lundi 21 avril 2008

Modernism by jerry kearns


Founded in 1979, Modernism has since presented more than 300 exhibitions, both historical and contemporary, in media ranging from painting to photography, sculpture to performance, by an international roster of artists.
Throughout its 27 years, owner Martin Muller has striven to keep the gallery's challenging, museum quality program at the forefront of the art world.
Early landmarks included being the first gallery to show Andy Warhol in the Bay Area (1982), and holding the first exhibition on the West Coast (in a gallery or museum) of the Russian Avant-Garde 1910-1930 (1980, 17 more retrospectives have since been mounted).
In the 1990s Modernism highlighted its strong abstract program with the exhibition of "Four Abstract Classicists" (1993), a recreation of the show presented by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1959, while at the same time introducing America to the confrontational, and ofttimes disturbing, conceptual works of Austrian born artist Gottfried Helnwein (1992).
Recent years have seen the 25th anniversary of the gallery (2004), and with it many more firsts, including the first major exhibition of the works of Le Corbusier on the West Coast(2003), and just last year, the first major retrospective in the U.S. of the paintings, drawing, collages, and photographs of Erwin Blumenfeld (2006).
In addition to the milestones above, Modernism prides itself on the scope of its program:
Historical exhibitions encompass areas including Dada, Cubism, Surrealism, Vorticism, German Expressionism, and foremost, the Russian Avant-Garde 1910-1930.

dimanche 20 avril 2008

Media and culture


Magazines are edited by hand and alternative covers need to be developed for the more conservative audience. Nudity is a not allowed in any form. The Islamic culture is very conservative and showing any skin other than the face, hands or feet can be considered sexually arousing, therefore inappropriate for public display. Different countries vary, Riyadh in Saudi being the most conservative and Dubai in UAE the most liberal. In Saudi Arabia you can't show any skin (other than the mentioned body parts) outdoors, while in Dubai the same beauty product ads are running as in Europe.Movie ads need to be retouched to comply with the strict cultural expectations. Legs, clevage and even shoulders need to be covered. This not only applies to women, but to man as well. Even cartoon characters need to be dressed up.