the end of the day- Art Basel is a giant sale.

The last evening of the fair, while at the Art Basel Finale and then at the Art Basel dinner, I spoke to several artists of my sincere desire to walk through the fair with headphones on. They all agreed that it was a terrific idea. But it wasn’t just the sound of networking that was distracting; it was also the lack of interest and respect for the art.

Despite these drawbacks, I have no doubts I will return to the fair again. Why? Because, where else can you experience so much art created by artists from so many locations around the world. Also, the art is great and if you get a chance to be VIP, then you do get a few hours to search the fair grounds without the mobs.

(1) Gagosian Gallery; New York, Beverly Hills, London, Rome, Hong Kong
(2)White Cube; GB- London, Central Work: Damien Hirst, Anatomy of an Angel, 2008
(3)L&M Arts; US-New York, Central Work: Tom Friedman, Untitled (School Chair), 1992-2010
(4)Matthew Marks Gallery; US- New York, Central Work: Katharina Fritsch, Madonnafigur/ Madonna Figure, 1978/2009

Recap: Art Basel Unlimited

Art Basel has come and gone, but I wanted to take a couple of posts to recap my experiences in image and word. 

Of all the Art Basel sections, I was truly impressed by the works in the Art Unlimited area. This element of Art Basel began in 2000 and has since then focused on exhibiting works that “transcend the classical art-show stand- including video projections, large-scale installations, massive sculptures and live performances.”*

And boy did they transcend. I was blown away by the sheer mass of some of the works. It was also delightful to be able to interact with and touch works such as Michelangelo Pistoletto’s Labirinto e Grande Pozzo (1969/2010) and Agnes Varda's La cabane sur la plage (qui est aussi une cabine de projection), 2010. In Pistoletto's work I was not only trying to find my way through the massive cardboard maze to the central ‘well,’ but I was dealing with other viewers as they passed me or stood in my way. As we all focused on reaching the central point and then moving towards the opposite exit I became aware that this interaction with the other viewers was perhaps more important that the giant mirrored ‘well’ that reflected our images.

Yayoi Kusama’s Aftermath of the Obliteration of Eternity (2008) was an interesting work that the viewers got to enter (3 at a time). The most basic explanation for it was that the space was a lightshow set on a timer. This was due to the hundreds of floating candles. But it was much more than that. The space was moving, and the pattern of the flickering lights was an intense experience that called upon memories of searching for, stumbling to light, and holding candles after a major catastrophe.


There were so many installations that clearly intended to capture and hold the audiences attention. I highly recommend you taking some time to enjoy the images and video of  below. These were just a few of the works that interested me. But don't worry if you aren't drawn to anything here, this is just the tip of the Basel iceberg. Many more gallery, artist, fair reviews are coming soon!

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Labirinto e Grande Pozzo, 1969/2010 

Galleria Continua, It-San Gimignano/CN-Beijing/FR-Le Moulin

Glen Rubsamen, A Fever Dream, 2010

Mai 36 Gallery & Annemarie Verna Galerie, CH- Zurich; Alfonso Artiaco, IT- Naples 

Yayoi Kusama, Aftermath of the Obliteration of Eternity, 2008

Gagosian Gallery,US- NYC

Ugo Rondinone, Clockwork for Oracles II, 2008

 Gladstone Gallery, US-NYC

Zhang Huan, Hero No. 1, 2009

The Pace Gallery, US- NYC

Doug Aitken, Frontier, 2009

303 Gallery, US- NYC & Regen Projects, LA; Presenhuber, CH- Zurich; Miro, GB- London

* Description from the Art Basel website: see the link for Art Basel Unlimited. To find out more about these works and others, consult this webpage.

Gallery and Exhibition Reviews: Antonello Blandi Exhibition in Palermo, Sicily

Notte Siciliana (Sicilian Night)

Mixed Media on Canvas, 100 x 100 cm

Da Palermo A Palermo (From Palermo to Palermo)

Mixed Media on Canvas, 100x 100 cm

I recently moved back to my hometown of Palermo in Sicily, primarily, with hopes of living in a quiet place where I could finish my MA thesis. But also to reconnect with my roots and discover what the art scene is like in Palermo. Since my family is still very much established in the city, I had the opportunity to visit the exhibition reception for a local artist. Antonello Blandi mixes three concepts in his paintings.  He begins by taking a traditional theme here in Sicily, the local landscape (known as Paesaggi in Italian, because it mixes the village-scape within the land). He then adds in an eclectic and arbitrary element: impressionist, abstract, surrealist, etc. All of which are depicted in vibrant colors taken from the Mediterranean setting. 

Antonello Blandi

Giorgio Matranga Eventi presenta: Scaramanpittando* 

Villa Niscemi

Opening Reception: 6th of March 2010 18:30PM

Exhibition from 5th of March until 11th of March 2010

Opening hours: M-F 9:30-13:30 & 16:30-19:30 S/Sun 9:30-12:30

Website Link


Situated along the walls of the front room, sprinkled across the courtyard, and on easels in the back room were displayed Blandi’s brightly colored paintings. The exhibition at the Villa Niscemi is very different from those I have experienced in the UK and the US. For instance, the exhibition stays open for less than a week in this location, and then the works are moved to a gallery. As odd as this seems, it actually is a great way to get loads of people to come to see the works in a historical, but homelike atmosphere.

The brightly colored paintings were highlighted against the wooden walls in the front room and  the stucco walls in the back room. Unfortunately, the Antipasto table and influx of people traveling through to the main gallery space overshadowed the paintings placed on easels in the courtyard. Which is a shame, because of all the paintings, I believe these were the most captivating in technique and subject. Another interesting aspect is that there is no information available listed about the paintings. Although this meant the work was appreciated for its aesthetic value alone, it did make it very difficult to talk to the artist about a particular piece. 

Blandi implements many of the tools of his trade as a graphic designer to highlight Sicilian icons in bright colors and simple shapes. He then adds to this style by drawing upon art historical influences. Da Palermo A Palermo is reminiscent of Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles (1888), but it also retains a Surrealist characteristic. When I asked the artist about his decisions to place the city's buildings on top of objects, I received a blunt, albeit slightly disillusioning answer. Without reserve the artist proclaimed that while some artists create work to satisfy philosophical or idealistic concerns, he paints to paint. He also realizes that his audience has diverse aesthetic tastes. For instance, some people like scenes with water or boats, while others might prefer chairs. As an older artist, he has realized that art is as much about originality and invention as it is about meeting the practical needs of both the artist and the viewer. 

Alba Siciliana (Sicilian Dawn)

Mixed Media on canvas, 100 x100 cm

Untitled 

Lithography Poster

*Note: Scaramanpittando is a conjunction of two words: scaramanzia and dipingere. Scaramanzia mean superstition, while dipingere means to paint. This link will bring you to the event page, check out the photos from the opening reception.