Modart » basel

Beautiful Struggle by Smash137

Janina Hübner — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:55:56 +0000

An unusual title for an exhibition and for the new paintings of SMASH137. Monochrome areas nestle up against each other, to break up unexpectedly.
Multicolored lines bind together to lose and find each other again. Beams like handholds create a structure rich in contrast. A blaze of color, exploding right before us in time. Nevertheless the paintings look well-balanced. Some of them have a center, others a counterbalance. To the viewer the works look like a continual coming and going.

The paintings and writings of SMASH137 are powerful and dynamic operations. Colors are forces and to paint means to be constantly in a high-energy situation and wrestle with these forces. We will understand the correlation of energies better if we know the process of their development.

SMASH137 works on several paintings at the same time. Using similar colors, the paintings look like a sequence of forms. Sometimes we see a progression in the dynamic, sometimes a counterpoint or a backlash. The balance is hidden somewhere in this process full of confrontations. And the aim is to create harmony synchronous with the highest tension. But where are the limits of the painting? And when they are attained? Although color is something which is perceived differently by everyone, we all can feel the power of SMASH137 when he is creating a new piece. But what is the effect, the impact on the beholder? Viewing means to understand a flow of moments which together create the happening of perception.

Therefore the fight of SMASH137 with the forces of forms and colors constitutes the complex reality which we can find in his work. Or in the words of Sun Tzu: „The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.“ Our own experiences with life‘s struggles help us understand the power of harmony which SMASH137 gives us.So the title of the show can be both: the everlasting and painful struggle of the artist for aesthetic quality and the beauty of the strategic fight itself, the „art of war“.

Harald Kraemer for the Smash137 catalogue “beautiful Struggle” may 2012 at Speerstra Gallery.

SMASH 137 at Gallerie Celal – Paris, France

Janina Hübner — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:55:19 +0000

Our friend Smash just finished his “Grow Up!” exhibition in Paris.
You can see the video and his latest artworks right now…

In 1990, Smash137 discovers spray cans. He never left them since. His signature becomes for him a self-portrait, which he paints with style and precision across the world. Keen globetrotter and strict painter in his studio, this artist is quickly seen as one of the leaders of the graffiti movement. The museum of fine arts of Basel, his hometown, recognized his worth and invited him to exhibit as soon as 1997. His work then grows up between calligraphy and abstraction, in a very intimate and spontaneous approach of paper and canvas. In the 2000s, he enters galleries and museums of Australia, Mexico, the USA, Germany and France.
Grow up! That is the phrase Smash137 heard so often from the mouths of his parents, from the girls he loved, and from some of his friends when he was going out to paint, his backpack bursting with spray paint. Today, things have changed a bit…

VIP ART FAIL

Lori — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 06:58:38 +0000

So, it’s up. The world’s first “online art fair.” What do you think?

I’ve been browsing it for the last half hour. I would’ve done so earlier today, or yesterday, but the site was…. down. FAIL! I suppose that is the real life equivalent of, hmmm, building power outage? Art fairs themselves have only recently become an accepted and must-do event. A one stop shop for art lovers, where a collector can go to just one place (or city, as the satellite fairs are growing), rather than having to travel the world to visit all the participants. But now, are we even lazier? Do we want to do all of this in the privacy of our own homes? And do digital galleries suffice to experiencing art in person?

I personally send out a consignments email every so often to a list of clients. Who in turn ask questions, then if I am lucky, purchase art works site unseen, based solely on descriptions, jpegs and reputation (of the artist and myself). I’ve noticed over the years that many people are comfortable doing business in this way. We are used to buying clothing, books, gifts and perfumes online. We pay our bills online, communicate to our families, take classes and ask our crushes out on dates via Facebook rather than in person. It has become something that just seems “natural” at this point, and saves time- as I’d rather order books while eating lunch and browsing Amazon, as opposed to getting on the train and spending an hour browsing through Strand. (wait, that sounds sort of lovely, but in my current world of hustling to try to get my own business started, that hour is precious).

So why not art, even though it is something that is supposed to be so visceral, something that we have an emotional reaction to, or (according to Wikipedia) “is the product or process of deliberately arranging symbolic elements in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect”? Do we really not even need to experience art to, experience art?

Of course art fairs themselves bring on mixed feelings. They can be trade show-y. Booth after booth after cube of the same shit. Pushy sales people hustling instead of hiding behind their usual art world pretension. But also, there are also the galleries and groups that go above that, who take advantage of the unique grouping of international visitors and exhibitors, and do things to wow us and set themselves apart from the rest. I’ve always had favorites that I remember for years after year, and they are always the ones who have the more experiential booths.

So, is that possible with a virtual art fair? The VIP (View in Private) Fair is “open” to the public. Anyone can create an account and sign on, browse the galleries and the art. There are some major hard hitters on there- I saw Duchamp’s LHOOQ , pieces by Rirkrit Tiravanija, Elizabeth Peyton, Cory Archangel ,Wim Devoye, a Duane Hanson (The Teenager) which I saw at Art Basel Miami 2009. They “price range” is available- for the Duchamp it’s a vague $250,000-$500,000. But to contact a gallery, it’ll cost you, unless you have a pass. There is a chat feature, which didn’t work all day. In fact I just received an email (at 12:35 am) explaining that they are trying to make the chat feature work, hopefully tomorrow. But do I care? So, I’ve been able to see a bunch of jpegs online. Can’t I do that already? Aside from the experiential facet of seeing a piece of art in person, part of the thrill and attraction to the art world is the cast of characters one gets to engage in their lives. Hell, that is a major part of why I’m involved in it, I’ve met so many interesting, smart and fun people through art- cut that out, and its just buying and selling. Where is the fun in that?

Maybe this virtual fair idea is suitable for the investor type buyers, who treat art as they do stocks. But I’d rather have endless blisters from walking the whole of Basel in inappropriate heels with a wicked hang over from Miami’s only dive bar while simultaneously avoiding certain people/looking for friends in a sea of box after box of art while carrying an overpriced plastic flute of champagne than sit on my couch in my quitter’s pajamas (as I am now) while watching Friends and surf a “virtual fair”. BORING.

YouTube drawings – The Star Wars Kid

No New Enemies — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 11:39:42 +0000

Without You Baby There Ain’t No Us, is a project from Swiss Artists Admir Jahic and Comenius Roethlisberger (The Invisible Heroes). The most recent work in this project, spoke of crisis by referring to passion and absurd commitment to a joyous idea; the same sort of brilliant display that unfortunately caused the Star Wars Kid some pain (where as in exchange he made millions of people smile.) For this installation, Jahic and Roethlisberger recreated 604 rendered frames from this YouTube phenomenon, all of which will be on display at the Scope Art Fair in Basel as of Monday June 8th, 2009.

More Project Info at: withoutyoubaby.com and nonewenemies.net