The End of Fun in Birmingham
But the start of Sin in London. Plus: the Billion Dollar Art Hunt
Happy Tuesday *cough* Wednesday. I’m a day late and I’m sorry! But trust me, this edition of my maxwell museums magazine is worth the wait. It’s got all the usual features including what’s on, review round up, and my regular interview. If you missed my news round up in last week’s friday briefing, you can read it here.
So where are we with museums in the never-ending-misery that is the pandemic? Well they are now all closed in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland. They’re still open in Tier 3 Liverpool, but Wales’ museums shutter on Friday. I’d put my money on England’s museums having to follow suit in the near future. So go while you can, and give them some cash. We’ll kick off with some suggestions. Enjoy! 👇
Want to get the next edition of this newsletter first, and straight to your inbox? then pop your email in the box below. simple.
what’s on
3 of the best new shows from around the globe.
The Citi exhibition Arctic: culture and climate at the British Museum - discover how the Arctic is far from the inhospitable hinterland it's often imagined to be. Opens on Thursday
Turner’s Modern World at Tate Britain - see how JMW Turner transformed the way he painted to better capture the new world around him. Opens 28 October
Andres Serrano: Infamous at Fotografiska New York, USA - the controversial New York artist showcases the darkest and most politically incorrect items he found on eBay. Opens on 23 October
review roundup
Your at-a-glance guide to some of the freshest exhibitions.
Bruce Nauman at Tate Modern
I have no doubt at all of Nauman’s greatness…Nauman the artist, like Hitchcock, is not above self-parody and humour, as well as being thoroughly uncompromising. Squeezing the most out of almost nothing at all he takes everything to the limit. And then some. The Guardian
Coming across one of Nauman’s installations is more like encountering a live wire. Danger: high voltage. Don’t visit his new retrospective at Tate Modern, then, if you want a fix of joie de vivre. Nauman deals in adrenaline rushes, not sugar highs. The Telegraph
Bruce Nauman, supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art, is on until 21 February 2021
Installation view of Bruce Nauman at Tate Modern featuring Black Marble Under Yellow Light 1987. Photograph by Tate Photography (Matt Greenwood). Artwork (c) Bruce Nauman / ARS, NY and DACS, London 2020
Sin at the National Gallery, London
This small but intriguing exhibition explores the idea of sin, as a religious concept but also as a fundamental aspect of the human condition — our tendency to fall short of good moral conduct, try as we might. It’s a perfect subject for artists. Evening Standard
It is the sort of exhibition that we should be welcoming in these times of pandemic. It is time for small, quiet, analytical shows that, making the most of artworks already on hand, encourage longer contemplation. The Times
Sin is on until 3 January 2021
interview
“The Birmingham art scene has been very shaken”
It’s the end of fun in Birmingham. No, it’s not another city moving up to a Tier 3 covid lockdown, but a new exhibition at the city’s (rather wonderful) Ikon Gallery. Billed as the most comprehensive UK exhibition of work by Czech artist Krištof Kinter, it’s the Gallery’s first new exhibition opening since lockdown. Smaller museums are finding the current financial landscape very tough, so I was keen to the hear the experience of a venue outside of the capital. I caught up with the Gallery’s Director Jonathan Watkins, who’s been at the helm for over two decades, to find out how reopening went and to hear how the pandemic is affecting the art scene in the UK’s second city.
You've been open nearly two months now. How has it gone, and tell me about the new exhibition?
“The readjustment took a while, but on the whole things have been going well despite practical difficulties. The new exhibition show is a survey of work by contemporary Czech artist Krištof Kintera, but because he is resident in the Czech Republic he couldn’t join us for the installation, so we worked together by Zoom. Not ideal, and it took longer, but we couldn’t be happier with the result.
We came up with the title for Krištof’s exhibition more than a year ago: “The End of Fun!” It is concerned especially with the dysfunctional relationship between humanity and the natural world which could not be more pertinent now. It communicates a serious message with a smart sense of humour and strong visual impact.”
Installation view, Krištof Kintera THE END OF FUN! at Ikon Gallery, Birmingham UK, 2020 © Ikon Gallery. Photographer, Tom Bird
How have the new social distancing rules affected your capacity, and your finances? What are visitor numbers like?
“The social distancing rules reduce our maximum numbers considerably and openings, receptions and events in our public programmes are out of the question unfortunately. However as one of the first public spaces to open in Birmingham after lockdown, and with a new exhibition to offer visitors, we are as busy as we can be following current safety guidelines. Because Ikon is free, we are not suffering from a drop in ticket sales, but gallery hires, shop and café income is seriously reduced. Certainly we have suffered a financial blow, it is not fatal but we do need support through donations or simply for people to think of us when planning their Christmas shopping.”
What are the unique challenges in the current climate for a gallery like yours outside of London? Have your future plans changed?
“We are facing more or less the same challenges as those being faced by colleagues in London. One thing: critics for the national press are now less likely to leave the capital for regional centres due to a resistance to public transport. We are not getting so much newspaper coverage these days, but social media is making up for it.
In terms of programme, our future plans have changed, not so much in content, but in the order of things. That being said we had to cancel our next show, with an artist from Pakistan, and have replaced it with an exhibition of art work stored on our premises. Entitled Faster Than Ever it will demonstrate the advantages of improvisation and necessity being the mother of invention. With more than twenty artists involved, including Martin Creed, Kate Groobey, Nástio Mosquito, Dayanita Singh and On Kawara, it opens on 4 December.”
How has the Birmingham art scene been coping with the pandemic?
“The Birmingham art scene has been very shaken. The locked down days are most difficult for artists and other freelancers who depend on work generated by local and regional arts venues. At Ikon we are doing our best to be practically helpful. For example, we are now planning an unprecedented selling exhibition for February, encouraging visitors to dig deep into their pockets. A city like Birmingham needs a thriving art scene and such investment in the futures of local practitioners will benefit everyone.”
What other cultural highlights should people check out if they're coming to Birmingham?
“Due to the way visual art is experienced – on the whole, more informally than performance and live arts – galleries and museums have managed to emerge out of the lockdown more quickly than theatres, dance and music venues, most of which are still closed. If I was visiting Birmingham – in a masked and socially distanced kind of way - I’d make a beeline for The Barber Institute, Eastside Projects and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. Near the museum is St Philip’s Cathedral with stained glass windows by Edward Burne-Jones. They are definitely a cultural highlight.”
and finally
Can the 13 paintings from a Boston museum stolen in the world’s biggest art heist really have been hidden away in a house in west Dublin for the past 3 decades? This rollicking BBC Four documentary follows a new tip off that they just might be about to be recovered…..the Billion Dollar Art Hunt is well worth a watch on BBC iPlayer.
Want to get the next edition of this newsletter first, and straight to your inbox? then pop your email in the box below. simple.