… and then began experimenting in expressing myself in conceptual art forms and actions; with posters, graphics, paintings, happenings, performances, media freaking etc. I learned how free art or even a mischief performance aroused archetypal behavior of the authorities in power, bringing about faces of the Watchmen; the Guardians of the Camp, with censorship, police brutality, and political persecution of dissidents. I believe that art should be well adapted and fused to rock the establishment, opposed to the ruling Party’s desirous ideology production. The notion of ‘entartete kunst’ and its corrupt spirit is still alive in the conglomerated governmental ‘Swedish State Art Control Stations’*. Yeah. I recognize that — by experience. I was born in 1935 as an orphan in the eugenics regime and endured ‘the Gulag Archipelago for Children’. And survived my childhood…

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With “JULY, IV, MDCCLXXVI,” Danh Vo shifts the focus of his artistic investigations to the concept of freedom. The title designates 4 July 1776, the date of the signing of the U. S. Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. The writing in Roman numerals is taken from the tablet that the figure of New York’s Statue of Liberty is holding in her left hand. Since 1886, Miss Liberty has symbolized the hope of a better life for refugees and immigrants arriving in New York. She is the most important emblem of freedom and independence, which Danh Vo absorbs. Based on the dimensions of the original and its copper weight of some 31 tons, Vo had a replica of the Statue of Liberty made which forms the main part of ”JULY, IV, MDCCLXXVI.” He calls the gigantic sculpture WE THE PEOPLE, reciting the first three words of the preamble to the United States’ Constitution of 17 September 1787. But the monumentality of the statue is immediately qualified: the sculpture is dissected into its individual parts and thus abstracted. In his recreation, Vo concentrates on reproducing the thin copper skin (the iron scaffolding supporting the figure is missing), which gives WE THE PEOPLE a special fragility. The broken icon, the destroyed allegorical figure of Libertas, forms a strong counterpoint to the massive materiality.

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As you may already know, Mousse has doubled. From now on, you can read, scroll, tap and swipe Mousse on your iPad. Mousse on iPad comes with much more images, dedicated videos, and a bespoke layout.

While we feel happy about it, we definitely want to hear from you whether or not Mousse can be equally rewarding when experienced digitally. If you like, please share your love or hate about Mousse on iPad at digital@moussemagazine.it

The digital version of the current issue is free – download it here

Twelve artists reflect on the symbolic meaning of gold, linking it to the current aesthetic debate. The result is an investigation through their artistic work of the relationship between ethics and aesthetics; this draws its inspiration from Georges Didi-Huberman’s book entitled Come le lucciole (Like Fireflies; original French title Survivance des lucioles).

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The first exhibition by Brannon with Casey Kaplan is structured as three separate locales within the three rooms of the gallery. Sculptural doors with hand-painted signage written backwards: “Adult’s Only,” “Powder Room,” and “Police Station” displace the viewer into a fictitious world. Silkscreen and letterpress text-based prints, labeled “Act I”, “Act II”, and “Act III”, imply events that may yet happen­­ or have already occurred.

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Indipendenza Studio presents “More Michael Paintings,” the first italian exhibition of Reena Spaulings.
Reena Spaulings is a novel written by the collective Bernadette Corporation. It’s a story about a twenty-something woman who works as a museum guard, is “discovered” and hired to model in an international advertising campaign, after which she gets fame and money.

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“The Joy of Pleasure” is a group exhibition curated by Dieter Roelstraete and Monika Szewczyk, currently on view at VW (VeneKlasen/Werner), Berlin. The show includes works by Pierre Bismuth, Shannon Bool, Jennifer Bornstein, Marco Bruzzone, Agnieszka Brzezanska, James Lee Byars, Cheryl Donegan, Piotr Nathan, Oksana Pasaiko, Martha Rosler, Steven Shearer and Mina Totino.

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For Artissima 18, Mousse is happy to present an exhibition of artist books and ephemera by Allan Kaprow.

“Artists’ books, which have testified to the complex relationship between figurative art and publishing ever since the historical avant-gardes, characterized much of the experimentation that took place in the ’60s and ’70s. In that chapter of history, they claimed the status of artworks, bringing to bear all the tools – writing, drawing, photography – capable of serving a form of expression based on conceptual thinking, elemental signs, narrative and action. In that period, Allan Kaprow (1927–2006), taking a seemingly contradictory approach, repeatedly downgraded his books from the loftier category of art objects to that of tools aiding his main activity as a constructor of Happenings. In other words, he created a direct link between his events and books.”

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Mousse is happy to announce the first digital guide to Artissima. Download the Artissima 18 App on your iPhone and discover a rich and comprehensive resource to live the fair. Arrange your visit, create your personal catalogue and navigate the constellation of projects and exhibitions in and outside the Oval.

Artissima 18 is a free application, and was developed by Mousse.

Within territorial language, pioneers are those who advance into unknown areas, scout it out and secure it for the troops that follow them. In the history of art, avant-garde artists are described as pioneers, who have conquered new forms and concepts for the artists of generations to come. Since the 1960s, artists also have proven themselves to be pioneers in the field of urban development and often have been the forerunners of the social transformation processes of urban quarters.

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Jim Shaw belongs to a generation of American artists who have influenced the culture on the West Coast since the late 1980s. His work is full of elements of American popular culture and countless references to so-called highbrow culture. His evolution has taken the form of cycles, developing an original and discontinued narration through several series whitin he creates complex pseudo-worlds that he conceptualizes in content and style.

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“Distant Star/Estrella Distante” is an exhibition based on the writings of Chilean born writer Roberto Bolaño (b. 1953 – d. 2003). The exhibition is partly an homage to the writer, and partly an exploration of the timbre and topicality of his works.

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