Pascual Sisto at the Istanbul Modern

Significant and Insignificant Events.

Exhibition at the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art 

May 26th - Aug 16th

Curated by Paolo Colombo.

www.istanbulmodern.org

This exhibition explores the meaning of events deeply steeped in military pageantry, that can appear to the viewer as bearers of lofty significance and value, and a number of apparently random and puzzling events, which are in fact loaded with hidden meaning. Through the juxtaposition of the works of three artists, Amar Kanwar, Shahzia Sikander and Pascual Sisto, this program suggests that events that are rooted in tradition and in courtly spectacles follow similar modes and rituals of anodyne events (as one can gather from the procession of joggers and cyclists in Pascual Sisto’s Beneath the Paving Stones the Beach and the retinue of army bands in Shahzia Sikander’s Bending the Barrel.) 

The title of this exhibition is culled from a sentence that overlays an image of a Pakistani army band in Shazia Skander’s latest video, Bending the Barrel.

Fernando Sanchez on Flavorpill

The performances and video, audio, and sculptural installations of LA-based artist Fernando Sanchez are often as sparse and DIY as it gets; favoring grainy images, unframed photographs, cardboard pedestals, and limited post-production fanciness, Sanchez opts to focus more on the contents' premises and a naughty sense of humor. A perennial subject of his work is the ruthless deconstruction and rampant substitution of identities — for example, students assume the personas of gangsta rappers to examine the nature of power. In the web-based series LA Art Sucks, meanwhile, Sanchez disguised himself as a disgruntled amateur critic and posted his rantings. – Shana Nys Dambrot
http://flavorpill.com/losangeles/events/2009/4/4/fernando-sanchez

Connie Samaras @ Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, NZ

Antarctica: Joyce Cambell, Anne Noble, Connie Samaras

8 May - 20 June, 2009

Antarctica brings together work by Joyce Campbell, Anne Noble, and Connie Samaras on the subject of Antarctica, the most extreme continent on the planet. Artist residencies enabled each of them to photograph and experience firsthand the severe and almost inhuman conditions. Each artist's work approaches the subject with differing yet overlapping frameworks, creating a transcultural dialogue that seeks to de-exoticise a landscape that has been romanticised, idealised, and made epic.

http://www.creative.auckland.ac.nz/uoa/home/about/art-collection-and-galleries/gus-fisher-gallery/events/template/event_item.jsp?cid=114837

Jeffrey Wells in LA Times

Review: Jeffrey Wells at De Soto Gallery

10:45 AM, March 6, 2009

Jeffrey Wells is a bit of a trickster, interested in the porous boundary between perception and deception. He has a sense of humor reminiscent of Bruce Nauman and a curiosity about visual processing akin to the Light and Space artists of the 1970s.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/03/review-jeffrey.html