Who’s who in contemporary art
June 16, 2017
Contemporary artists can be bold yet intimate, controversial yet playful, innovative yet draw from tradition. Elliot McDonald from leading contemporary art gallery Pace gives his personal selection
Photo: Alamy
As the Evening Standard Contemporary Art Prize in association with Hiscox encourages London-based artists to turn to their city for inspiration, we asked one of the judges, Pace Gallery Senior Director Elliot McDonald, for his pick of contemporary artists: ‘Whatever the artist is practising, or trying to focus on, these artists are exemplary in visualising their message.’
Louise Lawler, Why Pictures Now, 1981
Ever wondered where art goes after an auction, what it says about the person who owns it or the value of the work? American artist and photographer Louise Lawler (b.1947) has been fascinated and repulsed by this topic for the past four decades. Her current show at MoMa offers insight, albeit in a slightly cryptic way, through a stunning array of photographs of artworks and the spaces they occupy, as Lawler scrutinises art’s value and meaning. Photo: © 2017 Louise Lawler
Qiu Xiaofei, Pine or Willow, Replanted No.2, 2017
One of China’s most curious and compelling painters, Qiu Xiaofei (b.1977) is devoted to the process and experience of painting. His abstract works possess a profound spiritual quality, with dense canvases holding accumulated layers of paint that have been created with a palpable energy and conviction. Photograph: Siyi Chen. Courtesy: Pace Gallery
Nigel Cooke, Roman Willow (Night Swimmer), 2016
The remarkable paintings of Manchester born Nigel Cooke (b.1973) offer a feast for the senses. Works in Roman Willow, Cooke’s latest solo exhibition, are no exception. These heavy duty, dark and complicated paintings are also poetic and graceful. They ask questions and challenge the viewer to untangle a web of lurking figures who emerge and retreat from eerily beautiful landscapes. Cooke stated in 2016 that ‘painting ought to give you a sense, not of where you start, but where you have been. What have you done to end up there?’
Photograph: Stephen White. Courtesy: Pace Gallery
teamLab, Crystal Universe, 2015
‘The digital domain can expand art,’ reads teamLab’s artist statement. This innovative Tokyo art collective, formed in in 2001, has championed an exceptional interdisciplinary approach to artistic practice and production. Now made up of 400 people, teamLab seek to blur the boundaries between art, science, technology and creativity by creating exceptionally beautiful interactive experiences that catapult the viewer into an otherworldly realm. Photo: teamLab. Courtesy: Pace Gallery
Brent Wadden, How Long is Now, 2015. From left: Alignment #53; Alignment #52
Canadian Brent Wadden’s (b.1979) creations are extraordinary labours of love with woven paintings bringing a soft, tactile sensibility to striking, and often hard, geometrical forms. The texture of the acrylic, cotton and weaves that are stretched across the raw canvasses have a bold rhythm when viewed from afar. Yet when viewed up close, the artist's meticulous craftsmanship brings a humility and warmth. Photograph: Damian Griffiths. Courtesy: Pace Gallery
Keith Coventry, Window, 2016
Who else could conjure the infamous McDonald’s golden arches into exemplary, and somewhat serene, works of art? British artist Keith Coventry (b.1958) is as playful as he is dead serious, creating works by turning subjects like fast food on their head. His 2016 Pure Junk series was made using all natural materials such as beeswax, glue, gesso, and even rabbit skin glue. The outcome? Eloquent, minimal and meaty works, which start off commenting on junk and finish as monumental, durable works of art that enthral the viewer. Courtesy: Pace Gallery
Kevin Francis Gray, Reclining Nude I, 2016
Amid the throng of contemporary sculpture, how much of it can silence a room? Kevin Francis Gray’s (b.1972) exquisitely gestural, figurative sculptures, set a new tone. The Northern Irish sculptor’s command of marble as a material, once favoured by the likes of Michelangelo, is remarkable. Using nearly the same technique as 17th-century sculptors, he manipulates the marble by hand to create sculptures that come alive through their gouged surfaces. Gray breathes contemporary life into each obscure and abstracted form, juxtaposing an age-old tradition with contemporary vision. Courtesy: Pace Gallery
Anne Imhof, Faust, 2017
Anne Imhof's (b.1978) performance art cannot hang passively on the wall, it demands your attention. Describing herself as a painter, Imhof's work embodies German contemporary art and is intensely intimate. No one performance is ever the same as she confronts the fragility and brutality of the times we live in. Faust, Imhof’s most recent work, is made up of androgynous performers that actively occupy the German Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale and has proven to be the star of the show. The performance goes on for up to four hours at a time, allowing for spontaneous movements and sudden bouts of music.
Photograph: © Nadine Fraczkowski. Courtesy: German Pavilion 2017 and the artist
Adam Pendleton, New Works, 2015. From left: Black Lives Matter (wall work) #2; Magicienne #2; Black Dada/Column (D)
In 2012, the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ created a fierce movement that multi-disciplinary artist Adam Pendleton (b.1984) brings to the fore in his politically charged, conceptual artworks. In 2015, Pendleton presented Black Lives Matter for the Belgian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale, a piece that demanded an active dialogue with the viewer. Establishing a strong visual language has been an integral part in Pendleton’s largely monochromatic works, which vary from large wall installations to room-sized collages. Photograph: Damian Griffiths. Courtesy: Pace Gallery
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