Mingus in Mexico (1990). © David Salle, VAGA, NY courtesy of Skarstedt, NY.

Now through June 23, 2018, Skarstedt Gallery presents David Salle: Paintings 1985-1995, a selection of some of the artist’s most significant bodies of work highlighting a particularly prolific and experimental period of Salle’s career. The celebrated master of postmodern composition is known especially for his use of photography and collage in his paintings to deconstruct existing imagery, integrating everything from advertisements to post-war American art into his work, earning his classification among other artists of the ‘70s and ‘80s “Pictures Generation”, whose concerns largely centered on the changing status of the image in the era of mass media. (more…)

David Salle has published a collection of his essays and writings on art, written during the past several years in conjunction with his painting work.  “I like the challenge of finding a verbal equivalent for certain states of looking,” he says, “and taking apart what it is someone made.” (more…)

Carroll Dunham, Mound A (1991-1992), via Art Observed

Flexing his curatorial muscle at both Skarstedt Gallery locations in New York, David Salle has compiled an intriguing collection of recent paintings by a vastly diverse group of artists, and examines their shared interests in the grounds of abstract painting: formal concerns of size, scale and focus, in combination with the compositional elements of color, contrast and hue. (more…)

Cindy Sherman, Untitled #138 (1984), via Skarstedt Gallery

Skarstedt Gallery is currently presenting the retrospective 1980’s Revisited, revisiting the works, theories and artists that helped to define the dynamic decade in contemporary art.  Fetauring works by Carroll Dunham, Jenny Holzer, Mike Kelley, Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, David Salle and Cindy Sherman, the show highlights the varied and often conflicting artistic styles of the time, particularly in the newly developing approaches of Appropriation, Neo-Expressionism, and Graffiti.  The 1980’s were a controversial decade for the art world, a period of active boundary breaking by artists looking to challenge contemporary society.

Jeff Koons, One Ball Total Equilibrium (1985), via Skarstedt Gallery

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David Salle/ Francis Picabia (Installation View), via Galerie Thaddeus Ropac

Currently on view at Galerie Thaddeus Ropac’s Marais location in Paris is a trans-Atlantic exhibition, featuring the works of David Salle and Francis Picabia, and focusing on a dialogue between the US-born Salle’s contemporary paintings and the French surrealism of Picabia. (more…)

All photos by Art Observed by Aubrey Roemer

The “Third and a half” Brucennial opened last night in New York City, the 2012 edition titled, “Harderer. Betterer. Fasterer. Strongerer.” At 159 Bleecker Street, the high-ceilinged art-filled space reached its capacity of 15,000—with a line around the block—shortly after opening its doors at 6 PM. Organized by the anonymous Bruce High Quality Foundation and Vito Schnabel, a large main room, balcony, and basement, were covered with paintings, sculptures, video-works, and other installations by artists both established and less so. Running the gamut from friends of the Bruces to a Damien Hirst spot painting, exhibiting artists of note include Mike Kelley, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Sigmar Polke, Julian Schnabel, Anselm Reyle,  Francesco Clemente, Aurel Schmidt, Dan Colen, David Salle, George Condo, Rashid Johnson, Dash Snow,  Terence Koh,  Richard Prince, Joseph Beuys, Scott Campbell, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Tom Sachs, Andy Warhol (collaboration), and Dustin Yellin.

Francesco Clemente

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David Salle No Hard Feelings (2011), via Maureen Paley, London.

David Salle recently opened his first solo show at London’s Maureen Paley Gallery, and his first solo show in London in more than eight years.  In this exhibition the well-known and influential Salle presents a number of new paintings and older photography works.  The paintings are large in size, while the photographs are smaller; positioned in Paley’s expansive space, the works clearly display the breadth of Salle’s varied thematic and technical language.

More text and images after the jump… (more…)

Time is a Frame (2010) by David Salle, via Mary Boone Gallery

Installation view, Brucennial 2010: Miseducation (image courtesy of The New York Times)

Thought you missed your chance to see what the artist group known as the Bruce High Quality Foundation claims to be “the most important survey of contemporary art in the world. Ever.”? Fear not – the Brucennial 2010: Miseducation has been extended until May 22.

The exhibition’s opening in February was greeted with snow, but visitors were not deterred by the weather, and the entry line extended far beyond the block. Boasting to exhibit 420 artists from 911 countries working in 666 disciplines, the Brucennial 2010 is not to be missed. The BHQF, as they are called, were a highlight in this year’s Whitney Biennial. Their video installation piece entitled “We Like America and America Likes Us” featured a 22-minute video projected onto the hood of a white hearse.

We Like America and America Likes Us by Bruce High Quality Foundation

Along with celebrated artists the likes of David Salle, Francesco Clemente, Ron Gorchov, George Condo, Donald Baechler, James Nares, Rita Ackermann, and Julian Schnabel, hang works by younger artists without privileged connections. To make sense of the chaos, use, as your map, Hyperallergic’s piece-by-piece guide to the works in the exhibition.

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L: Barbara Kruger, Untitled (He entered shop after shop…), 2008 R: Eric Fischl, Rebirth I: (The Last View of Camiliano Cien Fuegos), 1986. All images courtesy of Haunch of Venison, New York.

On view at Haunch of Venison New York, until May 1, 2010, is “Your History Is Not Our History.” Organized by artists David Salle and Richard Phillips, this group show presents works produced in 1980s New York City.

Including works by Donald Baechler, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Ross Bleckner, Francesco Clemente, Carroll Dunham, Eric Fischl, Robert Gober, Jeff Koons, Barbara Kruger,Louise Lawler, Sherrie Levine, Malcolm Morley, Richard Prince, David Salle, Julian Schnabel, Cindy Sherman, Laurie Simmons, Jenny Holzer, Phillip Taaffe, Terry Winters and Christopher Wool, this exhibition seeks to convey “a more accurate portrayal of the energy and experimentation that was permeating the city during that time,” says Phillips.

L: Christopher Wool, Untitled, 1988   C: Jeff Koons, Buster Keaton, 1988 R: Eric Fischl, The Old Man’s Boat & The Old Man’s Dog, 1981.

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Jonathan Meese, “mutter mit roter Brille und roetlicher Perlenkette,” part of “The Figure and Dr. Freud,” a group exhibition on at Haunch of Venison New York.

Haunch of Venison’s New York branch is showing “The Figure and Dr. Freud,” a group exhibition by 31 artists from the last century.  These include past and currently producing artists, from the sculptor Alberto Giacometti to the painter Daniel Richter.  The show, which closes on August 22, focuses on the human figure as the artists have rendered it, through the lenses of the late Dr. Freud’s psychoanalytic theories.

Related links:
Haunch of Venison
Sigmund Freud [freudfile]

David Salle, “With All Due Respect Sir, We Need Modesty Blaise,” at Haunch of Venison.

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Mirror, Hope Atherton via Rental

Leading art collectors provide works from their collections to a show organized by Claire Distenfeld- a 23 year old curator who came up with the concept of selling works that are “not masterpieces” yet are by contemporary artists with well-established names. The idea was realized quickly, within a few weeks, through Claire’s personal extensive network. Works by artists like Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami, Elizabeth Peyton, Barnaby Furnas, Jack Goldstein, Ingrid Calame, George Condo, John Wesley, Richard Prince, Mr., Marilyn Minter, Marnie Weber, David Salle, Nobuyoshi Araki, Hope Atherton, and Ryan McGuinness are on show through August, 8.

Related Links:
Don’t Panic I am Selling My Collection [Rental]
“Don’t Panic I am Selling my Collection” Exhibition [NYAB]
With Warhol, $350,000 Murakami, Hip Gallery Says: “Don’t Panic!” [Bloomberg]
Don’t Panic I am Selling My Collection- Press Release [Art News]

Untitled, George Condo at Rental via Art News

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Untitled (Four Single Men with Interchangeable Backgrounds Looking to the Right) (1977) by Richard Prince, via The Met

Currently on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is “The Pictures Generation, 1974-1984.” It is the first major museum exhibition devoted entirely to the “Pictures Generation,” a close-knit group of artists concentrating on the self-reflexive and critical principles of Minimal and Conceptual Art.  The exhibition explores how images shape perceptions of ourselves and the world and features 160 works made in all media by thirty artists including Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, Barbara Kruger, Sherrie Kruger, Sherrie Levine, Robert Longo, Louise Lawler, Laurie Simmons and David Salle.

The Pictures Generation, 1974-1984 [Exhibition Page]
The Original Artistic Recyclers [Wall Street Journal]
The Pictures Generation [The New Yorker]
At the Met, Baby Boomers Leap Onstage [NewYorkTimes]
Framing the Message of a Generation [NewYorkTimes]
The Pictures Generation: A Conversation with Douglas Eckund [Art in America]
Preview the Met’s Fab New Show, “The Pictures Generation” [The Washington Post ]

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Sailor (2007) by David Salle, via The Kestnergescellschaft

Currently at the Kestnergescellschaft in Hannover, Germany is “Distance from Nowhere” highlighting the works of American artist David Salle. Since the 1980’s, Salle’s work has been associated with artistic movements such as “Neo-Expressionism” and “Transavantgardia.” His work often defies art historical classifications and is continually characterized by an independent style.Seventeen large-scale paintings dating from 2007 to 2009 are exhibited in Germany for the first time with the addition of six older paintings executed between 1983 and 1998.

RELATED LINKS
Exhibition Page [Kestnergesellschaft]
David Salle: Distance from Nowhere at the Kestnergesellchaft [Artdaily]

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“Tobacco vs Red Chief” (1981-2) by Jean-Michel Basquiat via UBS Art Collectio

A new collection at the Tate Modern in London titled “UBS Openings: Paintings from the 1980s”, which opened last week, centers on Neo-Expressionist paintings, a departure from the minimalist and conceptual artwork that preceded this period. Artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Salle, Alex Katz, Julian Schnabel, and Christopher Le Brun sought to return to historical narratives executed in a vibrant, energetic fashion contributing to powerful results in large-scale, figurative paintings.

The collection draws on works from the reserves of the Tate Collection as well as the UBS Art Collection and includes works such as Basquiat’s “Tobacco vs Red Chief” (1981-2), David Salle’s “My Subjectivity” (1981), Julian Schnabel’s “Humanity Asleep” (1982) painted over a surface of broken plates, Christopher Le Brun’s “Dream, Think, Speak (1981-2) and Clemente’s Self Portrait (1984).  The exhibition has been curated by Matthew Gale, Head of Displays of the Tate Modern.

UBS Openings: Paintings from the 1980s – Tate Modern
Through April 13, 2009

Paintings from the 1980s [Financial Times]
UBS Openings: Paintings from the 1980’s [Tate Modern Website]
UBS Openings: Paintings from the 1980s at Tate Modern [Art Daily]

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