Brian “KAWS” Donnelly’s mural, his second major art exhibit in Brooklyn is the latest addition to The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s public art offerings. The mural 3 story-high mural was completed this week, and stands behind a newly-installed, modular bike rack designed by David Byrne, which forms the phrase “Bold wink.” The mural is in bright neon colors and shows the artist’s trademark cartoon forms. (more…)

Talking Heads frontman and cycling advocate, David Byrne, has designed a set of alphabetically-inspired bike racks that are now installed outside the Brooklyn Academy of Music. A special “David Byrne alphabet” was developed due to the fact that normal rack elements do not allow for the creation of all letters. The racks currently spell out “pink crown” and “micro lip,” and BAM states that they “will reach out via social media to its audience and local community to solicit suggestions for additional letters and words to be used for the ever evolving installation.”

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‪‬James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem speaks with David Byrne and John Schaefer at a Gregory Crewdson organized symposium at the Yale University School of Art, proposing musicalized turnstiles at New York City subway entrances

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David Byrne and Pace Gallery set to open Tight Spot, a 48-by-20-foot inflatable globe under the High Line on 25th Street in Chelsea, New York [AO Newslink]

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Country Life, Jack Pierson (2010) goes under the hammer at White Columns Live Benefit Auction, 2010. All photos by Oskar Proctor for ArtObserved.

The generosity was very evident on Saturday, May 15, when a crowd of artists, collectors and other art-world regulars packed into White Columns‘ West Village headquarters for the not-for-profit’s Annual Benefit Auction. Organized by the gallery to benefit their ongoing mission to support and expose emerging artists, the evening showcased a live auction that included work by long-time supporters of the gallery such as Anne Collier, Peter Doig, Adam McEwen, Rob Pruitt and Rirkrit Tiravanija. The live portion of the sale was complimented by a silent auction of work donated by coveted artists David Byrne, Spencer Sweeney, Andy Coolquitt and Joan Jonas, alongside contributions from newcomers such as Amy Yao and Ned Vena.

The top lots from the evening’s live auction were Peter Doig’s Musicians of the British Empire, a painting dedicated to his long-time friend Billy Childish, which sold for $62,000, and Mary Heilmann’s For Malcolm, another of the night’s music-inspired lots, which earned $22,000. Other highlights in the live sale included Wade Guyton’s Untitled, one of the sale’s lots to incorporate a record sleeve, fetched $9,500 and Anne Collier’s photograph of two copies of Norman Mailer’s book ‘Marilyn’ on her studio floor raised $19,000. The remainder of the evening was given over to the silent auction, during which time attendees can jot their bidder numbers on clipboards next to works. The works that generated the most frenzied competition in this section were the contributions of Andy Coolquit, Shio Kusaka, and Tauba Auerbach. White Columns’ famous xerox prints – 11” x 8 ½” prints produced in signed editions of 50 copies – saw great competition, most notable in this category were Ann Craven’s Heart of Gold, Adam McEwen’s Unisex and Elizabeth Peyton’s Flaubert in Egypt (After Delacroix). Another work to be picked up through the silent auction was Nigel Cooke’s title, (2007-08) which was purchased for $6,800, approximately $4,000 over its estimated retail value.

White Columns Director, Matthew Higgs, commands the impressive sale of Peter Doig’s Musicians of the British Empire, Peter Doig (2010) Retail value: $25,000+ Price Realized: $62,000

More images and video of live auctions after the jump…..
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Dirty Brian, Nigel Cooke (2010) Retail value: $2,500 – 3,500+ Opening bid: $2,000

This Saturday, May 15, New York’s oldest alternative and non-profit art space, White Columns, will host a special reception featuring a live auction.  Silent bidding has already begun on many of the works that are currently on view at the gallery on West 13th Street, New York – and a select group of works are to be sold at the live auction, conducted by White Columns director Matthew Higgs. White Columns wanted the works in the auction to be viewed as a curated exhibition, and indeed, the works have been on view for the past two weeks.  Last Saturday White Columns hosted a preview breakfast as part of New York Gallery Week.  Director Matthew Higgs explains, “we think it is important that the donated works have a chance to be seen by a wide public, and seen within the context of an exhibition…as opposed to the works being sold at a one-night only, ticketed event.”

Fallen Angels – Julie London, David Byrne (2010) Retail value: $1,000+ Opening bid: $500

Now entering their fifth decade of operation, White Columns has supported and launched the careers of literally thousands of artists.  Founded in 1970 by Jeffrey Lew and Gordon Matta-Clark, the space is one of the first artist-run organizations  intended to promote artistic communal solidarity. Many of the 75 artists who have contributed works have a historic, or more recent, connection to the organization – emphasizing an inter-generational ‘peer’ philanthropy so inherent to not-for-profit gallery culture. Among the artists who donated works are Peter Doig, Maurizio Cattelan, David Byrne and many others.  Bidders should have the opportunity to acquire choice works at a variety of price ranges. The top lot of the live auction is Mary Heilmann’s For Malcolm – a tribute to the recently deceased London-born impresario Malcolm McLaren, the work is one of a number of music-inspired works that feature in both the silent and live auctions.

As a special feature of the 2010 benfit, Higgs invited more than 30 artists to create a new work that incorporates an existing record sleeve, or to create a work that uses a record sleeve as its point of departure.  in this section include: Nigel Cooke, Brendan Fowler, Wade Guyton, Jessica Jackson Hutchins, Jutta Koether, Josephine Meckseper, Dave Muller, David Noonan, Raymond Pettibon, Jack Pierson, Richard Phillips, Cheyney Thompson, Kelley Walker, among others.

Musicians of the British Empire, Peter Doig (2010) Retail value: $25,000+ Opening bid: $12,500

More images and lot info after the jump…..
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Dash Snow and his daughter Secret via TinyVices

Following Dash Snow’s untimely death early last Tuesday morning, articles such as this one from The Guardian labeled Snow as an “art icon.”   The Independent cited the artist as “a mythical hero of an artistic underworld.”   There was a cynical editorial on Dash Snow from Canada [Toronto Star via Art Market Monitor]   And within 48 hours of Dash Snow’s death, New York Magazine speculated on the market for his work, and later that that his work might be pulled from an charity auction in Watermill next weekend. Terence Koh dedicated a performance in the UK [The Moment] and Brazilian street art duo OS Gemeos dedicated their Houston and Bowery mural to the artist [NYMag] There was an extensive image collection of the artist and his work from Tiny Vices. and finally a eulogy from the artist’s friend Glenn O’Brien [Purple-Diary]

A work by John Baldessari via the Tate

The Tate Modern will launch a major John Baldessari retrospective, his first in the UK, on October 13th [Tate]
Bob and Roberta Smith and Wolfgang Tillmans will be Tate trustees [FAD]

Zevs bombing the Armani store with his dripping Chanel Trademark via SlamXHype

Graffitti artist Zevs arrested in Hong Kong before a major gallery show [SlamXHype]
In related, 3 are arrested for conducting a counterfeit Banksy printing operation [The Art Collectors]

A mockup of London’s Playing the Building installation via David Byrne.com

David Byrne reprises his downtown New York Playing The Building sound in architecture installation at London’s Roundhouse August 8th through the 31st [Roundhouse.org]

The video for Madonna’s ‘Candyshop,’ featuring video by Marilyn Minter via YouTube

Marilyn Minter’s Green Pink Caviar is used as a video backdrop for Madonna’s song “Candyshop” [Artnet]

A rendering of Herzog de Meuron’s expansion to the Tate Modern via World Architecture News

Much publicized plans to expand the British Museum and the Tate could be tabled as funds come into question [TimesUK]
A look at some of the recent graduates and potential YBA’s at Goldmith’s degree show in London [GuardianUK]

Olafur Eliasson speaks about using space and light via Ted

An engaging video of Olafur Eliason speaking about perception [Ted]
The Wall Street Journal has an excerpt from the book Provenance, which documents one of the greatest cons in the history of art forgery [Wall Street Journal]

Lawrence Salander via Bloomberg

Lawrence B. Salander was arrested for the 2nd time for what the Manhattan District Attorney called the biggest art fraud in New York history [Bloomberg]
A video interview with American painter Ellsworth Kelly [The Art Newspaper]

Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova via Fashion Week Daily

According to rumors, Moscow curator Dasha Zhukova and 2008 mega-collector Roman Abramovich have split [Fashion Week Daily]
Christie’s has an iPhone app, offering access to its calendar and catalogs, and soon a live-bidding component [Guardian]

Simon de Pury via Harpers Bazaar

Simon de Pury, chairman of the auction house Phillips de Pury revealed as Judge on the upcoming Bravo/Sara Jessica Parker art-world reality show [NY Times] and video of the around-the-block line in New York to apply to be on the show recently [NYArtBeat]

Shallow, Malcolm McLaren via Rawartint

Creative Time has announced the U.S. premier of the video, Shallow, by Malcolm McLaren of the Sex Pistols. The video is a series of film clips taken from films of the 1960s, all of which contain the moments right before or after sex scenes. The film is going up on MTV’s huge outdoor HD screen the middle of Times Square between 44th and 45th Street. The film will be up through August and plays at the top of the hour, every hour. McLaren’s video is just one of Creative Time’s projects, others include David Byrne’s Playing the Building and Mike Nelson’s Psychic Vacuum.

At 44 1/2 Creative Time presents Malcolm McLaren [Creative Time]
Malcolm Mclaren’s ‘Shallow’ And Creative Time [Rawartint]
Porn-again Times Square [NYDaily]
Malcolm McLaren and MTV Bring “Artful Porn” To Times Square [Exclaim]
McLaren take porn to New York City [ContactMusic

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Playing the Building via Creative Time

From May 31- August 10, the artist and musician David Byrne will transform the landmark Battery Maritime Building in lower Manhattan into a massive ‘sound sculpture.’ The project is being executed with the help of Creative Time, the innovative arts organization known for its experimental public art. Visitors will be invited to ‘play’ the building, making music by controlling an organ that is attached to devices installed throughout the structure.

Playing the Building [Creative Time]
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David Bryne [David Byrne]
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David Plays the Building [Gothamist]
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David Byrne Explains [Fargfabiken]
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Teaching An Old Building New Vibes [NY Times] (more…)