I’ve been a fan of artist German artist Katharina Fritsch and her oeuvre of hyper-realistic (and often surreal) sculptures since I first met These Guys. This past May, I wandered into Matthew Marks Gallery and was happily supposed to find a selection of her sculptues on view! Having experienced many family camping trips a small child, I was particularly entranced by Auto und Wohnwagen / Car and Caravan (1079 / 2026). Sure, it looks like a perfectly ordinary road-trip scene — a sleek black car pulling a little white caravan. But this is definitely not your average family vacation. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Katharina Fritsch, Car and Caravan→
At first glance, Disco Bomb (1989) looks like a joke you might spot after midnight: a mirrored disco ball topped with a synthetic orange wig. But in the hands of German artist Martin Kippenberger (1953 – 1997) , that punchline becomes a pointed meditation on surface, identity, and cultural excess. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Martin Kippenberger, Disco Bomb→
For many artists working in the 1960s and ’70s, ideas often superseded the physical making of art. These ideas were typically ideological, structural, and philosophical in nature and conveyed in the form of words, grids, and graphs. By the 1980s, Thomas Schütte and other artists ushered in a return to representation, which some critics described as a response to a “hunger for images.“ Around this time, cherries, watermelon, and other kinds of comestibles became motifs in his work. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Thomas Schütte, Melonely→
After discontinuing his studies at the Munich Academy of Art, German Expressionist FranzMarc(1880 – 1916) spent time in France and the Alpine town of Sindelsdorf, where he painted relentlessly. Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Franz Marc, Tiger→
Anyone who’s visited Vancouver knows it’s a beautiful city with endless natural wonders to enjoy and explore. It makes sense that much of their public art also thematically emulates and plays with nature. A perfect example is The Drop (2009) which was conceived and created by Inges Idee, a group of four Berlin-based German artists: Hans Hemmert, Axel Lieber, Thomas Schmidt and George Zey. The group’s activity focuses on art in public spaces, with The Drop being their first installation in North America. Continue reading The Drop, Vancouver BC Waterfront→
