Todi Circular Nº 1 - Ab uno disce omnes

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Some of you may have read John McWhorter’s article in The Atlantic’s 1st September issue, titled Academics Are Really, Really Worried About Their Freedom. In recent months we’ve seen museums, universities and galleries reeling both from Covid stresses and from concerted attacks on their policies and programmes. A word out of place, a joke, a casual aside, and all hells breaks lose. At times, tolerance seems almost a dirty word. The Todi Circle was, from its beginning in 2012, meant to create a space for unbridled conversation, which so far seems to have been the norm. It’s our hope that this will continue. Our ‘circular’, however, isn’t meant as a forum (though who knows, it might evolve into one). It is meant as a factual update on what the 100-and-growing group of Todi Fellows has recently accomplished; what they are up to now; and where they think they’re heading. We’ll be publishing a half-dozen reports at a time. In this issue…

Collector Thomas Walther tells us about a French-Swiss-Italian co-production which grew out of his MoMA show of 2014.
Curator Sandra Phillips warns us not to expect a pretty picture in her forthcoming book American Geography.
Artist Thomas Demand is proud to have a contribution from Mario Vargas Llosa in his next project.
Gallerist Anahita Ghabaian reports from Iran, and is delighted that Paris Photo has chosen one of her artists for its central image.
Historian Philip Gefter announces his new biography of Richard Avendon, coming next month.
Artist Vera Lutter tells us about her huge project for LACMA, but wonders if it really ‘exists’ in our upside-down worlds.
Gallerist Howard Greenberg moves to Berlin and rethinks his gallery in strange times.

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THOMAS WALTHER COLLECTOR ZURICH

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Currently
In Todi, back in 2012, where Quentin Bajac, Tobia Bezzola and I further bonded during the first Todi Circle, we basically laid the initial groundwork for our future collaboration, since both Quentin and Tobia had just at that moment been confirmed in their respective jobs at MoMA in New York, and the Folkwang Museum in Essen.
The fruits of the collaboration will be visible soon in the form of a major three-country exhibition and publication shared by the Jeu de Paume; MASI Lugano [Museo d’Arte della Svizzera italiana]; and Camera, Centro italiano per la Fotografia, in Torino. This show is the offspring, further developed, of the MoMA exhibition curated by Quentin in 2014/15.

Life during the pandemic
When asked to focus on the past six months, I plainly have to confess, that I’ve luckily had no substantial reason to complain about my personal experience with the pandemic, since I was never really confronted with any established cases of the disease amongst family and close friends, except for one good friend, who apparently sailed through with flying colours. Although Germano Celant should be mentioned as a sad loss indeed! Therefore I can say with some trepidation, that the last six months have been a tranquil time of reflection, study, communication and personal exchange, in mostly immediate proximity to nature and under almost ideal weather conditions throughout. A quite memorable period in my lifetime, that I‘m grateful to have experienced!

When invited to Todi eight years ago at age 62, the world still seemed a better place with real potential for positive change and better things on the horizon! A mere eight years hence, I‘m no longer sure and simply hoping that the roller-coaster of game changing events, daily surprises and major upheaval in the world isn‘t just the beginning of still worse conditions to come!

SANDRA PHILLIPS CURATOR SAN FRANCISCO

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Position

I remain Curator Emerita of Photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Currently

Because of the pandemic, the exhibition that was scheduled to open at the SFMOMA, which was to be my last there, was cancelled and instead has been reimagined as a book, called American Geography. It is scheduled to be published by Radius this fall—it shows how we have used land from the 19th century to the present—essentially for profit and for pleasure, how we have lived on it and in it. It is not an especially pretty picture. I have also been working with the Berkeley Art Museum to organize photography exhibitions, although that is also now on hold due to covid, so I will be doing a class based on the book this fall.

Life during the pandemic

Covid has inspired some good rethinking on the place of museums in our culture, the challenges are not easy but important to face. And I will try to help elect Joe Biden. For me, the election is by far the major anxiety of the time, Covid comes later. Happy to be in touch with the alumni of the Circle of Bill!! Cheers to all.

From the book American Geography
Roger Minick, Woman with Scarf at Inspiration Point, Yosemite National Park, CA, 1980, printed 2016, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Foto Forum purchase

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THOMAS DEMAND ARTIST LOS ANGELES/BERLIN

Recently

After a decade in Los Angeles, we moved to Berlin on March 8th, coincidentally (and planned since long) a few days before lockdown. We are building a studio in town which is supposedly finished by the end of the year and my Los Angeles dependance will close by then.

Currently

I am working of a number of shows, the next one (HOUSE OF CARD) to open is in Museum M in Leuven, Belgium, a show about my endeavors into architecture, which reflect 25 years of making art from an unexpected angle. The next project will, if the circumstances allow, open in spring at Fundacion Botin in Santander, planned title is Mundo del Papel, with a text by Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, obviously an element of which i am very proud, so excuse my boasting.

ANAHITA GHABAIAN ART HISTORIAN/GALLERIST TEHRAN

Currently
It has been difficult for us all here in Tehran, involving significant re-evaluation across the field. However, once the first weeks of surprise and disbelief had passed, I began to reflect on various projects which I was able to get up and running by myself.
We participated in an exhibition in Bretagne, France as part of Chemins du Patrimoine en Finistère. Paris Photo has also confirmed our participation in the 2020 edition (if it indeed goes ahead). And I’m delighted that one of our artists, Maryam Firuzi, had had an image chosen for ‘the’ 2020 edition of the fair.
Additionally, we have started an online exhibition section on our website, while managing to have limited/private exhibitions in the main gallery space.
However, the major project currently underway is the publication of a book celebrating the first 20 years of Silk Road Gallery.
A decade ago, for the 10-year anniversary of the gallery, I released a book which thematically brought together various dynamic Iranian photographers from the 2000s. The book was unique – being designed and published by Iranian players in the photography scene – and it was a success due to its quality, content, and the collaboration of many top photographers. It opened the way for a larger presentation of Iranian photography internationally.
Now, a decade later, “Volume 2” will both celebrate 20 years of the gallery, and provide a fresh overview of contemporary documentary and artistic photography through portraiture. Instead of trying to provide a broad overview on the state of Iranian photography, it will focus its gaze onto a single topic. The country is at a special moment in its history, one which will define the next generation and decades to come. By examining this transitional time period through portrait photography, we interrogate some of the following key questions about this inter generational shift :
Who is the contemporary Iranian? Is s/he traditional or modern? How does s/he behave? How does s/he dress, and self-present? How can these individuals take their places on the global stage, both today and tomorrow?
I am currently considering if it is worthwhile to focus solely on portraits of women. Collecting such portraits will allow me to get a glimpse of how photographers – male or female – look at Iranian women today. In an introductory chapter, I will briefly raise the subject of portraits in photography from the late 19th century and early 20th century.

Help with something?
For the 20 years book, I am collecting texts written by Iranian and international players active in photography. For each photographer, I will present a series of portraits, from which the writer may choose to focus on one or more images. The text will then accompany the photograph on a whole page. I think it would be a great idea to ask relevant Todi Fellows to provide some of the texts and commentary.
I am also looking for a supplementary budget and an international publisher.
It’d be wonderful to receive the Todi Circular, and to hear how others have been managing during the extremely unusual situation we find ourselves in currently. I’d be happy to help other Fellows in whatever way possible, and would love to hear what everyone is up to.

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Photo by Maryam Firuzi, from Reading for Tehran Streets series,
80x120cm
Edition of 5, Digital print on professional photo paper.

PHILIP GEFTER AUTHOR NEW YORK

Position

I am an author. Some people call me a photography critic. I consider myself more of a photography historian.

Currently
My biography of Richard Avedon, called “What Becomes a Legend Most: A Biography of Richard Avedon,” is due out on the Harper imprint at HarperCollins next month– October 2020. I have published essays in several recent exhibition catalogues, including “Richard Learoyd’ from Fundacion MAPFRE; “Peter Hujar; Speed of Life,” also from MAPFRE; and “William Gedney: A Time of Youth,” from Duke University Press.

Meanwhile, I’m awaiting ‘the idea’ for my next book project.

Life during the pandemic

I feel that we are living through the most dystopian moment in our lifetime, not only because of Covid but, also, the dismantling of democracy in America before our very eyes. It is hard to reconcile the comfort and ease of my daily life with the existential turmoil of the epidemic and the general political swing to the right internationally.

VERA LUTTER ARTIST NEW YORK

Recently

I have finished my largest to date and most accomplished museum collaboration and exhibition. This exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Prestel. Both the exhibition and the book are titled: Museum in the Camera. The show is installed and entirely ready. It was supposed to open on 3/27/20 and has since been dormant at LACMA. While this is a huge accomplishment for me, it is as though it weren’t there as nobody can see it. As Duchamp said (paraphrasing): Art only comes into existence once it is perceived by the viewer.

Currently
I photographed the Pantheon a project that was planned and then obviously canceled. When Italy opened it’s borders (to Europeans) I left immediately and jumped to the renewed possibility. I spent part of June and all of July in Rome photographing.
Prior to that I gave many talks and lectures via Zoom, mostly related to my dormant show at LACMA.
Now back in NYC trying to reorient myself and strategize for a future that doesn’t allow anyone to prepare. As of September I will reorganize my studio to prepare a drastic downsizing. After 23 years in the same space I must let it go.

Help with something?
I am looking to sell some of my fiber based mural photopaper [Technical term: A roll of Ilford MGFB matt surface, 56 inches wide 1200 inches long]. I bought this paper a while ago and it remained in frozen storage since. I bought more than I can use in this lifetime.

Life during the pandemic
It’s been hard at times but wonderful to have my studio a bike ride away and to be able to go there every during the lockdown in NYC. Many artists are loosing their studios, or parts thereof, due to the economic downturn and obviously due to the persistently high ask for commercial rents in the city. This is pretty disastrous and will change not only the landscape of NYC but also the social fabric of our lives and the spirit of the city.

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Vera Lutter, Clock Tower, Brooklyn, XXXVI: June 16, 2009 As shown in Civilisation, Photography, Now at the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki.

Photo: Jennifer French

HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERIST BERLIN/NEW YORK

Recently

The largest and singular project for me was the realization of the exhibition and publication for the Boston MFA’s public display of my personal collection, which they “officially” acquired a year and half ago. It was a labor intensive effort as the publication which was created by the museum was not up to the quality of the collection. So it was scrapped and while on a journey to Africa and Greece last summer, Greg Wakabayashi, the wonderful graphic designer, and myself created and had printed a terrific book, which was ready for the opening in September.

In the gallery, we took a pause with publications, having produced books on Arnold Newman and Vivian Maier in 2018, and then there was Covid.

Currently

The gallery, I believe like most, is reassessing itself. The physical space, nature of presentation, search for income streams are all under scrutiny. The only completion date for a project right now is to figure out and find a new suitable space by end of lease in June 2022. I should mention that at the same time, we are searching a bit for new direction. The old paradigms are not working like they used to. And the relevance (or should I say irrelevance) of vintage photography is in question.

Help with something?

Accordingly, this is an important question for us. We are, of course, always searching for new venues for the artists and estates we represent. However, finding new, younger artists who fit the gallery sensibility is not simple. Political correctness seems to be all that institutions care about. We all know what that means. Not a problem but what happens when you learn of a white male who’s work you really believe in and you consider asking him to join the gallery? That’s a question loaded with complex decisions unlike ever before. And this is only one example of how difficult deciding on new photographers to work with has become. That said, i/we in the gallery are open to ideas and suggestions.

Life during the pandemic

On a personal note, I’ve moved to Berlin! My life has been rearranged in a way that I am very happy about. The gallery now has two directors. In addition to Karen Marks, who has been at the gallery nearly 20 years, David Peckman is with us for a year and Half so far. David was the director of Hamiltons in London for about twelve years. Our friendship goes back to before and we always spoke about his becoming part of the gallery if he ever moved back to the States. Fast forward, he is now a director and business manager. I continue to work daily from Berlin, however I have no plans to open a gallery or to start a new empire! It’s a joy to live and travel in Europe while strengthening old relationships and making new ones. I will still be in NY periodically and only hope United will reinstate their non stop flight after covid calms down, as I hope the political climate will go back to some semblance of normal. We shall see about art fairs although I expect they will continue to be a most important component of the business. From Europe it will be easier for myself and the gallery to participate. But first things first.

Ps. Don’t we all have the best memories about Todi and our experience there? It’s a special bond we all share now… Thanks Bill and Mario and Todd for your magnificent creation!

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Courtesy of Julian Schaer & Jean-Jacques Naudet

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