Archive for July, 2013

AO Onsite – “Devil’s Heaven,” The 2013 Watermill Center Summer Benefit

Wednesday, July 31st, 2013


Robert Wilson, Stargazer Beds (2013), courtesy Matthew Teti for Art Observed

This year’s Watermill Benefit, the annual summer event supporting Robert Wilson’s performance lab in Water Mill, New York, welcomed over 1,200 guests to Wilson’s 8-acre property, presenting over 20 site-specific performances, as well as a silent auction featuring over 100 works. Following this, 700 guests dined under a large outdoor tent to watch the Simon de Pury-led live auction of works by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Luc Tuymans, and Tseng Kwong-Chi, among others, with master of ceremonies Alan Cumming, and appearances by Winona Ryder, Marina Abramovic, and Lady Gaga.  Titled Devil’s Heaven, the event showcased a diverse group of performances which differed in content, but effectively came together to produce an ominous and sensual atmosphere as guests followed the prescribed path through the foundation’s grounds, appropriately lit by the setting sun and the fire of tiki torches.


View of Watermill grounds, courtesy Matthew Teti for Art Observed (more…)

Bernadaud Releases Series of Collector Dinnerware from Koons, Calle, JR and More

Wednesday, July 31st, 2013

French porcelain manufacturer Bernadaud has announced a series of collectible, limited-edition plates, featuring collaborations with a number of contemporary artists, including Jeff Koons, Sophie Calle, Prune Nourry, and JR.  The series of plates, titled L’Art de La Table, are currently available in the company’s Chelsea boutique. (more…)

London – Donald Judd at David Zwirner Grafton Street Through September 19th, 2013

Wednesday, July 31st, 2013



Donald Judd, Untitled (1965), via David Zwirner

The tight, straight lines of Donald Judd run directly through the entirety of his career, from his early painted works on through to the increasingly large sculptural works and stacks of the 1980’s and 90’s.  Moving to purify notions of space, light, color and depth, Judd’s career wove a strikingly influential path through the landscape of post-war and contemporary art.  It is this tradition that David Zwirner in London seeks to explore, pulling together a small but tightly organized collection of works by Judd for a show exploring the range and depth of the artist’s career, from his early sculptural explorations with iron and plexiglass, on through to his more refined “stacks,” and wall-mounted installations. (more…)

Jay Z’s “Picasso Baby” to Premiere on Friday on HBO

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

“Picasso Baby,” the final cut of rapper Jay Z’s marathon performance at Pace Gallery earlier this month, will premiere this Friday on HBO.  Directed by music video veteran Mark Romanek, the film will document the 6 hour performance, which included cameos and interactions with Marina Abramovic and Alan Cumming, among many more.  “Concerts are pretty much performance art,” Jay Z says, “but with this smaller venue you can get a bit more intimate.  You can feel the energy of the people.” (more…)

Magician and Inventor Explore Vermeer’s Work in New Documentary

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

Announced this week, Sony Pictures Classics plans to release Tim’s Vermeer a documentary exploring the approach and technique of 17th century master Jan Vermeer.  Directed by longtime magician and entertainer Raymond Teller, the film will chronicle a Texas-based inventor named Tim  Jenison as he explores how Vermeer accomplished the impressive verisimilitude of the painter’s works.  “Tim is a genius, but I’m a skeptic. I wanted to see him do it. Teller has been the Penn & Teller de facto director since our beginnings, so we made a movie of Tim’s whole monomaniacal trip.”  Says longtime collaborator Penn Jillette. (more…)

Fake social media profiles part of Dallas pension fund’s PR duel with Nasher Sculpture Center

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

The ongoing debate between the Museum Tower and the Nasher Sculpture Center has taken a new turn, with the owners of the 42-story residential building reportedly using fake social media accounts to sway public opinion.  The fake social media accounts are just the latest exchange in this heated debate, particularly given the tower’s imposition on the atmosphere and lighting of the museum.  Several works have shown increased damage due to the light from the tower’s reflective surface, and the museum’s public gardens have also suffered.  “For almost two years…we have watched with growing concern as Museum Tower threatens our neighborhood, spreading misinformation rather than working earnestly toward solving the problems it has created.”  Dallas Museum of Art director Maxwell Anderson and Catherine Cuellar, executive director of the Dallas Arts District Foundation, said in an op-ed published last month. (more…)

New York – “Roving Signs” organized by Terry Winters at Matthew Marks Gallery Through August 16th 2013

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013


Rachel Harrison, Coffee Cart (2013), Courtesy of the Artist and Greene Naftali, New York

Currently on view at Matthew Marks Gallery in the Chelsea district of New York is an exhibition organized by American painter Terry Winters. Titled “Roving Signs,” the group of works made by a variety of artists reflects Winters’ interest in traditional American folktales and the cultural heritage of the United States, as well as the various semiotic interpretations and variations that the use of these symbolic images and stories holds in contemporary art.


The Center for Land Use Interpretation, Autotechnogeoglyphics: Vehicular Test Tracks in America (2006), Courtesy CLUI Archive, Los Angeles

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Carol Bove Goes on Show at Highline and MoMA

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

A pair of installations by sculptor Carol Bove are currently on view in New York, including an appointment-only installation on the High Line, as well as a show of works on the Museum of Modern Art’s fourth floor.  Both recent series of works, the installations showcase an evolution of the artist’s practice, moving towards a more refined, cohesive stylistic approach. (more…)

Marina Abramovic to do Reddit “Ask Me Anything” Today

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

In support of her ongoing Kickstarter campaign for the Marina Abramovic Institute, artist Marina Abramovic will log into popular website Reddit today, for one of the site’s ongoing “Ask Me Anything” sessions.  The artist will open herself to questions from fans and users from around the world, submitted via the site’s simple message board structure. (more…)

Marina Abramovic Takes to Kickstarter for Fundraising Drive

Tuesday, July 30th, 2013

Performance art pioneer Marina Abramovic has taken to crowd-sourced fundraising site Kickstarter in order to help finance the construction of the Marina Ambramovic Institute in Hudson, New York.  The project goal of $600,000 will look to alive a portion of the final construction cost of $20 million, and has already raised over $26,000.  Prizes available in exchange for donation include a webcam chat session with the artist, a special video game version of the Institute by artist Pippin Barr, or a ride in a brainwave controlled go-kart.   (more…)

Art Production Fund Launches Pop-Up Gallery in Montauk

Monday, July 29th, 2013

The Art Production Fund, in conjunction with philanthropist Fabiola Beracasa, has announced the opening of an “outdoor pop-up exhibition” in the Long Island town of Montauk.  The exhibition will be held in a vacant lot at 333 Old Montauk Highway, from Aug. 1 to Sept. 8, and will include site-specific installations by Anya Kielar, Virginia Overton and Olympia Scarry.  “These artists are taking into account nature, which is a force unto itself, and our complicated relationship with it,” Says APF founder Doreen Remen. (more…)

Guardian, U.K. Publishes Selection From Omer Fast’s ‘What the Drone Saw’

Monday, July 29th, 2013

In artist Omer Fast’s new video installation, a former US drone operator in Afghanistan and Pakistan, describes why 5,000 feet is the optimum flying height for a combat drone. The 30-minute film-work will be screened at the Imperial War Museum, London through to 29 September, 2013. (more…)

Park Avenue Tunnel to be Closed for Interactive Art Show

Monday, July 29th, 2013

For the next three consecutive Saturdays, the city will temporarily close the Park Avenue tunnel to car traffic. The tunnel, which runs from 33rd to 40th Streets, will be transformed into an interactive art show created by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. The project will turn participants’ short messages into waves of sound and arching light, determined by the pitch and volume of the messengers’ voices.  (more…)

Parisian Mural Searches for a New Home

Monday, July 29th, 2013

The Wall Street Journal reports on the long, convoluted journey of a 63-year old mural painted by artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser.  Originally created outside of Paris by the well-known Austrian, Paradise: Land of Men, of Trees, of Birds and Ships has since moved from Paris to Switzerland to Long Island, before coming to rest in a Brooklyn warehouse.  The work’s long history and current restoration needs illustrate the challenges facing the preservation of such large-scale works, particularly given its 10 x 16 foot size and its weight of over 3,000 pounds.   The move to its current location “took me two days with six guys and heavy equipment and a tow truck,” Says current owner Chris Muth. “If it fell in the process it would have been destroyed, and if it we had been under it we would have been dead.” (more…)

Hong Kong – Jake & Dinos Chapman: “The Sum of All Evil” at White Cube, through August 31st 2013

Sunday, July 28th, 2013


Jake & Dinos Chapman, The Sum of All Evil (Installation View), courtesy White Cube Hong Kong

Currently at Hong Kong’s White Cube, British artists Jake & Dinos Chapman are exhibited The Sum of All Evil, the artists’ first in China, including a group of lurid, bizarre dioramas alongside their familiar series of “reworked paintings.”


Jake & Dinos Chapman, One Day You Will No Longer Be Loved (that it should come to this…) (2010), via White Cube

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RIP Leon Ferrari, Argentine Conceptualist

Sunday, July 28th, 2013

Argentine artist and activist Leon Ferrari has passed away at the age of 92.  Ferrari, whose works often invoked Roman Catholic imagery in conjunction with images of imperialism and military power, frequently drew the scorn and ire of religious leaders, including current Catholic leader Pope Francis.  While serving as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis, then known by his birthname Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had condemned Ferrari for his blasphemous images of the Holy Mother in an electric blender.  “Leon Ferrari hasn’t left, he’ll stay with us,” said Estela de Carlotto, president of human rights group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo in an interview. “He’s left so much with us that happily he’ll never be forgotten.” (more…)

Met Plans Conference of Museum Directors

Sunday, July 28th, 2013

Seeking to strengthen its international ties, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced the “Global Museum Leaders Colloquium,” a two-week program next April that will bring over a dozen museum heads from institutions in Asia, Africa and Latin America to the table, discussing the shared challenges and issues museums are facing worldwide.. “It’s all about promoting international collaboration,” said Met Director Thomas P. Campbell. (more…)

Without Deitch, MOCA Searches for a Way Forward

Saturday, July 27th, 2013

The impending departure of Jeffrey Deitch from MOCA has cast light on the numerous challenges that the museum faces as it begins its search for a new director.  Debates over curatorial capacity and fundraising were frequent points of contention during Deitch’s tenure, and will likely pose new hurdles when the museum begins to talk to potential candidates.  “Whoever they get to replace Jeffrey Deitch will need to have an absolute guarantee of complete curatorial freedom to do the shows they want, when they want,” says former Museum of Contemporary Art board member Dean Valentine, who currently serves on the advisory board at the Hammer Museum. (more…)

New York – “Jew York” at Zach Feuer and UNTITLED Through July 26th, 2013

Saturday, July 27th, 2013


Dan Colen, To Be Titled (2011), via New York Times

Snarky and straightforward, the press release for Zach Feuer and UNTITLED’s joint g roup show Jew York speaks with a hint of exasperation, a feeling of exhaustion over the bumper crop of cultural explorations and increasingly globalized scope of the contemporary art world: “There’s nobody left to survey, and nowhere left to do it.  So we figured our only option was to do a show of Jews, and do it in New York.” (more…)

Artist Walter De Maria Passes Away at the Age of 77

Saturday, July 27th, 2013


American sculptor Walter De Maria, via LA Times

Walter De Maria, the New York sculptor known for his monumental sculptures that helped pioneer the conceptual, minimalist and land art movements of the mid to late twentieth century, has passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 77.


Walter De Maria, The Broken Kilometer (1977), via New York Magazine (more…)

London – “Alternative Guide to the Universe” at Hayward Gallery, through August 26th 2013

Saturday, July 27th, 2013


Alfred Jensen, Twelve Events in a Dual Universe (1978) ©ARS, NY and DACS, London 2013, Photo: Linda Nylind, Courtesy Hayward Gallery

Currently on view at the Hayward Gallery at Southbank Centre in London is a new exhibition of work entitled Alternative Guide to the Universe, a compilation of works by artists who taught themselves their crafts, focusing on work that offers a new perspective on our socially accepted conventions of artistic practice and cultural perception.


Lee Godie. Lee and Cameo on a chair… (early to mid 1970s), © the artist, Courtesy Richard and Ellen Sandor Family Collection

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Fritsch’s Blue Cockerel Finally Unveiled on Fourth Plinth

Saturday, July 27th, 2013

Artist Katharina Fritsch’s Hahn/Cock has been unveiled on London’s Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.  The unveiling yesterday caps several months of debate and protest over the deceptively subversive statue, and Mayor Boris Johnson took the opportunity to make several double-entendre driven quips about Prime Minister David Cameron.  “If you were to Google the sculpture in a few years’ time,” Johnson said, “search engines would collapse at the behest of the prime minister. Er, quite properly of course.” (more…)

Peter Doig Interviewed by New York Times

Friday, July 26th, 2013

Painter Peter Doig is profiled in the New York Times, in advance of his retrospective exhibition at the Scottish National Galleries in Edinburgh.  Speaking from a rented studio in Manhattan, the artist discusses his new paintings, his studio and home in Trinidad, and the start-stop nature of his creative process.  “Sometimes you get so frustrated, you end up washing off or scraping off what you spent hours or days applying,” he said. “By going backward, you see something you could have never achieved by going forward.” (more…)

Guess Jeans Founders Buy Masonic Temple for Museum Location

Friday, July 26th, 2013

Maurice and Paul Marciano, known as the co-founders of Guess Jeans, have purchased the Scottish Rite Masonic Temple on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, with the intent of turning the space into a museum for their contemporary art collection.  The property was purchased by the Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation, for the price of $8 million. “We have been looking for a home for the collection,” said William F. Payne, a spokesman for the foundation. “It’s a legacy project for the family.” (more…)