5 reasons to go to the Carnegie if you're in town in December

K. and I visited the Carnegie Museum of Art this afternoon after brunch at Kiva Hahn. As a working artist, I am quite guarded about when and where I see new art - the secret conversation that I have with my own artwork can be interrupted by the 40-100 voices that jump in when I go to see work in a museum setting, polluting the in-studio dialogue.

But. It was time. I had to get a look at the International before it takes off. And then there was the pleasant surprise of Worlds Away, a show about suburban architecture.

That's where I'll start, with all my illegal, copyright-violating, guard-pissing-off in-Museum phone photography.

REASON 1 : AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A SUBURBAN MALL



A powerpoint with voiceover projected on the semi-topographical map of a mall in Fishkill.

REASON 2 : THE JUXTAPOSITION OF ED RUSCHE'S PARKING AERIAL PARKING LOT PHOTOS WITH AERIAL PHOTO OF HUMAN INTERVENTIONS IN RURAL LANDSCAPES.

The guard was too close, no pictures. You'll have to just go visit.

REASON 3 : COMING OUT OF THE SCAIFE GALLERY TO THE DARKENED HALL OF ARCHITECTURE



REASON 4 : ALL THE INSTALLATIONS IN 'LIFE ON MARS' BUT ESPECIALLY THIS ONE.



Its made of thread and wax, by someone with an Indian name. Stunning.

You'll notice I make no mention of all the wall text and heady theory etc. The work, overall, is beautiful, if, for the most part, on the clinical side. Mario Merz condenses language into an object better than anyone, and still riffs on fibbonacci numbers with neon. Lots of graffitti-influenced surface-vs-surface, some giving the Museum halls pregnant walls ... whatev... I'm way more interested in --

REASON 5 : PIRANESE'S DRAWINGS OF IMAGINARY PRISONS IN THE WORKS ON PAPER GALLERY

WTF??? These drawings and etchings are magnificent mental landscapes of imaginary penury. In Piranese's incredible draftsmanship. Oh god, the torturous details ... The CMA provides big magnifying glasses, too, to let you examine stroke by stroke the master drawings of piers with people strapped to pillars and suspended cages. Not to mention his stray line drawing in pen and ink of a lady with chained wrists facing the viewer, and random domestic exchange happening behind her.

RUNNER UP : In every third gallery, a dad asking a guard, "Where's the dinosaurs?"

BONUS ROUND : Friedrich Kunath inherits Miro and Klee's strange-map draw/paint technique. Intimate. The lines get a little soft, turning things towards nostalgia in general, and he has his moments of clumsiness. But it works in creating painting that is not an argument (for once) but is instead a collection of natural gestures, a private language accessible enough to be public.

Artist Talk with Ranjani Shettar on July 15

This was, without contest, the work that I felt was the most compelling in the Life on Mars exhibit at the Carnegie Museum. I have been so looking forward to attending this talk.

Ranjani Shettar
Life on Mars, the 2008 Carnegie International
July 15, 2008, 6:30-7:30 p.m
Carnegie Lecture Hall
412.622.3131 or visit www.cmoa.org
Free to the public.

Life on Mars - Sus wraps up

Life on Mars - Paul Thek
Life on Mars - Wolfgang Tillmans + Vija Celmins
Life on Mars - Marisa Merz + Bruce Connor
Life on Mars - Rosemarie Trockel
Life on Mars - Rivane Neuenschwander + Thomas Hirschhorn
Life on Mars - Haegue Yang + Ranjani Shettar

There has been, as to be expected, a lot of commentary and Monday morning quarterbacking about Life on Mars. The majority of the commentary seems to be from beyond the Pittsburgh region and ranges from comparing Life on Mars favorably to the Whitney Biennial to suggestions of what the Canegie International should have been.

On one hand, I appreciate what the Carnegie International brings to the region. Although I can't say I connected with every work or artist that was exhibited in Life on Mars, it is an important experience insofar as it brings a glimpse of a larger world to Pittsburgh.

On the other hand, I think that the Carnegie International exemplifies the disconnect between the international and regional arts spheres. Similar aesthetics, quality or themes are being pursued by regional artists, at least here in Southwest Pennsylvania. But the international sphere only has a few portals for entry, none of which are accessible regionally. The Carnegie Museum, as well as several of the other renowned venues in Pittsburgh, has a history of distancing itself from the region's art and artists. Given that, it is no surprise that Life on Mars does not reach out to include Life in Pittsburgh. In fact, the only participatory program for local and regional artists are in discussion forums where local artists are permitted to talk about their responses to the works installed in the Life on Mars exhibit.

Interestingly enough, the local arts scene has forsaken the Carnegie International too. The long-term planning for the exhibit and the length of the installation presents a raft of opportunities for the local and regional arts sphere to hijack some of the International's energy. But there has been no related exhibits in the city's visual arts venues, no matter what their standing is beyond the region. Instead, the banner that everybody is rallying to is Pittsburgh 250, the year-long celebration of Pittsburgh's founding. Not that this isn't significant, but surely the city is large enough to address multiple celebrations of significance.

Carnegie International Curator Webcast

Hi, this is John. I'm very, very sorry for disappearing on you and grateful that Susan has helped me revive the blog. The city really lacks a good art blog and naming the thing, Digging Pittsburgh Arts, placed a huge responsibility on us to try to cover the large, and widely dispersed art scene here.

Doug Fogle, will be available online tomorrow and in person to answer talk about the Carnegie International and some of the choices he made one of which was to try to create a dialog about the show online, which I appreciate

"In another of the firsts that have characterized the inventive 2008 Carnegie International, the curator of "Life on Mars" begins a three-part public encounter tomorrow with visitors to his show's Web site.
"On-line and On Stage: Douglas Fogle and Living on Mars" is a live Webcast lecture/discussion from 6 to 7 p.m. tomorrow at Carnegie Museum of Art. Fogle will respond to questions and comments submitted to the site (blog.cmoa.org) as well as to those from the auditorium audience. The exhibition will be open until 9 p.m.
This is the time to talk about favorite or not-so-favorite works in the International. What is the artist trying to say? Why did Fogle choose particular works and/or artists? What materials were used in a particular piece? Whither contemporary art?"