Global contemporary art events and news observed from New York City. Suggestion? Email us.
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Pussy Riot wins Court Case Over Attack During 2014 Olympics

August 31st, 2023

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Moscow must pay more than $100,000 in damages to the collective Pussy Riot over a violent attack during the 2014 Olympics. “The attack has been established ‘beyond reasonable doubt,’ and that the situation in which the applicants found themselves during the attack was not compatible with respect for their human dignity,” the court ruled.
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Ace Gallery Works Liquidated to Cover Debts

August 31st, 2023

Hundreds of works from the collection of the Ace Gallery are to be auctioned off, Art News reports, and used to pay debts run up by its founder since closing.
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NYT Covers Controversies Around Work of Hilma af Klint

August 31st, 2023

A NYT article looks at the rise in popularity of Hilma af Klint and some surrounding controversies, including an IP battle and questions over the artist’s sole authorship of some works. “I have to shift my mind-set on how these are collaborative works and not Hilma works,” says Guggenheim curator Tracey Bashkoff.
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China State Media Demands Return of British Museum Artifacts

August 30th, 2023

A Chinese Media Outlet has demanded the British Museum return all artifacts held in its collection. “The huge loopholes in the management and security of cultural objects in the British Museum exposed by [a recent] scandal have led to the collapse of a long-standing and widely circulated claim that ‘foreign cultural objects are better protected in the British Museum’,” the piece reads. 
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Gagosian Hires Jiyoung Lee for South Korea Operations

August 30th, 2023

Gagosian has hired Jiyoung Lee to run operations in South Korea, as the gallery looks to expand its foothold there. 
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UK Police Near “Breakthrough” in Hunt for Maurizio Cattelan’s Gold Toilet

August 30th, 2023

UK Police are on the verge of a major breakthrough in the theft of Maurizio Cattelan’s Gold toilet from Blenheim Palace.
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Three Men Convicted in London Over Theft of £2m Vase

August 22nd, 2023

Three men have been convicted in London after the recovery of a £2m vase stolen from a Geneva museum. “The organized crime group involved in this offending believed they could commit significant offenses internationally and that there would be no comeback,” says Detective Chief Inspector Matt Webb. “They were mistaken – highlighting the strength of our relations with international law enforcement partners and our ability to work across international boundaries.
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Christie’s Data Vulnerability Exposed Location Data of Thousands of Artworks

August 22nd, 2023

A data breach at Christie’s exposed the location data of thousands of artworks uploaded to the site, a cybersecurity firm has found. Thousands of clients uploading images of their works for sale had their data exposed through a vulnerability in the company software. 
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Items Stolen from British Museum Placed on eBay for Fractions of Estimated Value

August 21st, 2023

A work stolen from the British Museum and valued at $63,800 was placed on eBay for £49, the Telegraph reports. 
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U.S. Federal Judge Upholds Ruling that AI-Generated Works Are not Copyrightable

August 21st, 2023

A federal judge has ruled that AI-generated art is not copyrightable. “In the absence of any human involvement in the creation of the work, the clear and straightforward answer is the one given by the Register: No,” says U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell.
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REFERENCE LIBRARY

New York – Barbara Sánchez-Kane: “New Lexicons for Embodiment” at Kurimanzutto Through October 21st, 2023

September 26th, 2023

Barbara Sánchez-Kane, New Lexicons for Embodiment (Installation View), via kurimanzutto
Barbara Sánchez-Kane, New Lexicons for Embodiment (Installation View), via kurimanzutto

On this month at kurimanzutto in New York, artist Barbara Sánchez-Kane has installed a new body of work that explores a range of expressive modalities between sculpture and clothing design. Sánchez-Kane, who alternatively uses she and he pronouns, is interested in the deconstruction of identities and the duality of the presented self: through her clothes and sculptures, there is a perpetual tearing and fracturing of the structure, voids that seemingly shouldn’t exist, and the recurring repurposing of traditional objects through the destruction of their functionality. Read More »

New York – Wade Guyton at Matthew Marks Through October 28th, 2023

September 25th, 2023

Wade Guyton, Untitled (2022), via Matthew Marks
Wade Guyton, Untitled (2022), via Matthew Marks

Artist Wade Guyton has long explored the constructs and constraints of contemporary image and object production, utilizing a range of various technological and gestural approaches to create dense, nuanced works that emphasize both the act of making and images they contain. For his latest show, on view this month at Matthew Marks, the artist takes particular interest in his studio as not just the site of production, but the images his work depicts.

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New York – Philippe Parreno: “Hertzian Tales” at Gladstone Through October 28th, 2023

September 22nd, 2023

Philippe Parreno, Hertzian Tales (Installation View), via Art Observed
Philippe Parreno, Hertzian Tales (Installation View), via Art Observed

Philippe Parreno takes over Gladstone Gallery this month with a body of work that continues to mine notions of non-human intelligence, technology and life. The show, Hertzian Tales, marks the most recent manifestation of his ongoing contemplation of art as both sentient and sensual.

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Paris – Sam Durant at Praz-Delavallade Through November 10th, 2023

September 21st, 2023

Sam Durant, Open Your Eyes (2022), via Praz-Delavallade
Sam Durant, Open Your Eyes (2022), via Praz-Delavallade

This fall, artist Sam Durant opens a show of new works at Praz-Delavallade in Paris, continuing a body of work that mines the artist’s long explored modes of practice, while turning his examinations of modern culture, history and context on its ear. Long recognized for work that questions, highlights, and reframs social and civic issues from the more complex sides of history: colonialism, the death penalty, surveillance and slavery among them, the artist here turns towards the playful and exploratory, marking new notes in an already expansive and expressive practice.

Sam Durant, Certainty (2020), via Praz-Delavallade
Sam Durant, Certainty (2020), via Praz-Delavallade

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Paris – Anri Sala at Galerie Chantal Crousel Through October 7th, 2023

September 14th, 2023

Anri Sala (Installation View), via Galerie Chantal Crousel

Anri Sala (Installation View), via Galerie Chantal Crousel

Artist Anri Sala opens a show of new work at Galerie Chantal Crousel this month, exhibiting a body of new frescoes that underscore continued reseaarch into the construction and composition of narrative, particularly oriented around refashioning and repurposing spaces and epochs.  Read More »

New York – William Kentridge: “Oh To Believe in Another World” at Marian Goodman Through October 21st, 2023

September 13th, 2023

William Kentridge, Oh To Believe in Another World (Installation View)
William Kentridge, Oh To Believe in Another World (Installation View)

This fall, Marian Goodman opens its gall calendar in New York with a solo exhibition by William Kentridge featuring Oh To Believe in Another World, an immersive five-channel projection made in response to Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No.10. The exhibition marks the North American premiere of the film, which will be shown alongside a multi-disciplinary body of work which includes new bronze sculptures, drawings, collaged lithographs, and mixed-media puppets. Marking the artist’s 19th solo show with the gallery, it also marks 25 years of collaboration between the dealer and artist.

William Kentridge, Oh To Believe in Another World (Installation View)
William Kentridge, Oh To Believe in Another World (Installation View)

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New York – Nicolas Party: “Swamp” at Hauser & Wirth Through October 21st, 2023

September 12th, 2023

Nicolas Party, Portrait with an Eagle (2023), via Hauser & Wirth
Nicolas Party, Portrait with an Eagle (2023), via Hauser & Wirth

Marking his first solo show with Hauser & Wirth in New York, the Swiss artist Nicolas Party has orchestrated an expansive and captivating show of new works that continue to underscore the artist’s mining of traditional painterly languages in concert with freely interpretive and expressive modes of depiction. Spread across the gallery floors of blue-chip dealers’ flagship space in Chelsea, Party’s work is a striking opening note in the fall calendar.  Read More »

AO On-Site – SPRING/BREAK Art Show at Atlantic Production Center, 625 Madison Avenue September 6th – 11th, 2023

September 11th, 2023

Stuart Lantry curated by Shona McAndrew
Stuart Lantry curated by Shona McAndrew, all images via Libby Langsner for Art Observed

The first notes of fall are in the air in New York, and, like clockwork, another art season is now underway, kicked off once again by the opening of the Armory Show and its satellite fairs in New York City. That means that, once again, the night before the fair is the domain of Spring/Break Art Show, the curator-first, project oriented fair that brings together a range of expressive and imaginative works under a broad curatorial banner. Leaving ample space for exploration and investigation, the fair is a perennial highlight, and, now in its 11th year, has reached cruising velocity, bringing with it a year that takes a moment for retrospective conceptions of the event.

Gvantsa Jishkariani at CH64
Gvantsa Jishkariani at CH64

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AO On-Site – New York: Independent 20th Century at Cipriani South Street, September 7 – 10, 2023

September 8th, 2023

Venus Over Manhattan
Venus Over Manhattan, all images by Art Observed

Over the last several years, the Independent Art Fair has built a name for itself as a dynamic and focused exhibition project, culling together small selections of exhibitors that emphasize curation and focus over the sprawling aisles of mega fairs and blue-chip magnets. This year, the fair has returns its 20th Century offering for the run of The Armory Show further uptown. The show, focusing in on historically-resonant works, makes for a striking new offering during Armory Week, and a fitting continuation of the fair’s well-established focus.

Norman Zammit at Karma
Norman Zammit at Karma

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AO On Site – New York: The Armory Show at The Javits Center, September 8–10th, 2023

September 7th, 2023

Jonathas de Andrade at Galeria Nara Roseler
Jonathas de Andrade at Galeria Nara Roseler

Despite a heat wave that made early September feel like mid-July in New York, this week, the fall art season and the promise of cooler weather has descended on The Big Apple, and New Yorkers are flocking back from their summer travels to kick off one of the busiest art seasons of the year at the Armory Show. This year, the Javits Center is home to over 225 booths, featuring selections from gallery veterans, non-profits, museums, and emerging gallerists from over 35 countries. The fair was notably divided into several sections such as Galleries, Solo, dedicated to single artists, Not-for-Profit, Focus, a section curated by Candice Hopkins, featuring solo- and dual-artist presentations that under-represented artists who draw on cultural connections, and Presents, featuring galleries that are less than 10 years old.

Leonard Baby at Anat Ebgi
Leonard Baby at Anat Ebgi

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