This month, Art in America’s David Ebony interviewed German artist Katharina Grosse. She currently has a show, “Katharina Grosse: One Floor Up More Highly” at MASS MoCA, up through October 31st. Ebony describes this project in terms of a European perception of American landscapes.  “Many Europeans think of America in terms of vast landscapes and infinite sky, and urban centers packed with towering buildings and teeming masses, all in a rather precarious state of flux.” Grosse’s work “could be seen as an homage to an idealized if not wholly fiction place, such as the American frontier.” “This project, like most of Grosse’s large-scale installations, incorporates massive sculptural features that allude simultaneously to empirical space an an imaginative vista. Yet the artist’s primary means of expression is painting, and the thrust of the work is rigorously abstract. She employs painting’s illusionistic devices of light and shadow, and, with a subtle manipulation of other elements, suggest complex narratives.” Read the entire interview here: http://www.artinamericamagazine.com/news-opinion/conversations/2011-09-02/katharina-grosse/
From the Berlin Art Link: Nadja Sayej makes Art Criticism Controversial Nadja Sayej has a mission that suits Berlin’s fancy. She first studied visual arts in Toronto, Canada, but quit painting in order to dedicate herself to undercutting the art scene using gonzo journalism. Together with Ryan Edwards and Jeremy Bailey, Nadja Sayej founded ArtStars* in May 2009 in Toronto. By the end of 2010 Sayej brought Artstars* to Berlin to focus on openings at art galleries, institutions and art fairs in Europe. Already, the Berlin art scene is split into lovers and haters of this travel show on contemporary art. No wonder. Nadja Sayej challenges art criticism with her ballsy personality, which paves her way to glory and contempt at the same time. Some call her the Borat of the art scene because of her virtuosic attire, the blatant rhetoric and unexpected appearances at art openings. She scrutinizes Carsten Höller’s reindeers at Hamburger Bahnhof, she gets a spontaneous statement from a tipsy Cyprien Galliard sitting on top of his sculptural work made of Turkish beer cases at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, she chases down Gilbert and George on Potsdamerstrasse and gets a short albeit rare interview with John Waters at the Venice Biennial. One way or the other “Artstars* always gets the interview, don’t you forget it!” Intrigued as ArtUga was with this introduction? Read the entire article here: http://www.berlinartlink.com/2011/07/26/snap-bring-it-on-bitches/