I’m finding myself rather mute during this political season in the U.S. I think I’ve grown tired of the hype in the presidential elections. I have a friend who says simply that to really change anything politically in the U.S. one must start first at home in ones own community, ones own city, ones own county and finally in ones own state. What happens at the national level is so complicated by party politics, compromise and even corruption that nothing you hear will be true. Most of it is just hype to get elected. I agree that little happens from the top down.

My friend has another question that always follows this suggestion. Do you know whom the candidates are who are running for school board, city council, and state representative in your district or governor? Do you know who is running for Sates Attorney General, Clerk of courts or who will be on the committee at the state level to fund or defund your local arts council?

I’ve heard a lot of people complaining about those who believe in the other political party. They always say things like I can’t believe those people actually think that way and much worse. Funny thing is when people are not thinking politics they do pretty much the same things, make pretty much the same decisions and mistakes in life affected little by their political beliefs. Most people in this country are nearer the middle than the extremes yet we have been so polarized by campaign promises and slogan and mud all designed to get you to vote for one party or the other. I’m guilty of some of these things myself…well and so is my friend whose wisdom I’m speaking of. We all are. We must remember that most of our political beliefs are just that…beliefs, theories, faith in something we were taught or think we’ve come to realize in our lives as a truth. The problem with truths are that they are so often defined by our limited point of view.

No one is going to convince a Democrat or a Republican to vote for the other party. Too late for that. Too many decisions have already lead them to their beliefs. So don’t waste your breath trying to convince and convert. Art that becomes propaganda does the same thing. Very little art that has political content converts anyone. Art may support the beliefs of those who believe the same thing and that may be worth the effort. But the funny thing about art is that it can be read from both sides and interpreted to mean things other than intended. Personally I like work that cuts both ways and speaks to many points of view.

So if you are a U. S. citizen I encourage you to vote. But between now and election day do make some effort to do some research on the candidates in your vicinity. Know who they are and what they stand for. Then, if you find one or another who stands for the things you believe in vote for them rather than just pulling a party lever behind the curtain. Make an informed decision and change things on the local level.
Eventually it will have an impact at the national level. And be aware of those issues that will affect you as an artist. Bring these issues before your local congress and other authorities. Write letters, send e-mails. And pay attention to the way things are written…the devil is in the details.

Created by Walter King On 09/25/08 At 08:38 AM

Although I have already done so in previous blogs usually I would prefer not to talk about my paintings, because the meaning that I attach to them is then transformed over time in the eyes of the spectator, into the thoughts of those who imagine something that the painter has not conceived, but which is still a perfectly legitimate way of interpreting the painting. Despite this, since I have recently spent a good deal of time reconstructing the meaning of my work (a reasonable task you will probably agree for an artist who will be eighty very soon) in this blog I will describe how almost twenty years ago I came to create a group of paintings (reproduced here alongside the blog) which I consider quite significant to understanding not only how my own work but also how a painting is born and how from this others may unexpectedly come into being.

In 1992, or the years before, there was the implosion of the Soviet Union and the end of hope for an ideology that had affected the whole first half of this century and a conspicuous portion of the second half. Many people had believed in this ideology, the first great socialist revolution of the world. This idea of revolution was common place, the home of the thoughts, justice, and ideas that a great revolution promises. However, we know that all revolutions are unfortunately destined to be betrayed and, in the end, lead to corruption, fear and abandonment by the very people who had believed in them. And then I imagined a painting in red like the red flag of Communism, where the star is still visible, but everything is smashed and distorted. To create this painting I examined the painting of De Kooning in depth, because it seemed to me that, through those broken and continuous structures, I could more profoundly express the significance of this crisis. A man in the foreground, like a ­­­black silhouette, is leaving with a pair of suitcases, and the title is perhaps an indication to help understand the meaning.

Going where? I immediately made another painting in this cycle still concerned with the same problem: Going where? Goodbye to the red house which also has writing going across the top of the house, in almost Cyrillic characters. Here, too, a man with suitcases is leaving this house, which is, perhaps, the house of his hopes and dreams. Then the subject became dilated and no longer concerned the fall, the implosion of Communism, but the destiny of man. So then, immediately afterwards, or, in some cases, even before this painting, I painted green paintings with men in a landscape or looking down from a terrace, and who seem to be lost in contemplation, all entitled Going where?, almost as though Man is in a critical, temporary situation and is searching for an identity inside a labyrinth, represented in this case by the natural world. This could have been a great moment, a problem set out before modern Man that he has to resolve, but as to how, that is a mystery.

Then I made a very large painting, two meters by two meters thirty-five, entitled The game, more fantastic, or rather, more mysterious, in which I borrowed from Cézanne the silhouette of the two card players, while on the right a man looks as if he wants to know how this game is going to end. It is a red painting which, even if the characters’ silhouettes were not so clear, could be exhibited just for its background, almost like an abstract painting.

Alberto Sughi
For more info on Alberto Sughi see. www.albertosughi.com

Created by Alberto Sughi On 09/18/08 At 09:46 AM

The CAPC museum of contemporary art is a museum of international reputation, at the heart of the Chartrons district of Bordeaux, in an old colonial warehouse. As it celebrates its 35th birthday, I thought it necessary to give people the rundown of this brilliant and inspirational museum.

All art: the CAPC is intent on showing all different forms of art, whether it be dance, music, visual art or architecture. While concentrating on visual arts, the idea is to present a panorama of all contemporary art to the public.

Building: the warehouse in which the CAPC is housed is as much a part of the history of the museum as the events that bring it to life: for an artist in the 80’s or 90’s, the CAPC was an incontrovertible stage in his career.

Charlotte Laubard: the new director of the CAPC since October 2006. Since her arrival, the pace has quickened and the museum has started to live once again, after several years of lost identity and questioning.

Daniel Buren: one of the most dazzling and well-remembered interventions in the great nave; by placing mirrors on the floor of the building, and adding his well-known black and white stripes around some of the archways, you completely lost your bearings when entering the museum.

Entrepôt Lainé: the name of this colonial warehouse in which the CAPC has its home since 1974. After its role of stocking vanilla, coffee and chocolate in the 19th century, the building was gradually abandoned and only barely saved from destruction in the 1960’s, to house the Festival Sigma.

Festival Sigma: Roger Lafosse’s beacon for contemporary art in Bordeaux in the 60’s and 70’s. An internationally renowned event that laid the way for the creation of the CAPC in 1973.

Galleries: around the central nave, the building is made up of several galleries and smaller areas which enable the museum to show more than one exhibition at the same time and to multiply the events.

Henri-Claude Cousseau: now director of the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. He directed the CAPC from 1996 to 2001, trying to follow in Jean-Louis Froment’s huge footsteps

Intelligence: one of the main qualities that comes from the CAPC’s exhibitions is the intelligence with which they are thought up and proposed to the public.

Jean-Louis Froment: the genial and visionary creator of the CAPC. After 23 years at the head of the museum, the growing tension with the municipal authority became too much and he left his “baby” to explore other lands.

Kounellis, Klein, Kiefer, Koons, Kawara, Kelley, Kosuth, Kapoor, Kienholz, Kingelez: some of the major artists from all over the world that have been shown in the CAPC.

Local: at the same time as displaying major international artists, the CAPC encourages local creation by providing space, time and support for young artists of the region.

Maurice Fréchuret: another name to know for this building. The director from 2001 to 2006, organising many landmark exhibitions, like Les Années 70 : l’art en cause, or Hors D’œuvre : ordres et désordres de la nourriture.

Nave: the most striking thing about the CAPC is the huge nave of 1000m2 in which many artists have worked and experimented: Gilbert & George, Richard Serra, Jim Dine, Mario Merz, Keith Haring amongst many others.

Originality is another of the CAPC’s qualities. Not only does the art have to adapt to its magnificent premises, but the choice of artists, as well as the curating of the shows, are anything but banal.

Présence Panchounette: the Bordeaux collective (1969-1990) around which the summer exhibitions of 2008 are based. Humour and irony mixed with experimentation, kitsch and ready-mades: not to miss.

Quote in 1996 by Jean-Louis Froment: “the museum is putting itself forward as a rare place for experimentation – a sort of inter-human laboratory, a platform for proposals that actually risk undermining its status.”1

Returning, since the arrival of the Charlotte Laubard in 2006, to the roots of what made the success of the institution: informing and heightening the awareness of the public to contemporary art, while remaining in a position of the utmost quality and relevance.

Sensitisation: one of the main challenges of the CAPC is to bring art to the public, by helping them understand and appropriate the different artworks, thus contributing to the life and culture of Bordeaux and its surroundings.

Transverse: by mixing and combining, by dabbling and experimenting, the CAPC asserts itself as a major institution presenting transverse art and creation.

Unpredictable: for the choice of artists, for the risk-taking with young creators, for the presentation of eclectic and interesting events.

Vie, as the French for “life”. Indeed, the museum is starting to breathe again after a couple of difficult years, and the place is steadily being brought back to life, thanks to the dedication of the staff and the loyalty of the public.

Wood, brick and stone: the three main materials used to build this magnificent building. Wood of Oregon pine, clay brick and white stone from Bourg-sur-Gironde: a combination of simple materials that add to the magnificence of the place.

Xylophone: because you always put the word “xylophone” for one starting with the letter X…

Youth: the CAPC wishes to show young and interesting artists, helping them gain visibility, while placing a bet on the new generation.

Zany: not only are the exhibitions intelligent, original and unpredictable, there is also a slightly zany and colourful side to the events, that attracts more and more people into the Entrepôt Lainé.

Hoping I made you want to go and visit the CAPC…!
CAPC musée d’art contemporain, Entrepôt Lainé, 7 rue Ferrère, 33000 Bordeaux

Created by Alice Cavender On 08/25/08 At 09:20 AM