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Artscope Magazine | January/February 2021

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Political Art

COMMENTARY: THE BIENNIAL OF FEAR: THE WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2019

// Artscope Online, Featured, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

The Whitney Biennial reputedly seeks to represent the tenor of current American art. Toward that end, this Whitney Biennial presents novel concepts at representation and abstraction that contemporize past formal conceptualizations. With news coming at us so fast, it is difficult not to portray past events, relegating current topics to history. This Biennial is relevant and courageous in unveiling truth and reminding us of the importance of remembering the recent past and remaining informed of that past and its impact on the present. “Triple-Chaser,” 2019, Forensic Architecture’s documentary film of Warren Kanders’ firm, Safariland was well-presented and critical to current debate in the arts and museum community. Warren Kanders is the Whitney Museum board’s vice chairman and chairman and CEO of Safariland, the firm producing the tear gas that is the target of demonstrations by the … [Read more...] about COMMENTARY: THE BIENNIAL OF FEAR: THE WHITNEY BIENNIAL 2019

Farsad Labbauf, "Of Shirin and Superheroes," oil on canvas, 2018, 54" x 44" from "From My East to your West," at Blank Space Gallery, 30 Gansevoort St, New York, until October 28.

Farsad Labbauf: From My East to Your West

// Artscope Online, Current Exhibits, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

In a layering of styles and content, east and west, Iran and America, past and present, Farsad Labbauf has used imagery from his youth in Iran combined with iconic imagery from mass media and commercialism in America to comment on global economics and society. Speaking about his paintings at Blank Space Gallery, in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York, in his solo show, “From My East to Your West,” he emphasized the constant bombardment of images from western entertainment media: television, comic books and toys while being exposed to Persian arts including calligraphy, Persian miniature painting, tile works and poetry. Resultantly, he has merged these images in his paintings. He comes from a background of sewing, so that stitchery is translated in his work to a series of lines ranging from the thinness of threads to thicker lines on the canvas, comprising faces, figures, backgrounds, … [Read more...] about Farsad Labbauf: From My East to Your West

Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010), "Untitled" 2005, Fabric, thread, and stainless steel, 78 1/4 x 24 x 20 in.

Galleries Sector at Art Basel

// Art Basel Switzerland, Artscope Online, Exhibits, Visual Arts

by Nancy Nesvet

Basel, Switzerland ⎯ The Galleries sector of Art Basel was lively and bustling on the last day of VIP entrance. Lots of lookers, buyers, and stimulating conversations with gallery directors. Crowds of people lined up to talk about the works. The larger number of VIPS compared to last year's group probably meant there were more people there to buy. And of course the parties were in full swing too, jam-packed with art-admirers. Moving focus back to the show, work was a bit dour in color compared to years past. Browns and greys dominated in painting and photographs with a general feeling of acceptance of things in the state of the world as it now is, since there’s little we can do. But then, while walking along the galleries sector, a booth brought in strong color, exuberance, lifting the mood momentarily. The eye catches Bernd Koberling in his Memories of Water I-III (acrylic on wood, … [Read more...] about Galleries Sector at Art Basel