#Theresa-Anne Mackintosh

[mcgiggers]

London, San Marino, Toronto - October 2023

Just back from fabulous art viewing experiences abroad and in Toronto. Stopovers included: Frieze London, Frieze Masters and the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair in London as well as the Philip Guston exhibit at the Tate Modern; La Galleria Nazionale in the Republic of San Marino; and Art Toronto in Hogtown. The whole, for the most part, was enjoyed in the context of a three week stay in Italy where the hilltop medieval village of Petritoli, located in Le Marche, served as home base, and offered spectacular vistas of land, sea and mountains, all longstanding muses throughout history. Without looking too hard, traces of Ellsworth Kelly’s curves, Jasper Johns’ crosshatches and Frank Stella’s grids could all be seen in the roofscapes and landscapes, providing a breathtaking backdrop to daily activities, whether art related or other.

London

The transition from bucolic and sunny Petritoli to chaotic and rainy London was drastic but exhilarating. Frieze Week in mid-October is the global launching pad for the all-important fall season in the art world. With summer days in the rear-view mirror, an intense focus radiated from the London art scene with the convergence of exhibit openings, important contemporary and modern auctions, and preeminent art fairs. While the weightiness of a challenged economy and ongoing wars was perhaps most evident in the squishy auction results, elsewhere, the mood and excitement were upbeat as fair venues and exhibits were flooded by art fans and aficionados.

Frieze London and Frieze Masters art fairs ran concurrently under the stars, so to speak, in separate tents in the wonderful greenspace of Regent’s Park. Frieze London’s defining focus is on living artists and contemporary art. This year’s edition, the 20th, included over 160 participating galleries with a strong contingent of 40 or so international exhibitors. Noteworthy was the caliber of presenting galleries and works on display. While remaining very faithful to the contemporary focus, large well-established mega galleries were ever so present along with their roster of anointed stars, perhaps at the expense of the more experimental flair historically more synonymous with Frieze. A walking distance away through a maze of outdoor sculptures, Frieze Masters hosted over 130 galleries that showcased an eclectic mix of art works ranging from archaeological finds dating to thousands of years BC to 20th century masterpieces. Fair highlights included:  Tabboo!’s “Desert Moon”, 2021, acrylic on canvas (60 x 50 in.); Simone Leigh’s “Untitled”, 2022, stoneware, 25.75 x 11.75 x 16.5 in.); and Anna Mark’s “R 1002”, 1968, synthetic resin, sand, pigment on canvas, mounted on wooden frame (20 x 20.25 in.).

Elsewhere in the city at Somerset House, the 11th edition of 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair was in full swing with a line-up of over 60 galleries showcasing more than 170 artists. There, the excitement of discovery and seeing new things being done by emerging talents was palpable. Highlights included: Godwin Champs Namuyimba’s “Fathering spirit”, 2023, acrylic on canvas (90.5 x 78.75 in.); Emmie Nume’s “When we use to”, 2021, mixed media on paper (55.5 x 41.75 in.); and a pair of works by Theresa-Anne Mackintosh, “Walking with my body conscious” and “Comfortably dazed”, 2023, oil and acrylic on canvas (each, 34.25 x 39.5 in.).

Also in London, a captivating Philip Guston retrospective was being held at the Tate Modern. Spanning a 50-year career, the comprehensive survey included everything from the artist’s more classical early works to pieces depicting his fiery brand of abstraction and, most prominently, paintings and drawings featuring his iconic comic-like figures and imagery that captured the anxious and turbulent world around him. The whole made for an intense and sometimes unsettling experience. While the museum walls were bursting with large scale masterworks that chronicled the Guston story, it was a small self-portrait that was most memorable - “Untitled”, 1968, acrylic on board. Barely noticeable behind the artist’s gaze painted in the foreground were the remnants of an earlier work of a hooded figure. The effect hauntingly captured Guston’s lifelong nightmarish preoccupation with racism.

San Marino

The next art stop was an unplanned pleasant surprise that surfaced during a day trip to San Marino. Located on the northeastern side of the Apennine Mountains and surrounded by Italy, San Marino is the fifth smallest country in the world, and it boasts a historic center high up on Monte Titano at approximately 2500 feet above sea level that features three medieval towers dating back to the 11th century. There was almost a Vegas-like surrealness to the place with throngs of tourists making the pilgrimage to take in the spectacular views and medieval setting. Nestled in one of the few quiet corners of the historic city and a bit isolated from the many churches, palazzos and eateries was La Galleria Nazionale di San Marino, the country’s center of modern and contemporary art.Housed in the renovated Logge dei Volontari, the museum is dedicated to showcasing its collection of post war art which was amassed from international art biennials held in San Marino beginning in the mid-50s. It was totally surprising to come across fantastic works by lesser-known American artists, including: James Brown’s “Opera Contro Natura”, 2003, mixed media and collage on folded linen (59 x 98.75 in.); and David Row’s “B.N.I.”, 1992, oil on canvas (in three parts, overall, 66 x 85.75 in.).

Toronto

Returning back from the old world with only one viewing day left at Art Toronto, the opportunity was seized to cap off the art adventure with a visit to Canada’s premiere contemporary and modern art fair. While the corridors were filled with rumblings of challenging times, the viewing experience was fantastic. Over 100 galleries took to the floor of the Toronto Metro Convention Center and offered up works from over 1000 artists. As a bonus, the launching of Jack Bush’s catalogue raisonné drew out many of his works that were scattered throughout the fair, including two favorites: “Untitled”, 1962, gouache on paper (35.25 x 23 in.); and “Red, Orange, Green”, 1965, serigraph, edition 67 of 100 (25.5 x 20 in.). Other fair highlights included: Emma Kohlmann’s “Tulip”, 2023, oil on linen with cherry frame (14.25 x 12.25 x 1.25); Catherine Desroches’ “Déliason du corps contre le ciel”, 2023, bronze, pine, plywood, lost wax casting dust, foundry kiln ashes, graphite powder, charcoal on newsprint and on panel (84 x 49 in.); Marcel Barbeau’s “Iris”, 1962, acrylic on canvas (76.4 x 51.2 in.); and Jean-Paul Riopelle’s “Sans titre (1958.006P)”, 1958, oil on paper (25.5 x 19.75 in.).

Meanwhile, the sports scene in North America was frenetic with activity as all major sports leagues were in some state of play. In Dinoland, emotions were cautiously optimistic following a perfect pre-season and a home opener win. After that celebratory moment, however, reality set in for rookie Head Coach Darko Rajaković. Three losses later, the new system was being questioned, and all the ghosts of last year’s disappointing season were surfacing. A win against a star-laden Bucks team provided some glimmer of hope, but that too was soon quashed with a thumping courtesy of ex-Dino Head Honcho Nick Nurse and his 76ers. Can a Fredless team be so different? It’s got to be the system. It’s early, I know, but it doesn’t bode well. Up next, Wemby-mania in the Lone Star State. Ugh.

For more information on any of the artists or works mentioned, the fairs, exhibits, Petritoli and Coach Darko’s system, “Just Google It”.

There you have it sportsfans,

MC Giggers

(Https://mcgiggers.tumblr.com) Reporter’s Certification

I, MC Giggers, hereby certify that the views expressed in this report accurately reflect my personal views and that no part of my compensation was or will be, directly or indirectly, related to the specific views expressed herein.

I also certify that I may or may not own, directly or indirectly, works of artists mentioned in this report and that I may or may not have a strong bias for such artists and, more generally, for “Pictures of Nothing”.

[polkadotmotmot]

Theresa-Anne Mackintosh - Pink Butterflies, 2022

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My Non-Exhaustive 2019 Reading List

As follows is a non-exhaustive list of the books I read in 2019. While I didn’t succeed in tackling every book on my to-read list in 2019, I feel quite privileged to have the time and energy to read what I did!

My list of books includes re-reads: they also count, and are marked with a *.

1. Pretending is Lying by Dominique Goblet

2. Heavy: An American Memoir by Kiese Laymon

3. History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

4. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2018 by Sam Kean

5. The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

6. Whipping Girl by Julia Serano

7. Real Queer America : LGBT Stories from Red States by Samantha Allen

8. Diary of a Puerto Rican Demigod by Edwin Sanchez

9. God Land by Lyz Lenz

10. The War Poems of Wilfred Owen by Wilfred Owen

11. My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris

12. The Last Report on the Miracle at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich

13. Are You My Mother by Allison Bechdel

14. Goodnight Punpun by Inio Asano*

15. Becoming Unbecoming by Una

14. Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha*

15. Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

16. Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson*

17. Antigonick by Anne Carson

18. The Overstory by Richard Powers

19. Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg

20. Sula by Toni Morrison*

21. When Death Becomes Life: Notes from a Transplant Surgeon by Joshua D. Mezrich

22. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

23. The Trip to Echo Spring: On Writers and Drinking by Olivia Laing

24. Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro

25. Crazy Brave by Joy Harjo

26. The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

27. We Both Laughed in Pleasure: The Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan

28. Collected Poetry: 1912-1944 by H.D.

29. Black Hole by Charles Burns

30. Bid Me To Live by H.D.

31. The Parade’s End tetralogy by Ford Madox Ford

32. Exile and Pride by Eli Clare

33. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

34. Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino

35. The Collected Works of Isaac Rosenberg

36. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

37. Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

38. And Still the Waters Run: The Betrayal of the Five Civilized Tribes by Angie Debo

39. The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall

40. The Enormous Room by E.E. Cummings

41. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

42. The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh

43. Universal Harvester by John Darnielle

44. Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle

45. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

46. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

47. Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith

48. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway*

49. Jacob’s Room by Virginia Woolf

50. Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi

and more!