Art21 News
May 23, 2012
 

Production still from the series, New York Close Up, 2012.


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 Art21 traveled across five continents to film the sixth season of the PBS-broadcast series, taking viewers inside the Beijing studio of Ai Weiwei, to El Anatsui's studio in Nigeria, to the future site of the Marina Abramovic Institute for the Preservation of Performance Art in upstate New York, and everywhere in between, all over the course of 13 new artist profiles. While the entire season has completed its premiere broadcast run, a wealth of materials--including all four full episodes--are available to enjoy year round on the Art21 websites.

Next month, Art21 will celebrate a second premiere for 2012, this time for the Webby Award-nominated online series, New York Close Up. Be sure to subscribe to our "Special Announcements" email list (via the "Update Profile" footer of this email) to be among the first to be informed.

Read on for the latest from Art21, including four new online videos, highlights from the Art21 Blog, and much more.


topIn this issue:  

Watch Season 6 Online 

New Videos 

Highlights from the Art21 Blog 

Access '12: Screenings in Your Community 

Art21 Telethon 

Support Art21 

Shop Art21 

Banner: Rackstraw Downes at work in Presidio, Texas, 2011. Production still from the series Art in the Twenty-First Century, Season 6; Episode, Balance; Segment: Rackstraw Downes. � Art21, Inc. 2012. Left: Production still from a forthcoming film in the series New York Close Up. � Art21, Inc. 2012.
seasonsixWatch Season 6 Online
Production still from Season 6 of Art in the Twenty-First Century, 2012.
Four new episodes from the Season 6 of Art in the Twenty-First Century celebrated their respective broadcast premieres on PBS throughout April and May.

Each episode from the new season is available for immediate viewing online and through the PBS Video mobile apps.

(Please note that online streaming of the broadcast series is only available within the U.S. and U.S. territories at this time.)

DVD and Companion Book
The Season 6 DVD and Companion Book are also available to order online and through select retailers. The DVD is available from ShopPBS.org and the Companion Book is available from Art21.org.

Resources for Educators
Resources for educators include an Educators' Guide and a Screening Guide, both available to download now in PDF format.

Ask the Artsits
Submit questions for Season 6 featured artists Mary Reid Kelley and assume vivid astro focus on PBS.org. The artists will respond to select questions, which will be posted online.

More New Videos
Finally, for an additional look at the artists featured in Season 6 of the broadcast series, be sure to tune in to the online-only video series, Exclusive. Throughout the coming months, the bi-weekly series will include new episodes featuring additional moments not seen in the television broadcast. Over 150 Exclusive episodes have been produced to date, all available to watch immediately--from all regions--at Art21.org.

IMAGE: Artist Eli Sudbrack of assume vivid astro focus in his New York studio, 2011. Production still from the series Art in the Twenty-First Century, Season 6; Episode, Boundaries; Segment: assume vivid astro focus. � Art21, Inc. 2012.

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videoNew Videos
Glenn Ligon: Installing "Warm Broad Glow II"
  Filmed at the Whitney Museum of American Art in early 2011, artist Glenn Ligon installs his twenty-foot neon artwork "Warm Broad Glow II" (2011) in the museum's front window before the opening of his mid-career retrospective "Glenn Ligon: AMERICA."

Marina Abramovic: Embracing Fashion
 
Marina Abramovic: Embracing Fashion
From the series, Exclusive
Filmed at her New York office in 2011, Marina Abramovic discusses how her relationship to fashion and femininity have evolved over the course of a 40-year career.

Martha Colburn Brings the War Home
 
Martha Colburn Brings the War Home
From the series, New York Close Up
In this film, artist Martha Colburn discusses four of her animated films that examine American identity in the wake of 9/11 by "bringing the war into the living room," locating the violence of contemporary events in themes and imagery drawn from childhood and American history.

Lucas Blalock Gets a Little Help from His Friends
 
Lucas Blalock Gets a Little Help from His Friends
From the series, New York Close Up
In this film, artist Lucas Blalock and artist friends Fabienne Lasserre and Chris Wiley discuss his latest series of photographs in his Williamsburg, Brooklyn apartment, and later attend the opening of "xyz," his first New York solo show at Ramiken Crucible in Manhattan's Lower East Side.
Keep up with the New York Close Up series at the project website. Keep up with the Exclusive series on Art21.org, or subscribe to the series via RSS or iTunes (note: link opens in iTunes).

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accessAccess '12: Screenings in Your Community
April 5 screening at the Woodbury Art Museum, Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah. Photo: James Rees.
Help Art21 celebrate contemporary art and artists in your local communities today. Over 390 venues worldwide are participating in Access '12, and we welcome you to do so too.

Access '12 is a great opportunity to bring a discussion of contemporary art and ideas to your classroom, book club, museum program, or if you are just looking to have an insightful conversation among friends. Join our Access partners today and engage audiences abroad in the work and process of the artists of Season Six.

"We had a wildly successful screening event! The Ulrich Museum of Art sponsored four screenings around the city, three of which were held at High schools. The art students at these schools produced work inspired by various Art21 artists. Our opening reception and screening was well attended, and the artwork was amazing. By far, the most exciting aspect was that Season Two Art21 artist Trenton Doyle Hancock visited the art exhibit, giving personal feedback to student artists."
--Kevin Kelley, Wichita West High School, Kansas
All Access partners receive a free screening kit, which includes a DVD, press materials, and screening guide.

Find a screening near you; or, if you are interested in hosting a screening, sign up on Art21.org or by contacting the Access Coordinator at access [AT] art21.org.

IMAGE: April 5 screening at the Woodbury Art Museum, Utah Valley University, Orem, Utah. Photo: James Rees.

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 Highlights from the Art21 Blog
Jacolby Satterwhite.
 From Our Columns
Ink columnist Sarah Kirk Hanley surveys the editioned works of Season 6 artist Glenn Ligon, who has long been deeply involved with the idiom of printmaking; Nicole Caruth of Gastro-Vision looks at Jacolby Satterwhite's installation Country Ball 1989-2012, Appendix, which draws on video footage from the artist's own family cookout; and in Lives and Works in Berlin, Ali Fitzgerald reviews Big Youth, a gallery exhibition of emerging Chicago artists timed to coincide with the Berlin Biennale.

Guest blogger John Hogan, Artist, Los Angeles
 Guest Bloggers
Denver-based writer and editor Safa Samiezade'-Yazd explains how songwriters and rappers use the power of Arabic poetry to return Egypt's voice to the people in the wake of the Arab Spring, and deconstructs the complex image of the veiled Muslim woman as she appears in contemporary art and popular culture; Los Angeles-based artist and musician John P. Hogan investigates the interrelation of marginal entertainment and fine art in the 1960s-era cartoons of Theodore L. Shaw and the video works of Paul McCarthy and Mike Kelley.

Want to write for the Art21 Blog? We're looking for guest bloggers with interesting professional backgrounds in the arts, excellent writing skills, and strong points of view. Email interest and writing samples to blog [at] art21 [dot] org.

IMAGES (from top): Jacolby Satterwhite, "Country Ball 1989-2012, Appendix (detail)," 2012; Digital video and 3-D animation; Courtesy the artist. Guest blogger John P. Hogan.

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telethonArt21 Telethon
Art21 Telethon
On May 6, 2012, Art21 held its first-ever Art21 Telethon, an eight-hour performance event and fundraiser, initiated and co-hosted by artist Ronnie Bass, who developed the event along with Art21 featured artist Tommy Hartung and independent curator Miriam Katz.

Art21 Telethon featured: interviews with New York Close Up artists Shana Moulton and Kalup Linzy; performances from Mariah Robertson, Adira Amram and The Experience, Ryan McNamara, and Dirty Mirrors; appearances by a few surprise guests; and much more.

The event was streamed live online from Algus Greenspon Gallery in New York City, raising $7,000 in total contributions for Art21.

A nine-hour uncut version of the live stream--which includes an unaired hour from the event set up--is archived on Art21.org.

PHOTO: Ronnie Bass, Tommy Hartung, and Georgia Sagri (pictured from left to right) at Art21 Telethon (via art21org on Instagram).

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supportart21Support Art21
Support Art21: Donate to the 2012 Annual Fund
"The Art21 thing is awesome...kids have grown up watching these videos. It's just a leap in the education about contemporary art that I wish I had when I was in high school. It's amazing that this is now a major resource. Not just kids, but anybody, has access to this information. It demystifies what being an artist is, and makes it accessible."
--Trenton Doyle Hancock, Art21 series artist


Today, more than ever, we need your support. Here are four reasons to give:
  • You are a champion of accessible, free visual arts programming;
  • You understand the value of having artists speak directly about their work;
  • Your classroom gains from our resources that inspire creative thinking and spark curiosity;
  • You invest in the things you believe in.
A gift to Art21 today will help cover the unexpected cuts in this year's funding, caused by internal grant restructuring, from the National Endowment for the Arts. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you for your support!

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shopShop Art21 
Shop Art21
Art in the Twenty-First Century
The latest season of Art in the Twenty-First Century will be available on DVD in May. Order your copy of the Season 6 DVD today. Miss a season? Looking for a particular artist's segment? All five previous seasons of the broadcast series are available on DVD and digital download, giving you first-hand access to today's most compelling artists and thought-provoking themes. (Season 5 is also available in high-definition Blu-ray.)

William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible
Art21's Peabody Award-winning feature film provides an in-depth portrait of South African artist William Kentridge as he creates a series of new works, including a staging of Shostakovich's The Nose at The Metropolitan Opera in New York City. William Kentridge: Anything Is Possible is available on DVD from ShopPBS and other retailers.

Companion books
Spanning all six seasons, the Art in the Twenty-First Century companion books feature in-depth interviews with all 100 series-featured artists, high-quality images, and essays from Art21 Executive Director Susan Sollins.

The Season Six Companion Book is available today at Art21.org

Visit
ShopPBS.org to view all available products from Art21.

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Art21 videos, images, texts, and educational materials: Art21.org
Daily writings, features, and updates: Art21 Blog
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Art21
is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization; all donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. Donations to Art21 support the production of Art21's PBS series, multimedia and internet-based education resources, film archive, and public programs.