Maurizo Cattelan, Him (2001), via Art Observed

Maurizio Cattelan is back in New York.  It’s been some time since the artist’s retirement from the art world proper, capped by his well-attended Guggenheim retrospective in 2011/2012, a move that the artist has made quite good on.  Despite the occasional appearance high-profile appearance, Cattelan’s work has remained relatively outside of the art world spotlight for the past several years.  But the artist’s commitment to his own absence hasn’t deterred Adam Lindemann, who is currently mounting a pair of exhibitions of the artist’s work at both Sotheby’s S|2 Gallery, and at his own space, Venus Over Manhattan on Madison Ave. (more…)

Drawing on a long history of interplay between contemporary art and comedy, MOCA’s online television station, MOCA.Tv has announced Ambiance Man, a new comedy series that will air on the channel, featuring appearances by Fred Armisen, Jack Black, and Jibz Cameron.  “Ambiance Man is a series about a super hero who fixes what we really need fixed in our day-to-day lives. While most super heroes are focused on preventing the end of the world, Ambiance Man is focused on transforming the moments that feel like the end of the world.”  Says creator Alix Lambert. (more…)

Cary Leibowitz, Hey! I’m Not Deppressed Anymore (2013), Courtesy INVISIBLE-EXPORTS, New York

“Hey! I’m not depressed anymore.” So reads one of the simplistic, shaped canvases currently on view at Cary Leibowitz’s new show at Invisible-Exports.  It’s familiar territory for the artist, whose signature conflations of text and paint frequently dwell on the comical neuroses inherent in modern living, scaled appropriately for the New York art world.  It was Leibowitz, of course, whose enormous wooden sign sat outside the Armory Show earlier this year, reading “I Need to Start Seeing a Therapist,” blowing his work up to monumental scale for the equally daunting size of the exhibition contained within Piers 92 and 94. (more…)

Maurizio Cattelan, KAPUTT (Installation View), via Fondation Beyeler

KAPUTT, an installation by Italian-born sculptor, painter, and installation artist, Maurizio Cattelan is currently on display at the Fondation Beyeler until October 6th. Known for his humor and morbid imagery, especially in his use of taxidermied animals, Cattelan has been described as “as one of the great post-Duchampian artists, and a smartass, too” by Jonathan P. Binstock, curator of contemporary art at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.  This installation draws upon many of the themes found in the artist’s previous work, and viewers may be reminded of the numerous tongue in cheek sculptures Cattelan has already exhibited at the Vienna Secession; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt; Kunsthalle Basel; MoMA and MoMA PS 1, New York; Museum Fridericianum, Kassel; The Tate Gallery, London; and Moderna Museet, Stockholm. (more…)