Alberto Giacometti Yves Klein: In Search of the Absolute, Gagosian ★★★★★
We review the latest from the Gagosian: Giacometti & Yves Klein put side by side, with mixed results
Giacometti La Clairière, 1950 Bronze © Alberto Giacometti Estate /Licensed in the UK by ACS and DACS, 2016 review giacometti klein gagosian klein giacometti exhibition
One was a Satrean existentialist, with a vision cracked in half by war, whose spindly, torturous figures diminished human form to its essence. The other was a crackpot voluptuary, whose exuberance and experimentation knew no bounds. Both were Modern masters, a generation apart, who are - for the fist time - sharing the stage. This May, the Gagosian Grovesnor Square stage Alberto Giacometti Yves Klein: In Search of the Absolute - with mixed results.
Both artists lived in Montparnasse, in the '50s and '60s, when Giacometti was well-established and Klein an upstart, blazing a trail for himself. There is no record of them speaking, no record, even, of them being in the same room. 'Til now, the older artist's austere iconography had nothing to do with Klein's abstract celebrations of pure, unsaturated colour.
The problem with this exhibition is that, even side by side, they still have nothing to do with one another. Despite both emerging from the rubble of post war, their work had opposite aims. Klein, who painted naked women and dragged them across the canvas, (this was the '60s, remember) dealt with momentary traces. He conceptually celebrated the human form with abandon. Giacometti negated it; reducing humanity down to 'pure presence'. Expression vs. form, vestige vs. entirety - there is no way to reconcile these differences.
Giacometti's sepulchrous work is often labelled austere, Klein's controversial. If the show is an attempt to rehabilitate both artists, it fails. This pairing is to each artist's detriment: Giacometti becomes same-y, Klein unfocussed.
These old/new exhibitions can work, very well. Just look at Frieze Masters - which is infinitely more pleasurable that Frieze Contemporary. We loved Ordovas' Rembrandt Auerbach show and Dulwich Picture Gallery's Twombly Poussin, and Egon Schiele/Jenny Saville over in Zurich was a roaring success.
It's always a pleasure to see great art. This show, though, has discord at its conception. Time for a quickie divorce.
Both artists lived in Montparnasse, in the '50s and '60s, when Giacometti was well-established and Klein an upstart, blazing a trail for himself. There is no record of them speaking, no record, even, of them being in the same room. 'Til now, the older artist's austere iconography had nothing to do with Klein's abstract celebrations of pure, unsaturated colour.
The problem with this exhibition is that, even side by side, they still have nothing to do with one another. Despite both emerging from the rubble of post war, their work had opposite aims. Klein, who painted naked women and dragged them across the canvas, (this was the '60s, remember) dealt with momentary traces. He conceptually celebrated the human form with abandon. Giacometti negated it; reducing humanity down to 'pure presence'. Expression vs. form, vestige vs. entirety - there is no way to reconcile these differences.
Giacometti's sepulchrous work is often labelled austere, Klein's controversial. If the show is an attempt to rehabilitate both artists, it fails. This pairing is to each artist's detriment: Giacometti becomes same-y, Klein unfocussed.
These old/new exhibitions can work, very well. Just look at Frieze Masters - which is infinitely more pleasurable that Frieze Contemporary. We loved Ordovas' Rembrandt Auerbach show and Dulwich Picture Gallery's Twombly Poussin, and Egon Schiele/Jenny Saville over in Zurich was a roaring success.
It's always a pleasure to see great art. This show, though, has discord at its conception. Time for a quickie divorce.
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| What | Alberto Giacometti Yves Klein: In Search of the Absolute, Gagosian |
| Where | Gagosian Grosvenor Hill, 20 Grosvenor Hill, London, W1K 3DL | MAP |
| Nearest tube | Green Park (underground) |
| When |
27 Apr 16 – 11 Jun 16, Tues-Sat, 10-6 |
| Price | £FREE |
| Website | Click here for more information |