discreet objects brings together four female artists: lauren berkowitz, alex martinis roe, elizabeth newman and sriwhana spong from australia and new zealand, whose practices variously explore the topic of minimalism. each of the works exhibited in the exhibition forms a critical dialogue with both the traditional form and materiality of the movement, as well as its conceptual impact that largely pivoted around the relationship between the body and the art object in space. curated by melissa loughnan and helen hughes. until saturday 31 july 2010 at utopian slumps, ground floor, 33 guildford lane, [melbourne] +61 3 9077 9918



lauren berkowitz , installation #4 , 2010

in the retail gallery of china’s tallest tower [locally known as the bottle opener], art + design store combines gallery and shop showcasing artists ranging from murakami to local design outfit jellymon. the opening exhibition, starting on tue - apr 28 is enlightenment “shanghai dream” led by hiro sugiyama and displays graphic and video works based on shanghai.




image: the bottle opener a.k.a. shanghai world financial center

the inaugural blender festival hits shanghai this weekend. the festival is a melange of design, graff, graphic, photo and video, featuring live performances which then rocks out to a strong dj line up well into the wee hours on apr 25-26 at river south art center. location: 1247 nan suzhou lu.

art + shanghai is starting their new year program with a group show of three artists who draw. artists include liao yang [廖杨], wang chao [王超] and nial o’connor a.k.a. zeldz magnoonis, and each have markedly different styles with strong narrative elements exploring themes of landscape, human potential and laughter, drawxing n surveys a contemporary practice constantly fluctuating between media. the exhibition opens thu - feb 12 [on until mar 6]. location: 1295 fuxing zhong lu [near xiangyang lu], building 75, #101, telephone (021) 6437-3108.

saving culture buffs in shanghai and beijing from the dreary winter grey, the jue festival, of music and arts adds some colour from january 7-17. plenty of excuses to get outdoors here including french electro-clash outfit enfant terrible and dancehall legends south rakkas crew. the art program includes chen hang feng’s look at consumer logos at art labor gallery in shanghai.

new gallery, great show. that pretty much sums up the art space at the space 15 twenty mall and the recently launched tv books exhibition [on until feb 1] curated by tim barber. on display are new books, posters, videos and artwork plus short film screenings by some of today’s coolest artist, including jaimie warren, aurel schmidt, kenneth cappello, santiago mostyn and allan macintyre. location: 1520 north cahuenga boulevard [hollywood].

it’s the final week of beaming arts [until dec 25], a new fashion-meets-art concept of one of superfuture’s fav japanese retailers: beams. the first edition is themed 光 or hikari [light] and showcases, amongst others, works of a series of young artists, including hitoshi kuriyama, koichi tabata and akihiko amano. location: international beams gallery, 3-25-15 jingumae [harajuku].

bustling cairo shifts into photo gear on dec 17 - jan 14 when photocairo4 unfolds with exhibitions, screenings, presentations, residencies, a workshop and a temporary publishing house. this year’s edition, dubbed the long shortcut, explores the dynamics between informal and official modes of operation that continue to shape the social reality in this region and beyond. its main exhibition is held at four different venues across town and features works of more than 20 egyptian and international photographers, including mahmoud khaled, ala’ younis, ahmed kamel, heidrun holzfeind and raed yassin. venue locations:

townhouse gallery, 10 nabrawy street [downtown].
e-mobilia building, 23 sherif street, apt. 468 [downtown]
hungarian cultural institute, 13 gawad hosni street [downtown]
contemporary image collective, 20 safeya zaghloul street [mounira]

eclectic times call for eclectic living. that’s what artist carsten höller must have thought when fondazione prada asked him to come up with a concept that not only reflects modern times but also fuses hospitality and entertainment: the double club. here the artist playfully molds congolese culture and western culture into a bar, restaurant and dance club. using the ethnic best of both worlds, each section has been given an exceptional multicultural injection. the restaurant boasts tasty dishes from africa and a warhol silkscreen on the wall. the courtyard bar is fitted out with azulejo tiles and in the dance club the dj alternates western music with ndombolo, wenge and congolese rumba. all in all it’s a visually challenging take on double identity with a high fun factor. having just opened, this temporary venue will be operational for six months only. location: 7 torrens street [finsbury].

note: click images to enlarge

boys will be boys…that’s certainly the case with creative hoodlums miktor & molf. the duo have produced a series of drawings/collages/paintings on a4-sized paper plus four large paintings for all the world to see! opening party is thu - dec 18 [5pm-7pm] at sprmrkt. rsvp [here] for access. location: rozengracht 191-193 [centrum].

launching fri - dec 12 at magical artroom are the solo shows my heart and the real world of takehiko hoshino and dice project 004 [heart station] by sho takeuchi. both artists feature a series of paintings. location: 1-18-4-3f ebisu [ebisu].

© sho takeuchi [2008]

french designer noé duchaufour-lawrance’s exhibition marée noire au claire de lune opens at pierre bergé & associés gallery on fri - dec 12. on display are new objects especially created for the occasion and inspired by an ambivalent commodity: petrol. for the show he designed a series of objects made of black corian, creating matrixes of nine elements, showing a setting including a bright moonlight, a golden insert and freeze waves. location: grote zavelplein 40 [downtown].

© brice vandermeeren for pierre bergé & associés

initiated by maria baibakova, her baibakov arts projects kicks off on sat - dec 13 with invasion : evasion, a massive show on contemporary russian art. on display are works by 15 emerging russian artists who have been given freedom to work on site, in this case an entire third floor of a former chocolate factory in central moscow, just around the corner from the kremlin. location: red october chocolate factory, bersenyevskaya naberezhnaya 6 [yakimanka].

© triumph gallery / gosha ostretsov - detain and disarm [2008]

italian photographer marco marzocchi captures the creativity and overall good vibes at concerts with his series of empathic gig pictures. opening party of his electric rainbow show at melepere is sat - dec 13 at 8pm. rsvp [here] for access. location: via sottoriva 12 [centro].

opening party of the mödern young people show at the agnès b. librairie galerie is thu - dec 11 [from 7pm]. this cools show documents the post-punk, coldwave and culture növo in france in 1978-1983. additionally french artist franck rezzak presents his installation door no. 103 which he modified especially for the occasion. location: 18 wing fung street [wanchai].

© franck rezzak - door no. 103

hong kong-based god, short for goods of desire, embraces its cultural roots and in particular products and items produced here. at the brand’s god street culture museum visitors wander around a preserved factory complex dating back to 1953. on display are a wide range of locally produced paraphernalia, many retrieved from the city’s streets and which it believes represent true hong kong culture. the venue also serves as an inspiration database to hong kong’s creative community. additionally god also sells a concise collection of its products here. location: 30 pak tin street [shek kit mei].

next month the made for skate show will be published as a book with the title made for skate: the illustrated history of skateboard footwear, featuring footwear that skaters have used throughout the history of skate. nike skateboarding teams up with the exhibition’s amsterdam stop-over [on until jan 4] and simultaneously set up a nike sb pop-up store! location: spuistraat 125a [centrum], opening hours: noon-7pm daily.

the inaugural edition of photophnompenh is about to end in the cambodian capital phnom penh [until dec 7] but we’re pretty sure you’ll be able to admire the work of french guerrilla shnapper jr a few days longer. a series of his mansize portraits, part of his face 2 face project, adorn the façades of a few buildings in the city.

© jr

superfuture lurrrves cities and city life, simple as that. so that’s why we recommend the following exhibition, documenting the life and urban structure of odessa at the magnificent bauhaus center [this show is the first of a series dedicated to tel aviv's centenary festivities]. opening party is thu - dec 18 at 7.30pm. location: 99 derech dizengoff [downtown].

the seventh annual shanghai short film contest takes place this saturday 6th december. all the films of 8-12 minutes long have to be on ‘naughty side’ featuring ’sexiness, sensuality, and elegance’. but this is china so don’t get too excited. the setting for the screenings will be in the remarkably old shanghai theatre at xinguang film art center at 586 ningbo lu [near xinguang bei lu]

artist/designer thomas voorn’s garment graffiti installation a designers poem has just been inaugurated at b store [on until jan 09]. part of his your name here series, he used a mix of brands sold in the shop for this installation. location: 24a savile row [mayfair].

© thomas voorn

hey people, check out the artist opening reception of the death by basel group show at frederic snitzer gallery on fri – dec 5 [7pm-9pm]. on display are a series of works by a kooky string of artists from tokyo, oslo, paris and miami, including ok fred, ida ekblad, item idem, chim↑pom and jim drain. location: 2258 nw 1st place [wynwood].

© item idem

appropriate reading for the superfuture technical team this week…

it was only very recently that the nam june paik art center officially opened in yongin, approximately 40km south of seoul. dedicated entirely to the late ‘n great videomaster nam jun paik, the building features a video archive, exhibition halls and other amenities, and is designed by berlin-based architect kirsten schemel. the opening show is jump now, featuring works of 113 artists from across the globe who all were influenced by the videomaster [until feb 5. location: 85 sanggal-dong [giheung-gu].

we haven’t had the chance to tell you earlier but superfuture’s fav o.t.t. artist jeff koons has found a matching place for his new jeff koons versailles show: the opulent château de versailles. a total of 17 of his most significant works from the 1980s until today are displayed in the palace’s grands appartements [until dec 14]. location: avenue rockefeller [versailles].

damien hirst’s audacious diamond-studded skull [8,601 to be precise] has arrived in town. dubbed for the love of god, this über-hyped showcase is on until dec 14 at rijksmuseum. location: jan luykenstraat 1 [zuid].

© rvda

you gotta see this. neasden control centre a.k.a. stephen smith will have a show called take away at calm + punk gallery on dec 1-14 [opening party is fri - dec 5 from 7pm-9pm]. location: asai building, 1-15-15 nishi azabu [click [here] for map because this place is damn hard to find!].

anyone into graffiti and tagging will be there. we’re talking the opening party of the mastering the heights group show at martinez gallery on fri – nov 28 [6pm-10pm]. participating artists include flint 707, earsnot, coco 144, mico and giz. location: 342 wadsworth avenue, apartment 44 [hamilton heights].

not to be missed…we’re talking art with sound, a cross-disciplinary collab of japanese and singaporean artists. dubbed dual city sessions, it opens at alt space on fri - nov 28 [7pm-9pm]. location: 1-21-2 aobadai [naka meguro].

dutch shnapper erwin olaf’s show fall opens at art statements gallery on thu - nov 27. known for his provocative o.t.t. style, he now shows a new and surprisingly subtle series of portraits and still-life images. location: 5 mee lun street [central].