Art Talk

By KCRWArts Visual Arts

Art Talk episodes

December 05, 2007 China on My Mind
It's been more than three weeks since I returned from Beijing, but
thoughts and impressions of it resurface on a daily basis. Friends and
colleagues keep asking all sorts of questions about China, as if I had
become an expert on the subject after being there for only nine days;
but certainly, I did my best to keep my eyes, ears, and mind open as
wide as possible. These days, the coverage of the Chinese contemporary
art scene has spilled over from the pages of art magazines to such
mainstream publications as Vanity Fair (December issue)...
5 min
November 28, 2007 Artists That Slash, Crash and Cuddle
If you've seen Gordon Matta-Clark's artwork -– even once -– you will
remember the rush of adrenaline it sends through your veins. After all,
this is an artist who loved to display the results of violence he
perpetrated habitually against the objects of his desire. Think of all
the gory scenes from Hollywood movies: knives plunging, bodies falling
in slow motion... That's exactly what Gordon Matta-Clark did to
abandoned buildings -– carving huge holes in their walls or slashing
them with mind-boggling vertical cuts that plunge from top to bottom...
5 min
November 21, 2007 Chinese Lessons
Though the invitation to travel to Beijing came up only a couple of
months ago, I was preparing myself for this trip – without even
realizing it – for almost a year...
6 min
November 14, 2007 Art Explosion Inside Chinese Munitions Factory
Eight days in Beijing. Never been in Asia before. It's my first trip to China. Always felt slightly intimidated by the huge span of its history, by the intricacy and "otherness" of its culture. But here I am, among several dozen journalists from around the world, invited for the opening of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, an ambitious and impressive undertaking, privately funded by Belgian collectors Guy and Myriam Ullens....
6 min
October 31, 2007 British, German and Japanese Art Come to LA, Edward Goes to China
What a difference a week makes... seven times 24 little hours... Santa Ana winds and firestorms once more wrestled to the ground our cherished illusions of our idyllic life in Southern California. No doubt, some day, this recurring calamity will become the subject for a great work of art. To my knowledge, it hasn't happened yet...
5 min
October 24, 2007 You Can Never Be Too Thin, Too Rich or Have Too Many Museums
Keeping up with what's happening on the Southern California art scene is not as easy as it used to be. In the last 25 years, existing museums have greatly expanded and new museums have opened, while the number of commercial art galleries has jumped from a few dozen to a few hundred. A few weeks ago, I reported on the small, new, fascinating Wende Museum in Culver City, devoted to the history and culture of the Cold War era in Eastern Europe...
5 min
October 17, 2007 Exhibitions That Rock
When last year the Pompidou Centre in Paris organized the exhibition
celebrating LA art, it was monumental, overwhelming, and slightly
tedious in its academic intention to miss nothing, no matter how minor.
When last week the Orange County Museum of Art opened its exhibition
celebrating California Art, Design, and Culture at Midcentury, it
turned out to be not too big, not too small – just right in size. With
about 150 objects, including paintings, photographs, TV footage,
furniture, and architectural pottery, this exhibition tells the
captivating story of how California -– thousands of miles from New York
and light-years from Europe –- came, artistically speaking, into its
own...
5 min
October 10, 2007 Art on Film
With rare exception, movies about famous painters prove to be a
disappointment. The recent film about Gustav Klimt, with the formidable
John Malkovich in the title role, was a futile attempt to capture the
essence of this artist's life in Vienna at the turn of the 20th
century. Though the beautiful costumes and authentic interiors provided
a certain pleasure, it was not enough. The film disappeared without a
trace. A few years earlier, the abysmal movie about Modigliani starring
Andy Garcia was kindly laid to rest soon after its release...
5 min
October 03, 2007 A Week Chock Full of Art
September is the month when, after a summer lull, the art world
kicks into high gear. And for me, last week turned out to be all art,
all the time, virtually a 24/7 art explosion...
5 min
September 26, 2007 Dirty Money, and Plenty of It
My dear listeners, I have no doubt that most of you are upstanding citizens with unimpeachable moral standards. Therefore, it's with significant trepidation that I must confess to being tempted, and ultimately seduced by, a big bundle of dirty money. And if you think that you would be strong enough to resist the temptation, go ahead and try it for yourself. There is a place in town where a huge mound of silver coins is waiting for you. First you will stare at it in disbelief, then you will want to touch, to fondle, these coins, and then, inevitably, you will find yourself sitting on a pile of this money the way I did...
5 min