Rags to Get Glad About @ SF Tribal
In difficult times we need reasons to be cheerful, so here are some rags to be glad about. SF Tribal, a consortium of art dealers from the Bay Area, has posted a slew of new images on their group site. The ratio of textiles to objects is high. Why? SF is a textilian town, and its astute collectors were early adopters of the concept of tribal textiles as Art with a capital “A”.
Why do they think that way about textiles? See for yourself.
Fine Friends: Tribal Art Meets Modern at the Beyeler
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Tribal talks to modern and the conversation is scintillating.
A truly outstanding exhibition at a truly outstanding institution. The Beyeler Foundation in Basel offers “Visual Encounters — Africa, Oceania and Modern Art,” through 24 May 2009.
The show juxtaposes masterpieces of tribal sculpture with important canvasses of modern masters; van Gogh, Cézanne, Braque, Matisse, Léger, Picasso, Rothko. The result is utterly sublime. The way these works talk to each other is like long lost friends who have just met by chance after decades. The conversation is animated, joyous, rich and deep.
Generously spread over thirteen exhibition spaces in the Beyeler’s Renzo Piano designed gallery, this exhibition suggests new avenues for serious art collectors to explore. The juxtapositions make both bodies of work resonate more strongly than either would on its own. This is an an aesthetic nuclear fusion, releasing tremendous energy. Go. See. Be awed and inspired.
© Photo Hughes Dubois, Brüssel – Paris
Predictably Limp Sales at San Francisco Tribal & Textile Fair
Bird’s eye view of Fort Mason during the SF Tribal & Textiles Show 2009The San Francisco Tribal Art & Textiles Fair is normally the most lively fixture on the tribal/textiles circuit. Held every year in February, the show draws over 100 dealers from around the world and buyers from across America. This year’s show was predictably lackluster in terms of sales, but still brilliant in terms of the art on exhibit.