Global contemporary art events and news observed from New York City.
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Damien Hirst video interviewed by TIME about his use of assistants, the origin of the spot challenge, and the meaning of his art overall: “That’s the world. You have these massive polarities and extremes all the time, and I try to make work that reflects that.” [AO Newslink]
Graffiti artist David Choe was paid in Facebook stock options for painting the walls of the first Facebook Headquarters, now estimated to be worth more than $200 million when Facebook goes public. Although the shares were less than .25 percent of the company, the payout may be more than Damien Hirst’s record-breaking $200.7 million Sotheby’s auction in 2008. [AO Newslink]
Damien Hirst at Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea. All photos on site for Art Observed by Elene Damenia.
Damien Hirst, The Complete Spot Paintings 1986-2011, has opened in all 11 Gagosian Galleries in eight cities worldwide: New York, Beverly Hills, London, Paris, Geneva, Rome, Athens, and Hong Kong. It took over two years to amass the 331 works from 150 lenders in 20 countries, and the New York Times reported in December that less than one-third of the displayed works are intended for sale, with prices undisclosed for those that are. 115 of the spot works are on view in New York, with earlier works at the Madison Avenue location, and larger works in the Chelsea spaces. In addition to the artist’s high-profile reputation informing the exhibition, Gagosian has marketed the global exhibition with The Spot Challenge. Inspired by the Golden Tickets of Willy Wonka, enthusiasts are challenged to fill an entire stamp card by visiting every gallery—with valid government-issued ID in hand—and winners will receive a ‘personally dedicated’ signed spot print by Damien Hirst himself.
New York City amateur art dealer pleads guilty for forging authentication papers for fake Damien Hirst prints he had purchased on ebay: “LSD,” “Opium” and “Valium.” Silver reaped and ultimately repaid a total of $84,000, with an additional $20,000 on reserve and $7,000 in taxes. [AO Newslink]
David Hockney criticizes Damien Hirst’s use of assistants, claiming it insults skillful craftsmen [AO Newslink]
Almost 50% of the New Delhi 4th annual India Art Fair (formerly India Art Summit) comes from Western Galleries, including White Cube, Hauser & Wirth, Paul Kasmin and Galleria Continua. [AO Newslink]
Artwork of Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst outperforms S&P 500 in 2011, with new sales records set by Roy Lichtenstein and Gerhard Richter among others [AO Newslink]
Damien Hirst interviewed before his show of 300 spot paintings in 11 Gagosian galleries “‘What would be more appealing … to have made the Mona Lisa painting itself or have made the merchandising possibilities — putting a postcard on everyone’s walls all over the world? Both are brilliant, but in a way I would probably prefer the postcards” [AO Newslink]
Zhang Huan, 49 days nO. 1 (2011). Blum & Poe. All photos on site for Art Observed by Caroline Claisse.
Collins Park, located just outside of The Bass Museum of Art on Collins Avenue just off the ocean, held the Art Public sector of Art Basel Miami Beach 2011, including artists such as Antony Gormley, Glenn Kaino, Thomas Houseago, and Zhang Huan,. The following is a photoset of the works.
Artist Glenn Kainto participating in his Levitating the Fair piece
Allora & Calzadilla, Umbrella and Bell (2011), front; Anish Kapoor, Untitled (2011), behind. At Lisson Gallery, booth J1. All photos on site for Art Observed by Caroline Claisse.
International collectors and art enthusiasts filled the Miami Beach Convention Center for the Wednesday preview of Art Basel Miami Beach 2011. While the maze of gallery booths could seem overwhelming, buyers were able to navigate through for a solid day of sales and works placed on reserve. Larger galleries such as Gagosian, David Zwirner, and Sprüth Magers sold several works and editions thereof. Speaking with Neil Wenman of Hauser & Wirth, “We’ve had a great response on the opening day. In particular for works by Thomas Houseago, Rashid Johnson, Paul McCarthy, Matthew Day Jackson, Richard Jackson—all works sold and all available editions.” Jenny Holzer’s new paintings at Sprüth Magers sold for upwards of $300,000, as well as Condos and Krugers at the booth. Lesser-known galleries were pleased to gain the exposure the fair offers; if not selling right away, interest was high and therefore also prospects for the remainder of the fair. Gallery Arratia Beer said the crowd was very engaged and informed, also saying, “The fair feels very international. It’s also good to see young internationals here too.” The newer Latin American presence was reportedly strong, both exhibiting and buying, as expected in Miami as opposed to the Frieze or FIAC fairs across the Atlantic earlier this year. Celebrities on hand included Julian Schnable, Eli Broad, Brett Rattner, Naomi Campbell, and Sean Combs/P. Diddy.
Larry Gagosian
Entrance D at the Miami Convention Center
Will Ryman’s Roses being installed on Miami Beach. Image via The Art Newspaper.
Art Observed is on site for this year’s 10th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach which officially runs December 1–4, with previews and parties throughout the entire week beginning on Tuesday, November 29th. More than 260 galleries from around the world will be representing over 2,000 artists, not including the several satellite shows taking place simultaneously across Miami, including NADA, SCOPE, Pulse, and the original Art Miami—twelve years Basel’s senior. Attracting 46,000 visitors in 2010, the fair is expanding every year, with various collaborations and special additions celebrating its 10th. The Swiss-based Basel art fair installment in Miami has evolved into something that may have lost some of its innocence from its earlier days but in the end has become the definitive closing party for the art market’s year. There have been many previews and summaries of the fair, the following is our view of the week to come.
Hennessy Youngman, still from ART THOUGHTZ: Relational Aesthetics. Via Youtube.
Youngman will be speaking at NADA Deauville Beach Resort on Thursday at 5 pm.
Painter David Hockney named Most Influential British Artist of all time by other British artists, trumping the Young British Artists along with listed Francis Bacon and others [AO Newslink]
Damien Hirst’s £50m skull ‘For the Love of God’ to be shown in Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern during his first UK retrospective opening April 4th [AO Newslink]
New [s]edition Digital Art Gallery attempts to move art online into a new territory where works are not only sold online but sold only in digital form; works by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Shepard Fairey and others can be purchased for individual cell phone and computer collections [AO Newslink]
Damien Hirst teams up with Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers for a spin bass guitar [AO Newslink]
Jeff Koons and François Pinault with Bourgeois Bust: Jeff and Ilona (1991). Via Art Daily.
Agony and Ecstasy presents 22 selected works from the François Pinault Collection, in its debut Asian exhibition at the Korean SongEun ArtSpace through November 19th. The title of the exhibition refers to a showcased work of the same name by Damien Hirst, as well as the title of Irving Stone’s biography on Michelangelo. Curated by London-based jewelry and interiors designer Francesca Amfitheatrof, the exhibition additionally features Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami and Cindy Sherman. Pinault attended the ongoing exhibition’s opening in Seoul, accompanied by Jeff Koons, among others.
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Damien Hirst Legend (2011) and Myth (2010), via The Guardian
Damien Hirst has moved on to dissecting mythical creatures in his most recent public showing at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, UK, part of a Sotheby’s selling exhibition of monumental sculpture. From Legend, the winged horse with exposed bones and muscles, to Myth, a partially skinned unicorn, Hirst continues his exploration of anatomy, as well as “the relationship between science and religion,” (The Guardian). “It’s kind of like exploding a myth to make it real,” Hirst explains.
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Crowds outside the Grand Palais on the public opening of FIAC, October 21, 2011. All photographs for Art Observed on site by Caroline Claisse.
After two days of previews, FIAC opened its doors to the Paris public on Friday, October 21st. Jill Silverman, Director of Paris/Salzburg-based gallery Thaddaeus Ropac, tells Art Observed that the fair presents “a very good cross section of European collectors.” FIAC is one of the most nationally-focused art fairs, boasting a solid 32% of French exhibitors, whereas last week’s Frieze in London had only 25% British galleries. American presence increased this year with several New York galleries making their debut at the fair: Matthew Marks, Eleven Rivington, Andrew Kreps, Michele Maccarone and Friedrich Petzel. After a 30+year absence, Pace Gallery made a comeback to the fair. Works by seasoned veteran Damien Hirst are exhibited at both White Cube and Gagosian. Anish Kapoor also has work spread across the fair, whose gargantuan installation Leviathan filled the entire interior of the Grand Palais earlier this year. Lisson is showing one of his signature colored concave mirrors in fire-engine red; Kamel Mennour has wine-red, Galeria Continua has green, and Kukje/Tina Kim has purple; all have different price tags. Sales have been strong thusfar; Pace Gallery’s Arne Glimcher told Artinfo, “We had sales right off the bat, it was really fascinating. I hadn’t anticipated this kind of rush, especially in this economy, where Europe is not in as good of shape as America. But I think we have the right artists.” He added, “FIAC is certainly an enormous cut above Frieze.”
Michelangelo Pistoletto, Two Less One (2011) at Galleria Continua
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Damien Hirst designs label for 20-year-old Somerset Cider Brandy as a favor to Alice Temperley, 10 years after being asked [AO Newslink]
FIAC 2011 at the Grand Palais in Paris. All photos on site for Art Observed by Caroline Claisse.
FIAC 2011 (The Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain) opens this weekend in Paris for its 38th year. The international art fair, which boasts an impressive array of 168 galleries from 21 countries, will show the work of some 2,800+ artists. Running October 20–23rd, the exposition comes at the tail end of Frieze Art Fair, drawing artists, collectors, gallerists, and enthusiasts eastward from London. While the focus of Frieze leans toward contemporary, FIAC includes both contemporary and modern, including works from Picasso, Calder, and Matisse. The fair has been building momentum since 2006; Jennifer Flay, appointed general director in 2010, credits this boost to the fair’s move to the Grand Palais, one of the city’s most cherished architectural gems. The fair also expands this year to the Jardin des Tuileries, the Jardin des Plantes, the Museum of Natural History, and other venues around the city. Another innovation, a mobile application (in French) is available through Windows Phone which enables visitors to book tickets directly from their phone, as well as receive realtime news updates from the fair, find exhibitors and artists, and access videos and photos of the show.
Jay Jopling of White Cube, which is exhibiting Damien Hirst’s Where Will It End.
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Yves Klein all photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed
This year marked the 2nd iteration of the House of the Nobleman, a privately sponsored exhibition which took place at the Boswall House, 15,000sqft mansion at 2 Cornwall Terrace, overlooking Regent’s Park and the Frieze 2011 Art Fair. Art Observed was on site for the private viewing. On view were works by Claude Monet, Auguste Rodin, Peter Paul Rubens, Edgar Degas, Max Ernst, Damien Hirst, Marlene Dumas, Yves Klein, Lucio Fontana, Sigmar Polke, Christian Boltanski, Anish Kapoor, Nick Hornby, Matthew Day Jackson, Cecily Brown, Lucian Freud, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Yayoi Kusama, Robert Longo, Alexander Calder, Eugenia Emets, Francesco Clemente, Salvador Dali, Peter Doig, Olafur Eliasson, George Condo, Takashi Murakami, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Gerhard Richter.
Monet, Claude “ Chemin dans le brouillard”, (1879)
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Doug Aitken, Now (2011) at 303 Gallery NY. All photos for Art Observed by Caroline Claisse.
AO is on site in London for this week’s Frieze Art Fair. With 173 galleries selling an estimated $350 million worth of art, a level of anxiety pervades as the week’s results will be indicative of the overall international contemporary art market. Works like Christian Jankowski’s droll The Finest Art on Water and Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine directly comment on the world economic state, while the overall demeanor remains upbeat, with art world moguls and A-list celebrities enjoying the festivities.
Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine (2011), Thomas Dane Gallery
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Dasha Zhukova launches Garage magazine with fashion/art collaborations from Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, John Baldessari, Raymond Pettibon, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Paul McCarthy and Richard Prince [AO Newslink]
