Where to Look
| From galleries to parks to shopping malls, Europe's young artists are breaking out of the
narrow confines of canvas and frame. Today, they favor video cameras, sledge hammers,
animal bones and old bedding. There has never been a more exciting time to get close to art's cutting edge. Those who go to Europe only to seek out old masters would miss a dynamic, energetic and exciting art scene. Of course, the Elgin Marbles and the Mona Lisa have their rightful place on anyone's itinerary. But, as curator Robert Monk points out, if you expand your horizons and seek out the works of today's artists, you'll be rewarded with a deeper understanding of what life in Europe is like right now. The best way to approach this quest is to put aside terms like Conceptual or Postmodern Art. They won't help you enjoy or even understand works such as the cow heads presented in formaldehyde by London's Damien Hirst, or the dead beetles with which Flemish artist Jan Fabre decorates his map of the world, or the pig-sty installations of Cologne's Carsten Holler and Rosemarie Trockel.
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