Francis Bacon, Three Studies for Portrait of George Dyer, via Sotheby’s
The sales have closed at Sotheby’s and another week of Contemporary Art Sales are underway in London. The evening’s sales performed well above estimate, bringing in a final sales tally of $159 million for 51 of the 59 available lots. (more…)
A recent Financial Times article notes the continually shifting state of the contemporary art market, and the changes in gallery representation, points of sale, and dominant art buying countries that are currently shaking up the art world and in correlation, notes the skyrocketing rents felt by many galleries in hot art neighborhoods like New York’s Chelsea and Mayfair in London. (more…)
After several years of petitioning, Jeff Koons has been granted approval to gut a pair of houses the artist purchased at 11 and 13 E. 67th St, and to combine them into a colossal mansion. “It must be nice to not only be an artist but to be your own Medici,” comments one local renter. (more…)
Francis Bacon, Study for Head of Lucian Freud, at Christie’s
Following the Impressionist and Modern sales in London last week, the British arms of the major auction houses will open their doors once again for a series of Contemporary sales this week, bringing the spring art season to a close with one last set of high-profile sales evenings.
Peter Doig, Country-Rock (Wing-Mirror) via Sotheby’s (more…)
Antony Gormley has created a special architectural installation for The Beaumont Hotel in London, using his trademark figuration to create an illusive luxury hotel suite. Titled Room, the suite is modeled after one of Gormley’s squatting figures, and contains a full luxury apartment inside, which has also been meticulously shaped by the artist. “Shutters over the window provide total blackout and very subliminal levels of light allow me to sculpt darkness itself,” Gormley says. “My ambition for this work is that it should confront the monumental with the most personal, intimate experience.” (more…)
Vienna’s Generali Foundation is closing after 19 years in the Austrian capital. The space has hosted shows by Isa Genzken, Dan Graham, Gordon Matta-Clark, and Martha Rosler over its lifespan, and boasts one of the nation’s most prominent art collections, which will be placed on loan to Salzburg’s Museum der Moderne Kunst.
Peter Doig’s Country-Rock (Wing-Mirror) will hit the auction block for the first time next week at Sotheby’s in London, and is estimated to bring in $15 million. The work, part of Doig’s Country-Rock series, depicts a view of the mysterious, rainbow clad tunnel in Canada from the passenger seat of a car. (more…)
Court proceedings regarding the lawsuit filed by members of the Robert Rauschenberg Trust, demanding they receive up to $60 million in compensation for their work maintaining the foundation, are nearing their conclusion. The plaintiffs claim that their work has grown the value of the Rauschenberg estate, and they should be paid accordingly. (more…)
Architect Peter Zumthor has altered his plans for the expansion of the LACMA campus, taking into account its close proximity to the La Brea Tar Pits, and instead has shifted the design to snake around the museum campus, avoiding the pits altogether. “The original design would have severely impacted six of the nine active tar pits,” said Jane Pisano, director of the Los Angeles Natural History Museum, which oversees the tar pits. “We are so pleased, I do believe this design direction preserves and protects the tar pits.” (more…)
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Manatee (1994), All images courtesy Pace Gallery
On view from May 9th until June 28th at Pace New York is an exhibition of seventeen large-format photographs by Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto from his most recent body of work. Entitled Still Life, the display gives a prime example of Sugimoto’s mastery of formally composed and exacting photography and printing processes. Sugimoto has worked in a variety of approaches to still-life and architectural photography over the past years including old American movie palaces, drive-ins, and other structured works. He also formed an architectural practice himself in Tokyo, after receiving many requests to design structures such as restaurants and art museums.
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Still Life (Installation View)
Sugimoto compares the medium of photography as a record-making process to the fossilization process in nature – a moment suspended in time. His Polar Bear (1976) was the first photograph from his Diorama series, and many of the earlier silver gelatin prints also depict animals. The works are surreal, black and white images of dioramas he photographed in natural history museums, playing on the distorted perspective of “nature” that humans believe to be true. Although the photographs appear to be realistic nature landscapes, they are actually artifically constructed, staged recreations of natural environments on display in museums. Many of the works are representations of animals, but no humans appear in any of the images – in a way, depicting a divide between humans and the natural environment.
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Still Life (Installation View)
The result of Sugimoto’s pieces is at times quite jarring, particularly in works where the separation between recreated environment and museum space suddenly comes into focus. In several scenes, a notable line can be detected where a museum diorama gives way to painted display, and animals suspended in mid-action are placed in close proximity to a painted counterpart. The result is a sudden realization of the meticulous placement of each object in the image, not by Sugimoto, but rather the institution which is striving to frame the diorama as a moment of authentic animal behavior. The diorama, in turn, becomes as much an aesthetic project as it is an archival one, turning the intersection of scientific research and creative impulses into a definitive focal point.
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Still Life (Installation View)
The exhibition Hiroshi Sugimoto: Still Life is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue,Hiroshi Sugimoto: Dioramas, and the display will remain on view at Pace New York through June 28, 2014.
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Polar Bear (1976)
Hiroshi Sugimoto, Still Life (Installation View)
—E. Baker
Related Links:
Exhibition Page [Pace]
Kurt Schwitters, Ja – Was? – Bild (1920), via Christie’s
The Impressionist and Modern Evening Sales concluded Tuesday evening, capping a pair of sales that saw impressive prices on a number of works without pushing any major new records for artists at auction. (more…)
Peter Coffin, LIVING (Installation View), via Art Observed
Given the recent string of shows and events opening at Red Bull Studios’ New York location in Chelsea, one has to wonder just who the energy drink brand has recruited to curate it’s well-appointed space. From the recent DISown concept store to Peter Coffin’s just-opened “Living” installation, the selection of works seem wholly of a similar focus and artistic project. (more…)
The New York Times takes an inside look at the selling techniques and strategies galleries are embracing during massive art fairs like last week’s Art Basel, including massive mailings of available works (“jpeg bombing”) and pre-selling works before the fair opens. “‘First Choice’ V.I.P. access is no longer the priority as most of the major pieces at fairs are bought in advance,” says collector Kamiar Maleki. “But still, nothing beats coming to the fair.” (more…)
This year’s temporary summer pavilion by the Serpentine Gallery has opened in Hyde Park, an enormous rounded structure likened to a doughnut, and designed by Chilean architect Smilijan Radic. The rounded fiberglass space is designed to act as a public social space, and will remain open through October.
Over 60 artworks at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf have been destroyed, allegedly by janitorial staff, who slashed artworks with a knife and stomped the works’ stretchers to pieces before leaving the destroyed pieces in the school’s yard. “It’s just terrible for the students,” says Director Rita McBride. “The works are irreplaceable.” (more…)
The Foundation Louis Vuitton is set to finally open its museum this coming October, showcasing the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton corporate art collection, Bernard Arnault has announced. It will express the artistic, cultural and emotional values, as well as the art of living, promoted by Bernard Arnault and the LVMH Group, but it is truly a charitable foundation, devoted to the public as a whole,” says advisor Jean-Paul Claverie. (more…)
Nicholas Penny has announced his retirement from directing London’s National Gallery, leaving a remarkably successful legacy behind him. Penny, who brought attendance up to record highs during his tenure (including a 6 million visitor count last year) is planning to step down next year after a replacement has been found. “Following my retirement I have many plans, but chiefly look forward to spending more time with my family, friends and books,” he said. (more…)
Jenny Saville is interviewed this week in The Telegraph, discussing her painting techniques, and love of the human form. “I paint flesh because I’m human,” she says. “If you work in oil, as I do, it comes naturally. Flesh is just the most beautiful thing to paint.” (more…)
SFMoMA is reportedly close to reaching its $610 Million Fundraising goal, Bloomberg reports this week. The campaign, which is seeking funding for its new museum construction that will double the space for the space’s collection and will add several million to its endowment, has already reached 94% of its goal. “In 1995, we were the pioneers when SOMA was pretty run-down, and the tech boom followed us,” says director Neal Benezra “Our expansion will solidify the neighborhood as a cultural hub.” (more…)
A public art collaboration between the Whitney Museum and the Highline will debut work by Alex Katz on the façade of 95 Horatio Street, just south of the elevated park. The work, titled Katherine and Elizabeth, will remain on view for 8 to 12 months. (more…)
A new slide sculpture by Carsten Höller has opened in Rhein, Germany, installed on the Vitra campus. The slide tower is designed with a rotating clock mechanism atop its structure, which is arranged to form the Vitra logo for a few minutes everyday. “A slide is a sculptural work with a pragmatic aspect, a sculpture that you can travel inside,” Höller says. “However, it would be a mistake to think that you have to use the slide to make sense of it.” (more…)
Fourteen monumental sculptures by Alexander Calder are going on view this summer at the Rijksmuseum’s outdoor gallery in Amsterdam. The works will be on view during normal museum hours, and accompany an exhibition of works from the collection of the Calder Foundation and Musée National d’Art Moderne and Centre Pompidou, among others, (more…)
Following a previous excursion by Pace Gallery in the Swiss Alps, the gallery will return to a temporary space in the Engadin gallery town of Zuoz, bringing works by Donald Judd and John Chamberlain for an exhibition running from July to September. “Many collectors have beautiful houses and spend a significant amount of time in this part of Switzerland,” says director Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst. (more…)
