April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
. . .
What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
– T.S. Eliot / from The Wasteland
Spring is here as we enter the 3rd week of April; Easter & Passover week; 30 year Anniversary week of Tiananmen Square protests; 101 years ago today The Red Baron was shot down from the sky. Today marks the birth of Queen Elizabeth II (1926), and the death of Mark Twain (1910). Welcome to the 092nd edition of Prescriptions. Here is our review of the week in the arts.
Jaume Plensa
Jaume Plensa / 1980s to the Present
The works of Jaume Plensa address the very condition of being: its physical and spiritual essence, ontological awareness of present and past, moral codes and dogmas, and our relationship with nature. Closes tomorrow, April 22, 2019 at MACBA / Museum of Contemporary Art Barcelona
Arlene Shechet
Arlene Shechet / Sculpture
Arlene Shechet’s work in ceramic, porcelain, wood, concrete, bronze, and other materials teases out longstanding tensions in sculpture between object and base, interior and exterior, figure and space. On view through June 8, 2019 at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects.
William Eggleston
William Eggleston: 2¼
Over the course of nearly six decades, William Eggleston has established a singular style that deftly combines the vernacular subject with an innate and sophisticated use of color, form, and composition. At David Zwirner Gallery, London, through June 1, 2019.
Installation View, Courtesy of projects+gallery Photo Virginia Harold
Fashioning the Black Body
The artists in this exhibition survey how fashion, style, and the garment act as devices of investigative storytelling, as a form of identification, self-actualization, and agency. On view through May 4, 2019 at projects+gallery.
Carla Meyer-Kleynhans
Sony World Photography Awards 2019
The Sony World Photography Awards is one of the most celebrated and diverse photography competitions today. Now in its 12th year, our goal is to showcase some of the best contemporary photography. World Photography Organisation, exhibition through May 6, 2019 at Somerset House.
Valentin Carron, Clare Goodwin
Concrete Contemporary
How does contemporary art deal with the constructivist, concrete, and conceptual art of the 20th century? 34 artists offer a multifaceted view of today’s constructivist-concrete and conceptual work. Featuring works by Alicja Kwade, SUPERFLEX, and numerous others. Through May 5, 2019 at Haus Konstruktiv.
Carla Meyer-Kleynhans
RECENT PROFILES
Jaume Plensa in a retrospective work from 1980s to the Present at MACBA; Arlene Shechet’s exhibition Sculpture on view at Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects; William Eggleston and select works in 2¼ format exhibiting at David Zwirner Gallery; projects+gallery in St. Louis, U.S.A. currently showing Fashioning the Black Body; and Federico Borella, 1st prize winner in the professional category of Documentary for World Photography Organisation’s, Sony World Photography Awards 2019, on exhibition at Somerset House;
