Michael Asbury | University of the Arts London (original) (raw)
Papers by Michael Asbury
An essay on artist Milton Machado, one of two published in a collection of writings on the artist... more An essay on artist Milton Machado, one of two published in a collection of writings on the artist. This coincided with the first retrospective of his work marking 45 years of activity from 1969 to 2014.
Antonio Manuel (Avelas de Caminha, Portugal 1947 -), is one of Brazil’s most prominent conceptual... more Antonio Manuel (Avelas de Caminha, Portugal 1947 -), is one of Brazil’s most prominent conceptual artists alongside Helio Oiticica and Cildo Meireles. Manuel was part of the brimming artistic neo-avant-guard movement that emerged in Rio de Janeiro during the second half of the twentieth century. Like many of his contemporaries he developed an experimental work that expanded the limits of traditional art practices, increasingly focusing on the body as a vehicle for his propositions as well as pre-existing images appropriated from the mass media.
A book review of ‘Brazilian Art under Dictatorship: Antonio Manuel, Artur Barrio, and Cildo Meire... more A book review of ‘Brazilian Art under Dictatorship: Antonio Manuel, Artur Barrio, and Cildo Meireles' by Claudia Calirman.
Art/Histories in Transcultural Dynamics
Some Notes on the Contamination and Quarantine of Brazilian Art This essay seeks to question the ... more Some Notes on the Contamination and Quarantine of Brazilian Art This essay seeks to question the characteristics that have come to be celebrated as forming a specific genealogy for Brazilian art. It traces how these very same characteristics have gone from providing the diagnosis that Brazilian art was the product of a culture suffering from a seemingly incurable malaise, to one in which it is seen to be thriving and dynamic, constituting its very own genealogy not despite but precisely because of its inherent hybrid or (as I will posit) contaminated nature. I will argue that within this new understanding of Brazilian contemporary art and its specific genealogy there exists a conflation of cartography, political history, and the praxis of art that is not without its own problematics. The art critic Paulo Sergio Duarte begins his survey entitled The 60s: Transformations of Art in Brazil by proposing a visit to an imaginary museum. This is not André Malraux's "musée imaginaire,"1 but very much a traditional one; as Duarte himself stresses, it is one that could be located in the United States, Europe, or anywhere else in the world.2 In the first gallery of Duarte's imaginary museum the viewer finds Oldenburg's "huge cushioned plastic hamburger," Warhol's Two Elvis, Jackie Kennedy and Cans of Campbell's Soup, Jasper Johns' Flag, a Roy Lichtenstein comic book painting, and so forth. The second gallery contains work that Duarte considers to be "diametrically opposed manifestations" by
Purity is a Myth: The monochrome in contemporary art, showcases over 50 works, by 43 different ar... more Purity is a Myth: The monochrome in contemporary art, showcases over 50 works, by 43 different artists, in diverse media, including installations, photos and paintings. The exhibition proposes a look at the monochrome from multiple perspectives, emphasizing diversity where uniformity is generally assumed. The title stems from a statement made by Helio Oiticica in one of the cabins (Penetrable PN2) in the Tropicalia environment, exhibited for the first time in 1967 at Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Modern Art in the context of the New Brazilian Objectivity show. The exhibition’s historic scope ranges roughly from the late 1950s to date, yet, is not a question of a survey but one of juxtaposing modes of practice and the conceptual potentials of the monochrome. The persistence of the monochrome today has perhaps more to say about the legacy of conceptual art within contemporary practices than about the death of painting which it seemingly announced. Nevertheless, if contemporary art is pos...
Contribution article on Ernesto Neto's work as part of Ernesto Neto's exhibition catalogue.
In the short story, ‘The Library of Babel’ (1941), Jorge Luis Borges imagines a library so vast t... more In the short story, ‘The Library of Babel’ (1941), Jorge Luis Borges imagines a library so vast that it is all-encompassing. Its architecture consists of superimposed hexagonal galleries. These are connected by a spiral staircase that cuts across the centre of the entire structure. The endless library holds all possible combinations of the letters of all alphabets, whether the languages are extinct, currently in use or yet to emerge. This random collection of letters is compiled in standard-size volumes, displayed in no particular or known order. All known books, whether based on fact or fiction, or yet to be written, are interspersed among an inordinate number of nonsensical compilations.2 The library is absolutely dysfunctional, since its totality denies the possibility of both specificity and order, which must always be deferred, cast to the field of speculation. Essay in retrospective exhibition catalogue at Whitechapel Gallery in London.
Publisher's text about this book: This first book in the Annotating Art's Histories serie... more Publisher's text about this book: This first book in the Annotating Art's Histories series revisits the period in which modernist attitudes took shape, examining the ways in which a shared history of art and ideas was experienced in different nations and cultures. Original essays by leading art historians and curators trace the dynamic interplay of cultures across the story of modern art, looking at moments of crisis and innovation in modernism's cross-cultural past. An account of colonialism and nationalism in Indian art from the 1890s to the 1920s, for example, suggests that cultural identities are constantly modifying one another in the very moment of their encounter and points to primitivism as a counter-discourse to modernism. A collision between modernism and colonialism in the design of a Bauhaus model housing project reveals the volatile conditions of European modernism in the 1930s. Discussions of the abstract painting of Norman Lewis and the collages of Romare ...
Exploring the universe and works of Brazilian artist living in Paris for many years. The book hig... more Exploring the universe and works of Brazilian artist living in Paris for many years. The book highlights the creativity which combines various forms of expression on a variety of media. With a prologue by Philippe Piguet.
Essay on artist Abraham Palatnik in catalogue to accompany the exhibition 'Abraham Palatnik –... more Essay on artist Abraham Palatnik in catalogue to accompany the exhibition 'Abraham Palatnik – A Reinvencao da Pintura', Museu de Arte Moderna de Sao Paulo (MAM-SP), Brazil, 2 July - 15 August 2014.
The Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress of Art Historians (CIHA), University of Melbou... more The Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress of Art Historians (CIHA), University of Melbourne, Australia. Crossing Cultures: Conflict, Migration and Convergence is an in-depth examination of the effect of globalism on art and art history. Covering all aspects of art--including traditional media, painting, sculpture, architecture and the crafts, as well as design, film, visual performance and new media--it explores the themes of conflict, migration and convergence in the visual, symbolic and artistic exchanges between cultures throughout history. Crossing Cultures is a compliation of the conference papers from the 32nd International Congress in the History of Art organised by the International Committee of the History of Art (CIHA), edited by conference convenor Professor Jaynie Anderson. This volume contains more than 200 papers presented at the congress by art historians from twenty-five countries, including Homi K Bhabha (Harvard University), Michael Brand (Director of the ...
This essay was the result of a conference held at Tate Gallery Liverpool, that ran in conjunction... more This essay was the result of a conference held at Tate Gallery Liverpool, that ran in conjunction with an exhibition curated by Simon Wallis that focused on current practices in painting that could be described formally, historically or conceptually as hybrid. My essay developed the conference paper analysing the history of the term, its problematic use within the field of contemporary art, alternatives to it such as that of syncretism, and how such issues relate to the development of painting within Brazilian art during the 20th century. It begins with the analysis of the 1920s search for a national modern art that would culminate in the development of the notion of Anthropophagy – a critical digestion of the culture of the other. Here a parallel is suggested between this process and the concurrent Rappel a l’Ordre wave of nationalist and classicist ‘purification’ of the cubist legacy. The essay later discusses the distinct context of the 1960s when in Brazil Anthropophagy re-emerg...
The author reflects on the exhibition that the artist held at the Museum of Dragao do Mar in Fort... more The author reflects on the exhibition that the artist held at the Museum of Dragao do Mar in Fortaleza. In this project the artist departed from the concept of heterotopias created by Michel Foucault in connecting art/life as a constituent of the work. The book is a plain text with photos and comments about the exhibition.
An essay on artist Milton Machado, one of two published in a collection of writings on the artist... more An essay on artist Milton Machado, one of two published in a collection of writings on the artist. This coincided with the first retrospective of his work marking 45 years of activity from 1969 to 2014.
Antonio Manuel (Avelas de Caminha, Portugal 1947 -), is one of Brazil’s most prominent conceptual... more Antonio Manuel (Avelas de Caminha, Portugal 1947 -), is one of Brazil’s most prominent conceptual artists alongside Helio Oiticica and Cildo Meireles. Manuel was part of the brimming artistic neo-avant-guard movement that emerged in Rio de Janeiro during the second half of the twentieth century. Like many of his contemporaries he developed an experimental work that expanded the limits of traditional art practices, increasingly focusing on the body as a vehicle for his propositions as well as pre-existing images appropriated from the mass media.
A book review of ‘Brazilian Art under Dictatorship: Antonio Manuel, Artur Barrio, and Cildo Meire... more A book review of ‘Brazilian Art under Dictatorship: Antonio Manuel, Artur Barrio, and Cildo Meireles' by Claudia Calirman.
Art/Histories in Transcultural Dynamics
Some Notes on the Contamination and Quarantine of Brazilian Art This essay seeks to question the ... more Some Notes on the Contamination and Quarantine of Brazilian Art This essay seeks to question the characteristics that have come to be celebrated as forming a specific genealogy for Brazilian art. It traces how these very same characteristics have gone from providing the diagnosis that Brazilian art was the product of a culture suffering from a seemingly incurable malaise, to one in which it is seen to be thriving and dynamic, constituting its very own genealogy not despite but precisely because of its inherent hybrid or (as I will posit) contaminated nature. I will argue that within this new understanding of Brazilian contemporary art and its specific genealogy there exists a conflation of cartography, political history, and the praxis of art that is not without its own problematics. The art critic Paulo Sergio Duarte begins his survey entitled The 60s: Transformations of Art in Brazil by proposing a visit to an imaginary museum. This is not André Malraux's "musée imaginaire,"1 but very much a traditional one; as Duarte himself stresses, it is one that could be located in the United States, Europe, or anywhere else in the world.2 In the first gallery of Duarte's imaginary museum the viewer finds Oldenburg's "huge cushioned plastic hamburger," Warhol's Two Elvis, Jackie Kennedy and Cans of Campbell's Soup, Jasper Johns' Flag, a Roy Lichtenstein comic book painting, and so forth. The second gallery contains work that Duarte considers to be "diametrically opposed manifestations" by
Purity is a Myth: The monochrome in contemporary art, showcases over 50 works, by 43 different ar... more Purity is a Myth: The monochrome in contemporary art, showcases over 50 works, by 43 different artists, in diverse media, including installations, photos and paintings. The exhibition proposes a look at the monochrome from multiple perspectives, emphasizing diversity where uniformity is generally assumed. The title stems from a statement made by Helio Oiticica in one of the cabins (Penetrable PN2) in the Tropicalia environment, exhibited for the first time in 1967 at Rio de Janeiro’s Museum of Modern Art in the context of the New Brazilian Objectivity show. The exhibition’s historic scope ranges roughly from the late 1950s to date, yet, is not a question of a survey but one of juxtaposing modes of practice and the conceptual potentials of the monochrome. The persistence of the monochrome today has perhaps more to say about the legacy of conceptual art within contemporary practices than about the death of painting which it seemingly announced. Nevertheless, if contemporary art is pos...
Contribution article on Ernesto Neto's work as part of Ernesto Neto's exhibition catalogue.
In the short story, ‘The Library of Babel’ (1941), Jorge Luis Borges imagines a library so vast t... more In the short story, ‘The Library of Babel’ (1941), Jorge Luis Borges imagines a library so vast that it is all-encompassing. Its architecture consists of superimposed hexagonal galleries. These are connected by a spiral staircase that cuts across the centre of the entire structure. The endless library holds all possible combinations of the letters of all alphabets, whether the languages are extinct, currently in use or yet to emerge. This random collection of letters is compiled in standard-size volumes, displayed in no particular or known order. All known books, whether based on fact or fiction, or yet to be written, are interspersed among an inordinate number of nonsensical compilations.2 The library is absolutely dysfunctional, since its totality denies the possibility of both specificity and order, which must always be deferred, cast to the field of speculation. Essay in retrospective exhibition catalogue at Whitechapel Gallery in London.
Publisher's text about this book: This first book in the Annotating Art's Histories serie... more Publisher's text about this book: This first book in the Annotating Art's Histories series revisits the period in which modernist attitudes took shape, examining the ways in which a shared history of art and ideas was experienced in different nations and cultures. Original essays by leading art historians and curators trace the dynamic interplay of cultures across the story of modern art, looking at moments of crisis and innovation in modernism's cross-cultural past. An account of colonialism and nationalism in Indian art from the 1890s to the 1920s, for example, suggests that cultural identities are constantly modifying one another in the very moment of their encounter and points to primitivism as a counter-discourse to modernism. A collision between modernism and colonialism in the design of a Bauhaus model housing project reveals the volatile conditions of European modernism in the 1930s. Discussions of the abstract painting of Norman Lewis and the collages of Romare ...
Exploring the universe and works of Brazilian artist living in Paris for many years. The book hig... more Exploring the universe and works of Brazilian artist living in Paris for many years. The book highlights the creativity which combines various forms of expression on a variety of media. With a prologue by Philippe Piguet.
Essay on artist Abraham Palatnik in catalogue to accompany the exhibition 'Abraham Palatnik –... more Essay on artist Abraham Palatnik in catalogue to accompany the exhibition 'Abraham Palatnik – A Reinvencao da Pintura', Museu de Arte Moderna de Sao Paulo (MAM-SP), Brazil, 2 July - 15 August 2014.
The Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress of Art Historians (CIHA), University of Melbou... more The Proceedings of the 32nd International Congress of Art Historians (CIHA), University of Melbourne, Australia. Crossing Cultures: Conflict, Migration and Convergence is an in-depth examination of the effect of globalism on art and art history. Covering all aspects of art--including traditional media, painting, sculpture, architecture and the crafts, as well as design, film, visual performance and new media--it explores the themes of conflict, migration and convergence in the visual, symbolic and artistic exchanges between cultures throughout history. Crossing Cultures is a compliation of the conference papers from the 32nd International Congress in the History of Art organised by the International Committee of the History of Art (CIHA), edited by conference convenor Professor Jaynie Anderson. This volume contains more than 200 papers presented at the congress by art historians from twenty-five countries, including Homi K Bhabha (Harvard University), Michael Brand (Director of the ...
This essay was the result of a conference held at Tate Gallery Liverpool, that ran in conjunction... more This essay was the result of a conference held at Tate Gallery Liverpool, that ran in conjunction with an exhibition curated by Simon Wallis that focused on current practices in painting that could be described formally, historically or conceptually as hybrid. My essay developed the conference paper analysing the history of the term, its problematic use within the field of contemporary art, alternatives to it such as that of syncretism, and how such issues relate to the development of painting within Brazilian art during the 20th century. It begins with the analysis of the 1920s search for a national modern art that would culminate in the development of the notion of Anthropophagy – a critical digestion of the culture of the other. Here a parallel is suggested between this process and the concurrent Rappel a l’Ordre wave of nationalist and classicist ‘purification’ of the cubist legacy. The essay later discusses the distinct context of the 1960s when in Brazil Anthropophagy re-emerg...
The author reflects on the exhibition that the artist held at the Museum of Dragao do Mar in Fort... more The author reflects on the exhibition that the artist held at the Museum of Dragao do Mar in Fortaleza. In this project the artist departed from the concept of heterotopias created by Michel Foucault in connecting art/life as a constituent of the work. The book is a plain text with photos and comments about the exhibition.