contemporary art museum magazine, fall 2010

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CONTEMPORARYARTMUSEUMSTLOUISMAGAZINEFall 2010

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Dear Friends,This is a great time for the arts.

Yes, the economic downturn over the last few years has brought challenges to everyone,

including the Contemporary. Weve all learned how to tighten our belts and do more with

less. Weve also learned that, especially at times like these, we need art more than ever.

Art represents the creative human spirit. It connects us to the past while immersing us

fully in the current moment. Art reminds us that we are all connected to one another.

In museums, we love to visit our favorite works from years gone by. Contemporary art

pushes us further, surprising and challenging us with the untested. Contemporary art

reminds us of the artists extraordinary gift to innovate, invent, and amaze. Despite the

tumult of the past few years, we pulled together one of our most extraordinary seasons

ever. From Blind Chess to our 5th City-Wide Open Studios Weekend, we once again

presented provocative programs that used the arts to bring people together. I hope you

enjoy reading about all of these great programs in this issue.

All of us at the Contemporary believe that now, more than ever, it is important for us to

provide a complex, meaningful and rewarding experience with art. With that in mind,

we look forward to a new season filled with some of the great art thinkers of our time,

including artists Richard Artschwager and Elad Lassry, and New York Magazine art critic

Jerry Saltz.

We are also delighted to welcome Dominic Molon to the Contemporary as our new

Chief Curator. Dominic joins us from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, where

he was the Acting Head of the Curatorial Department. A regular contributor to many art

publications, Dominic is a highly respected and admired leader in the museum community,

and we look forward to working with him to chart the next chapter of an ambitious future

for the Contemporary.

We encourage you to visit the Contemporary this season to be engaged, inspired, and

challenged, and to take part in the dialogue of the creative spirit. Come and immerse

yourself in something new, and witness that this is a great time for the arts.

Paul Ha

Director

MESH is published annually by the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Unless otherwise noted, articles may be reprinted without permission with appropriate credit to the publication and the museum.

CORRESPONDENCEAimee Knebel, Public Relations Manager by email to: aknebel@camstl.org

2010 Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis

Board of directors

David S. Obedin, ChairDwyer Brown, Vice Chair, Strategic PlanningJamey Edgerton, Vice Chair, DevelopmentAndrew Srenco, TreasurerJacob W. Reby, Secretary

Susan BarrettBrian L. BruceBunny Burson Elissa M. CahnBarbara Z. CookAlexis M. CossDavid M. DienerArnold Donald David DrierJohn FerringMatthew Fischer Jeffrey FortDavid GanttJanis G. GoldsteinJames C. Jamieson IIIRichard JensenLinda E. KarakasNancy KranzbergPhyllis LangsdorfJudith W. LevyAnn Sheehan Lipton Kimberly MacLeanJoan H. MarkowJohn A. McArthurSusan McCollumIsabelle MontupetLawrence K. OttoDorte ProbsteinEmily Rauh PulitzerGrier C. RaclinSusan ShermanThad SimonsRex SinquefieldMichael StaenbergDonald SuggsEric ThoelkePatricia D. WhitakerGary Wolff

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The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis promotes meaningful engagement

with the most relevant and innovative art being made today.

Our Mission

Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Exhibitions, programs, and general operations are member supported and privately funded through contributions from generous individuals, corporations, public funders, and foundations.

Additional operating support is provided by Whitaker Foundation; Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; Missouri Cultural Trust; Regional Arts Commission; Bank of America Charitable Foundation; Wells Fargo Advisors; and Arts and Education Council.

Special thanks to Glazers Midwest, Midwest Valet, and Chase Park Plaza Hotel.

Families enjoy an interactive project at the Curiosity and Knowledge event at the Contemporary.

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Exhibitions are at the core of the Contemporary, and our 7th season once again featured an exploration of the

art of today. Beginning with a major international group show, followed by two solo shows by prominent New

York and Los Angeles artists, and culminating with work by three St. Louis artists, our Main Galleries were

transformed again and again. Alongside, The Front Room continued at an even faster pace, showing a variety

of more experimental works by young artists from around the world.

While the exhibitions at the Contemporary change frequently, one thing remains constant: our commitment

to showing the most relevant and innovative art being made today. Challenging and rewarding, our exhibitions

prompt conversation and new ways of thinking about the world today.

General support for the Contemporarys exhibitions program is provided by Whitaker Foundation; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield; William E. Weiss Foundation; Nancy Reynolds and Dwyer Brown; Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; Regional Arts Commission; Arts and Education Council; and members of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.

Exhibitions

Opening night of For the blind man in the dark room looking for the black cat that isnt there.Installation view, Matt Mullican.

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september 9, 2009 - January 3, 2010

With its provocative title (taken from a quote from Darwin about theoretical mathematicians), the group show For

the blind man in the dark room looking for the black cat that isnt there explored the role artists play in sparking

curiosity and the embrace of things we dont understand. Organized by Chief Curator Anthony Huberman, the

exhibition featured works by more than twenty artists from around the world: Anonymous, Dave Hullfish Bailey,

Marcel Broodthaers, Sarah Crowner, Mariana Castillo Deball, Eric Duyckaerts, Ayse Erkmen, Hans-Peter Feldmann,

Peter Fischli & David Weiss, Rachel Harrison, Giorgio Morandi, Matt Mullican, Bruno Munari, Nashashibi/Skaer, Falke

Pisano, Jimmy Raskin, Frances Stark, Rosemarie Trockel, Patrick van Caeckenbergh, and David William.

After three months at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, For the blind man in a dark room looking for a black

cat that isnt there travelled to Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit; de

Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam; and Culturgest, Lisbon.

For the blind man in the dark room looking for the black cat that isnt there was made possible through the generous support of Jeanne and Rex Sinquefield; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; The Flemish Ministry of Culture; Fundacin/Coleccin Jumex; and Mondriaan Foundation, Amsterdam.

For the blind man in the dark room looking for the black cat that isnt there

Jimmy Raskin, mixed media installation. Courtesy of the artist.

the institutions most ambitious group exhibition to date Art in America

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January 22 - april 11, 2010

Vast, off-the-cuff thoughts scrawled across primed linen canvases stapled to a wall. An entire novel hand-scribbled

onto yellow legal pads, numbered, and pinned up in page order on an opposing wall. Videos of the artist singing

and dancing around his studio followed the audience through the galleries, offering revealing and uncomfortable

moments while forcing laughter along the way.

Sean Landers 1991-1994, Improbable History, curated by Director Paul Ha and Associate Curator Laura Fried, was

the first large-scale survey of Landers work in the United States. Concentrating on this formative body of work that

brought the artist such critical and popular success in the mid 1990s, the exhibition featured the diverse practice of a

bold artist who brought intensely personal subject matter into focus, raising the questions: What is the self? Who is

the artist? And, most importantly, what is art?

Special thanks to Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York; greengrassi, London; and Taka Ishii Gallery, Tokyo.

Sean Landers:1991 - 1994, Improbable History

Live Reading in New YorkIn conjunction with Sean Landers exhibition in

St. Louis, White Columns and Art Production Fund

presented a special program at Saatchi + Saatchi

in New York City on February 27, 2010. Over 20

art world luminaries (including Paul Ha) participated

in a marathon reading of Landers 1993 novel [sic].

The original hand-written manuscript of the book

was on display for the first time in its entirety at

the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Readers

included: Cecily Brown, Gavin Brown, Jessica Craig-

Martin, John Currin, Clarissa Dalrymple, Rachel

Feinstein, Liam Gillick, Paul Ha, Matthew Higgs,

Kevin Landers, Sean Landers, Matvey Levenstein,

Tod Lippy, Adam McEwen, Friedrich Petzel, Richard

Phillips, Rob Pruitt, Michelle Reyes, David Rimanelli,

Andrea Rosen, Andrea Scott, Linda Yablonsky, and

Lisa Yuskavage.

Artist Sean Landers discusse