The Tate Modern exhibit that opened May 28^th offers a startling and thought-provoking perspective on the subject called ‘Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera’.

In the U.K. alone, there are at least five million closed circuit television cameras (CCTV’s), which is one for every twelve citizens, so no matter who you are, where you are or what you’re doing, there’s a good chance that someone is watching.  ‘Exposed’ is geared more towards the concept of camera as voyeur rather than as a security measure, evidenced by such displays as shots taken through bordello windows and pictures of couples in a park in Japan, all taken without the knowledge of the subjects.

Tate’s new curator of photography, Simon Baker, said that the exhibition is meant to raise questions about the role of photographic technology in our lives, just who is looking and for what purpose.

The line between journalism and voyeurism is extremely hazy, especially when it comes to celebrities and ‘public figures’.  Witness the shot of Paris Hilton, in a police car and in tears, or for that matter the pictures of Jackie Kennedy during and after JKF’s assassination.

More than 250 photographs are featured in the ‘Exposed’ showing, and they range from the mildly amusing to the horribly graphic.  Genocide, suicide and just about every human condition from unposed innocence to vicious cruelty and depravity are included, with the common ingredient being the unwitting exposure provided by the camera.  The question might come down to morality:  who wants to watch, and why?

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Children between the ages of 13 to 25 will be allowed to participate in behind the scenes tours and arts workshops at galleries such as the Whitechapel Gallery, Tate Britain, the South London Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Hayward Gallery.

The participants will be selected from youth groups and schools located close to the galleries, including some of the more dilapidated areas of London.

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has offered his official endorsement of the project, stating that it captures the Conservative policies that companies ought to offer something back to society.

Johnson spoke at the launch of the project stating that 31 years after Baroness Thatcher first took power Britain and since she first muted the idea that there cannot be creation of wealth without appropriate social missions, there are signs the business is listening.

Referring to the fashion handbag manufacturer, he stated that Louis Vuitton has been reaching forwards towards London’s youth, and has redefined the term ‘handbag economics.’

Director of the Whitechapel Gallery, Iwona Blazwick, stated that the students who participate will get to see the behind the scene art world operations such as arts administration and how pictures are properly hung.

The Louis Vuitton Young Arts Project is now under way with a summer academy that takes a more in-depth look at the art world for 30 people starting in August.

Watch this video to hear more about this his unique arts project.

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More Margate More Past by Tracey Emin

An exhibition of prints, curated by students at the University of Kent, has received a resounding endorsement from leading artist Tracey Emin.  KRIKEY! Kentemporary Prints, is the result of work by History and Philosophy of Art students at the University of Kent.  The exhibition, which runs from Monday 10 May 2010 until 4 June 2010, is open from 9am – 5pm Monday – Friday, in the University’s new School of Arts building, Canterbury campus.

Commenting on the exhibition, Tracey Emin, said: “It’s amazing how many appreciated and well known printmakers come from Kent. It’s obviously a hotbed of printmaking activity.”

Emin, famously from Margate, features alongside similarly high profile artists, from Royal Academicians to YBAs (Young British Artists), associated with the Kent region. Others include Frank Auerbach, Peter Blake, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Ian Davenport, Angus Fairhurst, Gary Hume, Humphrey Ocean, Chris Orr and Ana Maria Pacheco.

The exhibition forms an eclectic mix from the controversial Chapman Brothers’ Unhappy Meal and Gary Hume’s Hermaphrodite Polar Bear to Pop icons such as The Beatles and Andy Warhol in Peter Blake’s shimmering Love me do and Diamond Dust.

Michael Healey and Martyn Hill form the student duo who had the initial idea for the show. Martyn has said: “We wanted to demonstrate the print as a serious contemporary art form that would appeal to the masses; something that was both accessible but at the same time enjoyable and thought-provoking.”

The exhibition will be the fourth organised under the auspices of The Kent Print Collection. Established in 2005, it aims to give undergraduate students the opportunity to collect art on behalf of the School of Arts, and to put on museum-standard exhibitions drawing on this resource.

Dr. Ben Thomas, convenor of the Print Collecting and Curating module said: “I am excited about Krikey! kentemporary prints and very proud of what History & Philosophy of Art students have achieved. This is the fourth Kent Print Collection exhibition and they just keep getting better and better. By any standards this will be a great show of contemporary British art. It would not have been possible without the generosity of artists and art dealers, and I am very grateful for the amazing support we have received from professionals in the art world.”

Further details here.

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Senior specialist in Early British Paintings and deputy chairman of the UK Sotheby, David Moore-Gwyn, said that they expect Modern Rome to break the previous world record for a Turner painting which is currently held by the Giudecca, La Donna della Salute and San Giorgio set at £20.5m in 2006.

Sotheby’s has placed a price range of £12m to 18m on Modern Rome which is the same price range it put on L’Homme Qui Marche I by Alberto Giacometti in January which went on to sell for a bit over £65m.

Moore-Gwyn is also aware that the market may even bring in a higher price due to the fact that the art market is currently filled with competitive and super wealthy collectors from all over of the world who are desperately seeking masterpieces from top artists.

Christie’s also has three paintings coming up to auction in New York and London that could make a solid attempt at beating the Giacometti record, a Jasper Johns Flag and two works by Picasso.

The components that demand a huge price in a piece of artwork are the place the work was completed, the condition of the piece, its rarity, and the name of the artist all of which Modern Rome has.

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He creates his art works in the most unlikely places, from a Guantanamo Bay detainee in Disneyland to English bank notes with the Queen’s face replaced by Princess Diana’s.

At the Berlin Film Festival Sunday 14 February, Banksy may or may not have been in attendance, but he introduced his new film “Exit Though the Gift Shop” with commentary (recorded, in a disguised voice) explaining that he never intended to make a film.

With typical wry humour he claims, “…it’s a good film as long as you’ve got very low expectations.”  Critics didn’t necessarily agree with him on that – there were some rave reviews for the film.

Banksy has developed much more than a cult following with his daring and often illegal graffiti.  Some of his work has been sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds, and more than half a million people in Britain and the U.S. have flocked to one or more of his four exhibitions.  Banksy insists on anonymity, and though he appears in his own film, viewers can only see a shadowed silhouette.

Banksy’s graffiti is a satire on politics and cultures – much of it is considered outrageous and prosecutable by the ‘mainstream’ – but Banksy is an artist.  What began as a counter-culture activity has become a world phenomenon, and he may actually realize his stated goal of raising the standing of urban graffiti art.

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The sculpture is known as the bear in the square and is designed by Mark Coreth who said that the piece is meant to represent much more than just polar bears.

Coreth stated that when you reach up to touch the polar bear at the same time you are touching the Arctic and the problem and thus he is hoping that as people become aware of the problem they will be motivated to help get involved with the solution as well.

The artist was inspired to create his sculptor after a visit to Northern Canada and is hoping to bring widespread attention to the plight of the Arctic and polar bears.

Pen Hadow the explorer took a trek through the Arctic at the beginning of the year and found that the ice is melting at a much faster rate than scientists initially believed.

The sculpture is a hands-on sculpture with the public encouraged to reach out and touch it so that they can personally see how the effect of their hands- or their personal contribution- causes the sculpture to melt much quicker just as personal choices can increase the depth of the climate change crisis.

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Wright is known for his ‘out there’ style of works which are usually made of some rare and weird materials such as a whale skull or cows’ brains.

Wright said that he was shocked to find out he won the award, and that he has no idea what he will spend it on outside of some bills.

Aged 49, Wright was the oldest artist on the shortlist for the Turner making the list by one year.  His work was often drawn directly onto the gallery walls in which it was displayed and at the end of a show he often whitewashes his work.

One of the unique talents of Wright is that he does not preconceive his work; instead he simply stares at the blank wall as a canvas and then gets to work.  His entry for the Turner Award was a covering a large wall at Tate Britain with wallpaper with a Braque print of gold leaf geometrical patterns.

The Jury for the Turner Award including the director of Tate Britain, Stephen Deucher and Mariella Frostup the broadcaster.  Both stated that they admired the beauty of his work as well as its originality.

Wright was born in London but moved to Scotland at a young age and was schooled at the Edinburgh College of Art.  Currently Wright resides in the town of Glasgow.

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The show will be filmed over the three months as six artists who have been chosen to live together in an East London art studio.  Over the time span the unknown artists will face various challenges to create a series of public art projects.

Included in the list of challenges is a Saatchi commission for Hastings seafront pieces, which two artists met by creating a ‘zoo without animals’ which in realty was a rock and a climbing wall for monkeys. 

On another location two finalists attempted to create a ‘ghost hut’ using mesh wire scaffolding on the site of burnt out fisherman’s hut.

Although Saatchi will not make an appearance on the camera, due to his reclusive nature, there will be a panel of art experts on hand to critique the work of the finalists and asses their abilities as the show moves on.

The judges are Frank Cohen, Kate Bush, Emin, and Matt Collings.

The winner of the show will receive an art studio in London for the next three years and their very own exhibition at the State Hermitage Museum of St. Petersburg where some of the most celebrated collections in the world are housed including acquisitions by Saatchi.

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One unique attribute of the London Art Fair is that it only includes the work of living artists, otherwise known as contemporary art, which has led many in the art world to consider it to be one-sided.

The Frieze Art Fair has only been in existence for the last six years, but during this short time span it quickly has become the place to be, for those involved in the international art scene.

There are over 150 stalls at the fair that feature the full glitz and glamorous works of artists such as Takashi Murakami, Tracey Emin, and Jeff Koons.

New to the fair this year, will be the Pavilion of Art and Design in Berkeley Square which opens on Wednesday to the public and will include work that is available for purchase.

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The Turner Prize is now entering its 25th year, and the contemporary art award is known for awarding honours to artists who utilize self-promotion, and excess, and shock tactics.

However, this year’s nominees are all “respectable” artists who triumph with democratic thought, without shocking displays of art. The nominees are Rogers Hiorns, Enrico David, Richard Wright, and Lucy Skaer.

Due to the moderate list, this year’s exhibition may be free from any gimmicks, and be somewhat calm for a change, which in itself is a shock, since the exhibition generally draws in a crowd that are not serious art connoisseurs.

Nominee Richard Wright from Glasgow, stated that the new focus of the award show may be due to the fact that people are now looking for a more subtle, real taste, of the world in all aspects of their life.

He went on to state that this might be due to the fact that many artists are now less focused on exclusivity, and have broadened their style to allow more people to embrace art.

Wright is known for drawing his art on gallery walls directly, instead of on canvas, which is one reason why his designs are hard to find and are not often seen as moving exhibits are.

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