Global contemporary art events and news observed from New York City. Suggestion? Email us.
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Jail for Spanish Forger Who Attempted Sale of 15 Fake Works

February 21st, 2023

A Spanish court has sentenced an art collector to prison for selling a set of fake works, including a series of forged works attributed to Edvard Munch and Roy Lichtenstein.
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The Guardian Interviews Former Subjects of Painter Alice Neel

February 21st, 2023

The Guardian has a piece this week on what it was like to be painted by Alice Neel. “One day Alice said she wanted to paint me and to bring some things I could wear, so I packed a little suitcase and had various costumes,” says artist and sex activist Annie Sprinkle. “I’d just had my labia pierced and I was showing it off, and she really wanted to see that. She picked a leather outfit and I put a feather in my hair.”
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Alice Walton’s Art Bridges Foundation Behind $4.5 Million Robert Colescott Buy

February 21st, 2023

Alice Walton’s Art Bridges Foundation is apparently behind the $4.5 million purchase of a Robert Colescott at Bonhams this month. “This work in particular presents a hopeful and powerful message, and we are pleased that it resonated so strongly with individuals and institutions alike,” says Ralph Taylor, Bonhams’s global head for postwar and contemporary art.
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REFERENCE LIBRARY

Claes Oldenburg

b. 1929
Lives and works in:

New York, NY

Represented by:

Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York

Education includes:

Yale, New Haven, CT
Art Institute of Chicago, IL

Oldenburg is a Sweden-born sculptor famous for his large-scale public installations, often made from everyday items. His family moved to the United States when he was young, and he would eventually attend Yale and then the Art Institute of Chicago, where he studied under Paul Wieghardt. He worked in Chicago for several years and opened a studio there before moving to New York City in 1956.

In the 1960s, he became involved with the Pop Art movement made famous by Andy Warhol, and he attended many performance-oriented gatherings which would later influence his own work. His massive sculptures, for which he became best-known were often displayed publically and frequently featured interactive components. His 1974 work Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks featured a giant tube of lipstick that would deflate unless an viewer pumped air into it, and was displayed at Yale University for years and now resides in the Morse College courtyard. Other famous pieces include Soft bathtub (model) – Ghost Version, a large and loosely hanging sculpture made on a foam-filled canvas out of wood, cord and plaster.

In 1976, he married pop sculptor Coosje van Bruggen with whom he has collaborated with on more than 40 large-scale projects, creating works like the 1999 sculpture Typewriter Eraser, Scale X, an enigmatic piece that roughly resembles a giant radish with blue rope coming out its top. He has also involved himself in a few architectural projects including the construction of an advertising agency in Los Angeles whose entrance is a set of massive binoculars.

Recent and Upcoming Shows and Exhibitions:
“Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen: The Music Room”
PaceWildenstein, New York
April 22 – June 4, 2005
If you like this artist check out:
Ohad Meromi