2011 No3
June / July
It is an interesting development: the British art magazine, frieze, which is, together with Artforum, the most influential international art magazine, has launched a German/English edition exclusively focused on art in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. After decades of the art world being in the grips of the idea that art has to be a world player, it now seems to be making haste to become more provincial.
I am not revealing anything new. The influence of Western art centres, such as New York and London, once the principle of art, has been on the wane for some time, while the importance of regional art centres, from Mumbai to Warsaw and São Paulo, has been growing. For years now, this regionalizing of art has been visible in exhibition projects that, however huge and ambitious they may be, distinguish themselves by a mix of local, national and international art. One-sided internationalism, of the kind that was envisioned and sought for in the heyday of modernism, is now definitively a thing of the past.
The growing importance of regions can also be seen at this year's 54th edition of the Venice Bienniale. In the last few decades, the (modernist) central exhibition at the Arsenale was the decisive factor in the success of the exhibition, but the national pavilions are now making a comeback. This year's Bienniale emphatically proclaims itself as the edition with more national pavilions than ever before. That, and not necessarily the show in the Arsenale, is where we need to be to find the real experiments and great discoveries.
The art world is a conglomerate of provinces; Metropolis M knows all about that. In this magazine as well, regional developments are brought into relationship with art on the world stage. In this issue, for example, we pause to look at the popularity of amateur art at the ZomerExpo in The Hague, which we relate to the work of professional dilettante Jim Shaw, with its seemingly amateurish appearance.
-DR
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Sharjah Biennial
16/03/11 - 16/05/11
Petrit Halilaj
03/06/11 Johan Lundh
He was the big discovery at the Berlin Biennale in 2010. During Art Basel, he is presenting new work.
20/06/11 Barnaby Drabble
Bice Curiger gained international fame as the editor of the Swiss art magazine Parkett. This year she is responsible for ILLUMInations, the central exhibit at the Venice Biennale. Metropolis M spoke with her in Zurich.
29/07/11 Chris Sharp
He is more of a discoverer than an inventor, and calls himself a ‘collector of forms’. Metropolis M No 3 (in stores now!), discusses Raphaël Zarka.
Amateurism in art is flourishing. Breaking the rules, even knowing nothing about them, ties in with a generally felt need to escape the regime of the market, the professionals, the authorities. The American artist Jim Shaw knows that not everybody can be an amateur. To make a work of art look amateurish, you have to really know what you’re doing.
SCOUTING
