Carnegie haul: Scott Rothkopf interviews Laura Hoptman, curator of the 2004 Carnegie International.SCOTT ROTHKOPF: Given that there's been no advance word on your show, would you begin by telling us how it will differ from previous Internationals? LAURA Laura, subject of the love poems of Petrarch. She is thought to be Laura de Noves (1308?–1348), wife of Hugo de Sade, but this has not been proved. Laura Petrarch’s perpetual, unattainable love. [Ital. Lit. HOPTMAN: Unlike the past three Internationals, which used a broad survey format, the 2004 installment will be organized as a kind of narrative that unfolds through groupings of artists. Some sections will emphasize a common formal language, as in, say, a kind of absolutist abstraction, by artists such as Tomma Abts
Tomma Abts (born 1967) is a German artist and abstract painter living and working in London, England. or Mark Grotjahn Mark Grotjahn (born 1968 in Pasadena, California, U.S.) is an American painter, living and working in Los Angeles. He received his MFA from the University of California, Berkeley, and his BFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder. . In other cases, a section might emphasize a common theoretical strategy, as in a cluster of radical empiricists, including Carsten Holler or Harun Farocki, who both gather and analyze data almost like scientists. At the core of these sections will be monographic exhibitions, including small retrospectives devoted to Lee Bontecou Lee Bontecou is an American artist who was born January 15, 1931 in Providence, Rhode Island. She attended New York's Arts Students League from 1952 to 1955 where she studied with the sculptor William Zorach. , Mangelos, and R. Crumb. Every era gets the art it needs--or deserves--and it stands to reason that a different kind of work resonates now than when the International opened four years ago. What a different time in the world it was then! What brings the artists in the show together is the way they each consider and use art as a meaningful vehicle to confront what philosophers have called "the ultimates"--the largest, most unanswerable questions, from the nature of life and death to the existence of God to the anatomy of belief. SR: With the tremendous proliferation of megaexhibitions around the world, to what extent do you think it's even possible to survey the international art scene at a particular moment? LH: Like any good contemporary-art show, the International is meant as a crystallization--but not the crystallization--of the international art discourse over the past three to four years. Although it might not seem so, things change incrementally in the contemporary-art world, and sometimes shifts of focus are ever so subtle, making it hard to catch what can be a chimerical chi·mer·i·cal also chi·mer·ic adj. 1. Created by or as if by a wildly fanciful imagination; highly improbable. 2. Given to unrealistic fantasies; fanciful. 3. change. It's harder still to predict what might change. At some point, though, one has to let go of the notion that these exhibitions are crystal balls or mirrors, because they're not. What's crucial for a large international contemporary-art survey is that it have something interesting to say. This happens best when a show includes artists who vary in terms of age, personal background, level of recognition, medium, and so forth but also when the work of these diverse artists begins to mean something in sum. It's one of the most important reasons why a large group exhibition is not at all like an art fair, although some have suggested this comparison. SR: A quick glance over your list of artists reveals many familiar names. Were you at all hesitant to include artists who have made the rounds of international exhibitions, such as Maurizio Cattelan Maurizio Cattelan is an Italian artist born in Padova, Italy, in 1960. He is probably best known for his satirical and controversial sculptures, particularly La Nona Ora (The Ninth Hour), depicting the Pope John Paul II struck down by a meteorite. ? LH: I am so glad you asked this question, because I've been spoiling to answer it since I began work on the show. Why should there be any hesitation about showing a provocative, entertaining, and consistently inventive artist like Maurizio Cattelan, whether or not he has been in five or twenty-five biennials? Or R. Crumb, whose work you can see every few months or so in the New Yorker? If an artist continues to resonate with us, it is a gift to see his or her work over time and in different intellectual contexts. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SR: Well, conversely, did you feel any pressure to "discover" new artists? LH: The short answer is no, but let me try to assuage as·suage tr.v. as·suaged, as·suag·ing, as·suag·es 1. To make (something burdensome or painful) less intense or severe: assuage her grief. See Synonyms at relieve. 2. my discomfort with the notion of "discovery" by reiterating what must be the obvious point that familiarity is relative. Although Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook might not be a familiar name to many art lovers in the US, she is one of the best-known artists in Thailand and has participated in numerous international exhibitions. Of course, it works the other way as well. Most museumgoers are unfamiliar with Maurizio Cattelan's work, although in the contemporary-art community he's approaching ubiquity. SR: Your point's well taken, and it makes me think about the tremendous attention recently paid to globalism glob·al·ism n. A national geopolitical policy in which the entire world is regarded as the appropriate sphere for a state's influence. glob . Given that your show necessarily has an international mandate, how did you choose to address this issue? LH: Perhaps I haven't addressed it, at least not directly, because for me it is simply a given. True to its mandate, this show will be international in the diversity of the artists represented. But at a certain point "globalism" becomes a marketing term--more about access to consumers than about expanding our notion of contemporary culture beyond its familiar parameters. One of the intellectual dangers--and the flip side Flip side In the context of general equities, opposite side to a proposition or position (buy, if sell is the proposition and vice versa). of an insatiable taste for the exotic--is an impulse toward homogenization homogenization (həmŏj'ənəzā`shən), process in which a mixture is made uniform throughout. Generally this procedure involves reducing the size of the particles of one component of the mixture and dispersing them evenly and a disregard of inherent points of view. I think I am in the process of curating a very straightforward international exhibition, but one that, for better or worse, couldn't be created in any other time or place than in the US in the early 2000s. If the show crosses borders, it might be on the level of discourse, because in a sense it deliberately ignores the local and concentrates on issues that critical theorists See also Critical theory (Frankfurt School) A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A
SR: Speaking of totalizing issues, what about painting, which surprisingly still seems to be something of a curatorial litmus test litmus test n. A test for chemical acidity or basicity using litmus paper. ? The curators of the Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of recent American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, USA. The event began as an annual exhibition in 1918. and the Venice Biennale Venice Biennale International art exhibition held in the Castello district of Venice every two years and juried by an international committee. It was founded in 1895 as the International Exhibition of Art of the City of Venice to promote “the most noble activities of made a point of stressing the vitality of the medium, while it was almost entirely absent from Documenta. Where do you fall on the spectrum? LH: Historically, the International was a painting show until the early '60s. For what it's worth, I have historically been a curator who has paid attention to painting. Given this and the fact that there has been a new vitality in painting over the past ten years, particularly in Germany and the US, the International will be strong in pictures. However, I am less interested in the fact of painting than in how painting is deployed by artists now, and to what end. I find it fascinating, for example, that for some artists painting is again a vehicle for spiritual transcendence. I don't think this kind of faith--or hubris Hubris An arrogance due to excessive pride and an insolence toward others. A classic character flaw of a trader or investor. , depending on how you feel about pure abstraction--has been at the center of the discourse since Abstract Expressionism abstract expressionism, movement of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the mid-1940s and attained singular prominence in American art in the following decade; also called action painting and the New York school. . This and other high-stakes notions about art are back because we need them to be. The times call for it. RELATED ARTICLE: 2004 Carnegie International Artists On view at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, October 9, 2004-March 20, 2005 Tomma Abts Pawel Althamer Francis Alys Karin (Mamma) Andersson Chiho Aoshima Kaoru Arima Kutlug Ataman at·a·man n. pl. at·a·mans A Cossack chief. Also called hetman. [Russian, from South Turkic, leader of an armed band : ata, father + -man, Dimitrije (Mangelos) Basicevic John Bock Lee Bontecou Robert Breer Fernando Bryce Kathy Butterly Maurizio Cattelan Paul Chan Anne Chu R. Crumb Jeremy Deller Philip-Lorca diCorcia Peter Doig Trisha Donnelly Harun Farocki Saul Fletcher Isa Genzken Mark Grotjahn Rachel Harrison Carsten Holler Katarzyna Kozyra Jim Lambie Julie Mehretu Senga Nengudi Oliver Payne and Nick Relph Oliver Payne and Nick Relph are British artist-filmmakers who have collaborated since 1999.[1] Oliver Payne was born in 1977, Nick Relph in 1979. Both studied at Kingston University, London. Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook Neo Rauch Ugo Rondinone Eva Rothschild Yang Fudong Scott Rothkopf is a senior editor of Artforum. |
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