Production still from "Glenn Ligon: Installing 'Warm Broad Glow II.'" Art21 Exclusive video.

Our latest Exclusive video is now live! Watch Glenn Ligon: Installing “Warm Broad Glow II” on Art21.org.

Filmed at the Whitney Museum of American Art in early 2011, this Exclusive video shows artist Glenn Ligon as he installs his twenty-foot neon artwork Warm Broad Glow II (2011) in the museum’s front window before the opening of his mid-career retrospective “Glenn Ligon: AMERICA.” With assistance from curator Scott Rothkopf and neon fabricator Matt Dilling, Ligon works to determine the best placement on the neon while battling against wind, rain, window mullions, and a view-obscuring hotdog vendor. Ligon selected the text “Negro Sunshine” from the Gertrude Stein novella ”Melanctha” (1909) and has used the phrase in projects of varying media.

Glenn Ligon is featured in the Season 6 (2012) episode History of the  Art in the Twenty-First Century series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes, or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.

"Exclusive | Glenn Ligon: Installing “Warm Broad Glow II”" originally appeared on the Art21 Blog

Subscribe to Art21 for mobile on Google Currents

Marina Abramović in ELLE Serbia. Photo by Dusan Reljin.

Art21′s latest “Exclusive” video has just gone live: check out Marina Abramović: Embracing Fashion on Art21.org! This is our first Exclusive to feature a Season 6 artist, and our first in HD.

Filmed at her New York office in 2011, Marina Abramović discusses how her relationship to fashion and femininity has evolved over the course of a 40-year career. In the 1970s, Abramović relied upon stark, neutral performance uniforms that were always either “naked or dirty black or dirty white.” She reached a turning point in 1988 after the dissolution of her artistic collaboration with Ulay Laysiepen, which culminated in ”The Great Wall Walk” (1988). Abramović’s subsequent embrace of fashion and femininity parallel her re-emergence as a solo performance artist in the 1990s and 2000s.

Marina Abramović is featured in the Season 6 (2012) episode History of the  Art in the Twenty-First Century series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes, or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.

CREDITS: Producer: Ian Forster. Consulting Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Charles Atlas. Camera: Paul Gibson. Sound: Mark Mandler. Editor: Lizzie Donahue & Morgan Riles. Artwork Courtesy: Marina Abramović Archives & Sean Kelly Gallery. Photography Courtesy: ELLE Serbia, Givenchy, Museum of Modern Art, Dusan Reljin, Mario Testino / Art Partner & V Magazine. Special Thanks: Danica Newell & Sidney Russell. Theme Music: Peter Foley

"Exclusive | Marina Abramović: Embracing Fashion" originally appeared on the Art21 Blog

Subscribe to Art21 for mobile on Google Currents

Robert Adams, "Adams County, Colorado," 1973 Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York

The LA Times’ Leah Ollman hit it on the head last month when she wrote in Art in America:

To embrace opposing emotions can yield frictional sparks and wonderfully uneasy tension; it can complicate and deepen the response a work generates.

Ollman was discussing the work of Robert Adams in her excellent article, Romantic Realist, as well as the current retrospective, “Robert Adams: The Place We Live” at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. While Adams himself may admit to being in pursuit of beauty through his photography, his work clearly highlights, “…where and how nature and culture meet”- for better or worse.

Teaching with and sharing Adams’ photography with students can allow for a broader understanding of what makes a great picture. Do we look for precise technical qualities, superb composition and a story the viewer can take away, or do we allow for ambiguity and multiple story lines in photos that simultaneously transport the viewer and force them to hold up a mirror? Adams talks about telling the truth and having to “simultaneously accept what one had to accept” during the Exclusive video, “Robert Adams: Working Along Freeways”. His photo of a garbage truck, while inducing “revulsion” in Adams’ words, is beautiful at the same time. His photo of a young girl walking through a huge trailer court evokes loneliness and sadness while depicting an extraordinary light and landscape.

In Art21’s season 4 educator guide, one of the activities suggested after viewing Robert Adams’ segment asks students to create a visual essay of their own region using books, newspaper and magazine articles, the internet, and interviews with teachers, neighbors… even family members. Through the process of gathering these kinds of images, there is an opportunity for students to see the parallels of beauty and ugliness in change. Working with Adams’ photos, students can further their understanding of how ambiguity, ambivalence and uncertainty play a role in making works of art that affect the viewer on multiple levels and push the definition of what can be beautiful, not to mention illuminating.

"Ambiguity and Teaching with the Photography Robert Adams" originally appeared on the Art21 Blog

Subscribe to Art21 for mobile on Google Currents

Production still from Art21's Exclusive video, "William Kentridge: Meaning."

Art21′s latest Exclusive video has just been posted–check out “William Kentridge: Meaning“ on Art21.org! Filmed at his Johannesburg studio in 2008, William Kentridge discusses how the physical activities of cutting, tearing and collaging generate ideas and infuse his work with meaning. Rather than starting with an idea that is then executed, Kentridge relies on these freeform processes and the resulting juxtapositions to find connections and raise questions. Finished works are shown at the Annandale Galleries in Sydney, Australia.

William Kentridge is featured in the Season 5 (2009) episode Compassion of the Art in the Twenty-First Century television series as well as the Art21 special William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible (2010), both on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes (link opens application), or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.

CREDITS | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Philippe Charluet & Robert Elfstrom. Sound: Ray Day. Editor: Paulo Padilha. Artwork courtesy: William Kentridge. Special Thanks: Annandale Galleries. Video: © 2012 Art21, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Exclusive | William Kentridge: Meaning" originally appeared on the Art21 Blog

Subscribe to Art21 for mobile on Google Currents

Production still from Art21's Exclusive video "Paul McCarthy: Chaos & Debauchery."

Our latest Exclusive video has just gone live–check out “Paul McCarthy: Chaos & Debauchery” on Art21.org! Filmed in his Los Angeles studio, two of Paul McCarthy’s long-time assistants — Thomas Harris and Craig McIntyre — describe the process of sculpting, molding, and fabricating the artist’s large-scale works. Likening McCarthy’s artistic approach to taking a “snapshot of disorder” that’s then meticulously reproduced, Harris and McIntyre discuss how the formal qualities of the work dovetail with themes of chaos and debauchery.

Paul McCarthy is featured in the Season 5 (2009) episode Transformations of the Art in the Twenty-First Century series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes, or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.

CREDITS | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Robert Elfstrom. Sound: Doug Dunderdale. Editor: Joaquin Perez. Artwork Courtesy: Paul McCarthy. Special Thanks: Thomas Harris & Craig McIntyre. Video: © 2012, Art21, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Exclusive | Paul McCarthy: Chaos & Debauchery" originally appeared on the Art21 Blog

Subscribe to Art21 for mobile on Google Currents

"Zygmunt," 1992. Installation at Exit Art, NY. Collaboration by Judy Pfaff and Ursula von Rydingsvard.

Our latest Exclusive video short has been posted on Art21.org! Go here to watch Judy Pfaff and Ursula von Rydingsvard share what they learned from their 1992 collaboration at Exit Art, New York.  

Filmed at their respective studios in 2006, longtime friends Judy Pfaff and Ursula von Rydingsvard discuss their experience collaborating in 1992 on a large sculpture titled Zygmunt. Commissioned by Exit Art founders Jeanette Ingberman and Papo Colo, Zygmunt was an intersection of their ideas regarding weight and space and an opportunity for Pfaff and von Rydingsvard to learn from each other.

Judy Pfaff is featured in the Season 4 (2007)  Episode “Romance“ and Ursula von Rydingsvard in Season 4′s  Episode “Ecology,” of the Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes, or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.

CREDITS | Producer: Ian Forster, Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Joel Shapiro. Sound: Roger Phenix. Editor: Morgan Riles. Artwork Courtesy: Exit Art, Judy Pfaff & Ursula von Rydingsvard. Archival Photography Courtesy: Exit Art & James Hamilton. Special Thanks: Audrey Christensen & Andria Morales. Video: © 2012 Art21, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Exclusive | Judy Pfaff and Ursula von Rydingsvard: Zygmunt (1992)" originally appeared on the Art21 Blog

Subscribe to Art21 for mobile on Google Currents

Production still from the "Art in the Twenty-First Century" Season 4. episode, "Romance," 2007. Segment: Lari Pittman © Art21, Inc. 2007.

Our latest edition of “Exclusive” is now live! A blend of newly-shot original filming and previously unreleased archival footage, videos from the Web-only “Exclusive” series focus on singular aspects of an artist’s process, significant individual works and exhibitions, provocative ideas, and biographical anecdotes. Click to watch “Lari Pittman: Audience,” on Art21.org.

Filmed in 2010 at Lari Pittman’s dual exhibitions ”Orangerie” and ”New Paintings” at Regen Projects, Los Angeles, the artist discusses the common misconception that his work is preplanned. Though he understands how audiences reach this conclusion, Pittman explains that his paintings result from a series of spontaneous decisions.

Inspired by commercial advertising, folk art, and decorative traditions, Pittman’s meticulously layered paintings transform pattern and signage into luxurious scenes fraught with complexity, difference, and desire. In a manner both visually gripping and psychologically strange, his hallucinatory works reference myriad aesthetic styles, from Victorian silhouettes to social realist murals to Mexican “retablos.”

Lari Pittman is featured in the Season 4 (2007) episode Romance of the Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes, or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.

CREDITS | Producer: Ian Forster, Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Bob Elfstrom. Sound: Ray Day. Editor: Morgan Riles. Artwork Courtesy: Lari Pittman & Regen Projects. Special Thanks: Stacey Bengtson.

"Exclusive | Lari Pittman: Audience" originally appeared on the Art21 Blog

Subscribe to Art21 for mobile on Google Currents

Yinka Shonibare MBE. "How to Blow up Two Heads at Once (Ladies)," 2006. Two-life size mannequins, two guns, Dutch wax printed cotton, shoes, and leather riding boots, dimensions variable; plinth: 63 x 96 1/2 x 48 inches overall, each figure: 63 x 61 x 48 inches overall. Collection of Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA. Photo by Stephen White © Yinka Shonibare MBE; Courtesy James Cohan Gallery, New York and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.

Our latest Exclusive video is now live on Art21.org: click here to watch Yinka Shonibare MBE on “Black Artists.” As Shonibare installs his 2008 solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia, he discusses his experience as a black artist living and working in the United Kingdom. With few black artist role models from the previous generation to follow in the path of, Shonibare describes his motivation and strategy for getting his work into the art system.

In multimedia projects that reveal his passion for art history, literature, and philosophy, Yinka Shonibare MBE provides a critical tour of Western civilization and its achievements and failures. At the same time, his sensitive use of his own foibles (vanity, for one) and challenges (physical disability) provide an autobiographical perspective through which to navigate the contradictory emotions and paradoxes of his examination of individual and political power.

Yinka Shonibare MBE is featured in the Season 5 (2009) episode Transformation of the Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes (link opens application), or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.

CREDITS | Producer: Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Philippe Charluet & Ian Serfontein. Sound: Mark Cornish & Paul Stadden. Editor: Joaquin Perez. Artwork Courtesy: Yinka Shonibare MBE. Thanks: Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney.

"Yinka Shonibare MBE | “Black Artists”" originally appeared on the Art21 Blog

Subscribe to Art21 for mobile on Google Currents

Production still from the "Art in the Twenty-First Century" Season 4 episode, "Ecology," 2007. Segment: Ursula von Rydingsvard © Art21, Inc. 2007.

Our latest, web-only Exclusive video is now live on Art21.org: click here to watch Ursula von Rydingsvard on “Becoming an Artist.”

Filmed at her Brooklyn studio, artist Ursula von Rydingsvard recounts her family’s journey from German refugee camps during WWII to their difficult early years in Connecticut. Accompanied by images from her personal archive, von Rydingsvard describes how her family’s struggles still influence her studio practice today.

Ursula von Rydingsvard builds towering cedar structures, creating an intricate network of individual beams and sensuous, puzzle-like surfaces. While abstract at its core, von Rydingsvard’s work takes visual cues from the landscape, the human body, and utilitarian objects–such as the artist’s collection of household vessels–and demonstrates an interest in the point where the human-made object meets nature.

Ursula von Rydingsvard is featured in the Season 4 (2007) episode Ecology of the Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS. Watch full episodes online for free via PBS Video or Hulu, as a paid download via iTunes (link opens application), or as part of a Netflix streaming subscription.

Learn more about Ursula von Rydingsvard.

CREDITS | Producer: Ian Forster, Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Joel Shapiro. Sound: Mark Mandler & Roger Phenix. Editor: Morgan Riles. Archival Photography Courtesy: Ursula von Rydingsvard & Marbeth. Special Thanks: Andria Morales. Video: © 2012 Art21, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Ursula von Rydingsvard | “Becoming an Artist”" originally appeared on the Art21 Blog

Subscribe to Art21 for mobile on Google Currents

Production still from the "Art in the Twenty-First Century" Season 4 episode, "Romance," 2007. Segment: Laurie Simmons © Art21, Inc. 2007.

Our latest “Exclusive” has just gone live! Filmed in 2006 at Industria Studios, New York, this previously unreleased footage shows photographer Laurie Simmons as she directs scenes for her first film, “The Music of Regret,” starring Meryl Streep. A longtime friend of Simmons and married to a sculptor herself, Streep conveys the difficulties and advantages of leaving a solitary studio practice to work with dozens of crew and collaborators on a motion picture. Click here to watch the video on Art21′s website.

Laurie Simmons stages photographs and films with paper dolls, finger puppets, ventriloquist dummies, and costumed dancers as “living objects,” animating a dollhouse world suffused with nostalgia and colored by an adult’s memories, longings, and regrets. Her work blends psychological, political and conceptual approaches to art making, transforming photography’s propensity to objectify people, especially women, into a sustained critique of the medium.

Laurie Simmons is featured in the Season 4 (2007) episode Romance of the Art in the Twenty-First Century television series on PBS.

Learn more about Laurie Simmons at: http://www.art21.org/artists/laurie-simmons.

CREDITS | Producer: Ian Forster, Wesley Miller & Nick Ravich. Interview: Susan Sollins. Camera: Mead Hunt & Joel Shapiro. Sound: Roger Phenix & Merce Williams. Editor: Morgan Riles. Artwork Courtesy: Laurie Simmons, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn & Donald Rosenfeld. Special Thanks: Ed Lachman, Industria Studios, New York & Catherine Tatge. Video: © 2012 Art21, Inc. All rights reserved.

SUBSCRIBE TO EXCLUSIVE: RSS | ITUNES | YOUTUBE | ARTBABBLE

"Laurie Simmons: Actress Meryl Streep" originally appeared on the Art21 Blog

Subscribe to Art21 for mobile on Google Currents