INSTALLATIONS: GSTAAD
Elevation 1049
Earlier this week icy Gstaad saw the launch of the Elevation 1049 outdoor exhibition, with over 20 Swiss artists making site-specific art in the alpine town. Produced by the local art organization LUMA& Foundation, the project is curated by Swiss artist Olympia Scarry and art writer/curator (and Playboy’s creative director of special projects) Neville Wakefield. The series of installations and shows are taking place all over the resort with video artist Christian Marclay’s compilation “Work in Progress” showing scenes of Bollywood films captured in Gstaad while Scarry uses profile poles (more commonly seen being used by local homebuilders to mark out building sites) to evoke the clashing of dreams. What they all share in common is a celebration of their Swiss locale.
At venues across Gstaad, see website for details. Until 8 March.
elevation1049.org
ART FAIR: LOS ANGELES
Art Los Angeles Contemporary
Santa Monica hosts the fifth edition of Art Los Angeles Contemporary from 30 January to 2 February. This international art fair brings together global and local galleries at the Barker Hangar to showcase contemporary art in a range of forms, from paintings and installations to performance. Drop by LA-based David Kordansky Gallery’s booth to check out avant-garde ceramics from San Francisco-born Ruby Neri. Meanwhile, keeping things local, LA artist EJ Hill will be channeling his inner female R&B singer in a performance piece that addresses the politics of gender identity in pop culture.
The Barker Hangar, 3021 Airport Avenue, Santa Monica. Friday to Saturday, 11.00-19.00; Sunday, 11.00-18.00. Until 2 February.
artlosangelesfair.com
EXHIBITION: MILAN
Brand New Gallery: Shakti and Jackie Saccoccio
Milan’s Brand New Gallery welcomes two new exhibitions this weekend: the group all-female show Shakti and a solo portraiture exhibition by US painter Jackie Saccoccio. Paying artistic homage to the essay Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists? (1974) by feminist art historian Linda Nochlin, Shakti celebrates the increasing participation of women in the art world since the Second World War. Highlights include London-based multimedia artist Ayan Farah and Baltimore’s Shinique Smith whose work is heavily inspired by graffiti and Japanese manga. Alternatively, Jackie Saccoccio’s exhibit presents her large canvases filled with splashes and streams of paint that both reveal and obscure figures, giving her portraits a touch of mystery.
Brand New Gallery, 32 Via Carlo Farini. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11.00-13.00 and 14.30-19.00. Until 8 March.
brandnew-gallery.com
EXHIBITION: TORONTO
Mike Nelson: Amnesiac Hide
British artist Mike Nelson makes his Toronto debut this weekend with a solo exhibition at The Power Plant gallery. Known for his immersive and massive installations, he’s constructing three site-specific pieces specially for the gallery, each one recreating a seemingly abandoned environment. Relying on the viewer's imagination to fill the space, they take visitors on a journey through the Power Plant, exploring the idea of travel. “A Quiver of Arrows”, for example, is made up of four travel caravans cut and joined together to form a square that visitors can enter and explore. It’ll be an unusual sight for sure, but also as strange as you want to make it.
The Power Plant, 231 Queens Quay West. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00-17.00; Thursday 10.00-20.00. Until 19 May.
thepowerplant.org
MUSIC: GLOBAL
Warpaint: Warpaint
Along with its growing reputation as an art destination while shaking off the airhead beach paradise image of old, LA is emerging as a bountiful (if still slightly scattered) centre for intelligent pop music. And it is dreamy four-piece Warpaint who might be defacto figureheads of a scene that also includes felow ethereal and explorative types such as Julia Holter, Lo-Fang and Dunes. On their self-titled second album, Warpaint drift further into immersive soundscapes punctuated by distinctive percussion which made their debut such a sultrily defiant listen. Somehow, they’ve managed to produce an even more glacial and serious-sounding pop record on album number two – from a blissful beachside studio under palm trees, no doubt.
‘Warpaint’ is available to buy now.
warpaintwarpaint.com
