CIRCA Art Magazine - Art News - Graphic Studio shift / a load of Pollocks / putting the Al in Dalí / the Arts Council acquires (Friday 2 February 2007)

Graphic Studio shift / a load of Pollocks / putting the Al in Dalí / the Arts Council acquires (Friday 2 February 2007)

Graphic Studio Dublin has acquired an impressive-sounding new premises close to Mountjoy Square. It is Distillery House, a four-storey building on the North Circular Road. According to the press release, "This magnificent building will provide a permanent headquarters for the Studio and allow for the development of a state-ofthe-art print sdudio with a wide range of new media facilities in parallel with the traditional print media...It will also provide another major focus in the developing arts landscape in the north inner city."

The press release also strikes a darker note: "It is interesting to note, however, the departure of GSD from the Docklands area in an ear of this quarter's massive rejuvenation. Did the Dublin Docklands Development Authority... miss the boaat in keeping a major Irish cultural organisaiton in part of the city that will undoubtedly need as much of the arts as it can get to spice up the endless apartment blocks, Spars and nine-to-fivers"?

It seems that of late the number of Jackson Pollock works has increased dramatically. Harvard Art Museum conservators and other specialists are 'going crazy' testing 25 new canvases which recently were discovered by Alex Matter. A report about the paintings' authenticity is creating heated controversy since they figured out that a pigment from one of them was not used as artistic material until 1996. The Harvard research also refers to the 32 paintings found in a storage shop, which belonged to Matter's family, in 2002. Many of these paintings carry Pollock's signature, which means they could be worth millions.

We reported a few months ago about Teri Horton, who had bought a "weird painting" in a thrift shop on the California Coast for 5$; fingerprints and pigments seemed to suggest that it was a real Pollock, but recognition for the canvas remains elusive. Scientific analysis, and digital techniques able to capture certain characteristics of an artist that are not visible to the human eye, can assist in the attribution of a work. But in the art world, the only 'legitimate' attributions are those made by qualified authorities.

Pending acceptance and despite the Harvard report, McMullen Museum of Art at Boston College is determined to exhibit the "uncertain paintings." The director, Nancy Netzer, has announced Pollock Matters, an exhibition exploring the personal and artistic relationship between the expressionist painter and the photographer Herbert Matter. “Our exhibition’s focus is on ‘the state of the question,’ not on the authenticity of the paintings; one of the aims of the exhibition will be to bring together and present to the public all the known (possibly conflicting) evidence concerning the attribution of the newly discovered paintings,” she says.

Sources:http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/01/30/harvard_study...

Pacino to grow a funny moustache

Kahlo, Modigliani, Pollock... now Dalí - the time has come for the surrealist painter. Al Pacino will be playing Salvador Dalí in Dalí & I: the surreal story, a movie directed by Andrew Niccol. The movie will be based on Stan Lauryssen's autobiography Dalí and I, which focuses on his relation as an art dealer with Salvador Dalí.

The upcoming film skips over some of the greatest and best known moments from the artist's life - his beginning in Spain with Lorca and Buñuel, and his years in Paris; Marx Ernst, Paul Elouard, André Breton... The plot spans the 1960s - 80s, when his greatest works were behind him and he dedicated his energy to transforming into a gallery the former Municipal theater of Figueras (his home town). By 1980 Dalí was not able to hold a brush any more due to a motor disorder.

Niccol previously directed Pacino in Simone. Shooting will start this summer in Madrid and New York.

The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon, has recently completed a new round of art acquisitions. According to the Council, "The primary purpose behind purchasing these works for the collection, at a cost of nearly 500,000 euro, is to support the individual artist. The works selected are central to the artists’ practice and are significant within the general development of the visual arts. The purchases include both new and recent work dating back to 2001 and must be of high quality and ambition."

Paul Doran; Untitled; Oil/linen; 2006
Niamh O’Malley; Talbot Street Vignette; DVD and canvas; 2006
Siobhan Hapaska; Sunlight; Fibreglass; 2004
Garrett Phelan; Black Brain Radio; Multi media; 2005
John Gerrard; Portrait to Smile; Once a year/Real time 3D; 2006
Gerard Byrne; 1984 and beyond; Film and photographic installation; 2006
Brendan Earley; Chalet; Marker on paper;
Brendan Earley; Forest 11; Marker on paper; 2003
Declan Clarke; Mine are of trouble; DVD; 2006
Paul Gregg; Amorphous; Plastic and helium; 2006
Eoghan McTigue; Empty Sign(TU); Photograph; 2002
Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly; RVB; 3 channel DVD; 2004
Michael Coleman; Hearts and Trees; Oil/6 canvases; 2006
Mark Joyce; Rosa 11; Acrylic/ghesso; 2005
Mark Joyce; Rosa 6; Acrylic/ghesso; 2005
Martin & Hobbs; My Paradise is Now; Giclée print; 2003
Paul Mosse; Catacomb; Mixed media; 2004
Fergus Martin; Double; Stainless Steel; 2003
Willie McKeown; Hope painting strolling; Oil/linen; 2006
Willie McKeown; Hope painting – A grain of sand; Oil on linen; 2006
Willie McKeown; Abercromby peace; Oil on linen; 2006
Siobhán Hapaska; Light jet simulator; ; Photograph; 2003
Paul Seawright; Untitled (man); LIghtjet; 2005
Sean Shanahan; Swell; Oil/mdf; 2005
Elizabeth Magill; Parlous Land; 10 lithos-21/45; 2006
Dorothy Cross; Family; Bronze ed4+1ap; 2005
Amy O’Riordan; Eye Candy; Lamdachrome 1/3; 2005
Gemma Browne; Lily-White 2; Acrylic/linen; 2004
Gemma Browne; Lily-White 4; Acrylic/linen; 2004
Sinead Ni Mhaonaigh; Forestall; Oil/canvas; 2006
Diana Copperwhite; Argentina; Oil/canvas; 2006
Mark O’Kelly; Johannesburg; Oil/linen; 2005
Stephen Loughman; Chrissie; Oil/canvas; 2006
Margaret Corcoran; Ada –Spar Series; Oil/linen; 2006
Gary Coyle; Scene of the Crime; Charcoal; 2006
Nina Canell and Robin Williams; Sea Chant; Multi media; 2006
Finola Jones in collaboration with Gerald Barry; Waked (add black to cobalt blue); CD and construction; 2001
Liam O'Callaghan; Another Day With Song 3.35 p.m.; Film & mixed media; 2005
Maud Cotter; Not the Full Story; Mixed media; 2006
Martin Healy; Genesis; DVD; 2006
Stephen Brandes; Bed & Breakfast; Acrylic & marker; 2005
Anne Tallentire; Drift : Diagram xi 2003 - 2006 ed. 3; 6 screen video installation comprising 21 works on DVD; 2005
Cecily Brennan; Heros' Engine; DVD; 2005
Bea McMahon; Audience; DVD ed. 3 single channel 5.6m
Tom Molloy; Behind Every Great Man; Cross stitch; 2006