DOUGLAS GORDON'S EXHIBITION "PHANTOM"

Douglas Gordon is one of the most highly regarded British video-artists and the first to win the Turner prize. Using film and video as a means to experiment with identity and the mechanics of memory, his work abstracts film images to provide an alternative experience of human observation. In the artist’s sixth exhibition at the Yvon Lambert gallery in Paris, Phantom features three autobiographical installations. A half destroyed neon work titled Unfinished, featuring the words “I am the centre of the world”, and a series of four hundred framed works - an open diary of Douglas’ personal belongings – delves into the dark depths of the artists vulnerability through the objectification in their exposure. Phantom – the main body of this collective, is a collaborative work with singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. Surrounded by mirrors and a grand piano, a video of Wainwright’s eye plays in darkness, inviting observers to question the fragmented and torturous nature of self.

Phantom, Yvon Lambert, 108 rue Vieille-du-Temple, 75003, Paris, until June 3

NEW MUSEUM GALA

Gilbert and George
Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg

Amanda Gordon of Bloomberg reports: There were many happy pairs at the New Museum Spring Gala in Manhattan’s financial district last night. The couples garnering the most attention were the event’s honorees: collectors Gael Neeson and Stefan Edlis and the artists Gilbert & George, who have been working, dressing and talking in sync since the 1960s. The duos accepted their awards at a Lucite lectern. “We are so happy that we are smiling at both ends,” Gilbert & George said in unison. The party, on the 45th floor of 7 World Trade Center, brought in $1.3 million. Sotheby’s, auctioned off a photographic portrait-sitting with Chuck Close for $250,000. The 33 collages that Josh Smith made for the gala, some of which were exhibited next to a red carpet as guests arrived, sold out.

LE JARDIN MAJORELLE, MARRAKECH

Amidst the bustling, eclectic ambience of the souks & kasbahs of Marrakech stands one of North Africa’s most diverse, abundant gardens – the JARDIN MAJORELLE – a tranquil haven conceived by the artist Jacques Majorelle in 1924. Opened to the public in 1947 and acquired by the fashion designer YVES SAINT LAURENT and his partner PIERRE BERGÉ in 1980, the garden remains a public attraction today – offering a rare glimpse into this rich and intriguing fusion of traditional and European design of the early 20th century. The 1931 villa nestled within the grounds is rendered in a rich cerulean blue (a customary local color that was henceforth labelled ‘bleu majorelle’ after the artist’s liberal use of the tone attracted international attention). Originally drawn up by architect Paul Sinoir as ‘the blue workshop’, the building currently houses the Islamic Art Museum.

Ai Weiwei is investigated by Chinese police for 'economic crimes'

Authorities acknowledge police action against artist but still no word about his friend, Wen Tao.
An ominous editorial in the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper stated, “Ai Weiwei . . . has been close to the red line of Chinese law. As long as Ai Weiwei continuously marches forward, he will inevitably touch the red line one day.” “Ai Weiwei will be judged by history, but he will pay a price for his special choice,” it added. The newspaper also hinted that Ai had infringed the law by attempting to fly from Hong Kong to Taiwan without completing his “departure procedures.” Chinese citizens require a special permit to visit the island. Ai's friends said Ai had steeled himself for such an outcome after years of criticizing the government. Hao Guang, a fellow artist in Beijing, said Ai “has known for a long time this day was coming.”

AI WEIWEI'S NEW YORK PROJECT TO GO ON

A large-scale public art project by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, to occupy the Pulitzer Fountain outside the Plaza Hotel starting early next month, will go forward even if Ai, who was detained by the Chinese authorities on Sunday, is unable to be present, reports Robin Pogrebin for the New York Times. Ai’s twelve-piece sculpture, Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads, is scheduled to be displayed from May 2 and through July 15 at Fifty-Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. It is the first major outdoor exhibition to be presented on the site of the fountain, according to the organizers. The installation was inspired by the fabled fountain-clock of the Yuanming Yuan, an eighteeth-century imperial retreat just outside Beijing. Designed by two European Jesuit missionaries at the behest of the Manchu Emperor Qianlong, the clock featured each animal of the Chinese zodiac spouting water at two-hour intervals. In 1860 French and British troops ransacked the Yuanming Yuan, pillaging the heads. Seven of them—the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, horse, monkey and boar—have since been located. In a series of interviews for a book about the project, Ai said New York was particularly suited to his sculpture. “It’s not one kind of people,” he said, adding that its residents came from all over the world and included many minorities. “It’s a zodiac city.”
"But because Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads is animal heads, I think it’s something that everyone can have some understanding of, including children and people who are not in the art world. I think it’s more important to show your work to the public. That’s what I really care about. When Andy Warhol painted Mao in the 1960s and 1970s, I don’t think many people understood Mao, either—it was just this image that people knew, like Marilyn Monroe or somebody. So they might see these zodiac animals like that—like Mickey Mouse. They’re just animals. Eleven real animals and one mystic animal." Ai Weiwei

AI WEIWEI STILL MISSING

Ai Weiwei, detained by the Chinese authorities and unreachable since 3 April, has joined a select band of artists who have risked everything for their ideals. Ai Weiwei joins a select band of artists who have risked everything for ideals. Michelangelo was arguably the first dissident artist when he created fortifications for the revolutionary republic of Florence in 1529: in fact, he and Ai Weiwei have something in common as artists who work on a grand public scale. You could call the floor of the Tate Turbine Hall a modern equivalent of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, in both fame and impact. In the 19th century, the tough realist painter Gustave Courbet joined the Paris commune and died in exile for his ideals: again, like Ai Weiwei and Michelangelo, he was a charismatic personality who seemed too big to be brought down. But he was cruelly punished. Will Ai Weiwei be a Courbet or a Michelangelo? While the Communard painter was ruined by his political enemies, Michelangelo was spared and allowed to carry on working and enjoying his success after the defeat of the Florentine rebellion – he really was too big to hurt. We have to hope that the state will release Ai Weiwei and his fame will continue to protect him. Whatever happens, he is that rare thing: the artist as moral and political hero. Britain, the United States and the European Union, as well as leading figures in the art world, have joined the growing international outcry over his detention and Beijing's wider crackdown on dissidents and activists. Ai's wife, Lu Qing, told Reuters: "This time it's extremely serious. They searched his studio and took discs and hard drives and all kinds of stuff, but the police haven't told us where he is or what they're after."
Excerpt: The Guardian