Flashback no. 4: Egon Schiele's flowers at Leopold Museum, Vienna (27 January 2017)

The Leopold Museum in Vienna's MuseumsQuartier is one the many gems of the city's outstanding cultural offering, arguably among the richest in Europe. The museum offers a comprehensive overview of Austrian art from the second half of the 19th century and Modernism (incl. works by Klimt and Kokoschka) and is home to the largest Schiele collection in the world.

It's a rather tragic story that of Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele. After losing his dad to syphylis when he was only 14, he succumbed to the Spanish flu at the cruelly tender age of 28, only three days after his pregnant wife Edith. In light of such a premature demise, the breadth and complexity of his incredibly prolific practice look all the more impressive.

Schiele is of course better known for his erotically-charged nudes and tormented self-portraits, but I immediately gravitated towards these extraordinary paintings. I will talk about his beautifully layered landscapes in another post.

The pictures are similar in their symmetrical composition, with the flower placed at the centre of the canvas. The fleshy purple iris stands out against a glowing gold background, while the cluster of chrysanthemums forcefully emerges from the dark. Neither of these highly stylised works is however about the actual representation of the flowers. What I see here are lines, patterns, shapes and blocks of colour coming together in an almost abstract composition. There is tension in these flowers, a certain restlessness, there is nothing gentle about them. On second thought, perhaps they are not that different from Schiele's twisted, writhing naked bodies after all.

#egonschiele #expressionism #leopoldmuseum #art #artblog #artblogger #beyonthecanvasblog

Stylized Flowers in Front of a Decorative Background (1908)

Chrysanthemum (1910)

Flashback no. 3: Robert Longo at Garage Museum of Contemporary Art, Moscow (19 October 2016)

Discovery no. 1: Gorky Park is a name I used to associate with a spy movie from the 80s. Now I know where it is, it took me well over an hour to walk there on a cold, wind-swept autumn day. The park, of which sadly I only saw a fraction, is also the home of Garage, founded in 2008 by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and his former spouse Dasha Zhukova.

Discovery no. 2: I had not come across the work of Robert Longo before, it was one of those unexpected and wonderful events that make you feel a bit silly (as in 'how on earth did I not know of him?'), but also incredibly fortunate. The pieces I saw at Garage were huge in both scale and expressiveness. Internationally-acclaimed curator Francesco Bonami recently gave a definition of scale that I think fits Longo's work like a glove: 'Scale is the perfect balance between your idea, the image and the space.' Longo's monumental images filled the museum space producing an immersive and almost overwhelming experience of sheer awe. Glaciers, trees, an angel wing (my personal favourite), pilgrims circling round the Kaaba, ocean waves - through these epic narratives he deals with life's big themes: religion, power, politics.

Discovery no. 3: Longo's medium of choice is charcoal. Yes, charcoal. No, these are not photographs.I know, that was another moment of mixed silliness and amazement. Longo's technique is supreme, his virtuosity is absolutely extraordinary, and I wonder how long it must take him to complete these labour-intensive works. I like this quote where he describes his relationship with the medium: 'Charcoal is this incredibly fragile material. I’m making images of paintings out of dust.'

#robertlongo #americanartist #contemporaryart #garagemuseum #charcoal #hyperrealism #moscow #art #artblog #artblogger #beyondthecanvasblog

Flashback no. 2: Jaume Plensa, 56th Venice Biennale (11 October 2015)

With permanent installations across the globe, Barcelona-born Jaume Plensa is the one of the doyens of large scale artistic projects in public spaces. Plensa uses thousands of letters and the shape of the human body to create sculptural works that convey great intensity combined with a mysterious serenity. With the aid of iron, glass and resin, he balances form and scale to give life to works that are both soothing and compelling.

The theme of the heads of young women is a recurring one. Their eyes are closed, their mouth is shut - they look calm, adrift in deep sleep, as if floating in space and time. When we look more closely, we realise that these women are of different ethnicities. Plensa's heads cause us to stop and reflect, it's how he chooses to represent and pay tribute to the rich diversity of our society.

Together follows in the tradition of incorporating contemporary art installations in sacred spaces. Plensa's work stands out while subtly blending in, adding a new experiential layer to the environment. Part of the project was placed in the basilica of Saint Giorgio Maggiore, steps away from Tintoretto's extraordinary Last Supper. And while any suggestion of a 'dialogue' between the two artists would be an unwelcome stretch, Plensa's contribution arguably created a stunning vision of intimate connectedness that is likely to have stirred the soul of viewers from all faiths.

#jaumeplensa #venicebiennale #togethervenice #art #contemporaryart #artinstallation #artblog #artblogger #beyondthecanvasblog

Jaume Plensa, Together (2015). Photos all mine.