AO Art Observed™

Skaters on the mini ramp at the opening reception of Cannibal Carnival via SuperTouch

Neckface opened his show “Cannibal Carnival” (previous coverage of this show on AO here) with an eventful ceremony. The wall space New Image Art was covered in spray paint graffiti, otherwise painted in black and white and red. Though relatively new the art scene, Neckface maintains very strong press and web coverage and extremely high attendance for his events. His reputation as very prolific tagger in many cities cements his position within street art, which is growing in acceptance as an artistic medium worthy of investment as exemplified by the street artist Banksy selling works in the six figures, auction houses setting aside entire auctions for street art and the Tate Modern mounting very significant street art exhibitions. On the opening night of Saturday August 16th, the venue accommodated over 1,000 mixed crowd of art lovers, skaters, and alike. During the reception, pro skaters rode boards on the mini ramp/cage specially built for this occasion.

Hollywood: Nasty Neck Face’s “Cannibal Carnival” bloodbath at New Image Art [Super Touch]
Neck Face’s Opening Reception [GrindTV]
Neckface “Cannibal Carnival” Art Show Slideshow [Transworld Skateboarding]
The skate ramp at the Neckface show at New Image Gallery in L.A. [C-Monster]
Video Clip of the opening here, and here [Youtube]

more pictures after the jump…

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Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008 via Serpentine Gallery

Gehry’s Serpentine Pavilion, reflective of his early style, up through October 19 [Serpentine Gallery]
Sao Paolo police find $630,000 of stolen works, including a Picasso [BBC]
Banksy posts a comment on his identity [Banksy.co.uk via The World's Best Ever]
Royal Academy announces upcoming Anish Kapoor retrospective [Artinfo]
Sir Nicholas Serota, Tate Modern director, is ‘learning Russian fast’ to court philanthropic support of new extension [Russia Today ]

Temenos, one of five giant public art works by Anish Kapoor via Guardian

Anish Kapoor’s $30M Public art project in Middlesbrough, UK [Guardian]
$500,000 in Warhols, Lichtensteins stolen from Swedish Museum [Artdaily]
Murakami ceases Cerulean LLC’s resale of sculpture at Christie’s after contract violation [Artinfo]
Noteworthy video of Rauschenberg on his ‘Erased de Kooning Drawing‘ [Seattlepi via C-Monster]
Art title insurance by ARIS offers new and broader protection for collectors [NYSun]
Banksy’s street crew, ‘Pest Control’, certifies authentic works in response to copies [Rawartint]
In response to museum pleas, senate loosens tax deduction rules on art donations [NYTimes]

Jeff Koons at the Met via Artfagcity

NYMag explores how the art of Jeff Koons somehow stands above the other “razzmatazz” [NYMag]
Profile of collector Eli Broad and his “oversize ego and unstoppable ambition” [Metropolis]
The art services market grows in lockstep with art prices [NYTimes]
Edvard Munch prices seem to be rising in direct correlation to recent art thefts of his work [The Art Newspaper]
Bloomberg posits that Banksy’s possible middle class private school background may affect his notoriety [Bloomberg]

This photograph taken in Jamaica four years ago, is believed to be Banksy via Daily Mail

After a year long investigation, Graffiti artist Banksy revealed? More here, and here [Daily Mail], [NYTimes], [Supertouchart]
Ad agencies reverse the long-evident trend of artists poaching from popular ads by creating popular ads that poach from artists [NYTimes]
A profile of Roman Abramovich’s girlfriend, Daria “Dasha” Zhukova, a new player on the art scene [TimesUK]
Previously thought ‘fake’ is a Rembrandt, but not a self-portrait [The Art Newspaper]
The Sun reviews Art Market tome ‘The $12 Million Stuffed Shark’ previously covered by AO here [NYSun]
On Page Six: 303 Gallery employee fired for mistaking Marc Jacobs for a homeless man and Andres Serrano keeps it gritty in his new Chelsea show [NYPost]
MoMA assembles modern prefab houses in adjacent vacant lot [NYTimesMag]

Olafur Eliassion courtesy of NY Mag

The technics of Olafur Eliasson’s upcoming falls project [NY Mag]
Christie’s, Sothebys assert no collusion in recently dual increase in premiums [ArtInfo]
Toxic leak risk leads to armed guards of Hirst’s lamb at LACMA [LA Times]
Banksy contemporary Nick Walker sells $1.5M of street Art in London [Bloomberg]
Clemente works at the Gallery Met at Lincoln Center [New York Times]
$21M record sale of Latin American art at Sotheby’s [ArtDaily]

Cans festival via Supertouch

This past weekend, the Cans Festival took over an empty railway tunnel near Waterloo train station in London. This massive graffiti exhibition showcased the work of famous British graffiti artist Banksy as well as more than 40 other artists including Bsas Stencil, James Dodd (dlux), Ron English, and John Grider.

“Biggest” Banksy exhibition in London tunnel [Reuters]
The Cans Festival [The Cans Festival]
Banksy [Banksy]
The Cans Festival- London 3/4/5/ May 2008 [NowPublic]

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Banksy’s graffiti in London via Supertouch

Banksy’s possibly largest most brazen, work to date [Supertouch]
Update: Murakami’s superflat: “epidemic wanderlust produced by psycho-socio-sexual binarism”[NYObserver]
Update: Rothko kin successfully transfer his remains [NY Times]
“The New York canon” from Acconi to Warhol [New York mag]
Painter Ross Bleckner to write a memoir [Daily news]
Whitney Biennial annex at Henri Bendel window [Artnet]
Centre Pompidou cancels Calder exhibition due to lack of funds [Art NewsPaper]

Gregory Crewdson via New York Magazine

Gregory Crewdson’s elaborate, freaky-suburban, cinema set works [NYMag]
On the art pilgrimage to Judd’s Marfa, TX [Wall Street Journal]
A Tom Otterness sculpture to Dumbo [New York Sun]
Why Asian nations are bargain hunting Japanese Art [Herald Tribune]
Banksy works headline U.K. regional auction [Bloomberg]
Update: Overview of the Armory Show [Artinfo]
Update: Warhol’s “Ten portraits of Jews of the 20th century” [NYTimes]
Update: Armory sales hold despite economic slowdown [artnewspaper]
An over-the-front-desk look at the “gallerinas” of Chelsea [NYTimes]
C-Monster at the Whitney [Time Magazine]

“Dog Test” by Robert Longo via Forbes

Longo Quoted on “Dog Test” Drawing Sold Recently in London [Forbes]
Forged Monet discovered last week in German Museum [Herald Tribune]
Chinese art market takes France’s third place standing [Art Newspaper]
Update: Cai Guo-Qiang at the Guggenheim Museum [NYTimes]
Update: More Cai Guo-Qiang at the Guggenheim [Wall Street Journal]
Update, Video: Guo-Qiang’s Gun-Powder Works [NYTimes via C-Monster]
Orginally £300, Banksy piece up for £150,000 [Guardian]
Two W. 25th St. gallery buildings sold for $48.75 million [The Real Deal]

Kehinde Wiley’s St. Sebastian II (Columbus), 2006 via Columbus Museum of Art
Michael Jackson via MJsite

Michael Jackson planning collaboration with Kehinde Wiley?[PR Inside]
UK’s planned taxes on incoming art from non-domiciled residents could discourage wealthy donors and supporters [Financial Times]
London’s February auctions prove that despite shaky financial climate, demand is still high for Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary works [NYTimes]
Recap of Jeff Koons talk at the 92nd St. Y [Art Fag City]
Salander O’Reilly Gallery in NY goes bankrupt: Ownership of works held at gallery still yet to be determined [Bloomberg]
Ed Ruscha talks about new show “Ed Ruscha: Paintings” on view at Gagosian London [Gaurdian]
Banksy’s Kate Moss/ Marilyn Monroe portrait fetches $191,000 at Bonhams [Bloomberg]

Banksy via The World’s Best Ever

These new Banksy graffiti pieces were spotted in Los Angeles recently. The artist, based in London, is known for his underground graffiti artwork and his distinctive stenciling technique.
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Faile “London 12″ via Bonhams

Bonham’s in London is hosting its first ever street art auction on February 5th. Banksy, probably the most well known of the artists has 22 out of the 75 lots up for sale. Banksy’s anarchist works are expected to bring in the most profit, however there are many other noteworthy street artists being featured as well. Adam Neat, the youngest of the group, has had an estimate of £25,000 - 30,000 for his “Apprentice” piece.

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Banksy defaces Hirst via Portfolio

Sotheby’s (Auction) Red sale next month is drawing large amounts of press due to a piece by Banksy. Banksy took Damien Hirst’s Pharmaceutical painting and “defaced” it. The new Banksy painting is entitled “Keep it Spotless” and may fetch a record price for Banksy. The bidding starts on February 14th at Sotheby’s.

“Keep it Spotless” [Portfolio]
(Auction) Red [Sotheby's]

Banksy via ABC News

A Banksy mural in London sold for $410,830 on Ebay. The auction ended on Monday, January 14th. The mural was sold by the owner of the property.

Banksy on Ebay [ABC News]
Bid on Banksy’s Wall [BBC]

BP1 via Times Online

Basel does Bosch via the Garden of Earthly Delights [Times Online(UK)]
Brit Photography Icon, Sam Taylor Wood, bares all for Harpers [Harper's Bazaar]
Ted Colen interview via ArtTalk, talks Deitch Hamster Nets [Juxtapoz]
Banksy peeved by re-sales in New York [Bloomberg via C-Monster]
New Picasso Book released, reviewed by NY Review of Books [NY Books]

Photos: Christian Coleman for ArtObserved
“Banksy Does New York,” the first New York gallery show for British-born street-artist Banksy, opened this Sunday, December 2nd, at Vanina Holasek Gallery on West 27th Street.

Just this October more than 50 Banksy works went to auction at Bonhams and Sotheyby’s, both in London. Nearly all the works sold for at least double (more…)