Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, Black Acid Co-op installation view via Deitch Projects

Until August 15, “Black Acid Co-op,” a collaboration between New York artists Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, transforms Deitch Projects’ SoHo space into a series of interconnected room-size installations, creating a walk-in simulation of the grungy interior of a house whose occupants have been producing crystal methamphetamine.  After signing a liability waiver, visitors penetrate into a warren-like series of rooms and corridors, ranging from a greenhouse, a charred kitchen, or a Chinatown variety store, that give off a strong vibe of decrepitude and paranoia.  In this labor-intensive and highly-detailed project, Freeman and Lowe transform medicine into meth, detritus into art, gallery space into drug den.

Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, Black Acid Co-op installation view via Deitch Projects

Related Links:
Exhibition Page [Deitch Projects]
Down a Rabbit Hole to Meth and its Dysfunction [NY Times]
Acid House [Artforum]
“Black Acid Co-op” at Deitch Projects [Vogue.com]

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Lucian Freud “Sally Clarke” “David, Pluto and Eli” and “Woman Sleeping” at Acquavella Gallery

Spectacle ensues as Pamela Anderson and David LaChapelle visit 303 Gallery at Art Basel Miami Beach

This year’s Art Basel Miami Beach began with a great deal of trepidation over where the level of sales would be in comparison to that of last year.  While volume was undeniably less this year, there was still a minimum level of sales completed which seemed to determine the event’s eventual success.   The art fair seemed to normalize to a level where the high quality of art that was brought down could be viewed, and in some cases purchased, at more measured, civilized pace.  Similarly, the corresponding events had a tone that was neither frantic nor somber; in some cases they were anticlimactic, elsewhere they were just fun.  The art market players are resting for a bit now after so much work and festivities in one short set of days, and few regretted the trip.

Eli Broad, Jay-Z Tour Slower Miami Art Fair, Collectors Haggle [Bloomberg]
Art Basel Miami Beach 2008 Roundup [Artinfo]
Miami Memories 2008 [Artnet]
Exceptionally High Quality at Art Basel Miami Beach 2008 [ArtDaily]
Feeling the pinch in the Miami vice [TimesUK]
Fair Enough [ArtForum]
The art market: Strong voting for the art party [FinancialTimes]
Slowdown In The Art Market [Forbes]
Art Basel Miami Beach 2008 [Vernissage.tv]
At Fairs by the Beach, the Sands of Creativity [NYTimes]
Art Basel Miami Beach | Under Construction [NYTimes]
Soft landings in hard times [ArtNewspaper]
Loyal buyers secure a positive start [ArtNewspaper]
David Lynch’s diamond dome [ArtNewspaper]
Basel sees a bright side [MiamiHerald]
Art Basel sales show slowdown in tough economic year [MiamiHerald]
Kmart Special Time at Art Basel Miami [NYMag]
Terence Koh Dazzles Art Basel Miami With Thrilling Nonperformance [NYMag]
Seven Things We Learned at Art Basel Miami [NYMag]
Miami ///The Recap: Art Basel’s Amazing “It Ain’t Fair” [SuperTouch]
Miami ///WTF?!? Files ///Takashi Murakami Gets Loose at Art Basel [Supertouch]
Art Basel: Cartier Dreams, Forbes Yacht Party, Caviar & Grace Jones [BlackBook]
Art Basel: Actually, It Was Awesome [BlackBook]

more AO original photos after the jump…

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Artist Ryan McGinley on left; Cory Kennedy in middle, and Milk Gallery’s Jenn Wirtz on end.

THE WAR IS ON!! Paintball players dashing around the sand pit.

For collectors, artists, gallerists, curators, and socialites alike, tensions were high during this year’s Art Basel. Whether attempting to turn profits, counting every Obama or Mao representation between Wynwood and Convention Center, hotel party-hopping in SoBe (from NY Times to Visionaire, Le Baron in Florida room, to Pamela Anderson at Fountainbleu), and/or ignoring the pesky word “recession,” everyone was visibly fatigued by Saturday night in Miami.  Hence, it was sheer brilliance on the behalf of Accompanied Literary Society, Create The Group, and Moet to host an “Art War” paintball fight at the Raleigh Hotel on Saturday night, letting a select group of artistas, collectors and art aficionados get down and dirty in the sandy oasis. While providing artists with paintguns and an open bar may sound as risky as endorsing kids to play baseball with rocks, the event proceeded flawlessly, as well as safely. Hotelier Andre Balazs showed off his executive prowess by skillfully organizing and managing his team, artists Aaron Young and Ryan McGinley seemed particularly boisterous high-fiving and jumping around, while Glenn O’Brien opted to watch from the sidelines. “In an atmosphere in which artists are losing galleries, [the event] was really about pride and supporting other artists,” said Brooke Geahan. (In particular, the event was officially feting artist Andrew Cramer.)

Better yet, each team’s outfit was personalized, The Raleigh Stags wore their own trademark brand attached to their appendages, while others personalized theirs DIY-style with permanent marker; better yet, several female contestants decided to creatively hack off the legs of their baggy jumpers and convert their outfits into tiny short-shorts. This being the art world, most decided the best accessory to paint guns was cigarettes (well, alcohol and cigarettes).

What ensued? Paint slinging, merriment, shouting, drinking, champagne shaking, and laughing. After the “war” concluded and the crowd dissipated slowly, a select few including Brooke Geahan, Horatio Silva, Todd Eberle, Aaron Young, Paul Sevigny, and Rebecca Guinness sat back in the oasis, watching the fire and sipping champagne. Post-war, Geahan stated, “it felt really, truly like a community.” At least in the attendees’ memories, while many of last week’s soirees blurred together in one, this event closed Basel with a delightful yet innocuous bang.

Words By Faith-Ann Young
Pictures By Ilhan Kim and Faith-Ann Young / Patrick McMullen

Aaron Young getting his back signed by Javier Peres

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more photos after the jump…

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Grayson Perry; Entrance To The Forest; 2002; Victoria Miro Gallery; London -Photos by ArtObserved

“The surprise is the business we are doing. Frankly, people are expressing more confidence in the art market than the government or Wall Street right now,” said Sean Kelly of Sean Kelly Gallery. The night of December 2nd, Vernissage attendees glittered and Piper Heidsieck champagne flowed.  More importantly, buyers were in attendance, asking questions and indeed, according to most of the galleries interviewed for this article, buying.  On Thursday afternoon, Douglas Baxter, President of Pace Wildenstein professed “We’ve met expectations.” Also on Thursday, when asked his feelings on sales from the night before, a representative at Cheim & Read insisted his artists have been selling well, pointing to Jack Pierson sculpture and a pile of William Eggleston’s photos.  Margherita Belaief of Peres Projects had the same confidence, “It’s hard to say so early but in general, Dash Snow’s pieces are selling strong.”  While hesitant to disclose precise numbers, the overall sentiment of the top galleries was optimistic.

However, it’s important to note while the larger known artists have been selling strong, some galleries have reported some difficulty selling lesser known artist pieces.  Alfons Klosterfelde at Klosterfelde was most direct: “People are asking more questions and really want to know the details,” but he said pointedly as of Thursday, “there have been less sales” and Klosterfelde remarked the pieces sold were from the gallery’s more known artists.

Photos and Writing by Faith-Ann Young

more pictures and story after the jump…

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In Fashion Photo Exhibit; Miami; December 2nd; 2008

The debut of the Naomi Campbell Retrospective, which boasted colorful fashion photography, tanned celebrities, red carpet, juicy fruity drinks, and a ribbon-cutting session, was a mix of highs and lows last night. Majority of the photographic selections were solid representations of top fashion photographers; the lush Yves Saint Laurent Ad Campaigns of Naomi by Inez Van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin were displayed along with other iconic photographs of the long-limbed diva against maze-like green hedges.  In addition, Michael Dweck’ ethereal mermaids, romantic fashion photos by Alika Malka and delicious pop arty shots by Arthur Elgort stood out in the labyrinth of retro and modern fashion photos. Other photographers represented included Gilles Bensimon, Patrick Demarchelier, Arthur Elgort, Simon Harris, Seb Janiak, David LaChapelle, Mario Testino, and Ellen Von Unwerth. However, while the selections were cheerful, bold, and uplifting, (truly, what would fashion photography be today without LaChapelle’s influence?), none was jaw-droppingly sensational or controversial. Perhaps because we are so inundated with these photographers’ sensibilities via mega-watt advertisements and 800-page luxury magazine spreads, when we attempt to differentiate between art vs commerce, their works seem to lean more on the commercial side.

Photos and Writing by Faith-Ann Young

more story and pictures after the jump…

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Ted Noten designed Prada Purse; Gold-plated gun, cast in acrylic, hangbag; Ornamentum Gallery; 506 Warren Street; Hudson, NY – Photo by ArtObserved

We already knew that Basel was downsizing: this year, little known French pop princess Yelle is replacing leathery icon Iggy Pop in Art Loves Music, sponsor UBS reported its first quarterly loss in 5 years, liquor sales are down 20%, and many people including key investors simply decided not to come. Yet if indeed the art bubble is popping, we thought at least there would be a ‘bang’ to talk about; instead, if Tuesday is any judge, one can surmise that the ostentatious, fun ego of Miami Basel and sister satellite Fairs will instead deflate in a slow, lackluster manner this year.

At the premier Design Miami’s Vernissage, though the champagne was still flowing and VIPs sauntered in freely, visually there appeared to be drop in attendance from last year and the overall sentiment seemed rather quiet and demure. (Is everyone in fiscal mourning or is it simply sticker-shock?) Also, few of the displays were as buzz-worthy like 2007 Designer of the Year Tokujin Yoshioka’s crisp  airy hamster nest of straws that put Dash Snow and Dan Colen’s art bum hamster nests to shame. Since Designers of the year The Campana Brothers’ whimsical, stuffed animal chairs are ubiquitous around the design world these days, while their influence is strong especially in terms of environmental sustainability, their various displays arguably may not challenge the future of art design as many of past winners have (i.e. Zaha Hadid, Marc Newson, etc).

Words & Photos By Faith-Ann Young

more story and photos after the break…

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Cocktails under the lights at the Raleigh Hotel – Photo by ArtObserved

For some time the press in general, with sometimes a bit too much schadenfreude, has been anticipating how the bacchanal of the art market, Art Basel Miami Beach, would be affected by the current art market downturn.   ArtObserved is here and can say definitively that the energy is more subdued than prior years.    Art Basel Miami Beach has 250 exhibitors from 33 countries showing more than 2,000 artists with costs of exhibiting exceeding $100,000 in some cases.   Last year 43,000 visitors were recorded in attendance.  This year there are still the chauffeured cars, the expensive catered events with fashion or luxury commercial tie-ins, the crowded parties, such as the packed throngs of people (including Pharell) trying to get into the Raleigh penthouse party last night (story coverage to follow).   However, for the bulk of the exchanges in Art Basel Miami Beach, the cocktail and booth-side conversations, the topic seems to inevitably focus on assessing the situation.

Art Basel Miami Beach is still a young fair, but for the past few years it culminated into one of the most significant global art events.  Part of the reason why it offers unique perspective into the state of the art world is that Art Basel Miami Beach always was differentiated by extraordinary amounts of satellite fairs (no other major art fair  has as many satellite events) as well as for grand, almost shameless levels of fashion, music, film, publishing and luxury corporate sponsorships and collaborations, which, along with the weather, brought many affluent buyers and cultural influencers to the scene.   The galleries showing know that the market is soft, and part of the exciting part of this year’s fair is that participants have brought some of their most resilient and high quality works to fight it out.   Art Basel Miami Beach will this year have a few too many flopped parties, some disappointing no sales at the booths, and perhaps some galleries will be dealt some damaging blows but in the end the fair seems to still be one not to miss.

Glitz Meets Grim as Miami Basel Fair Opens in Pallid Art Market [Bloomberg]
Art Basel Miami Beach | Naomi’s Watts [TheMoment]
Editor’s Picks: Art Basel Miami Beach Preview [ArtInfo]
Twenty-One Cranky Ways of Looking at Art Basel Miami Beach [ArtInfo]
The Block and the Booth [ArtInfo]
Art loves everyone. Love it back… [FinancialTimes]
Art Basel Miami Beach set to party on [Financial Times]
Art Basel satellite shows likely to struggle this year [MiamiHerald]
$300,000 sculpture destroyed en route to Art Miami show [MiamiHerald]
Art Basel Art Fountain’s Inhuman Stain [NYMag]
Miami Madness [ArtNet]
Art Basel Miami Kicks Off Cautiously, Optimistically [NYMag]
Presence of Mutated Muffin Head Dress Man Yields No Significant Insight on Fair Permanence. Yet. [ArtFagCity]

more resources after the jump…

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A beach towel by Ed Ruscha via the Art Production Fund

Just in time for Art Basel Miami Beach, new beach towels by Ed Ruscha, Karen Kilimnik, Raymond Pettibon and Julian Schnabel are ready, catch them at the Raleigh Hotel [Art Production Fund]
A Page Six roundup of some of the Art Basel Miami Beach parties, as usual, the Raleigh hotel is front and center [NYPost]

“Paysage, le mur rose” (Landscape, the Pink Wall) by Henri Matisse via Artsjournal

France gives back Henri Matisse painting, once seized by Nazi SS officer, proceeds from sale to go to British charity for medical rescue in Israel [Artsjournal] more here [AP]

Museum of Islamic Art, Doha, Qatar via The New York Times

Qatar opens the 41,000 square foot, IM Pei designed Museum of Islamic Art in Doha; Robert de Niro, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and London dealer Jay Jopling attend festivities [NewYork Times]

Portrait of a lady as Flora , by Italian master Giambattista Tiepolo

A lost painting by Giambattista Tiepolo, discovered in a chateau attic, may sell for £1m at Christie’s sale in London next week [FinancialTimes]
City of San Francisco not accepting $1 billion gift to build space to show Gap Inc. founder Don Fisher’s 1,000 work strong collection due to aesthetics of architecture [Bloomberg]
A review of Calvin Tomkins’s ‘Lives of the Artists’ which profiles headliners such as Hirst, Cindy Sherman, Schnabel, Serra, Koons, Currin and others [NYObserver)

Portrait Ria Munk III – by Gustav Klimt via Linz Presse

Lentos Museum in Austria may have to give a $10 million Gustav Klimt painting to heirs of Holocaust victim [Bloomberg]

The artist Steve McQueen via GuardianUK

Turner prize winning video artist Steve McQueen interviewed, and more, on his new film, ‘Hunger’ [GuardianUK]

Kanye West uses Kaws for his cover art (Takashi Murakami has also had the privilege) [theartcollectors]
Art collector Aby Rosen’s Core Club, featuring works by such artists as Jean-Michel Basquiat and De Kooning, owes its founding members funds [NYPost]
A closer look into the ramifications of the art “crash” [WallStreetJournal]

The Art Museum of Ontario goes for the “Bilbao effect” with a new $276 million Frank Gehry-designed facility (it’s his hometown) [NYtimes] more here [Bloomberg]
With exhibtions recently at the Grand Palais in Paris and now at Gagosian Gallery in London, Ricard Serra interviewed [ArtNewspaper]
Are art and fashion cross promotions becoming gauche? [ArtInfo]
and in related news, the assumption is that this year’s Art Basel Miami will be more austere [CNN Money] more on this here [NYMag]