Art Athina 2008

A taste of the opening night at the VIP lounge and this year's Garage Project, which is curated by Marina Fokidis who focused on local artistic production.

The Art Athina Art Talks featured discussions between art professionals on various subjects, such as narcissism, ownership, consumption and criticism. Among the participating speakers were Catherine David and Christian Viveros-Faune.

Helena Papadopoulou of Nice & Fit gallery; Clare Kenny of MarcdePuechredon gallery; Myrtia Nikolakopoulou of Qbox gallery; Sylvia Kouvali of Rodeo; Monitor video & Contemporary art gallery; Laura Bartlett gallery; Balice Hertling gallery; George Georgakopoulos of Cheapart; The Breeder; Tristesse deluxe gallery; Standard gallery and Upstairs Berlin gallery.

"Lion Under the Rainbow: Art from Tehran" curated by Alexandros Georgiou organized by D.ART opening reception on Saturday, May 24th

"M12" Mission Impossible 2 @ K44Saturday, May 24th
participating artists: Loukia Alavanou, Emanuel Almborg, alssopp&weir, Dafni Barbageorgopoulou, Antonakis Christodoulou, Anastasia Douka, Dimitris Ioannou, Maria Karantzi, Yaron Lapid, Theo Michael, Alexandra Navratil, Christodoulos Panayiotou, Theo Prodromidis, Raymond Taudin Chabot, Giorgos Tsalamanis, Conrad Ventur, Zoe Zillion Curated by Konstantinos Dagritzikos

posted by
Georgia Kotretsos
boots agent/Editor-in-chief

ART ATHINA

Reporting from Art Athina, last night at the opening of the fair I met with friends, colleagues and got to see some great art. Staytuned... next week I'll fill you in with artworks, galleries and faces. Peace!

Georgia Kotretsos
boots agent/Editor-in-chief

May ‘68 Film Series at CAMSTL

For three evenings in May, the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis will host a series of double features that center on a critical moment in French history when the cultural and political reverberations were felt across the globe. Spurred by the successful Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the suppression of the Prague Spring, the rise of Euro-communism, and the Algerian crisis, the May ‘68 events in Paris belonged to a broad swath of social unrest that cut across Europe, Asia, and North America in the sixties—all of which yielded lasting political impact. From Jean-Luc Godard’s prophetic visions of revolt, to the oppositional politics of Paris’ young filmmakers, to the rapid transformation in the US from dream to disillusionment, each film registers a spirit of dissent that cannot be forgotten four decades later. The Contemporary is especially pleased to present a special screening of Serge Bard’s rarely seen 35 mm print of Fun and Games for Everyone (1968), featuring current exhibiting artist Olivier Mosset.

Thursday evenings in May (beginning May 15) at 6:00 pm & 8:00 pm.

May 15, Politics and Poetry: Jean-Luc Godard in the Sixties6:00 pm: Le Petit Soldat (Jean-Luc Godard, 1961/1963, France)8:00 pm: La Chinoise (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967, France)

May 22, A Cinéaste’s Revolution: Filmmaking in 1968 Paris6:00 pm: Fun and Games for Everyone (featuring Olivier Mosset, directed by Serge Bard, 1968, France)8:00 pm: The Society of the Spectacle/La Société du Spectacle, (Guy Debord, 1973, France)

May 29, Let it Bleed: the Death of the Sixties Across the Pond6:00 pm: Gimme Shelter (David Maysles, Albert Maysles & Charlotte Zwerin, 1970, USA)8:00 pm: Zabriskie Point (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1970, USA)

The Netherlands meets Boots in the Heartland

Van Abbemuseum is working on an exhibition about the Heartland.

Press release
March 2008

Heartland is multi-dimensional project in Eindhoven featuring existing and newly commissioned art works and an international music programme called Into the Heart of Music. The project is dedicated to art and music that emerges out of the area’s rich cultural and geographic diversity. The programme also includes a series of debates and lectures, two publications, an artists-in residency programme and various special projects with local and international partners. It is the first time that a project of this scope has been initiated in Eindhoven. The official premiere / opening is scheduled for 3 and 4 October in Eindhoven where the project will run until 25 January 2009. After that, part of the exhibition will travel to Chicago. The collaboration between the Van Abbemuseum and the Smart Museum promises to combine insider and outsider perspectives on visual culture in the region in which individual artworks will be related to each other while being able to speak clearly about particular cultural, social and natural phenomena.

Why heartland? The image that we in the Netherlands have of the US is mainly the result of media reports coming from the major cities on the East and West coasts, as well as the main trade centres of the US. With Heartland, we want to steer away from these positive and negative clichés. The Heartland, the interior of the US on the banks of the Mississippi and its tributaries, has seen many crucial historical developments. With its diverse indigenous and immigrant cultures, the ‘delta’ is a benchmark for the country’s multilayered identity. It has become an intriguing mix of old and new traditions, where it seems that the social and political climate is largely determined by religion and race. Examples that have touched the region in significant ways include the population’s steady move westward, the Civil Rights Movement, the ebb and flow of the many waves of religiosity and its constant development as a major economic force. These factors have found their way into the art and culture produced in the region or commissioned for this exhibition. The Heartland project also coincides with the next US presidential elections and will inevitably form a artistic and musical counterpoint to the non-stop media coverage of politicians and reporters.

Check out the museum's web site
and read more about exhibition on the Heartland blog

Robert Rauschenberg-Dies at 82

Pour a little something out for the Combines. Up Above!

"I don't think of myself as making art. I do what I do because I want to, because painting is the best way I've found to get along with myself."
(Robert Rauschenberg)

Robert Rauschenberg - Erased De Kooning

Contemporary art never tasted so good in the STL

" the exhibition represents neither a curated two- person show nor two independent, solo exhibitions. Instead, it proposes an active juxtaposition of parallel (and opposite) artistic approaches, where artworks act as obstacles, and obstacles act as artworks."

Plus, that was one hell of a John Armleder cookie.

Boot Print Update from Editor-in-chief Georgia Kotretsos

Boot Print Volume 2/Issue 1 is currently on my desktop. Next stop will be Bryan in San Francisco, where BP will be designed into the publication you all know. Right afterwards will go to New York for an intense proof-reading session with Joe, then to Tim in Chicago to be double checked, to me in Athens, Greece to be triple-checked and then it will be uploaded on our website and will be sent off to the printer in St. Louis.

Regarding art publications, “Kaput” (www.kaput.gr) came out with its 1st promising issue. It focuses on contemporary Greek art and beyond. Also, yesterday afternoon at the Papasotiriou bookstore “The state of things” open discussion on the shaping of the Athenian visual arts scene in recent years took place. Organized by the Athens Biennial and moderated by Xenia Kalpaktsoglou (co-director, Athens Biennial and curator) the invited guests namely:
Nadja Argyropoulou (curator)
Christopher Marinos (art historian, curator and co-editor of Kaput. magazine)
Thanos Stathopoulos (writer and co-editor of Kaput. magazine)
Efi Strousa (art historian and President of the Association of Art Critics, AICA Hellas)
Yorgos Tzirtzilakis (Assistant Professor, University of Thessaly, Department of Architecture and curator)
Denys Zacharopoulos (art historian and artistic director of the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki)
Augustine Zenakos (co-director, Athens Biennial and art critic, To Vima newspaper) had a go at the subject at stake. Great setting; good turnout; could’ve been longer.

So, all the way from here, Athens that is, stay tuned on the progress of BP. It will be reaching you all by the end of June.

Big weekend in the STL

Kicking off the weekend this Friday at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis is the first exhibition organized by new Chief Curator Anthony Huberman. JOHN ARMLEDER and OLIVIER MOSSET

On Saturday our friends over at White Flag Projects are having a very special event, BENDOVER/HANGOVER: AN EVENING WITH CINEMA ZERO, organized by Amy Granat. For one night only White Flag Projects will introduce an unprecedented assembly of fast-rising national and international artists to the St. Louis art audience, including four artists featured in the current Whitney Biennial.

Its going to be a Face Melting Weekend!!

Boots Summer Break

Boots Contemporary Art Space is happy to launch its News Blog. The News Blog will have up to date news events, behind the scenes on exhibitions/projects and will post on contemporary art issues locally, nationally and internationally. We hope you enjoy.

Juan William Chavez
artist/director

Boots Contemporary Art Space had one hell of a busy year. We're going to use the summer break to update and organize the web site, catch up on paper work, put the finishing touches on next year's exhibition lineup, and print Boot Print Vol. 2 / Issue 1. For the summer, and for all those who could not make it to any of our exhibitions, Boots Contemporary Art Space presents: FLASHBACK

This exhibition will highlight artists from all of Boots' past two years of exhibitions and projects. Works from past exhibitions will include: Pedestrian Project, Whoop Dee Doo: Beating Dead Horses, Slinger, and A Perfect World. Also on view will be a Boot Print reading station, and video footage from the Silverio concert at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Feel free to stop by and visit up during regular hours
Sat and Sun Noon to 5pm