Fred Wilson, Afro Kismet (Installation View), via Art Observed

Currently on view at Pace Gallery’s New York location, artist Fred Wilson has mounted his powerful exhibition Afro Kismet, reprising a work from the Istanbul Biennial that sought shared cultural threads and a refreshed cultural understanding of shared relationships between Africa and the Middle East. Continuing Wilson’s nuanced dialogues with both historical and cultural framing in conjunction with a studied view of both modern and deep history, the show’s trip to New York offers a second chance for viewers to see a challenging and important piece of work by the artist. (more…)

Gallerist Barbara Gladstone and Cindy Rachofsky

November 12th marked Dia Art Foundation’s Fall Gala. The annual event raises funds for Dia’s ongoing projects, such as its current relocation to Chelsea, after a few years’ hiatus.  Co-chair Nathalie de Gunzburg
 was in attendance with her husband Charles and daughter Laura. Other art world attendees included: Robert Longo,Rirkrit Tiravanija, Brice Marden, Marty Marguiles, Barbara Gladstone, Jim Cohan, David Maupin, Andrew Kreps, Gavin Brown, Arne Glimcher, Glenn Ligon, Fred Wilson, Kara Walker, and Lawrence Wiener.

Artist Glenn Ligon

All photos by C. Daleli for ArtObserved

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Robert Rauschenberg Foundation We The People via Art Observed

Curator Alison Gingeras and artist Jonathan Horowitz have teamed up to organize an exhibition at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s new project space in Chelsea which coincides with the upcoming election. Using the famous opening words of the constitution as a framework, We the People explores identity politics and creates a vision of the American demographic that both embodies and contests the categories that politicians and pollsters have used to divvy up the American population in recent years.

Norman Rockwell, courtesy Norman Rockwell Museum Collection ©1943 SEPS

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Marya Kazoun, They were there (2011). All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed unless otherwise noted.

Glasstress 2011 is an exhibition devoted solely to glass, featuring internationally renowned artists, architects, and designers such as Zaha Hadid, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Kiki Smith, Doug and Mike Starn, Fred Wilson, Marya Kazoun, Huan Zhang, and even musician Pharrell Williams. It is one of the official 37 collateral events of the biennale, and also includes a reinstallment of Doug and Mike Starn’s Big Bambú on the roof of the Dorsoduro, next door to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

The walkway of Doug and Mike Starn’s Big Bambú. Image courtesy NYT.

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SculptureCenter’s annual fundraising event, Lucky Draw 2010. All images via SculptureCenter.

AO was on site for Lucky Draw 2010, a spirited annual benefit thrown by SculptureCenter to raise money for its exhibition program.  This year’s event set a new record for the highest gross, bringing in over $120,000 to the non-for-profit arts institution located in Long Island City, New York.

Volunteers moving a work by Kerstin Brätsch and Adele Röder (DAS INSTITUT)

On April 13, 2010, as ticket holders surveyed the offerings and made lists of their top picks, no one seemed to worry that the event’s unlucky date would disturb anyone’s luck.  The room was abuzz with excitement: unlike most art auctions, in this event the order in which the artworks are selected is determined by a lively and suspenseful random drawing.  The ticket price, at $450 a head, draws both novice and experienced collectors.

More text and related links after the jump….
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