Abracadabra

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First Saatchi's groundbreaking show of young British artists, Sensation, then Matthew Collings's British television show, This Is Modern Art, have confirmed what many people have realized for a long time: modern art, with all its shocks, jokes, and blankness, is here to stay. If additional evidence were needed, look no further than Abracadabra: International Contemporary Art, edited by Catherine Grenier and Catherine Kinley. This lavishly illustrated catalog was first published by London's Tate Gallery to accompany its 1999 summer exhibition of 15 of the finest young artists working in a variety of media--from installation, ready-mades, video, and performance to the more traditional forms of drawing and sculpture.

The refreshingly brief and direct introductory essays point out that the show, like its title, explores the fantastic, the changeable, and the magical. Martijn van Nieuwenhuyzen explains that the exhibition "approaches the flexible spirit of 1990s art from the co-ordinates of 'art-reality-fantasy.' The playful character of the art is echoed in the design of the exhibition space--an open environment in which visitors are free to wander around at will, as if in an amusement arcade or shopping complex, able to pick and choose from the range of entertainments vying for their attention." The catalog emphasizes that there are many diversions awaiting the visitor, including Maurizio Cattelan's Stadium, a table-football game designed for two teams of 11, and Brigitte Zieger's self-assembly assault rifles, laid out in Playtime. This is a terrifically upbeat show that embraces the viewer without pomposity or pretentiousness. It is playful and forward-looking, while also retaining the edge of social and political commentary, making the show all the more effective. Cattelan's work stands out as exemplifying the best in current installation art, from his ominous hanging horse--which literally hangs like the sword of Damocles over the entire show--to his funny (yet also shocking) dead squirrel, slumped over a kitchen table, used revolver at its feet. Now that's magic! --Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk