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12/28/2005: "December Travel Tips" by Sue Spaid
Tune in here to discover the answers to the November 25 contest. In response to one reader’s comment, “What are you looking for?” I’m really not searching for anything, in particular. While driving from university gig to another, I visited several places that I’ve not had the chance to visit before, mostly because I flew over them. Driving seems extra-exciting when you can stop en route to discover places that you’ve only ever dreamed of visiting. When I drove out west last October, it was my first visit to states like Colorado and Utah since high school. I planned to visit Art| Basel| Miami Beach, but I never imagined how rewarding this could be, since I typically avoid art fairs. Needless to say, this art fair and all of its predator activities further stirs up an already espresso-charged Miami. Where else can you check out art from 9am-3pm, relax on the beach for a few hours, and then return for more art and parties until 2am? A surprise interview in Ghent, Belgium, enabled me to stopover in NYC to experience Richard Tuttle’s amazing Whitney retrospective and to explore Smithson’s Spiral Hill/Broken Circle (1971) in Emmen, Holland. My yearlong Smithson trail, initiated by my visit last January to Asphalt Rundown near Rome, is officially finished.
Answers to the November 25 contest.
1) Center for Land Use Interpretation, Wendover Exhibit Hall, Wendover, Utah
2) Nancy Spero, Sun Tunnels, Utah
3) De Young Museum, San Francisco, CA
4) Lake Tahoe, Nevada
5) Patricia Johanson, Endangered Garden, San Francisco
6) Basia Irland, Desert Fountain, The Albuquerque Museum
7) Basia Irland, rainwater collection garden, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Robert Smithson, Spiral Jetty
9) Tree House, Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
10) Matthias Goeritz, The Big Dipper, The Aspen Institute
11) Buckminster Fuller, Geodesic Dome, The Aspen Institute
12) Herbert Bayer, grass mound, The Aspen Institute
13) Mary Miss, water retention pond, Des Moines Art Center, Iowa.
December Travel Tips.
1) I was remiss not to mention the amazing lunch spot facing the giant fish tank at the Albuquerque Aquarium.
2) When visiting Chicago to see Anish Kapoor’s city-distorting mirrored Ellipse, face the Art Institute’s front-entrance and you’ll find Daniel Buren’s sited stripes.
3) I hereby predict that by 2025, Kentucky’s horse country will surpass Sonoma and Napa as the place to drive through gorgeous countryside, while tasting sumptuous alcoholic drinks. Check out the Woodford Reserve Distillery first.
4) I bet it never occurred to you that theater impresario Robert Wilson got his start in the arts building an amphitheater out of telephone poles, while in residence at Grailville, a women’s run religious retreat near Loveland, Ohio,
5) For a totally unique game of golf, try teeing off at Newark, Ohio’s Moundbuilders Country Club, whose grassy fairways are bordered by ancient indian mounds.
6) If you didn’t get to see Eva Hesse’s 2003 survey, which included her amazing multi-dimensional paintings from the early 1960s, or you’ve never visited the Duchamp galleries at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, then head to the Wexner Center’s “part object part sculpture” exhibition, on view through February 26. While this exhibition’s thematic polemic is old hat, there are many wonderful works here, including Alberto Burri’s clever paintings and Joshua McElheny’s dynamic mirrored chandelier. My parents particularly enjoyed the photograph of Yayoi Kusama frolicking in socks on her white, phallic-covered couch.
7) Have you ever experienced a virgin forest’s unusually-shaped trees? Stop by Lloyd’s Reserve in Crittenden, Kentucky, a short drive east from I-71, exit 166. If you’ve never watched a wetland absorb parking lot runoff, drop by Sanitation District #1’s headquarters, located at the intersection of Route 17 and I-275.
9) When driving south along I-75 or I-95, stops in Asheville, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina, and/or Savannah, Georgia are a must. These three unique, gallery-replete towns still parlay 19th Century southern charm. If you’re hunting dinner after 9:30pm in Charleston, don’t despair, Blossom is open late.
10) It’s hard to believe, but Art|Basel|Miami has spawned six predator art fairs: Aqua Art Miami, Aqua Hotel, South Beach; Frisbee Art Fair, Cavalier Hotel, South Beach; NADA Art Fair, Ice Palace, Miami; Pulse, 2nd Avenue, Miami; scope Miami, Townhouse Hotel, South Beach, and Design05, Moore Building, Miami. For what it’s worth, I enjoyed Pulse and Aqua most, perhaps because I already knew most dealers exhibiting there. Unknown aqua artists who caught my eye included William Powhida, Dan Kopp, Tracy Nakayama, Chris Cobb, Rachel Dayson, and Lee Boroson. I recommend driving, so you can have a car on hand.
11) The Art|Basel|Miami Container Show furnished a lively hangout scene, bussling both day and night, although most container exhibitions were rather underwhelming, given their slavish adherence to the white cube format. The one exception was the Transcontinental Nomadenoase, a predator project, whose gallery and hodge-podge bar (a replication of Hamburg’s Golden Pudel Club?) were housed in an eighteen-wheeler, parked nearby. Hosted by Jason Rhoades on opening night, it was certainly the liveliest (and minutest) crowd around, featuring cocktail cups made by a coconut-smashing barmaid and dripping with unknown concoctions.
12) Performances abounded, though we were denied access to any produced by Deitch Projects. I happily participated in Ferral Childe’s beachside Dingo Derby, co-presented by the free-form Frisbee Art Fair. If you’re in the Chelsea vicinity before December 31, check out Ferral Childe’s exhibition at Julia Friedman’s gallery on 22nd Street, where you can borrow and wear their couture outfits.
13) The Miami Art Museum party was a blast, but its Ana Mendieta show really glowed. I was surprised to see actual siluetas from Mendieta’s performances dug up or cast into rather permanent objects. Shahzia Sikander’s new video, also on view there, proved just as magical as her delicate drawings.
14) Of equal fascination were the private collections. The Rubell is always worth repeat visits, since that space seems to change dramatically every time I visit. Arriving at the Marguiles with only 30 minutes to spare, I frantically searched for Anri Sala’s video, but I left hugely disappointed, since no one there, even the staff person, knew where to find it. The newest foundation CIFO offered an innovative video presentation. The William Kentridge show at Miami Central not only included plenty of drawings and objects, but it featured a fascinating object, whose mirrored reflection of an abstract drawing yields a readable image. Isaac Julien’s new film at the Museum of Contemporary Art was definitely worth the drive, but Albert Oehlen’s “enfant terrible” paintings, also on view there, seem a desperate cry for attention, despite his obvious influence on younger painters like Michel Majerus and Franz Ackermann, and even the Leipzig crew.
Wexner Center for the Arts- www.wexarts.org
Art|Basel|Miami Beach- www.artbasel.com
Aqua Art Miami- www.aquaartmiami.com
Deitch Projects- www.deitch.com
Ferral Childe- www.ferralchilde.com
Julia Friedman Gallery- www.juliafriedman.com
Miami Art Museum- www.miamiartmuseum.org
Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO)- www.cifo.org
Rubell Family Collection- www.rubellfamilycollection.com
The Marguiles Collection at the Warehouse- www.marguileswarehouse.com
Miami Art Central- www.miamiartcentral.org
Museum of Contemporary Art- www.mocanomi.org
Whitney Museum of American Art- www.whitney.org
European Ceramic Works Centre- www.ekwc.com
