Thursday, July 14th, 2011
German billionaire pays over $70 million for Holbein painting, outbids Staedel Museum in Frankfurt [AO Newslink]
Archive for July, 2011
Go See – New York: Lee Ufan ‘Marking Infinity’ at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum through September 28th, 2011
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Relatum, Lee Ufan (1978). All images Nicolas Linnert for Art Observed unless otherwise noted.
The Guggenheim’s spiral galleries are currently showing Marking Infinity, a collection of work by artist and philosopher Lee Ufan. The retrospective reflects on the artist’s career from the 1960s to present. Filling the walls and floors of the Guggenheim are paintings on canvas, sculptures from steel plates and stones, and other mixed media installation works.
Installation view for Marking Infinity at the Guggenheim Museum, NY.
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Go See – Manchester: ‘The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic’ at the Manchester International Festival until July 16th
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
L-R: Willem Dafoe, Marina Abramovic, Antony, Robert Wilson-shot during workshops at Teatro Real, Madrid Sept.2010 via Mif
Life and Death of Marina Abramovic, a piece that blends performance art, music, and theater is on view at the Manchester International Festival (Mif) until July 16th 2011. Resulting from the collaboration between theater director Robert Wilson, Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic, actor Willem Dafoe, musician Antony Hegarty, and his group Antony & The Johnsons, the piece is inspired by both biographical data of Marina Abramovic, including her simulated death, and the cultural heritage of her home country. The content of Life and Death is accessible exclusively to the audience who purchase the tickets at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester.
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Go See – New York: Richard Tuttle “What’s the Wind” at The Pace Gallery through July 22nd, 2011
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Richard Tuttle, System 4, Hummingbird (2011). Via The Pace Gallery
“What’s the Wind,” an exhibition of six large free-standing sculptures by Richard Tuttle, is currently open at The Pace Gallery and will be on view through July 22nd. Tuttle joined Pace in 2007, and this is his second solo exhibition with the gallery. The sculptures currently on view are tied into a theme of systematization, even as they contradict the concept with nature-based subject matter. Works like bumblebee and winter are mechanical even while being inherently simple, thus questioning the concept of what defines a system overall.
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Tuesday, July 12th, 2011
Ryan McGinley sued for copyright infringement, “Jah Jah” Gordon claims 150 of his photographs are based on her work [AO Newslink]
GO SEE – London: Matthew Stone ‘Rules Forever’ (Part II) at Union Gallery through July 30th, 2011
Monday, July 11th, 2011
Matthew Stone, Mindsharing Capabilities (2011), via Matthew Stone
Currently at Union Gallery, Matthew Stone follows up his previous show FOREVER RULES (PART I), with RULES FOREVER (PART II). While PART I was made up of a a single open-sided oak dodecahedron accompanied photographic collages printed on birch plywood, PART II presents four oak and multimedia sculptures depicting “body origami, multidimensional and relational clusters that define the structure within and without.” Stone has said of his own work that he seeks to “revolve specifically around creative interactions and community, based on the idea that individual autonomy can successfully be combined with the power of collectivity.” Stone often lectures on his personal philosophy of “Optimism as a Cultural Rebellion,” in which he views optimism as a way to counteract the “nihilistic paralysis” he interprets as being a product of Post-Modernism.
Matthew Stone, Forever Rules (2011), via Matthew Stone
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Monday, July 11th, 2011
Takashi Murakami, currently showing at Gagosian UK: “Does he think he’s too expensive? ‘I think so, yes, honestly, yes’” – via Bloomberg [AO Newslink]
Monday, July 11th, 2011
Jennifer Rubell “worked in food, then wrote about food, and then became known as a ‘food artist’” - via NYMag [AO Newslink]
Monday, July 11th, 2011
Manhattan art dealers accused of selling forged Motherwell painting – via NYPost [AO Newslink]
AO News Summary – Art dealer Guy Wildenstein charged with possession of stolen goods
Monday, July 11th, 2011
Guy Wildensien via The Independent
The French art collector Guy Wildenstein, has been charged by the French authorities with the concealment and breach of trust in reference to the 30 pieces of art work found in the Wildenstein Institute’s Paris storeroom. Multiple lawsuits against Guy have been taken out by the Wildenstein family, as they continue to fight amongst each other for their fortune.
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Go See – London: David Salle at Maureen Paley through July 24th, 2011
Sunday, July 10th, 2011
David Salle No Hard Feelings (2011), via Maureen Paley, London.
David Salle recently opened his first solo show at London’s Maureen Paley Gallery, and his first solo show in London in more than eight years. In this exhibition the well-known and influential Salle presents a number of new paintings and older photography works. The paintings are large in size, while the photographs are smaller; positioned in Paley’s expansive space, the works clearly display the breadth of Salle’s varied thematic and technical language.
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Go See – Salzburg: Alex Katz "Face the Music" at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac through July 16th
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
Alex Katz, Dancer 2, (2010), all images via Ulrich Ghezzi for Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac.
Alex Katz takes on the subject of dance in a series of paintings, drawings, and cartoons on view at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac. The show, titled “Face the Music”, runs until July 16th and features Katz’s signature figurative style. His dancers appear to be suspended in space, each caught in the moment of practicing. The gallery notes that his work lays “somewhere on the boundary between abstraction and realism” and these traits are easily seen in the portraits of the dancers.
Go See – Beijing: Yue Minjun’s “The Road” at Pace Gallery until July 16th, 2011
Saturday, July 9th, 2011
Yue Minjun, The Crowing with Thorns, 2009 via Pace Beijing
The Road, an exhibition of recent paintings by Chinese artist Yue Minjun (born 1962) is on view at the Pace Gallery, Beijing from June 6th to July 16th, 2011. Minjun gained international recognition in the 1990’s for his political allegories, epitomized by rows of figures with grotesque smiles, commenting on Chinese communist ideology. The Road features Minjun’s signature grinning characters with strong reference to Christian iconography.
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Don’t Miss – Cologne: Vija Celmins “Desert, Sea and Stars” at Museum Ludwig through July 17th, 2011
Friday, July 8th, 2011
Vija Celmins, Ocean Surface Woodcut (1992). Via Museum Ludwig.
The Museum Ludwig is presenting a comprehensive solo exhibition of Vija Celmins‘ works, titled “Desert, Sea and Stars.” This show will run through July 17th, and consists of sixty works by the American-Latvian artist, among them her graphite-on-paper depictions of minuscule subjects as spiderwebs or shells, and fragments of vast landscapes. Celmins’s use of photographies as the models for these drawings, gives a hint into her approach to the ideas of the sublime and transient in nature; where the frailness of objects, and the ongoing movements of wind and sea, render those captured glimpses as irrepeatable.
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Go See, Zurich – Ai WeiWei at Fotomuseum Winterthur through August 21st, 2011
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
Ai Weiwei, Dropping a Han-Dynasty Urn, (1995) via Fotomuseum Winterthur
Ai WeiWei‘s Interlacing will be on view at Fotomuseum Winterthur in Zurich through August 21st. The exhibition of videos and photographs opened on May 28th with a scheduled an artist’s talk intended for the following day. Ai Weiwei was unable to present at the exhibition’s early panels due to his then-arrest, but a book was published in conjuction with the show. In New York City, a parallel collection of 200 photographs is currently on view at the Asia Society. AO coverage will follow shortly in New York.
Ai Weiwei, Study of Perspective – Tiananmen, 1995-2010, via Fotomuseum Winterthur
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Go See: The French Riviera – L'Art Contemporain et la Côte D'Azur Un Terretoire Pour L'Experimentation 1951-2011 through November 7th, 2011
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
Ben Vautier, Jeter Dieu à la mer (1962), featured at Exhibition: Le Temps de L’action/Acte 1 at Villa Arson Nice
Saturday, June 25th welcomed thousands of viewers to the French Riviera, where the work of local artists was unveiled for the long-awaited opening of L’Art Contemporain et la Côte d’Azur: Un territoire pour l’expérimentation, 1951-2011. Artists “whose work was built or continues to flourish significantly” on the French Riviera are featured in the region’s major summer event, which features 1,000 works by over 200 painters, sculptors and media artists who have flocked to work in the French Riviera since 1951, including notables such as Yves Klein, Hans Hartung and Ellsworth Kelly.
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AO Breaking News – Obituary and News Summary: Cy Twombly dies at the age of 83 in Rome
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
Image via New York Times.
Celebrated painter Cy Twombly died today at the age of 83. Twombly passed away from cancer in Rome, where he has been living since 1957. Known as somewhat of a recluse, Twombly usually did not write about his work or give interviews. One of the exceptions to this was made in 2008 when Twombly spoke to Nick Serota, director of the Tate. “I had my freedom and that was nice,” he said.
Born Edwin Parker Twombly, Jr. in 1928 in Lexington, Virginia, and nicknamed “Cy” by his father, the artist was known for his calligraphic style. Writer, critic and assistant professor at the San Francisco Art Institute Claire Daigle writes, “Twombly arrived in Manhattan in 1950 while the New York School painting of Pollock and de Kooning was in full swing. Upon Robert Rauschenberg’s encouragement, Twombly joined him for the 1951–1952 sessions at Black Mountain College near Asheville, North Carolina – a liberal refuge [staffed by] influential teachers present at this time [such as] Charles Olson, Franz Kline, Robert Motherwell and John Cage.” In 2001, Twombly won the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale.
Cy Twombly, Untitled, (Peony Blossom Painting), 2007. Image courtesy Gagosian Gallery.
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Go See – London: Taryn Simon’s “A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters” at Tate Modern until September 6th, 2011
Monday, July 4th, 2011
Taryn Simon, excerpt from A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters (2011), via The Guardian.
Young photography star Taryn Simon opened her solo exhibition, “A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters” at London’s Tate Modern on May 25th. The exhibition is composed of portraits displayed in horizontal rows of family trees according to bloodlines, which Simon researched over a four-year period. As the artists says, she’s “drawn to projects that end up being incredibly laborious” – though the photos themselves only took two months to complete.
Taryn Simon in front of an excerpt from A Living Man Declared Dead and Other Chapters (2011), photo by Antonio Zazueta Olmos, via The Guardian.
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Go See – San Francisco: “The Steins Collect” at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art through September 6th, 2011
Monday, July 4th, 2011
Gertrude Stein (1905-1906) by Pablo Picasso, via The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Currently on view at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art is “The Steins Collect” an exhibition devoted the collection of the Stein family, notable patrons of early modernism. The large show covers the entire fourth floor of the museum and contains a variety of pieces spanning the entire history of the family’s collections. The chronologically-arranged exhibition truly makes clear their influence and significance in the emerging world of Modern Art.
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Go See – Los Angeles: Barbara Kruger at L&M Arts through July 9th, 2011
Saturday, July 2nd, 2011
Barbara Kruger (2011) All photos via L&M Arts (Installation Photography: Joshua White/JWPictures.com)
Over ten years have passed since Barbara Kruger has had a solo exhibition in her hometown of Los Angeles. L&M Arts currently presents a long overdue show featuring the artist’s signature text “wrap” as well as a video installation. Kruger’s use of text dates back to the 1980′s when she coined such phrases as “I shop therefore I am” and “Your body is a battleground.” The L&M exhibition continues to spotlight themes of consumerism and desire, money and power.
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AO On Site – New York: Ryan Trecartin “Any Ever” at PS1 through September 3rd, 2011
Friday, July 1st, 2011
Installation view of Ryan Trecartin’s “Any Ever”. All images Ian Hassett for Art Observed.
AO was on site at MoMA’s PS1 outpost in Long Island city for the opening of Ryan Trecartin’s “Any Ever,” organized by Director Klaus Biesenbach and taking place in in the museum’s Main Gallery. “Any Ever” was also recently shown at MOCA Miami and Los Angeles’ MOCA Pacific Design Center, and presents two filmic narratives: Trill-ogy Comp (2009) and Re’Search Wait’S (2009-2010). Between the two series, there are seven crazy looped videos in all, each projected in an individual room with its own installation.
The films, which were shot in Miami and use the artist, his primary collaborator Lizzie Fitch, friends and casted actors as performers, are experiments with the visual culture and language associated with internet technology: frenzies of colors, layers and pop-ups play with techniques of low-end web design and film editing. More than anything else, the show is experiential, while touching on themes of pop-culture, technology, identity, consumerism, gender and indulgence. In his review of “Any Ever”, New Yorker art critic Peter Schjeldahl says “The most consequential artist to have emerged since the nineteen-eighties, [Trecartin] is being hailed as the magus of the Internet century.”
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