Ai Weiwei at Brooklyn Museum, via Art Observed

Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei’s 2012 survey exhibition “According to What?” has made its way to the Brooklyn Museum after showings at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. and the Perez Art Museum in Miami. This blockbuster show is the artist’s first major international retrospective, and one which aims to bring together his ideals about life and art, which inescapably lead him to reflect on the nature of contemporary, and especially Chinese, politics. A balance that is often so hard to achieve through aesthetic means, the exhibition reveals Ai’s poignant installation work, which allows the viewer a rare experience into his world. The Brooklyn Museum show is enhanced by two installation pieces completed in 2013: S.A.C.R.E.D., exhibited at the Venice Biennale last year, and Ye Haiyan’s Belongings, a new piece installed specially in New York. (more…)

A viewer looking at Max Beckmann’s Departure (1932-1933), All Images via Kelly Lee for Art Observed

As much as it was an act of overt political action, the 1937 exhibition Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) in Munich marked a pivotal juncture in German art.  Intended as an outright attack on the careers of artists like Emil Nolde, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Georg Grosz and many more, the original exhibition crammed hundreds of works together for a mocking, derision-filled critique of the perversions and mistakes of the modernist practice.

George Grosz, Portrait of the Writer Max Herrmann-Neisse (1925)

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Liz Cohen, Hood (2006), via Marianne Boesky

The city of Detroit seems to be popping up frequently on the art world radar as of late.  While the ongoing bankruptcy crisis in the Motor City threatens to place the Detroit Institute of Arts’s vast collection on the auction block, a new generation of young artists has swarmed to the midwestern metropolis, lured by cheap rents and a the freedom to explore their work in earnest.  Taking this renewed interest in Detroit as its starting point, Marianne Boesky and Marlborough Chelsea have teamed up on a summer show of works and artifacts exploring the creative and economic history of the embattled powerhouse of American industry.

Another Look at Detroit at Marlborough Chelsea (Installation View), via Marlborough Chelsea (more…)

Sarah Ortmeyer, Sankt Petersburg Paradox (2014)

Among the decision-making factors in set expanse of time, risk plays a crucial part.  Simply described as the potential of losing an owned value upon a taken action, the risk element occupies a noticeable part in economic, social and political dynamics, aside from striking as a noteworthy reality to consider for individuals in the daily routine. The St. Petersburg Paradox, a group show on view at Swiss Institute through August 17th, observes this broad topic through a determined perspective, suggesting an alternative reading based on the reflection of risk elements in artworks.

The St. Petersbug Paradox (Installation View) (more…)

The Wall Street Journal recaps the early days of the trial surrounding the potential dismantling of the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the outcome of the hearings last week in Washington, D.C.  Despite ample testimony and comment on the state of the museum and its board, the newspaper notes that no one on hand made any statement regarding the future of the art in the museum collection.  This point is significant when considering the museum’s mandate, as any attempt to break up the Corcoran collection would fly in the face of its founder’s request for “the perpetual establishment and maintenance of a Public Gallery and Museum.” (more…)

The court case over payment to three trustees of the Robert Rauschenberg Revocable Trust has been settled this week by a Florida judge, who approved a payment of $24.6 million for “extraordinary services” in preserving the artist’s legacy, much to the disappointment of Rauschenberg’s estate, which is considering its options in the face of the ruling.  “We are reviewing our legal options and will pursue the course of action that is in the best interest of the foundation,” says Christopher Rauschenberg, the artist’s son and president of the foundation. (more…)

Yusuke Suga, Mediator (2013), Courtesy of Friedman Benda and the artists

The inarguable force of nature and its fearful destructive impact hit Japan in March 2011 during the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, afflicting millions of lives and causing billions of damage. The number one earthquake in terms of strength in the history of Japan and the fifth in world records, and its resulting tsunami left the coast of Japan reeling from its physical and psychological damage, particularly after the meltdown of three plants at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.  Aside from the massive physical devastation it caused, the catastrophe carried charged memories and impacts to those who witnessed the disaster, either first-hand or indirectly. (more…)

“Born in the Bronx”, Installation View. All photos Anna Corrigan for Art Observed.

Now through August 1, Gavin Brown’s Enterprise is presenting a trio of diverse works by Oliver Payne & Nick Relph, a video piece by the gallerist himself, and an exhibit of Afrika Bambaataa’s record collection surveying of the roots of hip-hop in the Bronx.  The exhibits speak to the process of emptying shelves and opening closets, placing the material details that one collects over a lifetime on view. In equal measure, the works illustrate a history, at once intimately personal and indicative of the larger movement of time and material legacy.

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Ville Andersson, Reflection, All images courtesy RARE Gallery

Now through August 7, Rare Gallery is presenting Fin(n)ish: Fresh contemporary art from Finland. This group exhibition features work from six emerging Finnish artists—Ville Andersson, Hanna Kanto, Katri Mononen, Aleksi Tammi, Timo Vaittinen, and Ea Vasko. The work presented here is stylistically wide reaching and employs a variety of mediums and techniques, speaking to the vitality of the Finnish art world.

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As the Whitney prepares to relocate its collection to lower Manhattan, American artist Alex Katz will christen the neighborhood in September with a 17-by-29-foot print of his painting “Katherine and Elizabeth” (2014).  The mural, which will adorn the building directly across from the museum’s future home, is the product of a collaboration between the Whitney, High Line Art, and TF Cornerstone that plans to fill the space with public art installations over the next five years. (more…)

August 4th will see New York City’s billboards, subways, newsstands, and more inundated with major works of art, including pieces by Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, and Chuck Close, as part of Art Everywhere U.S.. This new campaign is the product of a collaboration between the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and five American museums which will result in 58 works of American art being displayed on over 50,000 sites across the country. The campaign hopes to recreate the success of Art Everywhere U.K., a similar movement that launched last year, and spread the importance of American art and artists to a greater number of viewers.

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Emily Rafferty, via NY Press

The New York Times reports that Emily Rafferty will be retiring next spring after ten years as President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and almost forty at the institution. She first joined the Met in 1976 in the development department before rising through the ranks to become the Met’s first female president in 2004. As president, Rafferty has been in charge of the museum’s administration, working on the financial, legal, and developmental issues that provide the backbone  to the museum’s extensive collection and popular shows.

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Tracey Emin‘s “My Bed,” which set an auction record for the artist early this month, has given on a 10-year loan to the Tate by collector Count Christian Duerckheim, a Cologne-based industrialist.  “I always admired the honesty of Tracey, but I bought My Bed because it is a metaphor for life, where troubles begin and logics die.” (more…)

A new contemporary art gallery is coming to Mayfair in September 2014. Ben Tufnell and Matt Watkins, the former directors of Haunch of Venison, have partnered with Nicholas Rhodes, the director of the London gallery Master Piper, in the creation of Parafin, which will feature works by contemporary artists such as Nancy Holt, Katie Paterson, and Uwe Witter. (more…)

The New York Times reports that a Detroit creditor has ordered an appraisal of the Detroit Institute of Art‘s collection in hopes that the Institute’s works, which includes pieces by Edgar Degas, Henri Matisse, and Vincent Van Gogh, might be sold to cover the city’s debts. Although this appraisal valued the collection at up to $8.5 billion, an earlier appraisal placed the value between $2.7 billion and $4.6 billion, with the additional caution that, because of external factors like donor lawsuits and lack of demand for certain periods, actual sales will probably be around $800 million.

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Artist Jean-Michel Othoniel is currently working on the grounds of Versaille, creating a trio of fountain sculptures for the palace that will be the first permanent art pieces installed on its grounds in over 300 years.  “As an artist, and a French artist in particular, there is something very special about making a mark on the land that Le Nôtre and Louis XIV designed,” Othoniel says. (more…)

The Louvre’s new expansion in Abu Dhabi will be announcing 300 loans from its Paris counterpart and twelve other French museum partners by the end of the year, The Art Newspaper reports.  The works on loan will rotate over the course of the next ten years, joining up with about 500 new acquisitions that will make up the new museum’s permanent collection.   (more…)

Lord Jacob Rothschild has been awarded with the J. Paul Getty Award for his contributions to British arts and culture.  Rothschild has long been a supporter of the arts, and has served as a board chair at the National Gallery in London, the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Heritage Lottery Fund.  “No one embodies the ideals of the Getty medal more than Lord Rothschild,” Cuno said in a statement, adding that “he is without question the most influential volunteer cultural leader in the English-speaking world.” Says Getty President and CEO James Cuno. (more…)

6.2 million domestic and international visitors made their way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art during this past fiscal year, making it the third year in a row that the museum’s attendance  has exceeded six million visitors. This number is comprised of visitors to both the Met as well as the Cloisters in Upper Manhattan, which attracted 350,00 visitors of its own, a marked 50% increase from the previous year. These high numbers are due in part to the Museum’s recent decision to open seven days a week as well as to popular exhibitions such as PUNK: Chaos to Couture and Balthus: Cats and Girls-Paintings and Provocations.  (more…)

A new gallery is scheduled to open in 2016 at Goldsmith College, University of London, which will showcase art created by the college’s current students and alumni, who include Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, and Sarah Lucas. The gallery will be housed in the renovated water tanks of the early twentieth century Laurie Grove Baths, a project which will cost 1.8 million pounds. Sculptor Sir Antony Gormley, who announced the plans alongside architect Sir David Chipperfield, called the future gallery a “resource for the university and for London.”

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The new guide “Not the Met” seeks to introduce museum-goers to New York City’s lesser-known institutions. Written by a pair of friends from Brooklyn, the guide contains information and reviews of 80 museums, including more well-known institutions like the Frick Collection and the Morgan Library alongside smaller, more specialized museums like the Paley Center for Media and the Museum of Biblical Art. (more…)

An article in the New York Times reports on a recent wave of high-profile announcements from some of the world’s most prominent auction houses in attempt to gain the upper hand in the upcoming fall sale season. Among these announcements is the news that Sotheby’s will partner with eBay while Christie’s will expand with a house in Shanghai and Phillips de Pury will unveil a impressive new space in Mayfair. While these announcements might project an attractive appearance of prosperity and growth, the article contrasts them against the inherent instability of public sales, comparing the auction market to a “Baked Alaska dessert — firm and shiny on the top, but soft in the middle and on the bottom.” (more…)

With the busy summer season in full swing, popular European museums are examining new methods of crowd control in an effort to curb the ever-growing hustle and bustle that could cause damage to both visitors and the art itself. Some museums such as the Louvre and the Prado in Madrid have pursued softer methods like timed tickets and extended hours. Others such as the Vatican Museums and the Uffizi in Florence have taken a harder line. Within the next year the delicate frescoes of the Sistine Chapel will be protected by a crowd-limiting climate control system while the Uffizi has already established a cap of 980 visitors at a time. (more…)

A recent article in the New York Times takes a closer look at a new movement in the physical display of digital art. The movement seeks a middle ground between digital photo frames used in homes and professional digital art displays used in galleries, creating a larger, more sophisticated screen on which art aficionados can display both personal pictures and favorite artists. These screens are capable of showing only one image at a time, however, an effort by developers to encourage a “slower, more thoughtful pace.”