Both used and useful, and – I’m sure – you’re going to appreciate it, adore it, welcome it, engage with it, use, utilize it, as well!
These lovely cupboards, charmingly peculiar, exotic, and, if you please, Sir, place your Whisky within them, Ma’am, your jewelry. Excuse me for the cliché.
No unnecessary dust collectors, nothing beautiful that serves only the enormous. So special, sustainable and meaningful, take two!
Recycled metal is given a second lease on life.
Hamed Ouattara, born in 1971, lives and works in Burkina Faso, encompassing a multitude of roles: artist, painter, designer, and company director. He received his education in both his home country and France and has participated in numerous exhibitions worldwide over the past two decades.
In an interview conducted in 2021, he revealed his love for balance in our world, stating that he is currently working on projects that are light and airy, providing a contrast to climate issues, the pandemic, and other challenges.
He also expressed his affinity for the creation of long-lasting products in a world where nothing seems to endure.
Sees himself creating out of necessity – and when asked, „What is design?“
Well, indeed, what is his created design all about? .. Both used and useful, and – I’m sure – you’re going to appreciate it, adore it, welcome it, engage with it, use, utilize it, as well ..
„I don’t fit in here“ – What it’s like to move to a city for a job that we don’t really like.
For a great job or for studies, we often have to move to a different city. But what if we simply don’t feel comfortable in that city?
This won’t be my home.
A new job, a new city, a new life – it sounds exciting at first. But what if shortly after our arrival, we start longing for the day when we can leave this city behind? Such a time can certainly help us grow and contribute to self-discovery: How do we deal with suddenly being all alone? How well can we commit to something that doesn’t make us happy? And above all, what positive aspects can we draw from such a situation?
I want to spark a discussion with my contribution. Not every city touches our hearts. So, how do we best handle it when, for purely rational reasons, we are bound to a city that thousands of others might like, but it never really feels right for us?
A fresh start?
Due to my profession, I have moved more than ten times – I have traveled extensively in my private life – and I quickly and decisively know what I need to be happy and connected to a place in a big city, a small town, in Germany, or even abroad. And this city where I currently live just doesn’t have it – at least not for me.
Almost everything feels uncomfortable, it’s constricting, I sigh, and yet I’ve been walking these streets, shops, and offices with a perpetual smile for what feels like ten years. This city and its people are not to blame for being completely wrong for me. Even though I associate this city with a handful of truly beloved people, beautiful experiences, and things I have had the opportunity to discover in the past year and a half, these 18 months feel like years.
L.A.
Learning what you want – and what you don’t.
Still, this experience is very important: I can define more and more confidently what I don’t want here, for example. This is crucial for my personal development. I genuinely consider it a gift. There’s a wise quote:
„I am thankful for all those difficult people in my life. They have shown me exactly who I do not want to be.“
And that’s how it is for me here. In a city that shows me multiple times a day – and very clearly – that it’s just not right for me, and that I belong somewhere completely different. I’m from Baden, and as the slogan for the local wine proclaims, „spoiled by the sun.“ I used to like rain a lot. For example, there was nothing I liked more than jogging in the rain and then taking a hot shower. But here, I can’t stand even seeing rain in the weather forecast, let alone feeling it on my skin and smelling it. Rain smells different in Baden, Paris, and Buxtehude.
“Luv Some” . LosAngeles .
No love song.
No, this is certainly not a love letter to this economically thriving city in the Rhineland. I leave that to others. Living in the right city feels a bit like being in the right relationship: the right partner can do no wrong, and the wrong one can do no right. Some people prefer strawberry ice cream to chocolate, choose pasta over french fries, or prefer sparkling water to champagne. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.
We are different, and my opinion of this city is therefore entirely subjective and based on my own feelings. For someone else, there may be another city or village that they hardly have anything positive to say about. For someone else, it might be entirely incomprehensible how much I love one or two cities in Baden. It’s solely about the feeling of having to be in a city or any place that we don’t like, for purely practical reasons.
I don’t belong here.
The feeling of being in the wrong place is something many of us are familiar with. And this feeling cannot be talked away by others, nor can they convince us that the city is beautiful. Living in the wrong place is a bit like being stuck in a bad relationship: we know the other person, we know it doesn’t (anymore) fit, but we still stay, for more rational reasons. Even well-intentioned comments like, „But you two are such a great match!“ from friends won’t change how we feel. We know what should and shouldn’t be, and sooner or later, we leave.
At least, when we find ourselves „in the wrong place but still staying,“ we’re not playing with emotions. This city doesn’t care at all whether I’m here or not. One day, a newcomer or someone already here will be enriched by my sweet apartment, and I’ll be gone. If you want to understand what makes my heart beat, spend a week in Baden-Baden or book a weekend in a romantic corner of Paris.
I like my apartment here as my cozy home. And I also like that I don’t like the city, allowing me to focus fully on myself, a few select contacts, and above all, my career and future plans. To be happy getting from point A to point B every day, I indulge in memories of other cities as I stroll along the streets here. Yes, I stroll. Often in high heels, rarely in ballet flats, and never in boat shoes or sports shoes that are so typical here. My Russian and posh-inspired footwear walks on the pavement of a sporty West German city, while my thoughts wander elsewhere.
LosAgain
Regarding Paris, I say that I’m in a long-distance relationship with that city. London is my affair. Moscow is beautiful in winter. My friend lives in Baden. So, while I think about all these wonderful cities, I tell myself, quite maturely, that I can mature here and take the good with me.
I’m not really here anymore.
However, there is a problem: I no longer engage with this place. I tried for a while but eventually gave up. Metaphorically speaking, my second foot is no longer on this ground. It is now firmly planted in my flowery past, in cities of my everyday escapes, or already in my rosy future, which will be somewhere else.
Nevertheless, my smile is genuine because it’s for the people here, who are not to blame for me feeling like an Englishman in New York. An alien wearing the wrong shoes. A sun-soaked creature who ended up in the rain. But my other foot, my heart, is missing, and that’s why I squeal with joy when I know that every evening brings one day closer to when I won’t be here anymore.
How do we best handle it?
Do you think we can reconcile with a place or people when we know that a situation will soon be in the past? How can we feel like we’re shortening our time in a place by doing something meaningful? Will I ever regret leaving this city in months or a year?
The notice period for my apartment is only one week, and that alone is a reason for me to stay. Just knowing that I could leave almost overnight makes me so content that I haven’t left yet. And maybe that’s the art of it after all?
Wrote this article 2018 as I lived for three years in Düsseldorf:
A friend once told me that it doesn’t matter where we live because we’re the same person, no matter where we are. I know better – for me: for me it does! and same with countries and people.
I’m German and super-grateful for all the years lived and worked in so many different places in Germany. As a former federal cop worked all over the country for almost two decades. And that’s it. Love, and leave anyway.
Sometimes it’s easy to let go because you’ve seen, tried and had everything, and it’s time for something new, for the next two decades and more. Only take jobs in and for the U.S.
„Come as you are,“ in a world that constantly tries to tell you how you should be?
A couple of years ago, I would have agreed with this, with this that the world constantly tries to tell you how you should be or who you should be. I think that has changed, and that’s a gift! In my opinion, we are nowadays more free than ever to be whoever we want to be. Now, speaking for our Western world. We decide who we want to love and how we want to live, determine our gender, sneakers in the office are okay, formal greetings have turned into „Hiya“ instead of „Dear,“ and a casual „Thanks“ or „Best,“ in any case, and even the etiquette on golf courses has relaxed.
Who do you want to be, name it, decide it, or just be it!
In contrary, we might be less free in everything we do because we are seen and observed, anytime. There’s constant knowledge of where we are, paying with our bank cards, and getting registered or checked in a hundred places. There’s the curious neighbor, bosses calling our former employer, and there are still spies, but be yourself, come as you are, be, be, be!
Yesterday, I visited the current exhibition by Derrick Adams at Gagosian, Bevery Hills. Due to traffic, I had miscalculated, and I arrived at the gallery 8 minutes before its evening closing. So, there wasn’t enough time to spend an appropriate amount of time in front of the artworks. It was a rush!
Saying „Hiya“ and „Hello“ to the team, dancing while taking a video, and taking a picture of each work. A quick wonder, a quick sigh, be free to come as you are, even when time is very-very limited!
Well, the exhibition is wonderfully colorful, and in this, compared to our modern society, a mirror. We’re different, some more, some less, and accepted – at least free – to be this way. The recommendation in one piece of art „Stay focused,“ multicolored written on pastel-colored bathwater soap bubbles, above someone super relaxed in the bathtub: A game with sweet irony? Capturing the moment as we relax after a long day? Rubber ducks and flip-flops with smiles. Who’s up for some spa?
11 eyes that gaze at the viewer, even though there’s only one face, one portrait in the painting. We are being observed! Do you dare to be how you are? Eyes, gazes in paintings that look directly at you, and when it’s not the main protagonist, it reminds me of „The Martyrdom of St. Agatha“ by the Italian Baroque artist Tiepolo, where, from the viewer’s right side in the back of the image, concealed, someone is there, looking at the viewer, perhaps judging, warning, protection for the actual protagonist Agatha, here: the man’s face in the middle. Someone standing by their side. So, we are not free. We are constantly in focus, while keeping our own. We are seen in how we look, who we are, or how we look at others. Who dares to be a child here, especially when it says that there’s a „child in every man,“ accepted, celebrated, while for a woman, „an adult woman is an investment, an immature girl is a bill“? Equal rights for all? Forget it, but: Come as you are, I’ll judge you later!
Become cozy in being courageous .. More & more.
Liked the tricolored popsicle sculptures lying on the ground. Childhood memories, sticky fingers, colorful tongues, a sugar rush! Pointing to an inflatable unicorn in the pool. Strawberry cream cake. Four-colored skin tones of the individuals. Curious eyes. Butterflies. Ladybirds. Short skirts. King. Pink fingernails.
On the gallery’s homepage, it says, „This body of work flirts with the idea of sensuality.“ Desire to dream .. into the roles we want to play in life, things we want to do, things we wish to succumb to, and haven’t dared to until now. Courage to dance out of line. Courage to be more oneself. Courage to live in the moment. – The last one named perhaps the most important thing of all, considering that time is the greatest gift. Limited. Just like my 8 minutes at the gallery before closing time.
Derrick Adams . *1970, Baltimore/Maryland . currently based in New York City . current exhibition COME AS YOU ARE . At Gagosian Gallery . 456 North Camden Drive . Beverly Hills . CA
Do you want to know how the sky looked in New York City in February, March, and April of 2023, this year?
I’m sure you’re interested, curious, capable of falling in love and experiencing awe with it!
Do you want to know how the sky looks in different places at different times?
I’m sure you wish that she, Miya Ando, would do it with your hometown too, her art, as she did with several skies, even though we’re on the same planet and live under the same sky!
In Los Angeles, represented by the Wilding Cran Gallery, her current exhibition is named „Sky Atlas.“ Quite fitting, considering that Los Angeles is known for its unique light and sky.
However, the majority of these photographs are from New York City, where the female artist is currently based, having grown up between Japan and the United States. So, Miya’s work is a blend of both Eastern and Western culture. Japanese titles, American Sky, metallic medium, and subjects that are elusive, all while perhaps representing the most ephemeral of all: clouds.
A flamingo sky above New York City.
A sea of clouds floats over Santa Cruz.
I thought it was a dream.
In love with you!
But close your eyes for just one moment, and the moment is gone. The color. The shape. A different sky. Lettin’ go does not come that easily.
C, I’m never getting used to you being gone! C-loud that should be called C-quiet ..
The recorded time makes the artwork scientific, you can purchase one of the artworks as well, holding onto those clouds of that second forever and ever and ever-ever.
Miya Ando . current exhibition . at Wilding Cran Gallery . Los Angeles .
Ellen Gallagher, born in 1965 in Providence, Rhode Island, currently resides and works in Rotterdam.
I recently had the opportunity to view her predominantly yellow artwork, „eXelento,“ at The Broad Museum in Los Angeles. Captured a video of the piece, beginning with close-up shots of its individual components. It featured heads adorned with playful additions:
Vanilla yellow hair styled in a 70s fashion, or sun rays and Greek architecture.
The helmets resembled those of alien. Others, adorned with masks, horns, crowns, and brains. All in these shades of yellow. Creating a soft and friendly atmosphere. A big number of faces and heads within the artwork, starting with, 1, 2, 3, there were almost 400 of them, arranged in a 32×12 grid, if my count serves me right.
There are related artworks, such as „AxME,“ which was featured in a previous article in „kolaj“ magazine. (https://kolajmagazine.com/content/content/articles/ellen-gallagher-tate/) The article emphasized the challenge of describing art, stating that much of what art conveys through images can be difficult, if not impossible, to convey adequately through words and language. Name it!
Now, does any connection exist between Ellen Gallagher’s work and Diego Velasquez, a historical artist she holds in high regard, she once said that he’s the artist who most deeply influences her? But, what at all, does it mean to be influenced by someone in the world of art? Is it akin to admiration, love in distance, or perhaps a significant source of inspiration that permeates an artist’s every work? I’m not an artist myself, but can guess, could write a scientific work about it .. And always as someone who works in the field of liberal arts, get the impression, and we talked about that at university a lot, you need both the old accepted scientific works about artworks and a new approach to it .. If you’re good in arguing, you might win ..
So, can we find any connection to historical artists in this painted sculpture, this sculptured painting? Enjoy delving into the past. What about ancient reliefs, characterized by repetition? Perhaps Ellen’s 2004-artwork represents a contemporary twist, infusing each head or face with unique elements.
Ellen is renowned for creating artworks that can be both captivating and unsettling. She is known for a type of humor that may not be immediately amusing, not amusing at all. So, is „eXelento“ humorous in its own way?
Is it humor or sarcasm that resonates with you?
Do you appreciate and feel moved by this artwork?
Soft yellow sculptural work. Newspaper prints. Pictures and words. And not only one piece, instead 384. You can have it all! If you’ve got time. Imagine spending just 10 seconds examining each image; it would take a full hour to appreciate this marvelous piece of art. A German hour, mind you, because I recently discovered that a German minute may have 60 seconds, unlike an American one. So, keep your watch handy or simply lose yourself in the moment.
Time remains an essential aspect, from the artists of ancient times to the contemporary artists of our Zeitgeist. Build a bridge!
You are a very special person, BUT your body is a battlefield.
The entire world can be a fairytale if you’re able to see it that way. Greatness is character, and luck finding peace in everything.
Don’t play, but be playful. And the best revenge is sometimes just revenge, when no one expects it anymore. Sweet like cherries, too.
Tell me, is it really important how others see us? Courage is to swim against the tide. And happiness is when you don’t betray your principles.
Is it about knowing as many quotes as possible, or is it about living them?
Hi and bye! You are okay, I am okay, just let us be one in a million.
Art stimulates reflection. „We are all Americans,“ said Parker. „30 years in Germany are enough,“ Ernst, and you know that you’re different when people get jealous even if you have less than they do.
Be special!
Love your body!
Real love is loyal.
Princess, Queen, King, wear your crown, and let art inspire you!
It can be funny, confusing, touching, sexy, or disgusting.
Art. Like life itself.
You don’t see others as they are. You see others like you are. Be nice!
Barbara Kruger. *1945 in Newark/New Jersey, USA
Seen at The Broad Museum, Los Angeles, California.
Ernest Hemingway once said, „All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.“
Well, there it is: I have no clue.
Art remains a mystery to me, even after three years of studying European art history in Germany. I haven’t figured it out yet, maybe not even the smallest parts of it. There’s always something new in every single artwork. There’s something you haven’t recognized before, or you see it in a different way because you’ve changed, at least your opinion and your view on the world and on art.
Aren’t the most exciting conversations the ones with people who see things differently? You can decide; you’re free to fight or open up. It’s like a gift by the other person, saying, „Here’s the door, I introduce you, I invite you, to see my point of view, see my world.“ It can be an opportunity or a situation you’d love to leave as soon as possible.
And wouldn’t even a fight be better than just turning your back and going?
Are you able to embrace silence, or do you feel better with talking and listening, listening and talking?
Well, not even museums are the quiet places they once used to be. Years ago, I was in the Städel in Frankfurt, visiting an exhibition of Renoir, and I got the spontaneous idea, inspired by the environment and the mood of the people that surrounded me, that club music, finger foods and cocktails would go well here. Like at an art gallery’s opening reception. Maybe yes, maybe no. I have no clue. Perhaps we must simply try some things, embrace them, let go, try again, differently, to know that sometimes it’s the wrong thing to do.
Does everything deserve a second chance?
Does art?
So, how do you fall in love with art? Look at it and be in awe? Try connecting the dots of art history with the current spirit of the times, the environment around the artist, or just the things you see related to something you once saw?
An attempt .. :
But don’t get too attached to it; instead, set it free. Free your mind and feel with your heart and soul, absorb it and drift away, deeper and deeper. It’s like falling in love with somebody wonderful for you, having no clue what happens, losing your head, spinning around in all your creative thoughts, and coming back.
„Yesterday,“ I talked to a director about an interesting painting that the artist created layer by layer, 80 – 100. This is exciting! isn’t it? So much curiosity about what’s beneath this final surface. It’s like a game of hide and seek.
Will the artist tell you the truth about it?
What were the former 79 or 99 layers about?
Will he even open up?
Today, I visited the LACMA in L.A, and it was just wow. I entered a happy place where both kids and adults were entertained by a kind of a huge car race track. Why have I never seen that kind of art in a museum before? I have no clue!
During a live Sotheby’s auction I watched online a year ago or two, one of the comments from viewers on the internet said, „This is not about science; this is an art auction,“ regarding a high-priced Rothko painting that sold for 42 million. And who has a clue what this painting will be worth in 5, 10, 50 years? Art seems to be worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. Art seems to be interpreted in so many different ways. Art seems to be connected to the history of art but can also be refused.
Art seems, is, free and elusive, even if you think you’ve got it right, “Catch me if you can!“ the artist may have meant it differently, or even if you talk to them, they might not be honest with you, keeping their secret, or you might just get it wrong.
There’s this wonderful thing in dating or just getting to know someone: „If we vibe, we vibe.“ Have you ever had the feeling that you’re able to vibe with different kinds of art, some more, some less as well? Have you ever fallen in love with art at first sight and then gotten bored later?
Have you ever disliked an artwork, only to get to know it better and wish you could live with it now?
Have you ever been triggered, hurt, or felt understood by an artwork or the entire body of work by an artist?
Is difficult art the most satisfying? Can beautiful art make your day, save you and even the world?
And what about the emotional approach, feeling, falling, getting lost, finding your point of view again, even if you’ve got no clue?
That’s why I always say, enjoy art, have fun, be as free as art itself, discover it anew every time you look at it. Try to capture it with your thoughts, try to feel it with your soul, even if you, like me, think you have no clue.
Maybe see art with the eyes of a child. So, guess I was wrong, and the most truthful sentence should not be that I have no clue, because there are ideas, approaches. Maybe it is that I know that I don’t know. Do you? And, maybe more importantly:
Do you like art?
Are you curious about an artwork and its hidden story?
It’s our pleasure to disgust you. A profound joy, every time you contemplate provocative art. Provocative in a tempting, seductive, and aesthetic manner.
Can we refine sexuality with pastel colors, like an innocent pale pink?
Intensely soft erotica. Hardcore Softporn.
Frills. & lace. Love.
Sex.
Intelligence.
Name the game, and it shall be yours. Art is art. Free pass! And out of the blue, intimacy becomes childishly playful. As seen in the works of Jeff Koons, Will Cotton, and here.
Bei Fuss.
forget morality.
forget innocence.
forget shame.
forget heroes.
Barbara Kruger . Denver Art MuseumJonathan Saiz . K Contemporary . DenverWill Cotton . On his IGRobin Hextrum . Abend Gallery . Denver Kaitlyn Tucek . K Contemporary
Denver, Colorado, which I recently visited for 18 hours to explore several galleries and famous museums, also boasts a wonderful art scene. Due to the limited time available, I had to prioritize.
Let’s begin with the Denver Art Museum, with its two buildings and seven floors in the larger one. The priority I set in the building was to view the artworks on 4 floors. Western Art was a must for me – a modern perspective in a contemporary manner. The contemporary scene in our temporary world, the art world, which changes rapidly, much like the world outside.
However, Western art has the ability to ground you. Isn’t it like a fairy tale from another world, especially if you’re from Europe or somewhere else that isn’t the US?
Isn’t it akin to Alice in Wonderland for anyone who wishes to live that kind of dream?
Isn’t it a childhood memory for everyone?
Is there anything that conveys more freedom, the American spirit, that kind of stereotype and cliché, than the landscapes of North America, paintings of canyons and cowboys, wild horses and wildlife, hunting and roping, branding, and a loud whisper, a promise, of a free life itself?
There are still artists who paint this kind of American dream in a naturalistic manner.
There are still cowboys I’ve fallen in unspoken, unrequited love with, more than I could have ever imagined, but that’s a different story ..
Wonderful men. Wonderful lifestyle.
And how do contemporary artists in the wild, wild west deal with a subject that carries such a vast heritage?
America, yes you can, always could!
Have you read the book „Fantasyland : How America went Haywire : A 500-year History“ by Kurt Andersen? A strong dream and believe, or a soft nightmare, described on 480 pages.
Americans can do it, conjure, carry lightness, work hard, and embrace an imaginative forward-looking mindset with pride and optimistic greatness. Where else can you find art like that? The! That! This!
And sometimes, yes sometimes, the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.
I don’t see how he can ever finish, if he doesn’t begin.
Alice in Wonderland . Chapter 9
More pictures on IG : instagram.com/contemporart_ranchlife/
