Art World News

As Shanghai’s West Bund Turns Ten, the City’s Art Scene Faces a Turning Point—Comeback or Comedown?

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As Shanghai’s West Bund Turns Ten, the City’s Art Scene Faces a Turning Point—Comeback or Comedown?

Despite relentless rainy weather and strong winter winds, art enthusiasts flocked to Shanghai Art Week this year to take in the more than 200 exhibitions organized by local museums and galleries. The week was capped by the opening on November 9 of the city’s two major art fairs, West Bund Art & Design and ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair. As the city showcased its vibrant and energetic art scene, stakeholders used the occasion to check in on the sizeable market’s potential after the setbacks of recent years.

There were mixed emotions at both fairs. Factors such as the exodus of foreign residents and institutions from Shanghai, Hong Kong’s disappointing autumn auctions (notably the Long Museum collection sale), the collapse of the real estate industry, the closure of private art museums, stricter government censorship of contemporary art, and grim economic forecasts cast a palpable shadow.

West Bund Art and Design, however, celebrated its 10th anniversary with a remarkable comeback after 2022’s early closure. Its largest-ever edition hosted 185 exhibitors, including 54 galleries making their debut alongside veteran participants from established international galleries like Hauser and Wirth, Pace Gallery, and White Cube, and prominent Chinese galleries such as White Space, Aike, and ShanghArt Gallery.

Visitors at the 2023 West Bund Art & Design. Photo: courtesy of West Bund Art & Design.

Before 2020, many galleries opted to take part in both fairs. West Bund is known for its “statement” booths of large-scale installations and videos, or carefully curated solo presentations, and it is believed to lure in more institutional collections. ART021, meanwhile, appeals to private collectors, particularly those new to the scene.

This year, however, the landscape has shifted. Only 23 galleries continue to straddle both fairs, and an increasing number of them are Chinese dealers.

Installation view of 2023 West Bund Art & Design. Photo: courtesy of West Bund Art & Design.

The transformation of West Bund reflected the district’s remarkable growth in recent years. For the first time, galleries spread across four halls, including the fair’s traditional Hall A and B, the West Bund Dome Art Center, and the new Thomas Heatherwick–designed Orbit exhibition center, a swirling building designed for large-scale events. Visitors returning to the city after the three-year border closures imposed by China were struck by its transformation from a sparse collection of art galleries and institutions into a thriving business district, complete with high-rise buildings and major technology companies.

And despite the inconvenience of traveling between venues in the rain, attendees remained upbeat. Collectors were seen eagerly and openly discussing their target purchases before even entering the fair, although most came to the event with relatively moderate budgets. A collector from Guangzhou who was accompanied by a cohort of fellow art-buying friends, said that, as in previous years, she planned to spend one million yuan (around $150,000).

“Everyone I know has been very much looking forward to this Shanghai Art Week. I am very satisfied overall,” said the collector, who only shared her last name, Wang. “I saw many favorite works, but I also regret having to say goodbye to works that were too much beyond the budget. This year, I am taking more time in considering what I buy.”

For many seasoned collectors, the excitement extended beyond the art on view. They relished the return to a sense of normalcy in the art market, and the opportunity to reunite with their peers, particularly those from overseas.

And after three long years of limited travel, the appearance of foreign faces among the fair crowds was conspicuous, and Taiwanese and Cantonese accents stood out as much as Western voices. Klaus Biesenbach, the director of the Neue Nationalgalerie, was seen mingling with K11 founder Adrian Cheng, and Hong Kong art dealer Pearl Lam. Swiss mega-collector Uli Sigg participated in a panel discussion during the second day of the fair. Also spotted at the fair and at various Shanghai Art Week exhibitions were Magnus Renfrew, the co-founder of Singapore’s Art SG fair, and Wenmei Yiu, the secretary general of the Taiwan Art Gallery Association, who brought a significant contingent of the Taiwanese art scene with her.

The booth of Perrotin gallery at the 2023 West Bund Art & Design. Photo: Cathy Fan.

Still, amid the excitement, critical voices sounded off in the lounge room. “The overall look is very conservative,” noted Hu Hu, a Shanghai-based art market consultant and founder of Art Jeff Club, of most the exhibitor’s presentations. “It’s almost all paintings, with scarcely any installations and sculptures, barely any video works.”

Florian Wojnar of Berlin gallery Esther Schipper, whose showed some sculptural works by artists like Ryan Gander, Philippe Parreno, and Ugo Rondinone, humorously recalled a collector’s relief at finding a booth not solely dedicated to paintings.

“There are indeed many visitors, but not enough ‘effective’ collectors,” Hu noted. This sentiment was shared among dealers, highlighting the challenge of expanding the city’s collector base.

The conservative trend was apparent not just in the artworks on display but also in the pricing strategies. In Hall A, most works were priced between $100,000 and $300,000, except for a few high-value pieces like Nicholas Party’s painting at Lévy Gorvy Dayan and Wei’s booth, listed at $900,000.

The strategy of lower prices and safe selections was relatively effective, judging by early sales in the main sector. In Hall B, where the younger and smaller galleries are concentrated, the prices are even more affordable, with most works ranging from $10,000 to $30,000, and some as low as $2,000. But these lower price points did not guarantee success, and some galleries reported that, despite the crowds, it was difficult to secure sales of works by unfamiliar, emerging artists, and their participation in the fair was not fully “paid for.”

Hauser & Wirth’s booth at 2023 West Bund Art & Design. Photo: courtesy of West Bund Art & Design.

Some important sales were reported in the main halls, however. Perrotin’s booth featured intimate and somewhat dark figurative paintings by American artist Nikki Maloof (b. 1985), priced between $50,000 and $68,000, which received interest from many young collectors and were sold out on the fair’s first VIP day.

Hauser and Wirth continued their tradition of presenting curated solo booths at West Bund with a display dedicated to American artist Gary Simmons. Four of his paintings were sold to private collections on the first day, with prices ranging from $110,000 to $375,000.

And Gladstone’s large booth housed just three eye-catching, florescent sculptures from Ugo Rondinone’s “Magic Mountains” series, echoing the artist’s current solo show at Shanghai’s Fosun Foundation. All three works, priced at $420,000 each, were sold out on the fair’s opening day.

Gladstone’s booth at 2023 West Bund Art & Design. Photo: courtesy of West Bund Art & Design.

Lehmann Maupin sold 12 works, including McArthur Binion’s Vision: Ear (2023) for $250,000 and a piece from Lee Bul’s “Lost” series for $190,000.

Pace Gallery also reported decent sales, including two new paintings by Adam Pendleton, priced $150,000 each, a steel-and-lacquer sculpture by the duo Elmgreen & Dragset priced $95,000 to a private museum, an evocative abstract painting by Hermann Nitsch, Schüttbild, 2014 Juli, for $85,000.

Visitors to the 2023 West Bund Art & Design. Photo: courtesy of West Bund Art & Design.

And China’s homegrown talent scout, the Hive Center for Contemporary Art, turned over their entire booth to the 43-year-old Chinese artist Xia Yu. “We are trying to concentrate resources more effectively to promote the influence of artists,” said gallery owner Xia Jifeng. “West Bund has a biennale-like temperament and is highly consistent with the creative practices of many of our artists.” A total of 14 works were sold, with larger pieces priced at 2 million yuan (around $274,300) and smaller works at 200,000 yuan ($27,430).

Still, domestic gallerists were more concerned about the questions lingering about the city’s art scene. In such an uncertain world, how will West Bund evolve in the next decade? And, perhaps more importantly, will the Chinese art market rebound or decline going forward?

No one had a clear view of the answer at this point, but longtime observers and participants provided some insights.

“The transformations within Chinese galleries might be the most substantial changes we’ve seen recently,” said Xia Jifeng, noting that, while it may take the market some time to catch up with these developments, “considering the broader Asian context, the depth of the Chinese market remains unparalleled and warrants thorough cultivation and development.”

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Targeted Marketing, Team Approach Will Be Key To Wealth Management Success, Bluespring Says

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Targeted Marketing, Team Approach Will Be Key To Wealth Management Success, Bluespring Says

Referrals are nice for any business owner, but financial advisory firms need to actively market their services targeted to their ideal clients in order to grow, according to Angela Osborne, chief operating officer for Bluespring Wealth Partners.

Market uncertainty and volatility always presents challenges for advisors but the same unpredictable nature of the financial world can present opportunities for advisors to reach out to new clients and solidify relationships with existing clients.

These and other trends are going to dominate the industry in the years to come, she said.

Optimizing state-of-the-art marketing tools is only one way advisors can take advantage of the trends that are washing over the financial field and the economy as a whole.

Marketing of the future will focus on defining the ideal client for the firm and targeting the firm’s service pitch to those clients, Osborne, whose 30-year career has taken her to Bluespring after senior level roles at Morgan Stanley and Black Rock, among other firms, said in a wide-ranging interview. 

“Advisory firms are constantly looking for new clients. Firms rely heavily on referrals but they need to augment referrals with their marketing efforts. Challenges are always opportunities as well,” she said.  “Market conditions are always going to be uncertain, but advisors can use this uncertainty to get closer to clients.”

Bluespring Wealth Partners, a subsidiary of Austin-based Kestra Holdings and an acquirer and supporter of wealth management firms, has developed programs to take advantage of the future trends in the industry, said Osborne. 

“Trends that are developing in the financial industry are going to require advisors to be more than just money managers; they will have to be life coaches,” she said.

With nearly two-thirds of RIAs relying on referrals to grow their business, it’s now more important than ever for financial advisors to possess the knowledge, skills, and tools to help them generate and close leads as a supplement to their existing pipeline. Future marketing will need to focus on defining the ideal client for the firm and targeting the firm’s service pitch to those clients, Osborne said.

“Firms also will need to nurture advisors who can close a deal with prospective clients,” Osborne said. “The firm needs to know how to train the next generation of rainmakers.”

In addition to cultivating new clients, advisory firms need to cultivate the talent base for their firms.

“Some big name firms are laying off staff members, including advisors, but that does not necessarily mean more talent is available for other firms.” Osborne said. “Firms need to attract advisors who can complete the deal with prospective clients.

“Then the firms need to know their advisors can deal with the more complex services required by high-net-worth clients in the future,” she said.

Firms of the future will need to work with teams of advisors and experts, not just one advisor per client, if they want to provide holistic planning.

One of the programs Bluespring developed to assist its partner firms is the Blueprint for Growth program, which is designed to stimulate consistent and sustainable growth among those partner firms. The program helps address a core challenge for advisory firms — attracting and retaining new clients.

Blueprint for Growth was developed to assist with the problems of acquiring new clients and effectively generating leads in order to increase revenue and ultimately drive growth.
 
“This program is an extension of our commitment to develop scale and leverage for our partner firms by building a comprehensive wealth management platform,” Osborne said. “As an integrated business-to-consumer solution, the Blueprint for Growth program will accelerate growth and build efficiencies within the entire Bluespring network, creating a culture of referral and growth for partner firms to ensure future business growth, sustainability, and value.”

Another trend that is becoming clear is the need to offer high-net-worth clients more family office style services, including such things as trust services and philanthropic planning. If the firm does not have the expertise to handle some services, the firm needs a network of third party experts they can bring in to handle clients’ needs.                                        
                                        
At the same time, as more advisors are aging out of their businesses and retiring, there will be a need for a second generation to take over, Osborne said. Bluespring developed the Bluespring Successor Academy in 2019, which features industry experts and peer discussions to train the next generation of advisors.

“The future of the financial world is going to require firms to be nimble so they can meet the changing needs of clients,” she said.

Campaign Trail: Postmates animates food-fueled fever dreams

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Campaign Trail: Postmates animates food-fueled fever dreams

Campaign Trail is our analysis of some of the best new creative efforts from the marketing world. View past columns in the archives here.

As delivery platforms expand into new verticals — from groceries and retail to alcohol and flowers — and continue to make bigger forays into advertising with big national buys and Super Bowl plays, Postmates decided to swim upstream with a campaign that revolves around the original offering of the category: food.

“For Postmates, the goal was to get more specific and double down on what we deliver — buzzworthy local food — and just be very narrow in who we’re approaching: younger, art-leaning, culture-leaning people,” said Biz Anderson, strategist for Mother in Los Angeles, the brand’s creative agency.

Rather than focus on the range of offerings or convenience of the platform, Mother in LA keyed in on food itself, moving beyond how it satiates hunger or satisfies cravings to focus on the hard-to-describe feelings and emotions it causes.

“As soon as you take that first bite, you really get this hit of dopamine, but when you really break that down, you realize that every food hits you differently,” said Hayley Hinkley, creative art director at Mother in LA. “We really wanted to capture each of the foods’ unique feeling in this really visceral way.”

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The result, “This Is Your Brain on Food,” is certainly visceral. A series of 15-second ads crack open people’s heads to reveal a specific food and an animated vision of the mental world it creates: the bubbly pastels of boba tea, the geometric precision of sushi, the almost amniotic comfort of soup dumplings and the playful primary colors of donuts, among others. Mother worked with Nexus Design Studio, the motion design division of Nexus Studios, to enlist nine artists who created the animated VFX films. 

“We thought that using all these different animation styles would really help… because there’s all these different feelings for these different foods. I don’t think it was going to work for us to use one specific or one general animation style — we really wanted to capture and create these worlds in these different styles,” Hinkley said.

To create each concept, Mother in LA taste tested the selected foods and then created mood boards, both for visual textures and colors but also for sounds, to capture a greater range of sensory experience. The agency worked with Peter Raeburn and Soundtree Music to create custom soundtracks that use different instruments, melodies and tempos to differentiate the experiences.

“By creating all those different mood boards, it really helped build these worlds and then give a pretty detailed brief to our artists, who then could jump off and really bring their own flair to each spot and craft it to make it their own,” Hinkley said.

Postmates mural by Jen Stark

“This Is Your Brain on Boba Tea” mural by Jen Stark

Courtesy of Postmates

One standout spot is for Nashville hot chicken, which transforms the fiery extremity of the food into a claymation race seemingly inspired by “Mad Max: Fury Road.” That was inspired by not just the heat and spice of hot chicken but the speed and urgency with which it is eaten.

“Internally we were calling that ‘white hot euphoria,’ trying to capture that pain and pleasure, and we felt that claymation could be a really interesting one for that, especially because when you’re eating this hot chicken sandwich, you feel like your face is melting,” Hinkley explained.

“This Is Your Brain on Food” rolled out in September on Instagram, X and TikTok with content creators @domenicaaq and @itsbridgettebitch and on Snapchat via a unique filter. Traditional out-of-home appears across Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, including murals by artists Akiko Stehrenberger and Jen Stark.

“We didn’t want to just bring our interpretation of the food and feeling to life — we wanted to get a wide range of opinions,” Hinkley explained. “Everyone really brought their own perception of how this food affects them into these [elements] and I think that’s where a lot of the magic happened.”

Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York defies fears of a jittery market

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Christie’s 20th century evening sale in New York defies fears of a jittery market

It was the end of an era last night at Christie’s 20th-century evening sale in New York. The auction was the last to be helmed by Christie’s global president, Jussi Pylkkänen, who leaves the firm after 38 years.

Perhaps propelled by the veteran auctioneer’s swan song—and certainly dampening the fears of a weakening market emphasised by Christie’s lacklustre 21st-century evening sale on Tuesday evening—the house brought in $543.4m ($640.8m with fees). This is its highest result for a non-single owner sale since November 2017, when it made $785.9m (with fees), more than half of which came from the $450.3m sale of the Salvator Mundi.

Last night’s total almost hit its $660m high estimate (calculated without fees), and saw a healthy 97% sell-through rate by lot, with two of the 63 works withdrawn. Six artists auction records were set, including those for Barbara Hepworth, Richard Diebenkorn and Joan Mitchell.

On the guarantee front, more than half of the works were sure to sell: eight were covered in house, a further 27 by third parties.

Egon Schiele’s Selbstbildnis (1910)

Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd

The long evening got off to a bullish start with Egon Schiele’s Selbstbildnis (1910), a spare watercolour and black crayon paper work that sailed comfortably past its $2m high estimate to make $2.3m ($2.8m with fees). It was one of three restituted watercolours by Schiele from the former collection of the Viennese cabaret and film star Fritz Grünbaum. The other two also brought success. Ich liebe Gegensätze (1912), executed when the artist was imprisoned at the age of 21 for having sex with a minor, sparked a bidding war among a half dozen bidders and realised a whopping $9.2m ($10.9m fees), almost four times its $2.5m high estimate. A few lots later, Stehende Frau (Dirne), also from 1912, brought $2.2m ($2.7m) against an estimate of $1m-$2m.

One of the night’s star lots, Arshile Gorky’s delicate abstraction, Charred Beloved I (1946), sold for a record $20m ($23.4m with fees). The work, which was painted the same year that a fire broke out in the artist’s studio, came to the market backed by a third-party guarantee and with an unpublished estimate in the region of $20m. It carried an attractive provenance too: it was consigned by the major collector and film executive David Geffen, and had also previously been in the collection of publishing magnate S.I. Newhouse. It easily topped the artist’s previous auction record, for $14m, set at Christie’s in November 2018.

Richard Diebenkorn’s Recollections of a Visit to Leningrad (1965)

Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd

Another high flyer was Richard Diebenkorn’s Recollections of a Visit to Leningrad (1965), a large sun-splashed abstract painting, which made its first appearance at auction. It sold to an anonymous telephone bidder for a record-shattering $40m ($46.4m with fees) against an unpublished estimate in the region of $25m. This crushed the previous $27.2m record for the artist, made by Sotheby’s New York in May 2021 for Ocean Park #40 (1971).

American abstraction saw strong results throughout the evening and helped to dampen perceptions, at least for this evening, of a weakened or nervous market. Joan Mitchell’s densely packed composition Untitled (around 1959) had, like the Gorky and the Diebenkorn, never before come to the block. The guarantee-backed work made the artist’s record, at $25m ($29.1m with fees), comfortably within its $25m-$35m estimate. Mitchell’s previous record was $16.6m, made at Christie’s New York in May 2018 for Blueberry (1969).

Joan Mitchelle, Untitled (around 1959).
Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd

Stellar performances from European heavyweights were also in evidence. Pablo Picasso’s Nu couché, depicting a voluptuous reclining figure, from 1968, soared above its $35m high estimate It sold to the dealer Larry Gagosian for $11.5m ($13.6m with fees) and René Magritte’s L’empire des lumières (1949) made $30m ($34.9m with fees). It surpassed its last auction appearance at the same house in November 2017 when it sold for a then record $20.5m (with fees).

The Picasso hailed from the estate of Jerry Moss, the late record producer and co-founder of A&M Records. Also consigned from his collection was Tamara de Lempicka’s coquettish portrait of her daughter Kizette, Fillette en rose (around 1928-1930), which sold for a record $12.5m ($14..7m with fees); Frida Kahlo’s early work Portrait of Cristina, My Sister (1928), which made $6.8m ($8.2m with fees); and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Orange Joy (1984), acquired directly from the artist by the consignor around 1985, which brought $3.9m ($4.7m with fees). In total, the Moss group realised $54.7m (with fees).

Soon after came Mark Rothko’s sublime Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange) composition from 1955. The painting was once owned by Paul and Bunny Mellon, who acquired the work from Marlborough Gallery in 1970. It sold to yet another telephone bidder for $40m ($46m with fees). The house-guaranteed lot was estimated in the region of $45m and was last sold at auction for $36.5m in November 2014 at a Sotheby’s New York single-owner sale from the collection of Bunny Mellon. An interim buyer had acquired it privately for considerably more.

Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Yellow, Orange, Yellow, Light Orange) (1955) Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd

Another group of top-tier works had been consigned from the collection of the late and storied Canadian filmmaker Ivan Reitman and his wife Genevieve. This included Picasso’s Femme endormie (1934), featuring the slumbering visage of the artist’s mistress and muse Marie-Thérèse Walter. But its performance was far from sleepy: backed by a third-party guarantee, it sprang past its $25m-$35m estimate to make $37m ($42.9m with fees).

Still in Reitman territory, Willem de Kooning’s late, large and decidedly spare Untitled III (1984) sold for $7.1m ($8.5m with fees). It fell a bit shy of its $8m-$12m pre-sale estimate, but was backed by an anonymous third-party guarantee. The Reitman group made $74.2m (with fees) in total.

In one of the few unscripted parts of the marathon evening, a trio of Paul Cézanne still lives, offered from the cash-strapped Museum Langmatt in Baden, Switzerland, added a touch of drama, with the exquisite Fruits et pot de gingembre (1890-93) going for $33.5m ($38.9m with fees). Estimated at $35m-$55m, the painting was expected to fulfill the museum’s goal of raising $44m (the campaign has been heavily criticised), and perhaps spare the other two Cézannes offered.

But that wasn’t to be. Quartre pommes et un couteau (around 1885) sold for $8.7m ($10.4m with fees) and La mer à l’Estaque (around 1897) made $2.6m ($3.1m with fees.) Part of the proceeds will also benefit the heirs of the late German Jewish art dealer Jacob Goldschmidt, who sold Fruits et pot de gingembre under duress in 1933 to Sidney Brown, the father of the museum’s founder.

Claude Monet’s Le basin aux nymphéas (1917-19)

Courtesy of Christie’s Images Ltd

The evening’s top lot was Claude Monet’s late Giverny jewel Le basin aux nymphéas (1917-19), painted at a panoramic scale of 39 by 78 inches and which made $64m ($74m with fees). It came stamped with the artist’s signature, meaning it didn’t leave Monet’s studio before his death and, accordingly, is less valuable than signed examples. Still it ranks as the sixth-most expensive Monet to sell at auction.

At this juncture, Pylkkänen announced that would be his final lot sold at Christie’s and handed the gavel over to Adrien Meyer, global head of private sales. Applause filled the room and Pylkkänen received a brief standing ovation in the Rockefeller Center. “What a night for Christie’s,” he said. “And what a night for the art market.” The evening sale action resumes on Monday at Sotheby’s with its Modern art auction.

Tau Lewis Salvages Found Textiles to Conjure the Enigmatic Figures of Her Imagined Future

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Tau Lewis Salvages Found Textiles to Conjure the Enigmatic Figures of Her Imagined Future

“Homonoia” (2022). All images © Tau Lewis, courtesy of the artist and 52 Walker, New York, shared with permission

A companion to Tau Lewis’s 2022 exhibition Vox Populi, Vox Dei, a monograph by the same name contextualizes and celebrates the artist’s enigmatic, post-apocalyptic vision. Lewis (previously) is known for repurposing textiles into bold works evocative of Yoruban masks and Greek and Roman theatrical traditions. The title translates to “the voice of the people is the voice of god,” a phrase the artist uses to invoke a sense of community and spirituality, two tenets of her imagined world.

Along with the totemic, wall-based works included in the Vox Populi, Vox Dei exhibition at 52 Walker, the book also features the freestanding forms shown here. Similarly constructed with patchworks and layers of textiles, the works reference the “material DNA” Lewis is drawn to, as she connects the previous uses of the fabrics themselves to the figures that inhabit her universe. Paired with writings by Ebony L. Haynes, Tiana Reid, and Yves B. Golden, the volume contains images, preliminary sketches, and groups of color swatches that offer insight into the origins and ancestries of Lewis’ salvaged future.

Grab your copy of Clarion Vol. 5: Tau Lewis: Vox Populi, Vox Dei from 52 Walker.

 

a standing figurative sculpture that appears covered in layers of textiles and floral tendrils

“Saint Mozelle” (2022)

an open books spread showing an installation view of six sculptural masks in a gallery

a detail of a textile sculpture with innumerable layers

Detail of “Saint Mozelle” (2022)

a detail shot of a figurative sculpture with a headpiece of five arms with eye-like forms on them

Detail of “Homonoia” (2022)

an open book spread with preliminary sketches of sculptures

an arch with a figure at the center, all covered in layers of white and beige textiles

“Ivory Gate” (2022)

a calm figurative sculpture underneath an arch, all covered in layers of textiles

Detail of “Ivory Gate” (2022)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Tau Lewis Salvages Found Textiles to Conjure the Enigmatic Figures of Her Imagined Future appeared first on Colossal.

Mist Casts the Hudson Valley in a Mysterious Light in Andrew Moore’s Atmospheric Photographs

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Mist Casts the Hudson Valley in a Mysterious Light in Andrew Moore’s Atmospheric Photographs

“Jill’s Keep, Rhinebeck, NY” (2021). All images © Andrew Moore, courtesy of Yancey Richardson, shared with permission

Sheep wander through the morning mist in Rhinebeck and storm clouds ebb over a waterway in dreamlike photographs by Andrew Moore. Known for his in-depth, long-term series that document natural places and the built environment, Moore’s work has focused on the evolution of places like Bosnia, the American South, or Cuba as they evolve over time. In his forthcoming solo exhibition Whiskey Point and Other Tales at Yancey Richardson, Moore delves into the Hudson Valley region of Upstate New York in a group of large-scale, atmospheric landscapes.

Nodding to the legacy of the Hudson River School painters, Moore hones in on the natural beauty of the region while also considering its historical significance. Whiskey Point, for example, which inspired the show’s title, is a strip of land that obtrudes into the Hudson River, formed when its surrounding soil was removed for brick production in the latter half of the 19th century. The spot is encompassed by Sojourner Truth State Park, designated in 2019 and named for the African American abolitionist and suffragette who was born nearby into slavery nearby, in 1797.

Moore examines the myriad histories and lore of the area from the perspective of an omniscient wanderer, capturing various times of day, landmarks, and weather from a range of vantage points. He emphasizes the constancy of change and the sense of anticipation spurred by a new day or a bend in the road, revealing what an exhibition statement calls “different kinds of lineages” that connect the present to the past.

Whiskey Point and Other Tales opens November 16 and continues through January 4, 2024. See more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

 

A misty photograph of car headlines coming around a curve in the road.

“Platte Kill Clove” (2021)

A misty photograph near Trap Cliff, Barrytown, New York.

“Trap Cliff, Barrytown” (2023)

“Rain Sprites, Clinton” (2021)

A misty, nighttime photograph of a stairwell at Rhinecliff Station in New York.

“Rhinecliff Station” (2021)

A misty morning photograph at Vlei Marsh in Upstate New York.

“Little Vlei, Rhinebeck” (2022)

A photograph taken at either dawn or twilight of a road in Upstate New York. Red light, like from the tail lights of a car, shine on road sides and a white house.

“Ferry Road” (2023)

A misty photograph of some trees and the corner of an ornate building.

“Empire in Fog, Rhinebeck”

A landscape photograph of Burger Hill in Upstate New York, featuring a large, white house and stormy clouds in the distance.

“Burger Hill” (2021)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Mist Casts the Hudson Valley in a Mysterious Light in Andrew Moore’s Atmospheric Photographs appeared first on Colossal.

A Choir From Clay: Colorful Textures Swathe Carlos Cabo’s Ebullient Ceramic Figures

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A Choir From Clay: Colorful Textures Swathe Carlos Cabo’s Ebullient Ceramic Figures

All images © Carlos Cabo, shared with permission

Elegant, richly textured garments cloak artist Carlos Cabo’s enchanting ceramic figures (previously), showcasing the endless possibilities of clay. Tall and slender, the figures sport a wide variety of styles, donning button-down tunics, dresses, neck ties, and hats. While each one is unique, they are drawn together by a synchronic gesture: mouths open wide, they sing toward the sky.

Cabo gathers his material from the countryside around his home in Salinas, Spain, then works it into column-like figures and geometric forms. He considers the texture to be “the skin of the piece,” differentiating each from its companions while also emphasizing their similarities and a sense of unity.

Find more on Cabo’s website and Instagram.

 

A group of 10 tall, slender, abstract figurative sculptures adorned in a variety of patterns.

A group of 4 tall, slender, abstract figurative sculptures adorned in white.

A group of 6 tall, slender, abstract figurative sculptures adorned in white, some wearing ties. The artist is shown working on one, showing their large scale, approximately three feet high.

A group of ceramic spiral sculptures with a variety of textures.

A group of tall, slender, abstract figurative sculptures adorned in a variety of patterns.

A group of tall, slender, abstract figurative sculptures adorned in white.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article A Choir From Clay: Colorful Textures Swathe Carlos Cabo’s Ebullient Ceramic Figures appeared first on Colossal.

Stagwell (STGW) Partners with Google Cloud and SADA to Develop Marketing-Focused Generative AI Solutions

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Stagwell (STGW) Partners with Google Cloud and SADA to Develop Marketing-Focused Generative AI Solutions

NEW YORK, Nov. 9, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW), the challenger network built to transform marketing, today announced a unique partnership with Google Cloud and SADA, a Google Cloud Premier Partner, to develop generative AI (gen AI) marketing solutions that support Stagwell agencies, client partners, and product development within the Stagwell Marketing Cloud (SMC).

Through this collaboration, SMC will build AI-based tools for modern marketers and receive development support from Google Cloud as a strategic cloud and AI provider. This work will greatly enhance SMC’s ability to identify, develop, and infuse AI capabilities into all of its products. SMC will leverage Google Cloud’s gen AI solutions including Vertex AI, Duet AI, and other advanced tools to create new solutions, initially spanning the following areas to help customers:

  • Transform brand campaigns: Develop go-to-market programs for brands supported by gen AI, specifically with SMC’s Media Studio Audience Identification, PRophet Monitor, and PR applications.
  • Accelerate gen AI solution development: Develop solutions that drive market-leading initiatives, such as translation services for market research and survey solutions, and an AI agent-to-agent service.
  • Harness data analytics and insights: Develop and train a proprietary Stagwell large language model (LLM) purpose-built for Stagwell clients; productize data assets via APIs to create new digital experiences for brands, and multiply the value of their first-party data ecosystems to drive new revenue streams using Vertex AI and open source-based models.

Additionally, SMC plans on releasing its solutions on Google Cloud Marketplace in the future, scaling access to Stagwell’s marketing-focused AI-enabled product suite.

The partnership comes as artificial intelligence is poised to help transform a diverse range of popular consumer segments such as automotive, entertainment, financial, hospitality, retail and more, driving operational efficiencies, marketing transformation, and customer experience innovation for digital companies worldwide. For Stagwell, the collaboration with Google Cloud adds a trusted technology partner who can accelerate the company’s ability to identify, build, and scale AI products.

“Partnering with Google Cloud is an opportunity to strengthen our SMC offering and engage with some of the best technology professionals as we build, test, and scale our gen AI products, enabling us to get market-shifting technology in the hands of our teams and our client partners faster than ever,” said Mark Penn, chairman and CEO, Stagwell. “As we work to lead the AI-based transformation of marketing, it is an honor to partner with Google Cloud and SADA to chart the future on AI.”

“Through Stagwell’s collaboration with Google Cloud, brands can gain competitive access to the transformative power of gen AI, accelerating the development of customer-centric marketing campaigns with enhanced data analysis and automation,” said Caroline Yap, Managing Director, Global AI Business, Google Cloud. “This partnership exemplifies Google Cloud’s commitment to getting cutting edge technology into the hands of customers through its easy-to-deploy, scalable, and secure AI solutions.” 

“At Stagwell and in the Stagwell Marketing Cloud, we are laser-focused on reinventing the marketing technology stack with AI-infused products and solutions,” said Merrill Raman, Global Chief Technology Officer, Stagwell. “With rich proprietary data and insights from our in-depth knowledge in core marketing disciplines, we are eager to work with Google Cloud  and develop purpose-built gen AI models and tools that drive value for our clients and help them win in the marketplace.”

“SADA is proud to be Stagwell’s trusted advisor on their gen AI and cloud transformation journey. We’re thrilled to be a part of this exciting partnership working with a visionary company like Stagwell that is leading with technology to help take their businesses to a completely unprecedented level,” said Tony Safoian, President & CEO, SADA.           .

About Stagwell

Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) is the challenger network built to transform marketing. We deliver scaled creative performance for the world’s most ambitious brands, connecting culture-moving creativity with leading-edge technology to harmonize the art and science of marketing. Led by entrepreneurs, our 13,000+ specialists in 34+ countries are unified under a single purpose: to drive effectiveness and improve business results for their clients. Join us at www.stagwellglobal.com.

About Stagwell Marketing Cloud

Stagwell Marketing Cloud (SMC) is a marketing-focused, AI-enablement platform built for the modern in-house marketer. Born out of Stagwell’s (NASDAQ: STGW) network of award-winning marketing agencies, SMC’s technology empowers marketers to drive business impact by giving them intuitive tools equipped with proprietary, actionable data. SMC’s portfolio of solutions powers strategic customer research, communications, and media activation for brands worldwide by leveraging technology such as generative artificial intelligence, shared augmented reality, and more. Get your head in the cloud at www.stagwellmarketingcloud.com.

About SADA Systems      

SADA is a market leader in professional services and an award-winning solutions provider of Google Cloud. Since 2000, SADA has been committed to helping customers in healthcare, media, entertainment, retail, manufacturing, and the public sector solve their most complex challenges so they can focus on achieving their boldest ambitions. With offices in North America, India, and Armenia providing sales and customer support teams, SADA is positioned to meet customers where they are in their digital transformation journey. SADA is a 6x Google Cloud Partner of the Year award winner with 10 Google Cloud Specializations and has been recognized as a Niche Player in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Public Cloud IT Transformation Services. SADA is a 15x honoree of the Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies and has been named to Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces four years in a row. Learn more at www.sada.com.

SOURCE Google Cloud

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