2col  dead hare

From the “Voice & Void” exhibition, Joseph Beuys, “How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare,” detail of performance still, 1965.

FOR 9/14

‘VOICE AND VOID,’ MARTI CORMAND OPEN AT ALDRICH MUSEUM SEPT 16 w/1 cut

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RIDGEFIELD, CONN. — The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum will present “Voice & Void,” curated by Thomas Trummer, the first recipient of the Hall Curatorial Fellowship, and a solo exhibition of works by Marti Cormand, the museum’s 2007 Emerging Artist Award winner. Both exhibits will be on view from September 16 to February 24.

The human voice has become a major subject in recent scholarly debates, so it is no coincidence that an Aldrich exhibition will explore the topic from an artistic vantage. In “Voice & Void,” Trummer will use the state-of-the-art sound facilities in the museum’s building to illustrate how voice — and the absence of voice — can be expressed by the visual arts.

With “Voice & Void,” Austrian native Thomas Trummer will consider the effects of what happens when one sense is replaced by another with particular focus on hearing and seeing. Trummer’s exhibition will feature both commissioned and loaned contemporary works of all media by a diverse group of international artists — including a sculptural aviary that will house two living parrots that speak the long-lost language of May-po-re. Works by established artists such as Joseph Beuys, John Cage, Cardiff/Miller and Cerith Wyn Evans will be on view.

The Aldrich Emerging Artist Award is administered by the curatorial staff of the Aldrich, including exhibitions director Richard Klein and director Harry Philbrick. Beneficiaries of the award, which has been presented by the museum since 1997, receive a cash prize of $5,000 and the opportunity to exhibit at the Aldrich.

Encompassing a new body of work, Cormand’s paintings and drawings, which focus on tightly-rendered landscapes, are rigorously conceptual explorations on the nature of representation in the digital age. Cormand’s work uses the computer and the Internet as new tools for reinvigorating paintings, building off the history of photography’s influence on representation.

The artist’s anonymous landscape images, culled from Internet sources, are infused with both subtle manipulation and additions. The additions take the form of colorful abstract pattern, bleeding through from behind the picture plane, or curious geometric abstraction appearing on the painting’s surface; both suggest that there is more to reality than meets the eye. Born in Spain in 1970, the artist currently lives and works in Brooklyn and is represented by josee bienvenu gallery.

The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum is at 258 Main Street. For information, www.aldrichart.org or 203-438-4519.

FOR 9/14

‘CONTROMODA’ EXPLORES FASHION AT ITALY’S PALAZZO STROZZI OCT 12 w/2 cuts

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FLORENCE, ITALY — More than 200 creations by such contemporary fashion designers as Armani, Balenciaga, Cardin, Dior, Ferragamo, Gaultier, Lagerfeld, Missoni and Westwood will be on display at the Palazzo Strozzi in an exhibition, “ControModa: Contemporary fashion from the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,” October 12–January 20.

James Bradburne, director of Palazzo Strozzi, said: “Fashion is inseparable from the Italian identity. The Palazzo Strozzi has a long history of involvement with Italian fashion having provided the backdrop to some of Life magazine’s most striking fashion photographs in the 1950s as well as hosting exhibitions of Salvatore Ferragamo in 1985 and Roberto Capucci in 1990. This exhibition underlines our commitment to contemporary culture in which fashion plays a major rule.”

“ControModa” examines how far traditional concepts of style and fashion have changed in the past three decades. The works of designers featured demonstrate that fashion is a way of interpreting the world and a vital record of cultural and social change.

The exhibition illustrates how conventional ideas of beauty have been challenged in recent years and the questions that have been asked about the concept of taste. New developments in fashion engendered a new way of thinking, overturning the old rules regarding shape, proportion and ornamentation.

“ControModa” looks at contemporary fashion from four perspectives: construction, materials, form and concept.

An unusual element of the exhibition will be the educational gallery filled with costumes designed by Issey Miyake for William Forsythe and the Frankfurt Ballet. Visitors will have the opportunity to try on these costumes.

“ControModa” was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; curated by Kaye Spilker and Sharon Takeda. The Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi installation was coordinated by curator Maria Luisa Frisa in consultation with Holly Brubach, Franca Sozzani and Stefano Tonchi. The exhibition catalog, available in English and Italian, is published by Skira editore.

Palazzo Strozzi is at Piazza Strozzi, 50123 Firenze. For information, 39 055277 6461 or www.palazzostrozzi.org.