Oct. 1, 1996

Oct. 29, 1996

Art Infomation Index - Oct. 15, 1996

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<<Robert Mapplethorpe>> Exhibition September 19 - November 17, 1996 Hayward Gallery, South BanK London SE1 Tel.: 0171-960-4208 <<Imagined Communities>> September 7 - October 27, 1996 Royal Festival Hall, South Bank London SE1 Tel.: 0171-960-4242 <<Young British Artist VI>> September 12 - November 24, 1996 Open Thursday thru Sunday Saatchi Gallery, 98a Boundary Road NW8 Tel.: 0171-624-8229 Serpentine Book Shop 54 Warren Street W1 Tel.: 0171-380-1080 Robert Mapplethorpe "self portrait" 1985 © The Estate of Robert Mapplethorpe <<Imagined Communities>> Catalogue Cover(*) Christian Boltanski "Children of North Westminster Community School" from <<Imagined Communities>> Catalogue(*) (*) © The South Bank Centre 1995 © Essays, the authors 1995 © Artworks, the artists 1995 Robert Mapplethorpe - Reference Page http://www.artincontext.com/ listings/pages/artist/ m/0o2vobbm/menu.htm Forthcoming events at the Hayward Gallery http://www.illumin.co.uk/ britishart/more/hayward.html Christian Boltanski - Reference Page http://www.artincontext.com/ listings/pages/artist/ r/11maos0r/menu.htm Sophie Calle http://www.sigov.si/ uzp/city/site/ fineart/calle.html Sophie Calle - Reference Page http://www.artincontext.com/ listings/pages/artist/ v/5eqo5fbv/ menu.htm Komar and Melamid Homepage http://www.diacenter.org/ km/homepage.html Komar & Malamid: The Most Wanted Paintings http://www.artincontext.com/ listings/pages/exhib/ f/3jf6aa9f/artist.htm Kids of Survival: The Art and Life of Tim Rollins and K.O.S. http://www.filmscouts.com/ reviews/kids-of.html Gary Simmons - Reference Page http://www.artincontext.com/ listings/pages/artist/ n/1elyss7n/menu.htm Gillian Wearing Biography http://www.illumin.co.uk/ britishart/artists/ gw/gw_biog.html Jordan Baseman Biography http://www.illumin.co.uk/ britishart/artists/ jb/jb_biog.html Serpentine Gallery http://http.ecn.bgu.edu/ users/mfjfg/serpentine.html Hyde Park http://www.itl.net/ vc/europe/London/ Tourism/Hydepark.html

London Art Information Yoshitaka MOURI After a relatively quiet summer, the London Art Museum is throbbing with big exhibitions as they enter into September. The following is an introduction of exhibitions held in London this fall. The <<Robert Mapplethorpe>> Exhibition More than 200 works will be displayed at this exhibition, which is one of the largest retrospective exhibition since Mapplethorpe died from AIDS at the age of 41, in 1989. As usual, the works invited many criticisms. Especially, the photographs of nude children caused a protest among organizations advocating child protection, and the controversy was subsequently taken up by the press. Also, the Antony Gormley Exhibition is simultaneously held at this site. <<Imagined Communities>> Kobena Mercer ("Welcome to Jungle") was the first to theoretically criticize the racial issue within Mapplethorpe's aesthetic ideas, from a perspective of a colored person. After the death of Mapplethorpe, as a gay activist, Mercer reversed his stance, and adopted complete support for Mapplethorpe's works, including those related to issues concerning censorship. An exhibition for which Mercer wrote the catalogue prologue, titled "Imagined Communities", is held at the Royal Festival Hall located on the opposite side of the Hayward Gallery. There are 9 participating artists and groups in total - Christian Boltanski, Sophie Calle, Denzil Forrester, Komar and Melamid, Guiseppe Penone, Tim Rollins + K.O.S., Yinka Shonibare, Gary Simmons, Gillian Wearing, and Benedict Anderson. This is not an exhibition to simply search for a community at a time when communities are disappearing. In this exhibition, which is given the same title as the book written by Benedict Anderson dealing with the connection between nationalism and technology of printing, we are able to see how each artist who went through migration, immigration, and defection due to some kind of reason, tried to construct "the way of a community" from a critical standpoint. <<Young British Artist VI>> Speaking of a community, at the Saatchi Gallery, a gallery that has contributed in establishing a community in the British art scene since the end of the 80's by reinforcing the support for British artists, a regular exhibition featuring young artists are being held. There are five artists in this exhibition: Jordan Baseman, Daniel Coombs, Claude Heath, John Isaacs, and Nina Saunders. Together with the above exhibition, there is a wonderful installation by Richard Wilson using petroleum oil. This installation alone may be worth the visit. Temporary Closing of the Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Gallery, a small gallery within Hyde Park, that often displays fine artworks, will be temporarily closed for renovation. The last exhibition before Serpentine went into renovation was by Richard Wilson, the artist whose works can be seen at the Saatchi Gallery. His installation made use of the opportunity and took total advantage of the building; he opened holes through the walls, tore off the roof and hollowed out the floor for his presentation (ended on September 23rd). The Serpentine book shop moved to Warren Street, however, and is still in business with a video corner that features artists. [Yoshitaka MOURI/Cultural Studies] mouri@dircon.co.uk

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Oct. 1, 1996

Oct. 29, 1996