Dear Members and Friends of The Ministry of Artistic Affairs,

It is with sweet sadness that we write to you today to announce that The Ministry will be going on hiatus for an indefinite time period, starting today.

November 17, 2012, marked a tragic day for the Canadian contemporary art world when it lost one of its most prominent, talented, and acclaimed photographers, Arnaud Maggs, at the age of 86.  His passing comes after many notable achievements in 2012 including his exhibition “Identification” at the National Gallery of Canada and the receipt of the Scotiabank Photography Award, one of Canada’s most prestigious art prizes.  While many familiar with Maggs think of his multiple-grid photographs of faces, it is perhaps his final body of work that deserves the most acclaim, as seen in “After Nadar,” his last exhibition, displayed at the Susan Hobbs Gallery in March this year.

“After Nadar” offered a series of self-portraits inspired by the Pierrot photographs of Felix Nadar.  Maggs’s restaging of Nadar’s iconic images, in combination with his own character, led to a collection of images that were not only visually stunning, but also portrayed incredible vulnerability.  This body of work, described recently in Border Crossings as “a complicated loop of aesthetic reiterations, a world made today in thrall to a world made yesterday,” differed from Maggs’s previous collections, specifically in his use of color. Here, his use of red in pantomime-inspired photographs was not only a deviation from his typical monochromatic and neutral photographs, but also an eye-catching contrast unseen in his previous efforts.  This truly memorable exhibition offered a vibrant, fitting, and memorable culmination of Maggs’s life as a contemporary art photographer.

Maggs led a life worth remembering and celebrating. Though his career began as a commercial photographer and graphic designer, he ventured into art photography in his forties.  Throughout forty-six years as an artist, his passion for collecting ephemera manifested in his imagery and he is perhaps best known for his photographs of the MoMA’s collection of iconic Paris photographer Eugène Atget’s address books.  Switching careers and styles throughout his life, his ability to reinvent himself will continue to be an inspiration.

The art world must now bid farewell to a man who produced some of the most iconic photographs in Canadian contemporary art history.  He led a unique life and his legacy will be cherished by those who value important Canadian photography.

Eulogy by Camille Angelo for The Ministry of Artistic Affairs.

Christian Marclay’s appropriation of Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last, 1923
As the days grow shorter, perpetuating the feeling that there is too much to do in too little time, I find myself thinking of a fabled character who is also ruled by the steadily advancing hands of his clock—that frenetic Lewis Carroll creature, the White Rabbit. For anyone who didn’t catch The National Ballet of Canada’s rendition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which also closed this weekend (in order to usher in the annual torment of Nutcracker Season), the ballet’s second run in the span of 18 months was surprisingly well received. I will admit that at Saturday’s matinee performance, although happily shanghaied by my mother for an afternoon of frippery and high tea, I remained skeptical that I wouldn’t be completely annoyed at the experience. A language-forward piece of prose such as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland seems an unlikely adaptation for the ballet, given the impossibility of translating the intricacies of wordplay to movement. Where I expected gimmickry, however, I found a unique chance for dancers whose careers are often dictated by the fervent emotion of bodily expression to access choreographic levity. The playful content of Carroll’s whimsical story literally enabled NBOC to take the piss out of balletic norms, both through outrageous prop/set design and hilariously mimed slapstick.

With minor alterations, the narrative arc of the story is fairly true to the original: girl is partaking in bucolic activity, girl sees White Rabbit, girl follows White Rabbit down a hole (albeit, this time, said hole is in the middle of a gargantuan bundt cake on the family’s harvest table). Thereafter, bodily enlargements and diminutions due to various consumed goodies occur until Alice once and for all finds herself ensconced in Wonderland. Given that Sonia Rodriguez, who performed the female lead on Saturday afternoon, can’t reasonably manifest a change in size, designer Bob Crowley and lighting designer Natasha Katz imagined an elegant and vibrant solution: changing the scale of the green screen-like projected backdrop such that the spatial illusion becomes convincing. As the optically realistic projection of the doors Alice is too large to surpass expand to take over the entire backdrop, the tiny girl cowers dramatically, completing the trompe l’oeil effect.

Reminiscent of directorial phenom Robert LePage’s hyper-technological stage craft, these virtuosic interventions are one of the most enjoyable and innovative elements of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. At times bisecting the stage medially or placed right at the curtain line, whirlpool-like graphics and moiré patterns give new insight into how we experience the inevitable two-dimensional barrier between our bodies and planar art. As in each of the film clips comprising The Clock, the partition created by the “silver screen” becomes a window onto the looking-glass realm that confronts its audience. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, therefore, is an instance where the theatrical and the cinematic collide among the supple bodies of ballet dancers.

Beyond the visual bravura above described, Christopher Wheeldon’s choreographic wit also made its mark. Interludes of Gregory Hines-inflected tap dancing, performed by a flamboyantly clad Mad Hatter, were complimented by the boisterous gestures of a cleaver-wielding Cook, whose grotesque visage and bird’s nest hair would have suited Helena Bonham-Carter in many of the roles she has acted. The Queen of Hearts, perched absurdly on top of her overgrown bustier of a throne, was fittingly played by Greta Hodgkinson, a Prima who obtained her Donna status under the répétiteurship of James Kudelka. Although Karen Kain, who emceed the recent Sobey Art Award Gala at MOCCA, took over as Artistic Director of NBOC in 2005, even a change in leadership wasn’t enough to knock Greta off her out of her ivory tower.

More subtle moments peppered the production as well; including a smart parody of The Sleeping Beauty’s famed Rose Adagio in the final act. Wheeldon created a facsimile of the original choreography, in which Aurora’s four suitors each take turns presenting her with a flower. The Queen of Hearts replaces Aurora and each klutzy suitor presents a jam tart in place of a bloom.

Despite my enjoyment of the ballet, a disappointing final solo variation by Guillaume Côté had me looking only laterally at the stage in discomfort. As Alice’s love interest and clad in a modern-day outfit of fitted jeans, a t-shirt, and white sneakers, the principle dancer’s melodramatic soliloquy belonged within the confines of Ice Capades. Cote’s outfit had me anticipating a Jerome Robbins-style number with a touch of West Side Story swagger. Instead, his over-emotional élongés were flaccid, leaving me unfulfilled.

Both The Clock and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland expose humankind’s continuous fixation on a certain fact of life: namely the paradox between the truth of being and the false promises of images, space, and the real. Whether entrusting your consciousness to the mesmerizing re-articulation of cinematic history or awakening the dormant but perennial drives of childhood through fairytale, alternate dimensions become pregnable once more through the experience of contemporary works of art. Time and dimensional exploration will most likely continue to fascinate plebs and intelligensia alike until someone manages to orchestrate time travel. Until then, one of art’s accomplishments will be the ultimate relinquishment of control, tumbling backwards down an experiential rabbit hole.

By Rachel Anne Farquharson for The Ministry of Artistic Affairs

Christo, known for his massive installation projects such as the “Surrounded Islands”, “Wrapped Kunsthalle”, and “Umbrellas”, is now closer than ever to realizing what will almost certainly be the largest and most permanent project of his career.  “The Mastaba”, a flat-topped pyramid made of 400,000 multi-coloured oil barrels, will be installed in the desert 100 miles south of Abu Dhabi.  At an estimated cost of nearly $340,000,000, The Mastaba will be taller than taller than the Great Pyramid in Egypt and become the world’s largest permanent man-made structure.

There is an argument to be made that this project is going to be one of the most important and awesome cultural expressions of the 21^st century, perhaps a defining moment of the entire modern era.  But the flip side of that same argument would suggest that, at a time when billions of people are starving and the oil industry inspires wars and environmental degradation on a colossal scale, this is an quixotically ridiculous and utterly wasteful idea bordering on international criminality and insanity.

Part of Abu Dhabi’s ambition to become one of the globe’s centers of art and culture to go along with their new branches of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums, the emirate’s rulers have already approved of the location, near the Oman border.  Construction will take 30 months and the oil barrels are being supplied by a German company.  Christo is not commenting on the funding for the project beyond saying that some of the cost will be covered by sales of his artworks and from “independent” sources.

Christo’s projects throughout his life have always been controversial, both in the planning and realization stages, and this piece is sure to be no exception.  Though this work, if it happens, will likely be awe inspiring when viewed in person, is it a worthy cultural use of so much money?  Massive ambition is one of the most important characteristics of great artists but does our civilization really care to be remembered far into the future by a giant totem worshipping our addiction to oil?

The early pharaohs built their pyramids with wealth derived from slave labor.  This pyramid will be funded by the filthy lucre residue of our gluttonous need for energy.  What is it about the barren deserts of North Africa that makes it so suitable for massive, permanent tributes to the very worst forms of human power?

By Randy Gladman for The Ministry of Artistic Affairs

We first took note of Portland-based artist AJ Fosik’s amazing wall-mounted sculptures at Miami Basel in 2006 and have tracked him carefully since. Made of wood, paint and nails, Fosik’s metaphorical and metaphysical creatures seek to betray the process by which lies and fallacies are propounded by religious zealots, shysters, and proselytizers.

Vivid, vibrant, and aggressive, the craftsmanship of these works seems to come from a bygone era before digital design when physical skill and attention to detail were the hallmarks of quality. However, the pieces are certainly contemporary in their aesthetic references and active cultural sampling. Influences from street art, graffiti, woodworking iconography, religious text illumination, renaissance architectural gargoyles, Japanese manga, and nature are all apparent in his sculptures.

Fosik says with these works he intends to “shake complacency and challenge preconceived notions of faith and its power through genuine scrutiny”. Taking a stand against dogma, these amazing three-dimensional pieces celebrate creativity and ingenuity.

“Lamplighter to the Promised Land”
AJ Fosik
Guerrero Gallery
2700 19th Street, San Francisco, CA

Review by Randy Gladman for The Ministry of Artistic Affairs.

Ministry members were invited to an intimate and informative studio visit at the home of artists Luke Painter and Faith La Rocque. Each working in an entirely different manner in terms of their chosen media and conceptual concerns, the artists toured The Ministry around their home, discussing their art practices and providing an illuminating perspective of their work.

Read on for more information on how to become a member and to check out photos from the evening.

The Ministry of Artistic Affairs provides a unique insight into the art market by curating a series of informative and interactive events exploring multiple facets of the art scene. Members access a program of events that include studio visits with rising and established local artists, intimate visits with notable collectors, exclusive gallery exhibition previews, film screenings, talks and panel discussions with published art thinkers, and group art fair excursions. Learn more about membership.

Ministry members were invited to tour Toronto’s Paul Petro gallery for a private viewing of the work of FASTWURMS and Sandy Plotnikoff, led by gallery owner Paul Petro.

Check out more photos from the event after the jump.

The Ministry of Artistic Affairs provides a unique insight into the art market by curating a series of informative and interactive events exploring multiple facets of the art scene. Members access a program of events that include studio visits with rising and established local artists, intimate visits with notable collectors, exclusive gallery exhibition previews, film screenings, talks and panel discussions with published art thinkers, and group art fair excursions. Learn more about membership.

Thomas Hirschhorn: Concordia, Concordia, 2012
Installation
Gladstone Gallery, NY

In the wake of the tumult that Hurricane Sandy recently waged on this internationally important art district, my tour back in late September has taken on uncanny prophesy. Thomas Hirschhorn’s upended ship hull at Gladstone Gallery and Rosemary Laing’s sky-born trees gripping half-built houses now seem to have forecasted the impending deluge. Reading Jerry Saltz’s sobering account of flooded ground level galleries and the reticent discarding of unsalvageable, water-logged art reminds me that Chelsea remains a unique environment where commercial enterprise abuts critical engagement. Moreover, a dialogue surrounding artwork that is indulgent, as is sometimes presented by superdealers like Larry Gagosian, has a place among discussions of more compelling work.

Gagosian’s latest offerings are so nastily “blue chip”, the folks at the Dow Jones are knee deep in drool. The poker-derived term, coined in 1923 by the Dows’ Oliver Gingold to mean high-value stock, has taken on an adulterated meaning in the world of art, wherein the nouveau riches, profiting off of the 400% rise in oil prices, now have their own category of aesthetic commodity. Gaudy and decorative art. Richard Phillips, whose over-sized paintings of actresses Lindsay Lohan and Sasha Grey were on view last month, is an archetypal example of this trend.

Richard Phillips: Installation View, 2012
Painting
Gagosian Gallery, NY

Aiming to reorder the relationship that Pop Art bears with its subjects, Phillips does successfully employ a David Hockney-an colour palette, the former’s bright aquamarines plasticizing each actress’ taut flesh while conjuring banner moments in art history such as the first exhibition of “A Bigger Splash” in 1967. However, looking at the artist’s statement, it is clear to me that Phillips is counting on the seductive power of his lubricated words—a slipperiness mimicked by the superficial appeal of his paintings—to disguise utter nonsense beneath. The statement asserts that “when we can’t determine what art is—when we get to that point where we’re not sure, that’s the strongest likelihood that we’re actually experiencing something great.” If uncertainty and lack of understanding are equivalent to valuable artistic experiences, then pursuing knowledge of any sort seems rather counter-productive. Better to describe it as sculpting maverick Maskull Lasserre did in a recent Canadian Art interview: “…it’s the things that are unclear but resonate, those are the ones that need to be coaxed along and developed.” I find the over-painted, airbrushed aesthetic of Phillips’ celebrity subjects to be as resonant as a block of cheese. But that is just me.

Phillips also erroneously claims that the films included in his current show are meant to be destabilizing art works of the film noir genre. “First Point” (2012), running just over five minutes, oscillates between melodramatic footage of Lohan stumbling feverishly through a dark nightscape and cuts of pro-surfer Kassia Meador—working as Lohan’s body double— virtuosically hauling pipe. Very little about Phillips’ cinematography is aesthetically appealing, despite tutelage by veteran surf filmmaker, Taylor Steele. Critical concern, however, truly reaches a fever pitch at the conceptual level. The audience is expected to be affected by Lohan’s performance as a “nightmarish noir person” , this cinematic identity apparently registered by the wild-haired dame’s panicked promenade through utter darkness, looking back over her shoulder in consternation every ten seconds. Between these two sorts of segments are slow-panning shots of the blond actress, either supine on the beach or standing, eyes scanning some distant wave, in a rash guard. Phillips’ hope to capture self-conscious recognition and harness the potential of narrative action ultimately results in banal film-making. None of the subjective psychological foray intrinsic to film noir is present in “First Point” and the string of sequences amount to an incoherent, vacuous anti-narrative. My suspicion is that someone should ring Phillips and remind him that a film noir shouldn’t leave his viewers in the dark.

After giving pause for Guido van der Werve’s intoxicatingly romantic video installation at Luhring Augustine and passing uncommittedly through Greene Naftali’s off-balance exhibition, the afternoon’s true redemption came in the form of sculptural phenomena at Marianne Boesky Gallery. The Vanishing Point, a series of 6 other-worldly manifestations vivified by the hand of Diana Al-Hadid, meets its audience with an enigmatic synthesis of Gothic architecture, figural representation, and two-dimensional painted form. The young artist has remained on the front burner of my mind not only because her native country, Syria, has recently hosted such political turmoil but also because Al-Hadid’s geometric sculptures, perched precariously on insubstantial stalactites, have an alchemical presence that hovers between geological representation and the mythical sublime.

Diana Al-Hadid: Suspended After Image, 2012
Sculpture
Marianne Boesky Gallery, NY

“Suspended After Image” (2012), the largest work in the show, is a tendrillar sculpture that combines the angular elegance of the Bauhaus school with organic rhythms of figure, Arcadian landscape, and botany. Viewers witness a cleanly rendered escalation of steps interrupted by the protruding limbs of a prostrate body. Quick mental calculation confirms the Mannerist proportions of the figure, and yet, the elongation of arms and legs is nothing but pleasing to the eye. On the top landing sits a cubic structure reminiscent of Moshe Safdie’s modular Habitat project, albeit the unadorned planes of the architect’s edifice have here been replaced by the thread-like, leafless vines of climbing plants. Adding to the flora-like nature of “Suspended” are radiating lobes that look like shelf fungi, as if birthed from some grand old tree.

In her latest work, Al-Hadid’s investigation of linear perspective creates an opportunity to collapse the three-dimensional fact of sculpture into the two dimensions of the art historical canvasses she is known to reference. This has allowed the artist to comfortably engage with figuration for the first time in her career. Al-Hadid is interested in not only the threshold between represented image and material referent, but also the transitional moment between states of matter. This investigation is apparent in the startling “Divided Line” (2012), a ghostly rendition of Raphael’s cartoon for the tapestry “Christ’s Charge to Peter” (1515-1516), installed as if a structural wall in the gallery’s main space. Furthermore, the conflation of line, space, and form manifests itself in “Antonym” (2012), the most prominently figural piece in the show.

Diana Al-Hadid: Antonym, 2012
Sculpture
Marianne Boesky Gallery, NY

“Antonym” pugnaciously rejects Newtonian physics through a hollow Bronze-like figure that slowly sinks into a melting plinth, creating tension between the suggested masslessness of the subject and the weight of gravity pushing into its support. Accordingly, the brittle, delicate foundation to which Al-Hadid has entrusted the load of the entire sculpture remains unbelievably robust, in spite of the level of degradation exacted on the base. Consistent across the works in The Vanishing Point is a motivation to change states, as supports turn molten and organic matter fossilizes and turns solid. Yet no matter how calcified these seemingly ancient structures become, their final destiny ultimately results in that wonder of chemistry—sublimation—or the change of state from solid directly to gas without passage through a liquid phase.

Beyond entering into dialogue with the “vanishing point” of linear perspective, an abstruse place where objects change shape, colour, size, and weight, Al-Hadid has created mementos of a vanishing past. The august edifices, mythological cities, and iconographies of art’s history here represented transported me to and through time and states of being until I felt like Gradiva myself—turning from stone to flesh and then into invisible memory as quickly as any apparition.

By Rachel Anne Farquharson for The Ministry of Artistic Affairs

The Ministry of Artistic Affairs held their third annual guided tour of Art Toronto, offering members the opportunity to experience the fair through the eyes of experts in the contemporary art market and art theory. With stops at the booths of important galleries and engaging discussions about the significance of various pieces, it proved to be an insightful experience for both dedicated collectors and general art enthusiasts alike.

Read on for more photos from the fair.

The Ministry of Artistic Affairs provides a unique insight into the art market by curating a series of informative and interactive events exploring multiple facets of the art scene. Members access a program of events that include studio visits with rising and established local artists, intimate visits with notable collectors, exclusive gallery exhibition previews, film screenings, talks and panel discussions with published art thinkers, and group art fair excursions. Learn more about membership.

Watch Profile: Chelsea Art Galleries on PBS. See more from NYC-ARTS.

Take a tour of some of Manhattan’s best contemporary galleries in the Chelsea neighbourhood. A great watch, and a fitting tribute to the spaces, many of which suffered serious damage post-Sandy.

In their most recent effort to extend the spindly arms of bureaucracy to every conceivable aspect of the city while simultaneously proving just how out of touch they are, Toronto’s City Council will call a meeting of the newly formed “Graffiti Panel” (…seriously) to discuss whether certain murals will be allowed to remain on the private property on which they were painted. If it is deemed that the works in question are cases of vandalism and not art, they will promptly be painted over. The fact that the graffiti in question is on buildings whose owners either commissioned or entirely appreciate the work on their walls seems to be of little to no consequence for the Panel, who will debate the aesthetic value of the pieces in a meeting on November 2.

Click here for an article by the Torontoist and to see photos of the pieces in question.

Artinfo published a breakdown of some of the various expenses associated with participation in an art fair, comparing booth prices for several events (the upcoming Toronto Art Fair not included) along with estimated costs for things like hotels, airfare, and art shipping costs. The resulting figures are, like anything else to do with contemporary art, staggering, but unsurprising. For an up-and-coming artist or gallery, is the exposure garnered through participation in an art fair worth the hefty price tag?

Read on for the full write up, courtesy of Artinfo.

Originally published on artinfo.com

In Art + Auction’s survey of the event-driven art market, “What’s an Art Fair Worth?,” we endeavor to determine exactly how much money gallerists spend on art fairs and what these different events cost. From more than two dozen gallery submissions, we estimated the average booth price of a wide range of art fairs. Those findings — alongside a case study for one gallery’s Art Basel budget — are below.

TYPICAL BOOTH PRICES

TEFAF Maastricht: $60,000

Art Basel: $58,000

Art Basel Miami Beach: $55,000

Frieze London: $45,000

The Armory Show: $35,000

Salon of Art + Design: $35,000

Expo Chicago: $30,000

ADAA’s The Art Show (New York): $26,000

Dallas Art Fair: $17,500

Independent (New York): $12,000

NADA Miami: $10,000

Outsider Art Fair (New York): $9,000

Art Berlin Contemporary: $4,800

A CASE STUDY AT ART BASEL

Booth: $58,000

Walls and lights: $10,500

Flights and shipping: $30,000

Hotels: $14,400

Food: $7,000

Local car transport: $650

Furniture rental for booth: $1,900

Misc. supplies: $100

TOTAL: $122,550

— Julia Halperin

Red, Black & Silver is considered by some to be one of the last paintings to be made by Jackson Pollock shortly before his gruesomely fatal car crash in 1956.  His mistress, Ruth Kligman, claims to have seem him paint it.  However, the Pollock-Krasner Authentication Board questions its authenticity.  Unsigned and small by the artist’s standards, the work is the subject of “an explosive, decades-long battle, a saga that has drawn in some of America’s best-known artists and the power brokers of the art world.”

The work was headed to the auction block on September 20, 2012, at Phillips de Pury & Company in New York City but it was pulled practically at the last minute because of the ongoing questions about its authorship.  It is expected that the piece may finally find its way to the auction block in the Spring of 2013, following additional efforts to prove its origin.

Vanity Fair recently published a smart exploration of the challenges faced by the owners of this work and the difficult path the painting is facing on its way to the market.  Lesley Blume’s “The Canvas and the Triangle” can be found here.

Alex Prager is one of the most exciting young photographers in Contemporary Art.  Influenced by classic Hollywood cinematic conventions and fashion photography, her works explore melodrama in its most high-keyed aesthetic.  Though best known for her photography, her short films are gaining equal recognition for their visionary brilliance.  The New York Times recently produced and published an amazing series of 13 short films directed by Prager titled “Touch of Evil”.  A video gallery of cinematic villany, these mini-movies each feature one of the best performers from the past year in film and television.  Starring Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, George Clooney, Kirsten Dunst, Glenn Close, and others, these featurettes are gorgeous, emotional, funny, creepy and definitely evil.

You can see all 13 films at the New York Times’ website here.

The National Portrait Gallery in London has announced they will be holding the first-ever retrospective exhibition of Man Ray’s portraiture. A pioneering and influential Surrealist, he was also an accomplished portrait photographer with work often published in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Vanity Fair. The exhibit will feature hundreds of his portrait images that span nearly five decades, including both his commercial and more experimental pieces.

Man Ray: Portraits
February 7-May 27 2013
The National Portrait Gallery
St. Martin’s Place, London