Art Positions 2012
written by Peter Duhon and Nathalie Zwimpfer in Miami BeachCategorized by Art Basel as a platform for discovering new talent from across the globe, Art Positions delivers on that promise by presenting 16 artists spanning 10 countries. While in South Beach, Art Comments surveyed the works on display and we've short listed 5 of the artists for our readers to bookmark.
Latoya Ruby Frazier
Recently participated in the Whitney Biennial 2012 with much acclaim. Represented here at Art Basel by the Parisian space, Galerie Michel Rein. Her work is at once personal and political, she doesn't hesitate to critique the ill effects of industrialism and its proponents, for example, Andrew Carnegie and his legacy.
Of the photographs on display, one series charts and documents the destructive course of a non-profit organization that is currently leading the charge in destroying community centers and hospitals in Pittsburgh, PA.
The documentation of erasure and displacement by Latoya Ruby Frazier continues her ongoing investigations and critique of capitalism that initially began with intimate, familial photographs.
Latoya Ruby Frazier
Aslı Çavuşoğlu
Turkish artist Aslı Çavuşoğlu, represented by NON, a gallery based in Istanbul, is well known for her recent project Murder in Three Acts presented at Frieze London 2012. At Art Positions there are two separate work series exhibited in the booth. One of which that stood out is the Pawnbroker series that consists of 9 photograms that mostly show sets of jewelry.
Aslı Çavuşoğlu’s work is important because it deals with Turkey’s rather turbulent history and especially the Ottoman nostalgia that has been spread over the country in the last few years. However, Aslı Çavuşoğlu’s work does not only focus on the country’s history but also deals with research and it’s difficulties that evolve due to historical events.
Aslı Çavuşoğlu
Irene Kopelman
Amsterdam based artist Irene Kopelman explores the relationship between art and research. In a previous project Kopelman has focused on sameness and difference in the context of zoology, more precisely in entomology. Her work deals with the difficulties of taxonomy and how complex phenomena are put in a tight system by simplification.
At Art Positions Irene Kopelman is represented by the LABOR gallery. The exhibition consists of several watercolor paintings and one work made of numerous pieces of fired clay presented on the booth’s floor. The work shows the practice of the notion of scientific models through visual means.
Kopelman’s work has a big importance for the current, ongoing discourse of the relationship between art and science and how the methods of research in each field can be applied on one another.
Irene Kopelman
Leyla Cardenas
Based in Bogotá and represented there by Casas Riegner, Leyla Cardenas engages with the remnants and artifacts of destruction, the seen and unseen, the visible and invisible. Her found object and sculpture on display, Excision, are an example of a process that mirrors that of an archeologist since she procures fragments such as walls, ceilings and floors to produce her work.
Her work embodies the failures of modernization, a reminder of the harsh realities produced by urban renewal and redevelopment in Bogotá but also globally.
Leyla Cardenas
Atsushi Kaga
Japanese artist Atsushi Kaga is presented by Irish gallery Mother’s Tankstation at Art Positions. His paintings and drawings show different scenes involving cartoon-like characters he created. On all his work, cute-looking fluffy bunnies, bears and other amusing creatures discuss the frailties of human existence charged with cynicism and humor.
Kaga activates the booth by co-opting it as a production studio where visitors can see him and his mother working to create art, custom handbags branded with his fictional characters.
Visit Atsushi’s visually highly appealing website where each character receives it’s own space: http://www.atsushikaga.com/
Atsushi Kaga
Art Basel Miami
December 5 - 9, 2012
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