AO Art Observed™

Urs Fischer, Untitled (Lamp/Bear), 2005/2006, via Wall Street Journal

Untitled (Lamp/Bear), a 23-foot, 16-ton sculpture of bright yellow teddy bear slumped beneath a Bakelite lamp, will be on display at the Seagram Building (375 Park Avenue, at 53rd St) through September 2011. The piece, by Swiss sculptor Urs Fischer, is a highlight of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Art auction, and began its life as a 1-foot teddy bear, which was then scanned three-dimensionally with lasers in Switzerland and cast in bronze in Shanghai. Christie’s will be auctioning the installation on May 11th.

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Tara Donovan, Untitled (Mylar), 2011. Image by Art Observed.

Mundane objects–straws, buttons, pencils, Elmer’s glue and scotch tape–are the materials that Williamsburg-based artist Tara Donovan has used to create her expansive installations. Her latest work on view at Pace Gallery is composed entirely of folded, reflective mylar sheets, product traditionally used for insulation and most commonly encountered in food packaging, transformed into an oversized cell-like structure. Donovan has made her career re-purposing everyday objects into artistic materials, which she then manipulates by performing a singular action repeated infinitely. Donovan begins her works by choosing the material, usually cheap and mass-manufactured, and working to bring out its innate and overlooked material qualities that are usually overshadowed by the functionality of the object.

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via Associated Press

Yesterday, Chinese artist and political dissident, Ai Weiwei, was prevented from catching a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong. The assistant who was with Ai at the time, Jennifer Ng, was told by officials that “he had other business” to attend to as the artist was taken into custody. The location and condition of the artist are to date unknown. The detention of the prominent artist, well-known for his open criticism of the Chinese government, may relate to an accelerated suppression of Chinese intellectuals, possibly related to fear on part of the incumbent authorities of a Chinese version of the so-called “jasmine movement” that has been shaking, and in some cases dismantling, some of the Middle East’s dictatorship regimes. Under these still-unclear premises, at least twenty-three Chinese political dissidents have been detained, three have been formally arrested, and at least a dozen are missing. These events, embodying the most severe crackdown in China during the last decade, reflect the rigid and, considering the lack of public anti-government protests, delusive security measures of the system.

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Opening night at Marian Goodman Gallery. All photos by L. Streeter, Art Observed.

An exhibition of works and projects by renowned Spanish sculptor Cristina Iglesias is currently on view at Marian Goodman Gallery on 57th street in the New York Gallery Building. Iglesias usually works with industrial materials like concrete and glass, combining them with natural elements such as bamboo or foliage. Each room at the exhibition features a different ongoing project, ranging from indoor and outdoor works and public projects that Iglesias has been involved in over the last 5 years.

Cristina Iglesias, Pozos I-V (wells).

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Wolfgang Tillmans, Installation view at Regen Projects II (2011). Via Regen Projects.

German artist Wolfgang Tillmans continues his practice of large-scale photography at his sixth solo exhibition at Regen Projects.  These new works are large-scale, compelling photographs of places in cities intimate to the artist.  Cities like New York, Berlin and and London, as well as other less familiar locations, make lively subjects for an artist known for his discerning photographic eye.  The photographs are large inkjet prints hung without frames, allowing for a minimal exhibition style that showcases both the work and the medium.

Wolfgang Tillmans, Eierstapel (2009). Via Regen Projects.

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The artist, Richard Prince. All pictures by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

Art Observed was on site for the opening “American Prayer” featuring works by American artist Richard Prince at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris. A book enthusiast and collector of American pop culture and counter culture ephemera, on view are works by the artist relating to American literature books, a consistent source of inspiration and a material he often incorporates into his oeuvre. The exhibit includes two examples of his famous “Nurse” paintings from his personal collection presented to the public for the first time.

Vitrine 16: Sex & Drug & Rock & Roll. Untitled (Jimi Hendrix), 1992-93 by Richard Prince, T-shirt and oil on canvas © Richard Prince, Courtesy Gagosian Gallery

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Art Paris (2011). All pictures by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

Art Paris is currently taking place at the Grand Palais in Paris, and will be open until April 3rd. The fair was inaugurated in 1998, moved to the Nave in the Grand Palais in 2006, and continues to grow each year, with over 40,000 people expected to attend. This year, Art Paris is partnered with special “crossover exchanges” at many Paris venues including La Maison Rouge, Palais de Tokyo, L’Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton and the Villa L, which will be showing works by Jeong-Hwa Choi, Dias & Riedweg, Mounir Fatmi, Daniel Firman, Kolkoz, and Aaron Young.

Galerie Laurent Strouk with Phillipe Pasqua solo show

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