Photo by Hans-Georg Gaul; Courtesy Johnen Galerie, Berlin

Jordan Kantor, Untitled (two monochromes) (2006). Oil on canvas, 38 x 46 in.

December 2008 Reviews

Street Art, Street Life

Third Guangzhou Trennial

Charles Avery

Swoon

Martin Ramirez

Richard Kern

Colin Chillag

The Greenroom

Bending the Word

Robert Motherwell

Mr.

Wilhelm Sasnal Wilhelm Sasnal Phillips Contemporary: That Was Then, This Is Now Glasgow International Draws Attention with Controversial Works A Kinder, Gentler Art Basel A Soft Landing at Frieze? Glasgow International Hits Its Stride

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Conceived as a playful reflection on the writings and controversial character of Emil Cioran, this stimulating seven-artist group show takes its title from a sign that the Romanian existentialist philosopher apparently mounted to dissuade unexpected visitors and appreciators from dropping in on his Parisian apartment. Cioran's radical cultural pessimism, his pungent yet deeply human language, his notorious sleeplessness, and the paradoxical refusal expressed in his note are some of the exhibition's points of departure. The most direct gesture in response to the title comes from Mircea Cantor, who leaves an oak stick leaning on the gallery wall — in Romania, a conventional sign that nobody is at home. Geoffrey Farmer also underlines his absence: he's asked the gallery staff to daily exchange objects and media images attached to his installation It is not worth the bother of killing yourself, since you always kill yourself too late (2008) — consisting primarily of a rifle cleaner and a stool — to create an artwork fluxing with ever-changing associations of meaning.

In his video clips, Wilhelm Sasnal combines music and visuals as fragments of emotional memory; meanwhile, Roman Ondak asked family and friends to draw empty airplane interiors, and inserted his own self-portrait, looking back, so as to depict countless moments of solitary departures. Finally, humor becomes painful in Tim Lee's video self-portrait, Let's Get Small, Steve Martin, 1977 (2007), where he extends the comedian's famous line "Excuse me" (which became a national catchphrase) into the grotesque. Small sitting units of vintage chairs and coffee tables equipped with books accompany each work and turn the nihilist thinker's initial denial into a belated invitation to engage with him. "I Am Never At Home" originally appeared in the December 2008 / January 2009 issue of Modern Painters. For a complete list of articles from this issue available on ARTINFO, see Modern Painters' December 2008 / January 2009 Table of Contents.