ARTIST WATCH: JON PILKINGTON

all images courtesy and copyright Jon Pilkington

Pink, yellow, pastel blue - the right colours for a sunny Sunday. The British artist Jon Pilkington (*1990), who currently studies at Chelsea College of Art and Design in London, does colourful paintings and beautiful drawings. Some of the paintings, especially the small formats, seem to have been created in an emotional process, showing large and free brushstrokes. Others (mostly his larger pictures) have a much deeper spatiality and are filled with little figurative forms, smaller brushstrokes and lines and doodle elements. Certainly an artist to watch. For more info visit the artist's website: jonpilkington.co.uk

INTERVIEW WITH MAUD PIQUION

"How do I find a gallery?" - the most frequent question that Maud Piquion is asked to answer. The French art manager gives workshops about the practical aspects of the art world, she lectures at international universities and coaches aspiring artists. Currently working at Galerie Thomas Schulte in Berlin, Maud can already look back on a successful career herself: Without having any experience in the art business, she opened her first gallery in the age of 24. A tough cookie. The real cause for her success, however, lies in her discipline and her charisma: Maud sparkles with enthusiasm - it's almost contagious. While we are having self-made blueberry pancakes and espresso in her beautiful top-floor apartment in Berlin-Neukölln, Maud told me about her move from France to Germany, her critical relationship with the past and her current projects. Find the interview below or click HERE.

FRIEZE BROADCAST ON INSTAGRAM

image via artinamericamagazine.com

Frieze Art Fair NYC started yesterday. Since we are not in New York the best way to follow what's going on is to browse through some instagram accounts and hashtags for a live tour through the fair. The hashtags #fny13 and #frieze lead you an assemblage of snapshots - the best Instagram profiles to follow are @artobserved and @frankkie

GET LUCKY

Yes, we love this song.

BERLIN: RALF DEREICH / FREEL

all works by Ralf Dereich, "Freel" (27.04 - 08.07) at Cruise & Callas, Berlin; Courtesy Cruise & Callas, Berlin; photos by artfridge

Some months ago, Ralf Dereich told me in an interview that he was already thinking about a title for his upcoming show at Cruise & Callas in Berlin. While merely numbering his singular works, his shows always have striking titles. Now the show is running and it's called "Freel", which sounds to me a little like a hybrid of Free and Feel. Two emotionally charged terms. On the flyer, the pastel blue lettering stretches over a cloudy white background. 

BERLIN: PLAYGROUND LOVE

SPONSORED POST

Julian Charrière "Undefined Horizons"

Julian Charrière "Undefined Horizons"

Speech Tchoban & Kuznetbov "Towninbox"

Speech Tchoban & Kuznetbov "Towninbox"

Zimoun "318 Prepares DC-Motors, Cork Balls,  Cardboard Boxes 100 x 100 x 100cm"

Zimoun "318 Prepares DC-Motors, Cork Balls,  Cardboard Boxes 100 x 100 x 100cm"

Jeongmoon Choi – Drawing in Space

all images by artfridge, courtesy Olympus and the artists

Size does matter! Especially in the arts - whether in a good or a bad way. Despite last year's critical article "It’s Going to Be Huge" by American art critic Jerry Saltz's in the New York Times Magazine, I don't believe that the trend for big shows necessarily needs to be "watering things down". It can also be something positive: Some art works need space and some big spaces need large artworks. Nothing argues against enjoying spectacular art, as long as it has the ambition to be more than just enormous. In that sense, many of the large installations that are currently exhibited at Opernwerkstätten Berlin in the Olympus OM-D: Photography Playground exhibition fall into that category. Everything about this show is huge: a 7000 square-meter location, twelve interactive installations and eventually the expectation of the visitor...

GALLERY WEEKEND BERLIN: FRIDAY RECAP

 Richard Artschwager at Sprüth Magers Berlin

Claus Larsen at Reh Kunst

Jana Euler at Galerie Neu

George Condo at Sprüth Magers Berlin

George Condo at Sprüth Magers Berlin

Joseph Kosuth at Sprüth Magers Berlin

Steve Schepens at SMAC

Alice Aycock at Galerie Thomas Schulte
all images by artfridge, courtesy the galleries and artists

While some gallerists are burying their heads in the sand, Alicja Kwade created a place of pilgrimage for the art-disciples: Gallery weekend doesn't have a central theme, so most galleries have to either come up with a spectacular idea or a spectacular artist. I had prepared a list of places to see before and managed to get a glimpse of most of my favourite exhibitions...

GALLERY WEEKEND BERLIN: THURSDAY RECAP

Alexandra Bircken at BQ Berlin, courtesy BQ Berlin

Mandla Reuter at Croy Nielsen Berlin, courtesy Croy Nielsen

Michael Bühler-Rose at Nature Morte Berlin, courtesy Nature Morte

Christoph Meier at Galerie Kamm, courtesy Galerie Kamm

ZIMOUN at Olympus OM-D: Photography Playground, courtesy Olympus

Opening INSITU, (f.l.t.r.) Gilles Neiens, Marie Graftieaux, Ignacio Uriarte, Sinta Werner, Ulrich Vogl, Nora Mayr

all photo by artfridge

I have a love-hate relationship with Gallery Weekend Berlin: On the one hand, its lovely to have so many amazing shows on display in city. On the other hand, just the thought of 51 official and dozens of unofficial openings within two to three days stresses me out completely. This is why it needs a good preparation before one leaves the house to explore the art shows. After yesterday's press conference at Berlinische Galerie, which took place for the first time, we had the option to already get a preview of the exhibitions. 

ART COLOGNE 2013 / PART II: MODERN CLASSICS

Daniel Buren at Galeria Hilario Galguera, Mexico City

Laura Ford at Scheffel, Bad Homburg v. d. Höhe 

Booth Hauser & Wirth, Zürich, London, New York 

Christoph Schlingensief at Hauser & Wirth,  Zürich, London, New York

Jonathan Meese at Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen

Sigmar Polke at Michael Werner, Cologne, Berlin, New York

Jeff Cowen at Michael Werner, Cologne, Berlin, New York

Georg Baselitz at Michael Werner, Cologne, Berlin, New York

Jack Pierson at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, Salzburg
All images by artfridge, courtesy Art Cologne, the artists and the galleries

After writing about the contemporaries in my last post, the second part of my review about the 47th edition of Art Cologne will be focussing on the modern classics segment on the first floor. For those of you who have never been to the fair I should mention that Art Cologne is very much separated into two different areas: the contemporaries upstairs, the classics downstairs. While Art Cologne Director Daniel Hug transformed and improved the upstairs area, the classic-department hasn't changed much: Botero, Beuys - Kneffel, Knoebel. Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's 1926-painting “Strassenbild vor dem Friseurladen” even made it into the press, as Galerie Heinze & Ketterer had it on sale for 3,75 million Euros, which is said to be the highest price of the whole fair.