ART
Spotlight on the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art SMoCA is presenting something to engage all your senses this spring: “The Five Senses.” This exhibition includes five top artists whose work is presented so you can see it, hear it, feel it and, in some cases, smell it. Janet Cardiff’s audio installation features a 40-voice choral composition from the 16th century. Her “Forty Part Motet” uses 40 audio speakers in a large space, each projecting an individual choral singer. The experience is reportedly quite moving. Ernesto Neto, a Brazilian artist, is represented by “Cai Cai Marrom,” parts of which include turmeric, pepper and clove. The spice-filled artwork is reminiscent of food, markets, fields and flowers.
Ernesto Neto, “Cai Cai Marrom,” 2007. Polyamide, wood, turmeric, pepper and clove, 196 ¾ x 118 x 118 inches. Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds from the PAMM Collectors Council. Image courtesy of the artist and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York. Ernesto Neto. Photo: Jean Vong
Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson’s work, “Beauty,” is an example of his experimentations with light and water. Eliasson constructs an installation of sensory contrasts – acute shifts between darkness and light, warm and cool, dry and damp – to amplify the visual experience of standing amid water and a beautiful spectrum of fractured light.
Janet Cardiff, “The Forty Part Motet, 2001.” Reworking of “Spem in Alium Nunquam habui” (1575) by Thomas Tallis; 40-track sound recording (14 minutes), 40 speakers. Image courtesy of the artist and BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK. Janet Cardiff. Photo: Colin Davison
Olafur Eliasson, “Beauty,” 1993. Spotlight, water, nozzles, hose and electric pump, dimensions variable. Installation view at Hara Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo. Image courtesy of the artist, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York and neugerriemschneider, Berlin. Olafur Eliasson. Photo: Jens Ziehe
Artist Roelof Louw’s “Pyramid of Oranges” is just that – 6,000 of them. And Spencer Finch’s artwork titled “2 hours, 2 minutes, 2 seconds (Wind at Walden Pond, March 12, 2007)” crafts an intermediate space between nature, technology, physics and art. SMoCA’s Assistant Curator Claire C. Carter describes what is so special about experiencing this art. She was amazed, she says, that “the thoughtful combination of humble materials could inspire me to perceive the world in a fresh way.” This exhibition at SMoCA is the first time these five artworks will be exhibited together. It will remain at SMoCA through May 4. SMoCA is located at 7374 E. Second St., Scottsdale. 480.874.4666 or www.smoca.org.
Roelof Louw, “Soul City (Pyramid of Oranges),” 1967. 6,000 oranges, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist and Richard Saltoun, London. Roelof Louw
TRENDS MAGAZINE
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