Contemporary Art: Jia Aili `s Götterdämmerung

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - I am not an envious guy. I don´t care about the 1 percent. But recently I saw an amazing art show at Gagosian with paintings by Jia Aili (born 1979), who lives and works in Beijing (gagosian). Then I wanted to be a billionaire and to be able to purchase all these gorgeous paintings and hang them on huge white walls in my own palace. So I could look onto them every day while listening to Richard Wagner´s Götterdämmerung or some super-massive heavy metal. The reality forces me to content myself with taking pictures from the show. I display my favorites here, a very subjective selection as usual.

The exhibition, called "Combustion", included twenty-nine paintings from the past ten years, grouped into four sections to trace the evolution of Jia’s oeuvre. The artist explained in an interview with ArtNet "Combustion in the general sense refers to the violent chemical reaction of luminescence and heat, and this process is also like the trajectory of individual consciousness. For me, it is more about Prometheus’s humanistic sentiment" (artnet).

Gagosian`s press release explains: In Jia`s paintings human figures, multidimensional geometries, and fragments of architecture, land, and machinery are juxtaposed to create what Jia calls “a structured constellation of history,” fusing past and present in kaleidoscopic amalgamations (exhibitions).

 

Above you can see images which belong to a group of paintings called "Stardust Hermit". These paintings are full of mysteries & puzzles, allowing many interpretations. What causes the strange electric sparks & coils - which appear also on other paintings by Aili?  They could reflect some electromagnetic forces which may rule these worlds. It seems the artist is fascinated by energy and her incarnations.

 

Above another dark world ruled by strange forces.

 

These pics are very different, they are all surreal, colorful & very dynamical - a style which reminds me of the German painter Neo Rauch.

 

I have no idea what this wall-fill mural is about - but it fascinates me as well.

 

What´s going on here?

 

More mysterious actions.

 

Above some glances into the cosmic depths.

 

Above the painting "Combustion" which gave the exhibition her name.

I wish some gifted movie director would develop stories around these paintings and transform them into a great science fiction movie. Maybe some day Jia Aili will illustrate some of Liu Cixin stories (The Three Body Problem & The Wandering Earth).

"Combustion" might by the art show of the year.

To be continued

Contemporary Art: Rosalind Nashashibi @ Gallery Grimm New York

(Drivebycuriosity) - Manhattan is not just the global center of finance. The island is also a mecca of art. Many ambitious art galleries are lured to come here because of the amassed wealth. On Manhattan´s traditional Bowery you can find there gallery Grimm, a division of a Dutch art dealer (grimmgallery).

Recently I saw there work by the London based artist Rosalind Nashashibi. She is a London-based filmmaker and artist whose practice incorporates painting, printmaking, and photography. I like her strong colorful compositions, which may be influenced by German expressionism.

 I display here my favorites, a very subjective selection as usual. On top of this post you can you can see "Girl with a green watch" (2018) followed by "Where you walk things flourish nothings compares (2017); "Red Sea" (2018) & "Soft Gate" (2019). All oil on canvas.

Above: "Misanthropic the Artist’s Wife. They Said Misanthropic" (SIC, 2019) & "Don`t Fight in Venice" (2019). All oil on canvas.


 To be continued

New York City: Impressions From The Madison Avenue Gallery Walk

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - Manhattan is not only the global financial center, the island is also a mecca for art. You can find ambitious art galleries all over the island. Yesterday I participated in the  "Madison Avenue Gallery Walk" (madisonavenuebid gallery-walk). About 50 galleries along Madison Avenue and its adjacent side streets from East 57th St to East 86th St had their doors open. I couldn´t visit all 50 of course, but I spotted quite an interesting selection of art works.

 

Above images from Gallery Di Donna which specializes in Mexican surrealists - my favorite on this day (didonna).

Above some images from Opera Gallery (operagallery).




                                            Tipsy Lady

 

I found the tipsy lady & the 2 abstracts @ Baahng Gallery ( baahng).

I took the pics above on 32 East 67 Street where some galleries share a building, including Hammer Galleries (hammer), Taylor/Graham (taylorandgraham) & Kapoor Galleries (masterdrawings).

To be continued

Economics: Earnings Recession? What Earnings Recession?

(Drivebycuriosity) - There has been a lot talk about a coming earnings recession. Many pundits claimed that US companies are facing severe headwinds and will report falling earnings, at least in the first half of 2019. The earnings season for Q1 which is now running seems to contradict the gloomy predictions.  According to FactSet 46% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported so far. 77% of them beat the analyst`s expectations for earnings per share (EPS), which is above the five-year average (factset). "In aggregate, companies are reporting earnings that are 5.3% above the estimates, which is also above the five-year average".

The numbers show that the analysts are too pessimistic. Apparently they underestimate the fact that there is a strong perpetual trend of rising company earnings. The companies which are collected in the S&P 500 are getting more efficient & more productive over time - thanks to learning processes and the technological progress. Companies are learning organisms because they are managed by humans who are continuously improving themselves and their companies. During the recession 2008 companies had restructured and reduced costs significantly in order to survive. Now they are more fit & more efficient than before.

Company earnings are also boosted by automation.  Since the early 18th century (the first industrial revolution) the technological process has been enabling companies to produce more goods & services with the same amount of employees. More and better machines (robots) are doing the work of people which translates into lower costs, higher profit margins and climbing earnings.

It seems that this process is accelerating again and we are at the begin of new industrial revolution. We are experiencing a rapid advance of information technology, meaning combinations of computers, smartphones, Internet and other digital systems. Software - which is increasingly Internet connected and uses more and more the cloud (access to huge external data centers) - organizes the whole business: Creating new products, inducing machines to run more efficient, finding cheap suppliers, manage customer relations and so on. Car producers and many other manufacturers are increasingly using robots and similar machines to reduce their costs. Companies are also beginning to use 3D-printers to become more cost efficient and flexible.

Company profits are also boosted by the rise of the emerging markets. China, India & Co. create additional markets. Therefore companies can produce more which translates into shrinking average production costs (economies of scale). Emerging markets also deliver cheap supplies (most computers, tablets & smartphones are manufactured there) which reduces the production costs further.

I believe that the learning process will continue and will translate into a long term trend of fast rising company earnings, the engine of the stock market rally.

Enjoy! 

Finance: Did The Stock Market Rise Too Fast & Too High?

 (Drivebycuriosity) - Last week the US stock market closed on a new all-time high. The S&P 500, the gauge for the US stock market, gained 17% year-to-date. Some skeptics complain that stocks rose too fast & too high. Really?

The charts below show that this year´s gain just compensated the meltdown from late 2018 (finance.yahoo). Since begin 2018 the S&P 500 gained just 7% - a very modest development, in the recent 24 months stocks climbed 22%. It looks like that the stock market found back to the upwards trend which started spring 2009, the begin of this bull market.


Last year the stock market responded to President Trump`s escalating trade war against China which is causing a lot damage to the global economy. In the recent weeks stock prices got spurred by news that China´s economy is re-accelerating (driveby), signs that Trump´s trade war against China is deescalating and an impressive start of the earnings season for the first quarter 2019. According to FactSet "46% of the companies in the S&P 500 have reported so far. 77% of them beat the analyst`s expectations for earnings per share (EPS), which is above the five-year average (factset). In aggregate, companies are reporting earnings that are 5.3% above the estimates, which is also above the five-year average" (factset).

I am convinced that the rally will continue, mainly for 4 reasons:

1. Company profits will proceed with their solid growth, the engine of the stock market gains. During the recessions of the years 2001/02 and in 2008 companies restructured and reduced costs significantly in order to survive. Now they are much fitter and more efficient than before. I believe that this learning process will continue and will translate into a long term trend of rising company profits.

2. We are experiencing a new industrial revolution.  Advances in Internet (cloud, 5G), mobile computing, 3-d-printing, robotics, nano- & biotechnology and other technologies are reducing costs, raising efficiency and creating new markets.

3. Lower taxes and less regulation in the US will also continue to support the growth of the company earnings.

4. There are solid tailwinds from the emerging markets which are even getting stronger. The catching-up process in China (which is still growing about 6% annually), India, Indonesia and a lot of other countries translates into high growth in large parts of the global economy ( wikipedia) that creates continuously rising revenues & profits for global companies like Starbucks, IBM, Caterpillar, Apple and other members of the S&P 500.


To be continued