All Photos By Gail
Babel (2000), a tower of radios playing at once, addresses ideas of information overload and failed communication. Artist Cildo Meireles refers to Babel as “a tower of comprehension.” Comprising hundreds of radios, each tuned to a different station, the sculpture relates to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, a tower tall enough to reach the heavens.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Cildo Meireles, Tower of Babel
Photo By Gail
American artist Laura Owens’ Untitled (2012) is part of her Pavement Karaoke series. In her process, Owens wrote giant letters from these words across seven canvases, then filled them in with silkscreen prints, derived from classified advertisements.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Laura Owens, Untitled (From the Pavement Karaoke Series)
Photo By Gail
Swiss artist Miriam Cahn’s enigmatic painting The Beautiful Blue (Das Schone Blau, 2008 – 17) depicts two figures sinking underwater. The figures are painted loosely, blending with the tones of the water and evoking the vulnerability of the body.
Continue reading Modern Art Monday Presents: Miriam Cahn, The Beautiful Blue
Photo By Gail
The abstract paintings of artist Albert Gleizes (1881 – 1953) often keep strong links with subject matter that inspired them. In Tableau  (1921) the image may be based on a female head, possibly that of his wife. Gleizes was a pacifist, but was conscripted into the French army in the First World War. Deeply affected by this experience, he became gravely concerned with the future of society. He thought that artists could help create a better world, not just by making beautiful things, but by offering new ways of seeing.
Photographed in the Tape Modern Museum in London.
Photo By Gail
Hervé Télémaque (1937 – 2022), moved from Haiti to the US in 1957 to work as an artist. He described his time there as a struggle against the dominance of both abstract expressionist painting and racism in wider society. After moving to Paris in 1961 Télémaque curated the Mythologies Quotidiennes exhibition. He also cofounded the narrative figuration movement, which incorporated elements of pop art and surrealism. La Girouette (The Weathervane, 1969) is typical of this approach – Télémaque ‘narrates’ the painting with objects and imagery from his personal life. Everyday items like a clothes hanger and beach chair are combined in surprising and ambiguous ways.
Photographed in the Tate Modern Museum in London.