Shower Of Kunst

Critical Online Journal

Are you taking the piss?

The quibbling over the origin of Fountain overshadows a fascinating woman, Louise Varèse, and misses the radical departure from individual authorship. Dawn Ades and Alastair Brotchie have undertaken a comprehensive examination of this topic, and I will now provide a concise overview of their research. I will also incorporate my own insights into why this misinformation gained traction and offer a somewhat whimsical theory regarding the events of 1917 in Manhattan. The genesis of this narrative can be traced back to 2003, with the publication… Read More »

The Grit Between My Teeth

‘We are delighted to announce ‘Grit Between My Teeth’ an exciting group exhibition, curated by Stephen Burke. Featuring a roster of Irish and International artists including Liliane Tomasko, Nils Jendri, Christian August, Xavi Ceerre, James Earley, Ronan Dillon, Yasmine Robinson, Áine Byrne, Neil Carroll, Sean O’Rourke, John O’Reilly, Maser and Stephen Burke. This is an exhibition that celebrates the raw, untamed soul of the city and its inhabitants. Here, thirteen artists hailing from varied stages of their careers converge, weaving a connecting thread across generations…. Read More »

Klaatu barada nikto

Travelling in Co. Galway, western Ireland, in search of a food story, and I spot these words on the front of a house in the town of Gort, “Klaatu, barada, nikto”. It takes me a few seconds to remember the phrase comes from a film I watched when I was 12. A film I’m now thinking about again for lots of reasons. As many of you will know the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still tells story of a human-looking alien, Klaatu (played… Read More »

Review: Openness

Openness, a recent exhibition by Noel Hensey, consists of a site-specific sculpture inspired by the visual humour of the 1980’s American television series Police Squad! (Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker, 1982) alongside a video work entitled History. The sculpture, Openness Sculpture is specifically concerned with a scene in the series where the central character Sergeant Frank Drebin is in a police lab with a lab technician. In the scene, Sergeant Drebin and the technician walk from one room to another, the technician opens a door between… Read More »

Frieze Frenzy

I recently had the privilege of attending the highly anticipated Frieze London Art Fair 2022, an event that unfolded as a dynamic showcase of contemporary art’s latest, seamlessly blending market optimism with a captivating array of colourful thought-provoking artworks. As an attendee, I found myself immersed in the whirlwind, buzzing with excitement yet also experiencing conflicting sentiments about the fair. From the very moment I stepped in, I was captivated by the palpable energy and electric atmosphere that reverberated throughout the sprawling Regent’s Park tents…. Read More »

REVIEW: Broken Stiles

The appointment of Anthony McFarland as Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art comes amid global upheavals that are altering the political and cultural landscape, but the International Curator and former Irish Army Captain has formidable leadership experience and is determined to hit the ground running.  The off-message nature of the Museum’s latest group show Broken Stiles will be welcomed by many as a refreshing departure from recent institutional exhibition making.  “The exhibition,” says McFarland, “aims to air the uncertainties surrounding ideas of order, ownership… Read More »

Interview: Stephanie Syjuco

Conversation from June 2020 on Syjuco’s recent exhibition at Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Jim RicksYou told me that your recent exhibition, Rogue States, at the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis actually featured seven projects. I’ve seen some of those at different stages and when shown before, so it’s interesting to have them all come together in St. Louis in a different way, combined with new work as well. Stephanie SyjucoIt was a real privilege in that I actually haven’t had a chance to… Read More »

QUIETLY CANCELLING CAC

“I like talking to a brick wall- it’s the only thing in the world that never contradicts me!”― Oscar Wilde I’m writing this a year and a half after the initial incident, because it is not merely about that incident. It is allegorical, it is about how we conduct ourselves, and it is how we better the collective Irish Art World. The Institute of Real Art (IRA) debuted in October 2015 with several articles released on topics ranging from Amanda Coogan being a State Agent, IMMA… Read More »

Producing the contemporary along the hegemony of a past-day elite and a present silent majority: A perspective on independent art spaces in the Netherlands

By Freek Lomme, 2017. Over the past decade, I’ve been given quite a number of books by artist-run and independent art spaces, published on the occasion of their X-year existence, meant as calls-to-authority to policy makers and as relation gifts to the network. Hardly ever do matters reach another level: that of collective organisation, exchange of knowledge and so forth. People are simply happy celebrating yet another X-years of existence. It’s also for this financial and time-wise lack to go beyond, that this text will… Read More »

Is this the most unethical artwork ever made?

This is Las Corbatas (The Ties), a work by the artist Moris (Israel Meza Moreno) in the Galeria Ladrón (at the time, run by artists: Marco Aviña, Wendy Cabrera Rubio, Marek Wolfryd) in Mexico City.  It was part of a solo exhibition by Moris called Ensuciándose las manos uno se puede hacer rico (Getting your hands dirty can make you rich). It is a cluster of dozens of stolen roadside memorial crosses suspended from the ceiling. These roadside memorials are found throughout Mexico City, are… Read More »

IMAGES: Sitelines 2018

                Casa Tomada Lutz Bacher, Ángela Bonadies, Melissa Cody, Tania Pérez Córdova, Hildegarde Duane Paz Errazuriz, Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Victor Estrada, Radames “Juni” Figueroa, Fernanda Laguna, Jumana Manna, Victoria Mamnguqsualuk, Eduardo Navarro, NuMu (Jessica Kairé and Stefan Benchoam), Juan José Olavarría, Jamasee Pitseolak, Naufus Ramirez-Figueroa, Eric Paul Riege, Curtis Talwst Santiago, Sable Elyse Smith, Stephanie Taylor, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, and David Lamelas. Curated by: José Luis Blondet, Candice Hopkins, and Ruba Katrib; curatorial advisor: with… Read More »

How to Be an Artist: 33 + 2 + 15 rules

Irish artist Mr. John Ryaner responded to Jerry Saltz’s ‘rules’ (as had the original publisher, Vulture magazine) in an Instagram story.  I asked him if we could publish it… and here we are.  I especially appreciate his candor in raising the role of drugs and alcohol in the art world.  The whole piece is edited down. – Ed.     Jerry Saltz’s 33 Rules for Being an Artist 1. Don’t Be Embarrassed 2. “Tell your own story and you will be interesting.” — Louise Bourgeois… Read More »

IMAGES: Flat as the Tongue Lies

“In Flat As The Tongue Lies, Ella de Búrca presents an installation of sound, text, kinetic sculpture and video. Using the structure of a three-act play, the installation explores the formation of meaning through reading, writing, and speech. The exhibition begins with Prelude, a sound piece that echoes the artist’s voice, leading you through a corridor into the rest of the gallery. At the end of passage, you encounter Act I, a text piece projected on a monitor screen and ends with Act II, a… Read More »

INTERVIEW: Matt Packer

Matt Packer in conversation with Jim Ricks. JR: Ok, just to kick things off…  Derry seems to have a combination of street cred and access to the UK and for a city its size it does appear to have remarkable resources, but is there a scene and is it something that can organically grow? And finally, what effect will Brexit have on Derry as an art place? MP: You’re asking a bungle of different questions there. Derry has a remarkable history, which in turn gives… Read More »

IMAGES: Wilder Beings Command

  Wilder Beings Command! Gareth Anton, Averill Stephan, Doitschinoff, Stephen Dunne and Mark Titchner with Daniel O’Sullivan, Isadora Epstein, Christopher Mahon, Emily Mast, Barry (Edward Clydesdale Thomson, Sjoerd Westbroek and Frans-Willem Korsten). Curated by Rachel Gilbourne and Janice Hough 29 July 2017 IMMA imma.ie All photos by Louis Haugh and courtesy of IMMA.  

IMAGES: The Pinch

  “Wealth is the vomit of fortune” – Diogenes of Sinope (primarily accredited to Monimos) The Pinch is an installation of wax rubbings, paper coins, a bench, and a bookwork followed by a performance. Paid for with money scoured from the streets of Dublin, the installation explores the potential of public funding, city mining, and social entrepreneurialism toward decelerated economic opportunities. The artist persists in a personal political commentary at a time when monopolies of power possess the wealth and trickle down theory is proven wrong…. Read More »

REVIEW: You missed the 9th Berlin Biennale

The 9th Berlin Biennale (BB9) is over and you missed it. It was curated by DIS, not a “fashion collective”, they are a New York-based art collective comprised of Lauren Boyle, Solomon Chase, Marco Roso and David Toro. Notable projects include: http://disimages.com/ and http://dismagazine.com/ and https://youtu.be/ivqvw2QQ8FE. All too frequently in the sphere of ‘high art’ we are are presented with the tokenistic political language of Marxism and postcolonial marginalia. This year’s Biennale is not an overt show of protest or statements, yet remains political. As one friend put… Read More »