Archive for August, 2010

Go See – Edinburgh: Martin Creed ‘Down Over Up’ at Fruitmarket Gallery through October 31st, 2010

Friday, August 27th, 2010


Martin Creed, Work No. 928, 2008, courtesy of The Guardian.

As part of the Edinburgh Arts Festival, Fruitmarket is honoring one of Britain’s most popular and esteemed artists, Martin Creed, in a major solo exhibition of recent and newly-commissioned work. Entitled “Down Over Up,” the show focuses on basic visual properties like the differentiation of size, proportion, and tone of everyday objects such as chairs, tables, boxes, and Lego pieces. Creed has often been criticized for the accessible quality of his materials and technique; while this aspect of his practice is visible in “Down Over Up,” the artist has also incorporated more conventional art forms such as paintings, drawings, and sculpture into the exhibition.

Creed initially won critical acclaim for his minimalistic sculptures, in which he rearranges everyday objects. He manipulates the common as a material representation of his primary preoccupation: modern culture. The artist often creates work in order to elicit particular responses from the viewer, by deploying a spectrum of motifs ranging from the absurd to the familiar.

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Go See: Los Angeles: John Baldessari at LACMA, through September 12, 2010

Friday, August 27th, 2010


John Baldessari, What was Seen, via Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Currently on view at Los Angeles County Museum of Art is “Pure Beauty,” a retrospective of work by John Baldessari. The exhibition features one hundred and fifty objects produced by one of the most influential living American artists, representing over five decades of his storied career. The show is curated by LACMA’s Leslie Jones, with Jessica Morgan, curator of Contemporary Art at the Tate Modern.

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AO On Site – New York: Tuesday August 24th Bravo ‘Work of Art’ Finalist Miles Mendenhall Opening at ‘Work of Art’ Judge Bill Powers’s Half Gallery through September 14th, 2010

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

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Art Observed was on site Tuesday, August 24th for the opening of Miles Mendenhall’s solo show at Half Gallery. The exhibition is the product of Mendenhall’s first off-screen collaboration with ‘Work of Art’ judge and Half Gallery co-owner Bill Powers.

On view are eight new works that echo the artist’s black-and-white screenprints from the Bravo show’s finale. His large-scale manipulations of digital imagery feature luminous geometric patterns, which reflect the artist’s enduring fascination with technology and, in particular, “the computer’s inability to compute certain visual information.” For more on Miles work in this exhibition and his artistic practice, watch the exclusive AO interview with the artist and Half Gallery owner Bill Powers.


Miles Mendenhall, Half Gallery

more images, story and links after the jump…

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Don’t Miss – New York: ‘The Geometry of Kandinsky and Malevich’ at the Guggenheim through September 7, 2010

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010


Kazimir Malevich, Untitled (1916) Image via Guggenheim Museum

‘The Geometry of Kandinsky and Malevich” is currently on view at the Guggenheim Museum, New York. The show, which includes only seven paintings, features the works of Russian artists Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935) and Vasily Kandinsky (1866-1944). The small scale of the exhibition permits an intensely focused look at two of the pioneers of abstract art. Although all the work is presented in one room, the representative paintings of each artist are hung in distinctly separate areas. This spatial orientation refers to the fact that, although Kandinsky and Malevich were contemporaries, and explored similar formal concepts, they did so independently of one another.


Vasily Kandinsky, In the Black Square (June 1923) Image via Guggenheim Museum

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Go See – London: ‘Newspeak: British Art Now’ at Saatchi Gallery through October 17, 2010

Monday, August 23rd, 2010


‘Newspeak: British Art Now,’ all images are via Charles Saatchi Gallery unless otherwise noted

Currently on view at the Saatchi Gallery is ‘Newspeak: British Art Now,’ an exhibition featuring more than 30 young British artists whose work is represented in the collection of Charles Saatchi. The European premiere of the show was held at the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia in October 2009.

for more story, images and links…
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AO News Summary: Van Gogh’s ‘Poppy Flowers’ a.k.a. ‘Vase and Flowers’ Still Missing After Theft Saturday in Cairo

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010


Vincent Van Gogh, Poppy Flowers (Vase and Flowers), c. 1887. Image via BBC News.–>

A Van Gogh painting valued at $55 million dollars was cut from its frame and taken from the Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo on Saturday. Despite reports that the painting, referred to as either ‘Poppy Flowers’ or ‘Vase and Flowers,’  had been recovered from an Italian couple at the Cairo airport yesterday, Egyptian officials now confirm that the painting remains missing.

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Go See – London: Alice Neel at Whitechapel Gallery through September 19, 2010

Saturday, August 21st, 2010


Alice Neel, Andy Warhol, 1970. Image via Whitechapel Gallery.

Currently on view at Whitechapel Gallery is “Painted Truths,” the first major European exhibition of work by American artist Alice Neel (1900-1984).  Featuring more than sixty paintings produced over the course of her artistic career, the show focuses upon the psychologically insightful and expressive portraits for which she is best known. Also included are a number of Neel’s cityscapes, in which the anonymity and exteriority of New York City are shown alongside the artist’s intimate depictions of its inhabitants.


Alice Neel, Ninth Avenue El, 1935. Image credited as above.

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AO Auction Preview: Two years after declaring bankruptcy Lehman Brothers hopes to sell hundred of artworks worth millions at 3 auctions in UK & US

Friday, August 20th, 2010


Julie Mehretu, Untitled 1, 2001 (est. $600-800,000), via Sothebys.com

Almost two years to the day after Lehman Brothers filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, the bank will auction off hundreds of artworks worth some $16 million in hopes of raising funds for its creditors. There will be an auction at Sotheby’s New York on September 25 followed by an auction at Christie’s London on September 29. The smallest of the three auctions will be held at Freeman’s in Philadelphia on November 7 and will focus on the Lehman’s Contemporary Art holdings.


Damien Hirst, We’ve Got Style (The Vessel Collection Blue/Green), 1993 (est. $800,000-1,200,000) via Sothebys.com


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Don’t Miss – Queens, New York: Greater New York at MoMA PS1 Through October 18, 2010

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010


MoMA PS1. All images by Lucy Kissel for AO.

Greater New York, the third quinquennial exhibition organized by MoMA PS1 and The Museum of Modern Art, features 68 artists and collectives from metropolitan New York.  Recently completed and specially commissioned works alike showcase diverse talents and media, including sculpture, painting, photography, film, and large-scale installations.  A purposefully provocative exhibition, Greater New York emphasizes themes of trauma, identity, and ecological, political, and psychological exploration.  Curators of the colorful 2010 iteration selected artists of varying degrees of repute through online submissions, studio visits, and recommendations, assembling a brimming observation of contemporary New York City culture.

Images, text, and an interview with participating artist Conrad Ventur after the jump…
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Don't Miss – New York: Carol Bove, Sterling Ruby, and Dana Schutz at Andrea Rosen Gallery through August 20, 2010

Monday, August 16th, 2010


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Installation View. Carol Bove, Sterling Ruby, Dana Schutz. Andrea Rosen Gallery, 2010. All images courtesy of Andrea Rosen Gallery.

Open until Friday, August 20 at Andrea Rosen Gallery is a group exhibition featuring artists Carol Bove, Sterling Ruby, and Dana Schutz. Each of the works on view in this summer show explore themes of confinement, disaster, and violence, uniting the disparate styles and material approaches of the three participating artists.

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Go See – New York: Tauba Auerbach at The Whitney Downtown through August 29th, 2010

Thursday, August 12th, 2010


Tauba Auerbach, Quarry, ‘Whitney On-Site: New Commissions, 2010.’ Photograph by Danielle Canter, via The Whitney.

Currently on view at the corner of Gansevoort and Washington streets is Tauba Auerbach‘s Quarry; an installation at the South-end of the High Line, where the Whitney Museum expects to open their downtown branch in 2015.  The exhibit, which runs from July 18 though August 29, 2010, is the second installment of the three-part series ‘Whitney On-Site: New Commissions,’ a project anticipating the start of construction on the museum’s new building, currently scheduled for next Spring.

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GO SEE – NEW YORK: OTTO DIX AT NEUE GALERIE THROUGH AUGUST 30, 2010

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010


Otto Dix, Portrait of the Lawyer Dr. Hugo Simons (1925) All images via Neue Galerie

Currently on view at the Neue Galerie is an exhibition featuring the work of German artist, Otto Dix (1891-1969). The show was organized by Olaf Peters, Professor of Art History at Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg, Germany. Following its run at Neue Galerie, the show will travel to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition is the first solo museum show of Dix’s work in North America. Although widely regarded as one of the most important artists of the 20th century in Europe, Dix has been slower to attain widespread appreciation among American audiences. The 100 plus works featured in this exhibition, which include drawings and paintings, emphasize Dix’s ability to portray the often brutal realities of his time, with the cynicism and satire which characterized the “New Objectivity” movement.

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Go See – Los Angeles: 'Dennis Hopper Double Standard' curated by Julian Schnabel at MOCA through September 26th, 2010

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010


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Billboard paintings after Dennis Hopper photographs, courtesy of LA Observed.


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Dennis Hopper’s photograph series, 1961 to 2010, courtesy of When You Awake.

‘Dennis Hopper Double Standard,’ a comprehensive survey of artwork by the late cultural icon, is currently on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. The exhibition explores an interdisciplinary body of creative work produced by actor, director, photographer, painter, sculptor, and conceptual artist Dennis Hopper, over the course of his prolific sixty-year career. More than two hundred objects crafted in a variety of media are on view, including a rare early painting completed in 1955, before to the loss of the artist’s studio and much of his work in the 1961 Bel Air fire. Curated by artist Julian Schnabel, ‘Dennis Hopper Double Standard’ is the inaugural exhibition of the museum’s new director, former New York gallerist Jeffrey Deitch. Prior to his death in May of this year, from complications related to prostate cancer, Hopper also played a significant role in the organization of the exhibit.


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MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch, actress Diane Keaton and Jean Stein at the Opening of ‘Dennis Hopper Double Standard’ on July 10th, 2010, courtesy of the Huffington Post.

More images and text after the jump…

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Go See – Austria: Antony Gormley ‘Horizon Field’ through April, 2012

Monday, August 9th, 2010


Horizon Field
(2010) by Antony Gormley, via The Guardian

Currently on view is a unique project in the mountains of Vorarlberg, Austria produced by British artist Antony Gormley (b.1950) in collaboration with the Kunsthaus Bregenz. Entitled Horizon Field, the project consists of 100 life-size solid cast-iron figures of the human body, dispersed over an area of 150 square kilometers in the Austrian Alps. The positioning of the figures in such a special location addresses the relationship between human beings and life on earth.

More text and images after the jump… (more…)

Go See – Los Angeles: 'Picture Industry' at Regen Projects through August 21st, 2010

Sunday, August 8th, 2010


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Picture Industry (Goodbye to All That), Installation view, Regen Projects II, Los Angeles. All images courtesy of Regen Projects.

Currently on view at Regen Projects, Los Angeles, is the group show Picture Industry (Goodbye to All That), curated by artist Walead Beshty. ‘Picture Industry’ refers both to the physical setting and the conceptual pretext within which the show is presented, with Los Angeles as the focus in terms of both place and content. Included in the exhibition are works by Tauba Auerbach, Thomas Barrow, Carol Bove, Troy Brauntuch, Tony Conrad, Abraham Cruzvillegas, De Rijke / De Rooij, Liz Deschenes, Isa Genzken, Wade Guyton, Robert Heinecken, Karen Kilimnik, Imi Knoebel, Michael Krebber, Glenn Ligon, Erlea Maneros Zabala, Albert Oehlen, Manfred Pernice, Seth Price, Richard Prince, Josephine Pryde, R.H. Quaytman, Eileen Quinlan, Miljohn Ruperto, Michael Snow, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Charline Von Heyl, Kelley Walker, James Welling, Christopher Williams & Christopher Wool.

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Go See – Athens: Louise Bourgeois at the Museum of Cycladic Art through September 12, 2010

Saturday, August 7th, 2010


Avenza Revisited II (1968-1969) by Louise Bourgeois, via Museum of Cycladic Art

Currently on view at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens, Greece is an exhibition featuring the work of late artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010). The exhibit highlights a body of the artists sculptural work known as the “Personages,” which Bourgeois produced between 1947 and 1953. These totem-like objects have Surrealist origins, and explore the subconscious human sentiments of anger, sexuality, fear and suffering. Eight of these “Personages” are displayed alongside the artist’s most recent series of gouaches.

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Go See – London: Joseph Cornell and Karen Kilimnik at Sprueth Magers through August 27, 2010

Friday, August 6th, 2010


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Above: Karen Kilimnik, Me Corner of Haight & Ashbury, 1966, 1998.
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Below: Joseph Cornell, Untitled, c. 1953.
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Image courtesy of the Artists, 303 Gallery New York and Sprueth Magers Gallery Berlin London.

Currently on view at Sprueth Magers London is “Something Beautiful,” a collaborative show by American artists Joseph Cornell and Karen Kilimnik. Curated by Todd Levin, the exhibition features paintings, collages, and mixed-media installations that reflect the influence of the Romantic-era ballet on both artists.

Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) was an American artist known for pioneering the art of assemblage. Created from found objects, Cornell’s boxes often read like three-dimensional Surrealist paintings. He admired the work of Max Ernst and Rene Magritte, but claimed to have found their work to be too dark.  His work was also inspired heavily by his beliefs in Christian Science, which he adopted in his early twenties. He never received formal training as an artist, but was influenced by American Transcendentalist poetry and French Symbolist painters, such as Mallarme and Nerval. Another motif of his work, 19th century European ballet dancers, comes to life in this exhibition.

Similarly, Karen Kilimnik’s work redeploys discreet objects in a quest for the romantic sublime. Theater and stagecraft have figured strongly in her installations, and her use of particular materials suggests the influence of Cornell. Often making direct references to Degas and other Impressionist painters, Kilimnik’s subjects occupy a nineteenth-century world: one of mystery, drama, and romance.

Anthony Byrt, in his review for Art Forum, refers to Levin’s conceptual approach here as a “bold curatorial statement,” suggesting that the premise upon which the two artists are connected is a precarious one. However, “Ballet aside,” says Byrt, “tangible links do emerge, such as theatricality, quiet spectacle, and ideas of feminine beauty, which both artists explore.”


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Karen Kilimnik, Paris Opera Rats, 1993. Image credited as above.

More text and images after the jump…

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AO News Summary – New York: Art Dealer Lawrence Salander Sentenced to a Minimum of 6 Years in Prison

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010


Lawrence Salander Appears for Sentencing, via New York Post–>

Art dealer Lawrence Salander, 61, was sentenced to 6-18 years in prison on Tuesday for defrauding clients of more than $120 million. Salander, formerly of Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, was arrested last March on charges of more than 100 counts of grand larceny and other felony offenses.  He pleaded guilty to 29 of those counts earlier this year, admitting to having engineered an elaborate series of fraudulent investment schemes over the course of more than a decade.  His offenses include selling single works of art to multiple buyers, selling shares of artwork owned outright  by other investors, and leveraging works he had already sold to secure bank loans.

Prior to closing in 2007, Salander-O’Reilly Galleries had been known for their eclectic Old Master and Modern holdings.  Their high-profile clientele included tennis champion John McEnroe and actor Robert De Niro’s late father, Robert De Niro Sr. According to the New York Times, McEnroe had acquired a 50% share of two important Arshile Gorky paintings, titled “Pirate I” and “Pirate II,” in 1994. Salander subsequently sold these paintings in their entirety to another dealer, while simultaneously listing them as security to obtain a loan from Bank of America.  In an effort to constantly expand his business and maintain an ostentatious lifestyle, Salander continued to engage in increasingly audacious personal and professional transactions.

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Go See – Berlin: Sophie Calle at Arndt through September 15th, 2010

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010


Sophie Calle, Photograph from the “North Pole” series, courtesy of Arndt.

Currently on view at Arndt in Berlin is a solo exhibition by Sophie Calle entitled “North Pole,” in which the artist combines objects created in a variety of media to illustrate a narrative of personal significance. Born in France in 1953, Calle is known for her work as a writer, photographer, and conceptual artist. In “North Pole,” she examines the perception and creation of human identity through an abstracted portrait of the life of her mother.

More text and images after the break…

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Go See – Beverly Hills: Jorge Pardo at Gagosian Gallery through September 11, 2010

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010


Jorge Pardo, “Bulgogi” Installation View (2010) All images via Gagosian Gallery

“Bulgogi,” a solo exhibition featuring artist Jorge Pardo, is currently on view at Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills. The show’s title is derived from the name of a traditional Korean dish which translates as “fire meat.” Given the strong Korean presence in Los Angeles, Pardo uses this title as a metaphor for the cultural assimilation of Korean immigrants in this Californian city. The exhibition includes a variety of mixed media pieces, and features a range of objects including furniture, jewelry, and scrapbook images transformed into wallpaper.


Image from Bulgogi Installation.

for more story, pictures and links read more…

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GO SEE – New York: ‘Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917′ at the Museum of Modern Art through October 11, 2010

Monday, August 2nd, 2010


Henri Matisse The Moroccans, 1916. Image via MoMA.

Matisse: Radical Invention, 1913-1917, at the Museum of Modern Art, features almost 120 paintings, drawings, prints, and sculptures completed by Henri Matisse within the span of four years.  1913 marks a turning point in Matisse’s evolutionary career: in the twilight of WWI, the artist made a profound move toward conceptual distortion.  He worked in German-occupied France while his brother was in a prison camp and his mother was behind enemy lines–conditions he deemed the “methods of modern construction” that altered the course of his artistic and personal development.

More text and related links after the jump…
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