Joseph Beuys, Felt Suit (1970), via Art Observed

Beyond his most iconic performance works and sculptural environments, Joseph Beuys’s multiples constitute an entire aspect of the artist’s practice rarely seen as a complete series of works.  While some of his more iconic small-scale works, including Capri Battery or Sled, as well as his prints and drawings have become iconic entries in the artist’s elusive, and often enigmatic creative history, the works have rarely been presented as a complete series. (more…)

Dealer Virginia Dwan, who earned a reputation for her ongoing support and collection of a number of pioneering “Land Art” works during the 1960’s and 70’s, has pledged the donation of 250 works from her collection to The National Gallery in Washington.  Among the works donated are Marcel Duchamp’s iconic recreation of the Mona Lisa with a mustache drawn on, and Michael Heizer’s Double Negative, a monumental piece in the Nevada desert.  “I want the collection to have the largest audience of people possible, not just art world types who have a to-do list.”  Dwan commented. (more…)

A number of wall drawings and other works by Sol LeWitt are set to open this fall, including an installation of Wall Drawing #599: Circles 18 at the Jewish Community Center on the Upper West Side, and an exhibition of the artist’s wall drawings at Paula Cooper Gallery in Chelsea.  “It is an opportunity to make art accessible for all ages, from strollers to wheelchairs, toddlers to people in their 90s.”  Says JCC executive director Rabbi Joy Levitt. (more…)

Troy Brauntuch, State Trooper (2013), via Petzel Gallery

Chelsea’s Petzel Gallery is currently presenting a pair of new exhibitions examining the process of art creation and photography, as explored in the works of artist’s Troy Brauntuch and John Stezaker.  Taking notably distinct, attentive approaches to the photographed image, these two artists present new entries into well-established bodies of work, while adding new wrinkles and conceits to their practice. (more…)

Out of Memory (Installation View), courtesy of Marianne Boesky Gallery

Marianne Boesky Gallery is currently hosting a group exhibition titled Out of Memory, curated by Eleanor Cayre and including works by artists: AIDS-3D, Cory Arcangel, Nicolas Deshayes, Aleksandra Domanovic, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Louis Eisner, Roe Ethridge, Matias Faldbakken, Guyton/Walker, Yngve Holen, Alex Israel, Rashid Johnson, Josh Kline, Mark Leckey and many more, exploring ideas of production and presentation in a post-digital society.
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Dan Flavin (Installation View) via David Zwirner

The inaugural show at David Zwirner’s spacious new location on W. 20th Street in Manhattan is a pairing of two of minimalism’s major figures and long-time friends, Donald Judd and Dan Flavin.  Given the size of the new location, with its towering ceilings and ample floor space, the show is sparese in both form and quantity, containing 8 illuminated frameworks by Flavin and 5 welded steel boxes by Judd.

Donald Judd, untitled (1991), via David Zwirner

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Wim Delvoye, Oeuvres Choisies (1988-2011) (Installation View), via Galerie Guy Bartschi

This month, Galerie Guy Bärtschi in Geneva, Switzerland presented a solo show of works by Belgian neo-conceptual artist Wim Delvoye, running through March 15th, 2013.  Exploring a broad selection of the artist’s work, from his bold reinterpretations of classical symbolism to more contemporary iconography and satire, the show illustrated Delvoye’s broad practice, as applied towards the analysis of meaning and value in contemporary and classical art.

Wim Delvoye, Viae Crucis – Station XIV. Jesus Is Laid In The Tomb (2006), via Galerie Guy Bartschi (more…)

It was 100 years ago this week that the first Armory Show brought the avant-garde of Europe to the United States, turning conceptions of painting and art-making on its ear.  Lasting only four weeks, the show offered American art-goers some of the first glimpses of work by Picasso, Edvard Munch, Duchamp, and many more.   (more…)

Sol LeWitt, Cut Torn Folded Ripped (Installation View), via James Cohan

A pioneering force in post-war American art, Sol LeWitt’s geometric explorations of space, image and meaning was foundational in the development of both the conceptual and minimalist schools of artistic practice.  Perhaps most famous for his “wall drawings,” the artist also explored a range of paper and sculptural techniques over the course of his career.

Sol LeWitt, A Square of Chicago without a Circle and Triangle (1979), via James Cohan

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Richard Artschwager – Exclamation Point (Chartreuse) (2008), courtesy The Whitney Museum

As the work of Richard Artschwager dances in and out of familiarity, taking the commonplace forms of our everyday existence, the artist reshapes them into something foreign – just outside of the viewer’s descriptive vocabulary.  Now, after four decades of work in sculpture, painting and drawing, Artschwager’s work is the subject of a large-scale retrospective at the Whitney Museum in New York City. (more…)

Robert Irwin – Dotting the i’s & Crossing the t’s: Part II (2012), Courtesy Pace Gallery

A pioneer of the Light and Space movement in 1960s Los Angeles, Robert Irwin made monumental contributions to the conceptual art practice, bringing considerations of interrelation, perception, condition and experience into the broader art lexicon.  Continuing an ongoing exploration of Irwin’s 40-year career, the Pace Gallery in New York is currently hosting a large-scale exhibition of new works.

Robert Irwin –Dotting the i’s  & Crossing the t’s: Part I (2012), Courtesy Pace Gallery (more…)

Image: Eleanor Antin – 100 Boots Facing the Sea, Del Mar, California. February 9, 1971, 2:00 p.m. (1971-1973), via Brooklyn Museum

In 1973, art critic and curator Lucy R. Lippard published Six Years, a defining book that catalogued and described the emerging field of conceptual art during the years 1967-1972.  Widely read and referenced as a fundamental exploration into Conceptual Art and the new aesthetic vocabulary that it contributed to the artistic lexicon, Lippard’s book has become an iconic document in the shifting artistic focuses of the 20th and 21st century.

The Brooklyn Museum has opened the door for a new reading of Lippard’s fundamental text, assembling a a vast array of artists championed in her writing. The exhibition provides a vantage point for understanding how Lippard’s perceptive thesis opened the door to new approaches in curating, engagement and criticism.

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