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Josh Smith, Untitled (2014), all photos via Osman Can Yerebakan for Art Observed

Luhring Augustine is currently hosting its sixth collaboration with New York based artist Josh Smith. Having emerged in the early 2000s alongside a group of critically challenging and occasionally irreverent artists including Kelley Walker, Sterling Ruby and Seth Price, Smith is one of the foremost representatives of a genre that delivers spontaneity and audaciousness in presence, yet asserts a depth that is subliminal and immaculate.  Here, the artist takes his signature penchant for deconstruction to one of many natural conclusions, executing minimal compositions that tie his interest in gesture and hand to an almost free-associative exchange with the art historical. (more…)

Alex Hubbard, (to be titled) (2015), via Maccarone

Maccarone Gallery has tapped Alex Hubbard for its inaugural show in Los Angeles, opening the doors on its impressively spacious South Mission Street exhibition space with a series of large-scale paintings that lean on a diverse set of materials including urethane, resin, and fiberglass in their challenging, polymorphous constructions.   (more…)

The Bruce High Quality Foundation University has announced a joint fundraiser and art exhibition for next week, titled Arcadia, and featuring an impressive lineup of performers including Francis and the Lights, and LE1F, and a body of work inspired by painter Nicholas Poussin, as well as a new entry in the Absolut Art Bar series, designed by Bruce High Quality Foundation.  The party and opening takes place on Nov. 5th. (more…)

CNBC notes increased trends towards online art auctions among the larger auction houses, with Sotheby’s and other houses looking increasingly to online sales.  “(Online auctions) take place simultaneously with a live stream that connects the bidder to the auction floor, as if they were attending in person,” Natalie Townsend, a spokesperson for Invaluable. “The tech behind it is very precise, as you can imagine there can be no time lapses when it comes to bidding on high ticket items, and features a comprehensive bidding dashboard to give the auctioneer instant visibility on bid updates from mobile bidders.” (more…)

Sotheby’s is stuck in the middle of conflicting claims over a Buddha statue reportedly stolen from a San Francisco gallery in 1983, and which recently appeared on the block during the auction house’s Indian and Southeast Asian Art sale this September.  Even though gallerist Gary Crawford was able to halt the sale, he is suing for the return of the statue, which Sotheby’s is still holding due to claims of ownership by its consigner, Weider Health and Fitness. (more…)

A report on the state of the Chinese art market by the National Law Review has found drastic contractions in the market’s auction turnaround rate, dropping by 30%, a drop that the publication attributes to the government’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign.  “Although it remains to see whether the anti-corruption campaign could make the ultimate success, the impact on the art world is visible,” the artice concludes.  “Like the investors concern about political risks, China art market stakeholders also need to learn to predict and manage the unexpected impact the changing of political landscape may have on the market.” (more…)

ArtLifting, a new online platform for homeless and disadvantaged artists to sell their work has raised $1.1 million in seed funding from Toms Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, angel investor Joanne Wilson, author and entrepreneur Eric Ries, social impact accelerator Tumml, among others, TechCrunch reports.  “It’s exciting to see entrepreneurs focusing on strengths in our communities to create change,” Mycoskie said in a statement.  (more…)

Morgan Library Director of Collections Peggy Fogelman has been announced as the new director at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. “Peggy is the perfect fit for the Gardner with her impressive background ranging from work in large prestigious institutions to small, intimate museums,” says Steve Kidder, the Gardner Museum’s Board President. “She brings us the best intersection of creativity, vision, and successful execution. We look forward to seeing what she dreams up for this very special Museum.” (more…)

The exhibitor list for the 2016 edition of Art Basel Hong Kong has been announced, running from Thursday, March 24 to Saturday, March 26, and hosting 239 galleries from 35 countries, including 28 first-time galleries at the event.  Notable attendees include Marianne Boesky, which returns after a brief hiatus from the fair, and Selma Feriani Gallery, the first African gallery outside South Africa to attend. (more…)

Isa Genzken, Nefertiti Sculpture (2015), via Art Observed

David Zwirner has opened the front door on its elusively large, hangar-style exhibition space on 19th street for a show of new sculptural work by Isa Genzken, continuing the artist’s ongoing interests in the intersections of fashion and sculpture, and an engagement with the  human form in a particularly explicit manner.  The show is the artist’s third with the gallery in 10 years. (more…)

Ranking online auctioneer Auctionata has acquired the London-based valuation company ValueMyStuff, part of the company’s international expansion plans. “Having access to the best experts worldwide is an essential aspect of Auctionata’s business model,” says Alexander Zacke, founder and CEO of Auctionata.  “Through the acquisition of VMS we are able to expand the expertise from which we provide our customers with fast and reliable valuations. As the market leader and inventor of the livestream auction, we are thus not only shaping the user experience for our bidders, but also for our consignors.” (more…)

Nam June Paik, 359 Canal Street (1991), © Nam June Paik Estate, Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery

Launching its newly announced representation of the prolific and influential Korean artist Nam June Paik, Gagosian Gallery Hong Kong has opened an exhibition of the artist’s works during the last decade of his life, including a selection of video sculptures, paintings, and drawings that mark a refined yet diverse series of interests and formal languages for the artist, particularly when placed alongside the more classic works on view. (more…)

Following a number of comparisons to the work of James Turrell, rapper Drake’s “Hotline Bling” video has finally been addressed by the artist, who seems to have taken the homage of his pale, colored light installations with something of a sense of humor.  “I wish to make clear that neither I nor any of my woes was involved in any way in the making of the Hotline Bling video,” he said through a blog post from his lawyer. (more…)

Artist Melik Ohanian has won this year’s Marcel Duchamp prize, presented by the ADIAF (Association pour la Diffusion Internationale de l’Art Français) in partnership with the Centre Pompidou, National Museum of Modern Art, and FIAC, where the award was presented this past week. (more…)

WWD profiles Lucas Zwirner, son of mega-dealer David Zwirner, and editor of the gallery’s young publishing imprint, David Zwirner books.  “I remember reading Wallace Stevens poems and feeling like I could not be doing anything more important,” he says. “At least for the first two or three years, I wanted nothing to do with the sphere of influence that generates from [the gallery].”  (more…)

As Gerhard Richter opens a historical exhibition of his “Color Chart” works from the 1960’s at Dominique Lévy in London, Art Info notes the significance of the works on the artist’s career, and his initial inspiration while passing through a Düsseldorf hardware store, where he saw a selection of paint sample cards.  “I preferred the unartistic, tasteful and secular illustration of the different tones to the paintings of Albers, Bill, Calderara, Lohse, etc.,” Richter says. (more…)

Beirut’s Aishti Foundation Museum, the project of Beirut luxury retail magnate and collector Tony Salamé, has opened this week, featuring an exhibition curated by Massimiliano Gioni, despite ongoing instability in the country.  “I think the best thing with a project, you forget about the uncertainty in the place, you keep on going,” Salamé says. (more…)

Artist Hank Willis Thomas has been commissioned to install a 12-foot tall sculpture at the base of the Brooklyn.  The work will consist of an arm and hand with a single finger raised, and will greet those entering the borough.  The final look for the work has yet to be decided. (more…)

Berlin Metropolis: 1918 – 1933 (Installation View), via Art Observed

Opening its fall exhibition this week, the Neue Galerie looks to Weimar Berlin, with an exhibition that takes an in-depth look at the German capital’s shifting cultural, political and social threads as it recovered from near obliteration into a stable economic power, before descending into the violence and genocide of World War II. (more…)

A £35m Rembrandt may stay in the UK, as its buyer considers withdrawing the work’s export license and donating it to a British Museum.  “The prospective buyer is considering a loan to a UK institution so that the painting can be further enjoyed by the British public,” says a Sotheby’s spokeswoman.  (more…)

Ai Weiwei is accusing the Lego Company of censorship after the company refused to fill an order he made for the toy building blocks, which he was intending to use in a new project.  “We refrain — on a global level — from actively engaging in or endorsing the use of Lego bricks in projects or contexts of a political agenda,” the company responded. (more…)

Art Info looks at the increasingly high rents and other challenges mid-size, single-venue galleries are currently facing worldwide, and asks if the business model is capable of surviving in the current market.  “It was very hard for my type of gallery to become a big one,” says former gallery owner Nicole Klagsbrun, who closed her space in 2013 and shifted to an independent, curating-focused approach.  “Obviously, I’m happy to be outside because I have the freedom to really choose what I want to do and when to do it and really focus on projects.” (more…)

The New York Times profiles the chosen artworks hung at the White House by the Obama family, and the recent addition of a selection of abstract works.  “There was discussion about the president and first lady liking more abstract art,” says William Allman, the longtime curator of the White House art collection. “Our collection doesn’t really have any of that.” (more…)