CAN ART BE TAUGHT TO THE FACEBOOK GENERATION?

CAN ART BE TAUGHT TO THE FACEBOOK GENERATION?
The Saatchi Gallery / Sunday Telegraph Art Prize for Schools debate, presented by Intelligence Squared
July1, 2009


Speakers:

Camila Batmanghelidjh Advocate for vulnerable children and founder of two children's charities, The Place 2 Be and Kids Company where she currently works with some of the most traumatised young people.

Stephen Bayley Broadcaster and consultant. Founding director of London's Design Museum and outspoken commentator on all matters concerning art in everyday life.

Alain de Botton Writer of a number of bestselling essays including most recently 'The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work'. Co-founder of The School of Life, 'a new social enterprise offering good ideas for everyday living'.

Antony Gormley Artist best known for his large-scale works such as 'Angel of the North' and 'Event Horizon' which explore the collective body and the relationship between self and other. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 1994 and has been a Royal Academician since 2003.

Grayson Perry Winner in 2003 of the Turner Prize which he accepted wearing a purple satin party frock. Best known for his elaborate ceramic vases which at a distance seem classically decorative but on closer inspection are covered with narratives and commentaries dealing with aesthetic, cultural, social and political subjects.

Chair: Joan Bakewell Journalist and broadcaster.

Event Information: The discussion will take place on 1 July 2009 at The Saatchi Gallery
Doors open at 6:15 pm. The discussion starts at 7:00 pm and finishes at 8:15 pm.

ABSTRACT AMERICA: NEW PAINTING AND SCULPTURE at Saatchi Gallery, London

Aaron Young, Greeting Card 10a, 2007. Stained plywood, acrylic, burnt rubber, 6 panels: 4 x 8 ft each. Overall: 12 x 16 ft. Courtesy of the Saatchi Gallery, London ©Aaron Young, 2009.

ABSTRACT AMERICA: NEW PAINTING AND SCULPTURE at Saatchi Gallery, London
29th May - 13th September
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/abstract_america_painting_sculpture/


(Art Daily) LONDON.- In October 2008, the Saatchi Gallery re-opened in the 70,000 sq. ft. Duke of York’s HQ building on King’s Road in the heart of London. With free admission to all shows, the Saatchi Gallery aims to bring contemporary art to the widest possible audience. Its first show, The Revolution Continues: New Art from China attracted over 400,000 visitors breaking the record previously held by Sensation at The Royal Academy, and the second show Unveiled: New Art from the Middle East has attracted over 350,000 visitors to date.

Now, the Saatchi Gallery’s third show, Abstract America: New Painting and Sculpture, opened, presenting a survey of emerging art from the USA. Thirty-two artists are in the exhibition, representing an exciting new generation of painters and sculptors. With a historical nod to their Abstract Expressionist predecessors of the midtwentieth century, these artists are heavily influenced by the new digital age. Old master palettes, Manga purple and bubble gum pinks come together in work that embraces Photoshop, TV, the internet and many other contemporary influences.

Abstract America is set to shape our understanding of the work of this vital group of artists, who have absorbed these many aspects of contemporary life and chosen very individual ways to communicate.

Abstract America presents works by Kristin Baker, John Bauer, Mark Bradford, Tom Burr, Joe Bradley, Jedediah Caesar, Carter, Eric and Heather ChanSchatz, Peter Coffin, Guerra de la Paz, Francesca DiMattio, Bart Exposito, Mark Grotjahn, Jacob Hashimoto, Rachel Harrison, Patrick Hill, Ryan Johnson, Matt Johnson, Paul Lee, Chris Martin, Elizabeth Neel, Baker Overstreet, Stephen G. Rhodes, Amanda Ross-Ho, Sterling Ruby, Gedi Sibony, Amy Sillman, Agathe Snow, Kirsten Stoltmann, Dan Walsh, Jonas Wood and Aaron Young.

Zhang Xiaogang Is China’s Most-Valuable Artist

Zhang Xiaogang A Big Family,1995, Oil on canvas, 179 x 229 cm

Zhang Xiaogang
(Source Saatchi Gallery) http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/zhang_xiaogang.htm
Inspired by family photos from the Cultural Revolution period, as well as the European tradition of surrealism, Zhang Xiaogang’s paintings engage with the notion of identity within the Chinese culture of collectivism. Basing his work around the concept of ‘family’ –immediate, extended, and societal – Xiaogang’s portraits depict an endless genealogy of imagined forebears and progenitors, each unnervingly similar and distinguished by minute difference.
Often painted in black and white, Xiaogang’s portraits translate the language of photography into paint. Drawing from the generic quality of formal photo studio poses and greyscale palette, Xiaogang’s figures are nameless and timeless: a series of individual histories represented within the strict confines of formula. The occasional splotches of colour which interrupt his images create aberrant demarcations, reminiscent of birth marks, aged film, social stigma, or a lingering sense of the sitter’s self assertion.

Zhang Xiaogang Is China’s Most-Valuable Artist, Hurun Says

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Zhang Xiaogang, Yue Minjun and Zeng Fanzhi are the most-valuable living Chinese artists, based on the auction prices of their works, shows a ranking by China-based Hurun Report, which also lists the nation’s richest people.
Works by Zhang, known for his somber, gray-hued paintings of Chinese families, fetched a combined $44.1 million at art auctions last year, followed by Yue’s $30.5 million and Zeng’s $30.1 million, according to Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun’s Shanghai- based publisher. Works by the top 50 artists on Hurun’s list sold a combined $410 million at auction last year. Artists on the list averaged 57.5 years of age.
“Chinese collectors had begun to take an interest in contemporary art, which was until then mostly of interest to foreigners,” said Hoogewerf, in an e-mail.
Chinese contemporary art is broadly defined as works produced since the 1960s, and usually feature reflections and commentaries on the decade-long Cultural Revolution that seared the psyche of a generation of mainland Chinese.
Hoogewerf said demand for Chinese contemporary art grew slightly last year. Auction prices for this category rose in the first half and languished after the latest -- and worst -- round of credit crisis broke out in September.
In May, the most-expensive Chinese contemporary painting was sold at auction for the $9.7 million paid for Zeng’s “Mask Series 1996 No. 6” at Christie’s International’s Hong Kong sale.

Who is your favourite modern artist?

Who is your favourite modern artist?
(From Times Online)
Welcome to The Times Top 200 Artists of the 20th Century to Now created in association with the Saatchi Gallery.
We asked you to nominate your favourite artists working since 1900 from a list including some of the most influential painters, sculptors, photographers, video and installation artists of the period. Nominations are now closed. Over 200 additional artists were nominated by readers of The Times and Saatchi Online visitors to add to the original shortlist of 600, and we now present the top 500 artists voted for. To cast your vote simply click on the VOTE button by each name. You may vote on as many artists as you wish, but only one vote per artist. You can find out more about each artist by clicking on each individual artist’s name. The top 500 artists are listed here in A to Z order. The top 200 artists will be announced in May 2009.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article5700435.ece