Global contemporary art events and news observed from New York City. Suggestion? Email us.

New York – Rosy Keyser: “The Hell Bitch” at Maccarone Gallery Through June 6th, 2015

Wednesday, May 27th, 2015

Rosy Keyser, Terrestrial Mime (2015), via Maccarone
Rosy Keyser, Terrestrial Mime (2015), all images via Maccarone Gallery

The idea of a frame places a spatial limit on its painterly contents, a statement of intent that rules its exteriors as just that, outside space.  For her first show with Maccarone GalleryRosy Keyser takes that logic  to a deconstructive conclusion, presenting a body of works under the title The Hell Bitch that continues the discourse of painterly reduction.  While breaking away from the traditional frame, Keyser’s works allow for viewers to consider definitions of empathy, profanity and form through her patchwork assemblages, fixed to the classic signifier of the canvas stretcher.   (more…)

London – Isa Genzken: “Geldbilder” at Hauser & Wirth Through May 16th, 2015

Tuesday, May 5th, 2015

Isa Genzken, Geldbild I (2014)
Isa Genzken, Geldbild I (2014)

Referred to as “one of the most important and influential female artists of the past 30 years” by MoMA on the occasion of her retrospective at the museum in 2013, Isa Genzken‘s new work is the subject of Hauser &Wirth’s current solo exhibition in London. Less known in the States compared to her artistic influence and recognition in Europe, Genzken has pursued a notably progressive career in the recent decade, building new bodies of work and showing in various international venues. (more…)

New York – Ryan Foerster at C L E A R I N G Through December 28th, 2014

Sunday, December 28th, 2014


Ryan Foerster, Green Day (2012-2014), via C L E A R I N G

For C L E A R I N G’s second exhibition in its new 5,000-square-foot Bushwick space, the Brooklyn and Brussels-based gallery presents a sprawling showcase of multimedia work by Canadian artist Ryan Foerster. Winding fluidly through the venue’s four airy rooms, strewn across the floors and walls in a seemingly impromptu array, the featured works exploit the possibilities of the photographic medium while charting the artist’s latest forays into installation, video, and sculpture. (more…)

New York – El Anatsui: “Trains of Thought” at Jack Shainman Gallery Through November 15th, 2014

Saturday, November 15th, 2014


El Anatsui, Yet Another Place (2014)

Building himself a uniquely personal technique in which he reforms cast-away materials such as bottle caps and copper wire, El Anatsui has been orchestrating works that go against the definitions of any singular medium and dimension.  Standing between a vague figuration and an expressive abstraction of bright colors, the artist’s constructions from discarded materials resist to classification in any one form as sculpture, installation or painting. (more…)

London – Nathaniel Mary Quinn: “Past/Present” at Pace Gallery Through October 4th, 2014

Saturday, September 20th, 2014


Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Slim (2014), all images courtesy Pace London

Chicago-born, Brooklyn-based artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn presents his first major solo exhibition this month, on view at Pace Gallery’s London location. The artist’s works, large-scale abstract figurative works, are piecemeal constructions, representative of Quinn’s own identity and influenced by an enormously challenging upbringing.

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Monaco – Mickalene Thomas: “Femme au divan II” at École Supérieure d’Arts Plastiques Pavillon Bosio Through August 31st, 2014

Thursday, August 21st, 2014


Mickalene Thomas, Portrait of Qusuquzah (2008) all images courtesy Galerie Nathalie Obadia and The Monaco Project for the Arts

At the Pavillon Bosio at the École Supérieure d’Arts Plastiques in Monaco is a collection of paintings, a series of photographs, and a new video by American artist Mickalene Thomas. Entitled Femme au divan II, the exhibition will remain on view through August 31st, and includes a series of photographs and paintings incorporating Thomas’s fascination with various time periods and perspectives on female African-American identity.

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New York – Scott Benzel at Maccarone Through August 8th, 2014

Wednesday, August 6th, 2014


Scott Benzel, Counterfeit Nike ‘Heaven’s Gate’ SB Dunks (2011) Photo by Joerg Lohse

For the past several years, Arizona-born, L.A.-based artist Scott Benzel has been mining the mundane objects of capitalism and its reflection in the cultural agenda through his assemblage and display-based works, challenging the designated meanings of everyday objects as they enter into dialogue with each other. Approaching  simple and mostly utilitarian commodities as reflections of their collective or individualist identities, Benzel decodes dismissed or undiscovered subtleties in contemporary culture, and allows unspoken connections to come to the fore. (more…)

New York- Mickalene Thomas, “Tête de Femme” at Lehmann Maupin Through August 8th, 2014

Sunday, August 3rd, 2014


Mickalene Thomas, Carla (2014), via Lehmann Maupin

Tête de Femme, a show of new work by artist Mickalene Thomas at Lehmann Maupin, places the exploitation and regulation of the female form at its center, exploring the female figure and visage through eight large-scale portraits. Making use of screen-printing, collage, and candy-colored swatches of fabric, Thomas creates and re-creates the elements of a face in order to deconstruct a coherence presumed and projected into measurements of personhood.  Through bold geometric and material choices, Thomas approaches the question of identity as an problem to be solved through a concentrated treatment of each element, much in the same nature of Picasso’s work of the same name.


Mickalene Thomas, Tête de Femme (Installation View), via Lehmann Maupin (more…)

Rauschenberg Foundation Announces Young Curators Competition

Tuesday, July 8th, 2014

The Rauschenberg Foundation has launched a competition for young curators, inviting proposals for exhibitions using works from the Foundation’s extensive collection.  Winners will be selected by a panel of judges, including curator John Elderfield and artist Shirin Neshat. (more…)

New York – Peter Coffin: “Living” at Red Bull Studios Through September 16th, 2014

Tuesday, June 24th, 2014


Peter Coffin, LIVING (Installation View), via Art Observed

Given the recent string of shows and events opening at Red Bull Studios’ New York location in Chelsea, one has to wonder just who the energy drink brand has recruited to curate it’s well-appointed space. From the recent DISown concept store to Peter Coffin’s just-opened “Living” installation, the selection of works seem wholly of a similar focus and artistic project. (more…)

New York – Glenn Brown at Gagosian Gallery Through June 21st, 2014

Monday, June 16th, 2014


Glenn Brown, Cactus Land (2012), via Osman Can Yerebakan

In his first solo show in New York in seven years, Glenn Brown delivers a large scale body of work, focusing on sculptural works besides his widely recognized paintings. Palatially spread across Gagosian Gallery’s twenty-first street location with an array of exuberant colors, Brown’s selection of artistic references in this exhibition include nods to Rococo, Baroque and Mannerist techniques, alongside the likes of Frank Auerbach and Pieter Bruegel. (more…)

New York – Richard Prince: “Canal Zone” at Gagosian Gallery Through June 14th, 2014

Saturday, June 14th, 2014


Richard Prince, Cheese & Crackers (2008), via Art Observed

Showing for the first time since Richard Prince settled his lawsuit with photographer Patrick Cariou over several of the source photographs, Gagosian’s uptown location is currently presenting Canal Zone, the series of photo and paint collages that sat at the center of the legal dispute for the first time since 2008. (more…)

New York – Tunga: “From ‘La Voie Humide’” at Luhring Augustine Through May 31st, 2014

Saturday, May 24th, 2014


Tunga, Na Lua (On the Moon) (2014) via Osman Can Yerebakan

Crystals, sponges, glass vessels and ceramics are among an array of materials on view at the current exhibition of new work by Tunga at Luhring Augustine’s Chelsea location. During a career spanning over four decades, Tunga has presented a body of multidisciplinary work, finding inspiration in poetry, physics and alchemy to create intricate, symbolic work that presents a visual challenge to the viewer.  Marking the artist’s fifth collaboration with the gallery, From ‘La Voie Humide’  underlines the artist’s strong interest in a multi-disciplinary approach to art, comprising a large selection of mediums and undertones running throughout the body of the exhibition.


Tunga, Untitled (2013) via Osman Can Yerebakan (more…)

New York – Peter Coffin, Agathe Snow, Willy Le Maitre: “The Weird Show” at CANADA Gallery Through April 13th, 2014

Sunday, April 13th, 2014


Peter Coffin, Untitled (Unfinished Hand Holding a Bell Bubble) (2013), via Art Observed

Currently on view at CANADA Gallery in New York is a selection of works from Agathe Snow, Peter Coffin and Willy Le Maitre, and featuring a bizarre series of assemblage, sculpture and photography appropriately titled The Weird Show.  Spread out along the gallery’s long, narrow rooms, the group of works on view offer a look at the work of the trio through a similar framework of pastiched cultural formats. (more…)

London – Haim Steinbach: “once again the world is flat” at The Serpentine Gallery Through May 5th, 2014

Tuesday, April 8th, 2014


Haim Steinbach, basics (1986), All Images Courtesy Serpentine Gallery

The Serpentine Gallery in London is currently presenting once again the world is flat., an exhibition celebrating Haim Steinbach’s forty-year career as a multimedia artist. Born in Israel and living in New York, Steinbach has presented a distinctive artistic practice by redefining what ‘collecting’ is, arranging familiar daily objects in his own methods while attributing further content and ground, allow the artist to invite viewers into extended readings on what is visible, but also on what lies beneath the surface of the work. (more…)

Hamburg – Eva Hesse: “One More than One.” at Hamburger Kunsthalle Through March 2nd, 2014

Sunday, March 2nd, 2014


Eva Hesse, June 1959, all images courtesy Hamburger Kunsthalle

On view at Hamburger Kunsthalle is a solo exhibition of works by Jewish German-born Eva Hesse, one of the most prominent female artists of the 20th century. Entitled One More than One. the display is composed of art objects and sculptures made from polyester, fiberglass and latex, illustrating textural juxtapositions between hard and soft, fragility and sturdiness. The exhibition will continue through March 2, 2014.

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New York – Frank Stella: “Recent Work” at Peter Freeman Inc. Through February 22nd, 2014

Sunday, February 2nd, 2014


Frank Stella, The Big Flea Tower (2013), all images Courtesy Peter Freeman Inc.

On view at Peter Freeman, Inc. is a solo show of recent sculptures by Frank Stella, drawn mostly from his series Scarlatti K and Circus which were created using 3-D printing technology and metal pipes and rods. The exhibition will continue through February 22, 2014.

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Chicago – Roxy Paine: “Apparatus” at Kavi Gupta Gallery Through February 1st, 2014

Thursday, January 23rd, 2014


Roxy Paine, Carcass (2013), via Kavi Gupta

Chicago’s Kavi Gupta Gallery is currently showcasing an immense sculptural project by New York-based artist Roxy Paine, a series of sizable wooden dioramas, carved into uncanny models of an unnamed fast-food restaurant, and a control room, filled with switches, faders and television screens.


Roxy Paine, Control Room (2013), via Kavi Gupta (more…)

New York – Isa Genzken: “Retrospective” at MoMA Through March 10th, 2014

Tuesday, January 21st, 2014


Isa Genzken, World Receiver (2012), via Daniel Creahan for Art Observed

Open since November, Isa Genzken’s retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art is a colorful affair, combining the artist’s playful manipulation of consumer objects, every day materials and multiple media forms with a studied historical perspective that underlines her architectural and structural interests.


Isa Genzken. Rot-gelb-schwarzes Doppelellipsoid ‘Zwilling’ (Red-Yellow-Black Double Ellipsoid “Twin”), 1982. Lacquered wood, two parts. Overall: 9 7/16 x 8 1/16 x 473 1/4″ (24 x 33.5 x 1202.1 cm) Part one: 5 1/8 x 8 1/16 x 236 1/4″ (13 x 20.5 x 600 cm) Part two: 4 5/16 x 5 1/2 x 237″ (11 x 14 x 602 cm). Collection of the artist. Courtesy the artist and Galerie Buchholz, Cologne/Berlin. © Isa Genzken (more…)

New York – Josephine Meckseper at Andrea Rosen Gallery, through January 18th 2014

Thursday, January 16th, 2014


Josephine Meckseper (Installation View), All images courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery

On view at Andrea Rosen Gallery in New York is an exhibition of large-scale vitrines, mirrored wall panels and photographs, all by Josephine Meckseper, and alluding to the rise of the Bauhaus and Deutscher Werkbund in Weimar Germany, and their subsequent destruction by the Nazi regime.

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New York – Elad Lassry at 303 Gallery Through October 26th, 2013

Tuesday, October 1st, 2013


Elad Lassry, Untitled (Artwork) (2013), via 303 Gallery

“What is the philosophical location of a picture?” asks the press release for Elad Lassry’s current show at 303 Gallery.  It’s a question that Lassry has posed for several years now, using appropriated and self-made photographs, colored frames and sculptural materials to recreate the 2-Dimensional image in a broader dialogue with its surroundings.  Complicating the assemblage of the photograph, Lassry boils it down to its raw elements, placing the viewer in a new awareness of the photograph itself as a physical object.


Elad Lassry (Installation View), via 303 Gallery (more…)

New Yorker Profiles Relationship Between Artist Thornton Dial and Bill Arnett

Tuesday, August 6th, 2013

The New Yorker has published a story on the relationship between Bill Arnett, a white art dealer and archivist of black vernacular art, and Thornton Dial, an 84-year old, self-trained black artist who has had  his highly praised work included in major exhibitions and events, including the 2000 Whitney Biennial.  Facing Dial’s facile categorization as an “outsider artist,” Arnett is currently pushing for mainstream acceptance, not only of his work, but of 20th century African-American Art in general.  “I’m trying to create some documents to leave behind, so that when the system changes, just a little bit, somebody would say, ‘Wow, you mean we had this going on in America in the twentieth century?’  That’s all.” (more…)

New York – Ugo Rondinone: “Soul” at Gladstone Gallery Through July 3rd, 2013

Sunday, June 30th, 2013


Ugo Rondinone, Soul (Installation View), via Gladstone Gallery

Gladstone Gallery is currently presenting a series of new works by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, exploringhuman creativity, expression and individuation through a series of primitive stone sculptures, collectively titled Soul.  Complementing the artist’s enormous sculptural installation Human Nature, on view at Rockefeller Center, the exhibition features a series of individually carved stone statues. (more…)

London – Sterling Ruby at Hauser and Wirth Savile Row Through May 4th, 2013

Friday, May 3rd, 2013


Sterling Ruby, THE POT IS HOT (2013), via Hauser and Wirth

Los Angeles-based Sterling Ruby is currently exhibiting a selection of new works in London, on view at Hauser and Wirth’s Savile Row location.  Investigating a creative process that incorporates studio detritus and recycled elements of previous work into his assemblages and collages, Ruby welcomes a new perspective on the fixed artwork. (more…)