AO Art Observed™

Leon Golub, ALARMED DOG ENCOUNTERING PINK!, 2004. Oil stick and ink on Bristol. 8 x 10 inches. All images: Art © Estate of Leon Golub/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Photograph by Cathy Carver.

The current show at the Drawing Center in New York exhibits 43 drawings and works on paper by Leon Golub made between the years 1999 and his death in 2004. Golub is primarily known for his visceral large-scale paintings of war, torture, and the darker side of humanity. The drawings however, display a different side to Golub’s art making process, and reflect the range of his interests–satyrs, sex, animals, classical art, death, and graffiti all appear in these late drawings.

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Free Tiger Returns to the Mountains No.66 (2010) by Zhang Huan, via Pace Gallery

Currently on view at the Pace Gallery in Beijing is an exhibition of recent works by Zhang Huan. Most renowned for his performance artwork, in recent years he has returned to working in a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, and large-scale installations. “Free Tiger Returns to the Mountains” includes ash paintings (works made of a mixture of ashes collected from temples and adhesive) and cowhide sculptures. The paintings were created from his imagination instead using a photographic image. They are an expressive recreation of the artist’s idea of wildlife.

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On May 4, the exhibition titled “Peasant da Vincis” curated by the renowned American-Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang opened in Shanghai. “Peasant da Vincis,”  featuring a combination of inventions by Chinese peasants and works by the artist that explore the subject of human creativity. It is also the inaugural show for Rockbund Art Museum, the first contemporary art museum in the historic riverfront area of Shanghai, known as the Bund. Architect David Chipperfield redesigned the interior to create a contemporary art museum in the historic building that originally housed one of the first museums in China.

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Roy Lichtenstein, Still Life with Palette, 1972, oil and magna on canvas, 60 x 96 inches. All images courtesy of Gagosian Gallery.

Recently opened at Gagosian Gallery‘s location on 555 West 24th Street is Roy Lichtenstein: Still Lifes. This exhibition is the first devoted solely to the artist’s still lifes spanning from 1972 to the early 1980s. The show, which brings together 50 works from prominent private collections and museums worldwide, includes still lifes in three media: paintings, sculptures and drawings.

Installation view, Roy Lichtenstein: Still Lifes

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