Last night, Sprüth Magers Lee (www.spruethmagerslee.com) in London opened up their doors to literally hundreds of art lovers with an exhibition from American conceptualist, Joseph Kosuth. The show covers a fantastic five decades, encompassing the artist’s growth across the years. Now, I can’t pretend to understand everything Kosuth is trying to say – but what I do know is that he’s comical and cool and sharp as can be. Indeed this show, or rather retrospective, was absolutely superb. While the gallery was ridiculously full (by the time I left, they has stopped allowing people into the drinks area), it was difficult to view the works in all their glory, the message (albeit one I didn’t always get) was all apparent. The opening piece, ’Any Two Metre Square Sheet of Glass Leaning Against Any Wall’ (1965) kicked off the exhibition, giving a good idea of what was to come. Upstairs a further four areas made way for more works. The second room sees Kosuth within a later period of neon infused sexual humor, presenting pieces of luminous halogen and others of serious humour. ‘No Number # 8’ (1989) focuses on the notorious Bobbit case, that rocked the tabloids and later, the mulleted porn industry. The piece comprises three parts; a blow up of a newspaper write up on Bobbit, sandwiched between a Calvin and Hobbs cartoon and Simone de Beauvoir quote. It’s cynical and saucy and it works. The rooms of the gallery continued, all filled by intelligent, thought provoking, provocative pieces, such as the incandescent 'Á Propos (Réflecteur de Réflecteur) (2004), which filled the space with words and light, not to mention statements like ‘It is not the context of truth, of which they have no concept, but the form itself of truth, which is an indefinite approximation’. No simple stuff here then… And, let’s be honest, that's just as well. Downstairs the fun continued with a room filled by small framed works, a book of seemingly random statements in several languages; think, ‘Children cannot manage cobras’ or ‘All reptiles are not diplomats’. Fabulous. Thought provoking and inspiring – exactly as it should be.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Private View Review – Joseph Kosuth – Sprüth Magers Lee – London
Last night, Sprüth Magers Lee (www.spruethmagerslee.com) in London opened up their doors to literally hundreds of art lovers with an exhibition from American conceptualist, Joseph Kosuth. The show covers a fantastic five decades, encompassing the artist’s growth across the years. Now, I can’t pretend to understand everything Kosuth is trying to say – but what I do know is that he’s comical and cool and sharp as can be. Indeed this show, or rather retrospective, was absolutely superb. While the gallery was ridiculously full (by the time I left, they has stopped allowing people into the drinks area), it was difficult to view the works in all their glory, the message (albeit one I didn’t always get) was all apparent. The opening piece, ’Any Two Metre Square Sheet of Glass Leaning Against Any Wall’ (1965) kicked off the exhibition, giving a good idea of what was to come. Upstairs a further four areas made way for more works. The second room sees Kosuth within a later period of neon infused sexual humor, presenting pieces of luminous halogen and others of serious humour. ‘No Number # 8’ (1989) focuses on the notorious Bobbit case, that rocked the tabloids and later, the mulleted porn industry. The piece comprises three parts; a blow up of a newspaper write up on Bobbit, sandwiched between a Calvin and Hobbs cartoon and Simone de Beauvoir quote. It’s cynical and saucy and it works. The rooms of the gallery continued, all filled by intelligent, thought provoking, provocative pieces, such as the incandescent 'Á Propos (Réflecteur de Réflecteur) (2004), which filled the space with words and light, not to mention statements like ‘It is not the context of truth, of which they have no concept, but the form itself of truth, which is an indefinite approximation’. No simple stuff here then… And, let’s be honest, that's just as well. Downstairs the fun continued with a room filled by small framed works, a book of seemingly random statements in several languages; think, ‘Children cannot manage cobras’ or ‘All reptiles are not diplomats’. Fabulous. Thought provoking and inspiring – exactly as it should be.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment