East Eats West

How to visit an art museum

Visiting the Museum of Modern Art in New York is an experience in mass art tourism. Very likely you will be viewing Vincent van Gogh or Pablo Picasso over the heads of two dozens Asian tourists or American students. The sheer amount of people visiting the museum is mind-boggling. However, while spending a few hours at the museums I got a feeling of the masses moving through the museum. Due to the size of MOMA visitors would only spend 5-15 seconds in front of a piece of art. This time might be longer in case of the most famous artists like Picasso or Monet, but on average, most art pieces only receive a casual glance. And most visitors would systematically walk through a room, giving most art pieces a quick look. In between visitors would rest on a bench or sit in the garden to recover from the sheer number of paintings on display. How visitors moved reminded me a bit of my time as a night guard when I had to systematically walk through rooms, scanning badges with a handheld device in order to get a proof of my lonely work. Visitors at the MOMA had a similar walking pattern. I do not think this is the best way of appreciating art. So here are some easy rules on how to go about it:

• You can't see everything, so you have to be selective.

• Go for artists you like, not only for big names.

• If you like a piece of art, give yourself a minute or two to suck it in.

• Do not spend longer than sixty minutes viewing art. Anything longer and you will not remember. Better to have a coffee in between or sit in the garden. Viewing art is not a marathon nor is it sightseeing. You do not get any brownie points for viewing all the art that is on display.

• And most importantly: follow your heart. Yes, it is okay not to like a famous artist (in my case Cy Twombly is just not making the cut).

Let me know if you find those hints helpful!

Supreme art at the MOMA in New York

Picture: A visitor in front of Katharina Fritsche sculptures at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

During my stay in New York I visited the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) four times as the art on display is heavenly. I have never in my whole life been to a museum with such an exquisite collection. Apparently many tourists agreed and the museum was flooded with visitors on the weekend. My last visit was on Wednesday after 5pm, half an hour before closing. The difference was profound as most tourists had left. I was able to sit in front of Monet's lily painting for fifteen minutes without anyone interrupting my view. Sublime! 

Visit MOMA's website: www.moma.org

When art meets luxury goods

Picture: An installation from 2004 by the late artist Jason Rhoades. Just recently one of his installation sold for almost one million dollars.

Anyone who thought that the financial and investment crisis of 2008 would have stopped people's appetite for speculation was proven wrong by the meteoric rise of prices in properties, wines and contemporary art. In fact, the art market did not slump a second in the crisis, quite in contrast. The growing number of wealthy and super-wealthy people have shifted their interests from stocks and bonds to paintings and sculptures. Auctions in recent years have been able to trumpet one record result after another. The downside is that art has been commercialized to new heights. It is not uncommon that sought-after artist have to do more than five shows a year in order to satisfy demand. With Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Takashi Murakami taking Andy Warhol's factory idea to new heights, the contemporary art market is resembling more and more the luxury goods market. No wonder that high-end luxury manufacturers like Louis Vuitton have collections designed by artists. I am sure it is only a matter of time before Steve Jobs is declared an artist and iPads are sold as contemporary art!

Zaha Hadid in Zurich

Picture: A mural that also can be had as a table or building.

 Currently Gmurzynska gallery in Zurich is running a spectacular show by Iranian architect and designer Zaha Hadid. It is a must see (don't get deterred by the security staff)! Website: http://www.gmurzynska.com/

 

Seventy years being an artist

Picture: The venerable Swiss artist Gertrud Guyer Wyrsch in her apartment in Berne. 

For a while now I have been hunting for sculptures as I have no more walls to hang paintings. In contrast to paintings sculptures are quite hard to find. I recently got some wooden and metal sculptures by the deceased Swiss artist Eugen Häfelfinger and his medium sized wooden sculpture made me look for more reasonably priced Swiss sculptures. At the last Kunst 09 in Zurich, a local art fair, I finally found what I was looking for: wonderfully simple and abstract sculptures by the Swiss artist Gertrud Guyer Wyrsch. She has a wide range of wooden and metal sculptures that range from distortedly sculpted wooden structures to wooden or metal boxes and to wooden towers (she calls them “stairways to heaven”). Mrs. Guyer has been an artist for over 70 years and she will celebrate her 90^th birthday next year. She still creates art by hand day by day and even has two workshops where she cuts big wooden blocks herself. She is represented by the very charming gallery owner of almost 30 years, Magit Haldemann in Berne.

Here is her website http://www.galeriehaldemann.ch/

 

Need to touch

Picture: A sculpture by Katharina Fritsch

Spending a few hours at the Art Basel confronted me with the sheer size and scope of artistic expression nowadays. The visit left me bewildered and exhausted and I once again how I can judge good art? Then I remembered a definition of art I read recently: good art is about pictures that stick in our heads. Interestingly, the art historian on my guided tour atthe new Katharina Fritsch exhibition in Zurich said that the sculptures of this German artist exactly do that: they stick to the brain. Katharina Fritsch's sculptures are of such a physical presence and superior craftsmanship that one is tempted to touch them. The life-sized sculptors of elephants, skulls, religious sculptors and other animals are covered in one mat color, juxtaposed against a monochromatic print. The result is hypnotizing and a clear sign of an outstanding artist.

You can see the Katharina Fritsch exhibition at the Kunsthaus in Zurich: http://www.kunsthaus.ch/

 

A crisis of sorts in the art world

Picture: An impression from Art Basel. 

This weekend I went to the crowded annual Art Basel art fair in order to get a feel for the state of the art world. I was told by a friend that the preview was packed and also on Sunday plenty of visitors crammed the aisles. At the fair I talked to a few industry insiders and the general opinion is that things have cooled down but some sectors of the art markets are holding up okay. Apparently the formerly red-hot contemporary sector has cooled down considerably. A positive effect of the economical crisis is that art dealers showed some of their best works in Basel. The Zurich based gallery owner Bruno Bischofberger for example displayed only one gigantic art work by Andy Warhol called “Big Retrospective Painting” from 1979. It is almost 11m long and apparently was sold for a “competitive price” of $74m. So prices have come down since last year (the work sold four years ago for $80m). Another good sign is that apparently the very affluent still buy art as they have plenty of money in their banks and the look at art as a safe storage of value. At the same I heard stories of gallery owners firing staff and that some of the big name dealers are apparently sitting on a big pile of debt that they amassed during the boom years. The most uplifting note I heard was by David Signer, the curator of the Swiss Institute in New York. He thinks that the on-going crisis will affect the art world in a positive way as it will highlight craftsmanship and quality, again. 

Cut out of wood

Picture: The Bernese artist Martin Thönen with one of his wood-cuts.  

One of the oldest printing techniques is wood-block printing. This traditional technique is kept alive by Martin Thönen in Berne. He produces limited prints, leporellos, books and calendars. His shop is located in the UNESCO heritage old town of Berne and his operates a little gallery in the massive cellar beneath his work shop.

http://www.martinthoenen.ch/

Buying art or shares?

 Picture: The German sculptor Michael Ball in the Rigassi Gallery in Berne. 

With the world stock market dropping by more than 50 percent since its high last year one can wonder if it had not been more sensible to buy a piece of art instead of investing in shares. For all the ones who want to invest in art instead of shares Mr. Rigassi, a gallery owner in Berne (Switzerland) came up with a neat solution. Hand in your Swiss UBS shares and then you can buy a piece of art for the same price plus a 25 percent bonus on the current share price. Sounds too good to be true? Do not think that you are given cheap art in return for cheap UBS shares. Mr. Rigassi for example represents the upraising German sculptor Michael Ball who produces amazingly fragile bronze sculptures. But be aware: the art market is also in for a big rehash and the first cracks have already appeared at autumn auctions in New York and London. Check out their websites here:

http://www.michaelball.de/

http://www.swissart.net/rigassi/

Rusty heavy metal

 Picture: Rusty iron sculptures illuminated by Christmas lightings.

My interest in sculptures was reignited last year when I bought a small metal sculpture by the Swiss artist Eugen Häfelfinger. But I guess my interest in metal sculptures goes way back to my childhood days when I admired the amazing rambling machines by Swiss artist Jean Tinguely. Another Swiss sculptor, who is still alive, is James Licini. He produces strict, heavy and rectangular sculptures from metal profiles in various sizes. One intriguing aspect of his outdoor sculptures is that they rust in the most beautiful way, adding a finite touch to his works of arts. Until the 30th of November his man-sized sculptures can be seen in the garden of the Hotel Baur au Lac in Zurich.

http://www.bauraulac.ch/index.html