The balloon has been grounded and the bean counters are coming to the baccahanal. Last year at Art Basel Miami Beach, Krug Champagne invited clients to soar over the Everglades in a hot-air balloon, but the high-flying corporate symbol won’t be at the fair that kicks off today. BMW, which has ferried V.I.P. cardholders around Miami for years, pulled out of its sponsorship for 2008. A couple of spinoff fairs have been canceled amid softening sales of contemporary art. Fashion companies, in particular, are backing away from big events. This is quite a change for an extravaganza that has made a name for itself as a Woodstock for the wealthy, a four-day-long affair of partying, wooing, and spending. But with the turmoil in the markets, such extravagance is considered either too pricey or simply in bad taste. For some sponsers, it is a matter of balance. For example, Swiss bank UBS has been the principal sponsor of Art Basel Miami Beach for the past seven years and will be again this year. Peter Dillon, head of UBS’s sponsorship for the Americas, says the bank will make sure it’s “not being frivolous.” However, he points out that UBS won’t downscale too much. “Art Basel is in our DNA,” he says.  (more…)

Artists have been appropriating images from Madison Avenue for decades — Andy Warhol Brillo boxes and Campbell’s soup cans or Richard Prince’s use of Marlboro cigarettes magazine advertisements. Works like these are comments on consumer culture that also challenge the idea of originality itself. But what happens when the tables are turned? In recent years a number of advertising campaigns (international and domestic) have seemed to draw their inspiration directly from high-profile works of contemporary art. And, the artists who believe their images and ideas have been appropriated are not happy about it. One glaring example: the Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss turned down numerous licensing requests for their award-winning 30-minute short film, “Der Lauf der Dinge” (“The Way Things Go”). The 1997 film follows a Rube Goldberg-style chain reaction in which everyday objects like string, balloons, buckets and tires are propelled by means of fire, pouring liquids and gravity. (This is fabulous and insanely reasonable to own more…) Yet in 2003, Honda ran a two-minute television commercial, “Cog,” in which various parts of a car form a dominolike chain reaction that culminates when an Accord rolls down a ramp as a voice-over intones, “Isn’t it great when things just work?” Mr. Lobel, a professor of contemporary art at Purchase College, said while he sympathizes with artists who believe their work has been copied, they also need to recognize their own reliance on existing images. “Culture is about ongoing borrowing,” he said. “It’s about taking images, ideas and motifs and opening them up to new uses.”  (more…)

Bowling For Soup immortalized a more contemporary look back at the good old days with their cynical and sometimes hilarious hit song “1985.”  A review of the news headlines at the time suggest that some things never change.  Terrorism (in Rome, Vienna, and the Achilles Lauro), the Dow (at a whopping 1300), and the prime interest rate (at an incredible 10%) were all top news stories. One bright spot? The number of Barbies sold surpassed the US population that year. (more…)  Contemporary artist Andy Warhol painted her portrait in tribute.  Twenty-three years later, (although separated from Ken and facing stiff competition from the Bratz dolls) Barbie and “1985″ is still managing to rock it out. 

Springsteen, Madonna
Way before Nirvana
There was U2 and Blondie
And music still on MTV
Her two kids in high school
They tell her that she’s uncool
But she’s still preoccupied
With 19, 19, 1985

ilyt

The power of an image is a given. However, the new photography exhibit “Road To Freedom” at the High Museum in Atlanta, GA strikingly demonstrates cause and effect in a historical and contemporary context. (more..) “In many ways, the history of the Civil Rights Movement cannot be understood without contemplating the photographs that helped shape public opinion,” said Julian Cox, Curator of Photography at the High Museum of Art. “Most Civil Rights photographs were taken by professional photojournalists sympathetic to the cause and by activists motivated to record newsworthy events with an objective and informing eye. Because of the moral energy they radiate, these are among the most important and beautiful photographs of our nation.” (more…) Shown with the historic photographs is a contemporary exhibit entitled “After 1968.” It includes recent and newly commissioned works of art by a group of young, influential, emerging artists. These artists were challenged to process the visual and historical data of 1968 and produce projects that honor the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement while exploring the relevance of progressive social change that it encapsulates.  Particularly arresting is the work by Hank Willis Thomas’ “Unbranded” series. “Unbranded” represents advertising images from which the text has been stripped, producing a reflection on the historical formation and dissemination of stereotypes. Many who see these exhibits experience a wide range of emotions including outrage, sadness, disgust as well as pride and hope. If you are not going to be in the Atlanta area before October, the exhibit travels in November to the Smithsonian in D.C.

We can’t get enough of Jenny Holzer’s work. Inspired by the sound bites of consumerism and the media, she somehow manages to transform phrases into something entirely different than their initial purpose.