Coloring Book, a monumental new sculpture by Jeff Koons, has sold for €12 million euros at a Cannes charity auction that ultimately brought in more than €33 million to fund AIDS research through amFAR. (more…)
Artist Glenn Ligon has created a specially-designed tote bag, for sale to benefit Harlem’s Studio Museum. Based on the artist’s work Untitled (I am Somebody), the bag is co-designed with MZ Wallace, and is available for $225. “It’s always been a favorite text of mine,” Ligon sayws. “When I was approached about an image for this project, I thought the message of that image and its history, and also how it works on the bag when I saw the sketches, that this is a perfect marriage of these two things.” (more…)
The Table Before Dinner, via Art Observed
The Domino Factory was aglow Tuesday evening, as Creative Time took over the space for its annual spring gala, this year held in honor of artist Kara Walker, who is preparing to open her site-specific work A Subtlety at the space later this week. True to form, the gala prominently spotlighted Ms. Walker’s monumental white sculpture, which nearly took up its own place of honor at the end of the dining tables set up in the space. Light streaming in from the long runs of windows on either side of the room gave the statue a pale, golden glow, and served to give a beautiful aura surrounding the guests. (more…)
Dia Fall Gala, atmosphere (during Matmos commission). All images courtesy Dia Art Foundation.
Last Monday’s Dia Art Foundation Fall Gala was a striking affair. Video projections, sound, light-play, chatter, and music gave the cavernous venue its mystical feel, all accompanied by a commission by experimental electronic music duo Matmos, whose performance was reminiscent of a spiritual journey. Even so, the full series of events and installations fell in line with the framework of minimal and progressive art that the Dia Art Foundation specializes in bringing to the public through an array of different channels.
Dinner, atmosphere. (more…)
Robert Wilson, Stargazer Beds (2013), courtesy Matthew Teti for Art Observed
This year’s Watermill Benefit, the annual summer event supporting Robert Wilson’s performance lab in Water Mill, New York, welcomed over 1,200 guests to Wilson’s 8-acre property, presenting over 20 site-specific performances, as well as a silent auction featuring over 100 works. Following this, 700 guests dined under a large outdoor tent to watch the Simon de Pury-led live auction of works by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Luc Tuymans, and Tseng Kwong-Chi, among others, with master of ceremonies Alan Cumming, and appearances by Winona Ryder, Marina Abramovic, and Lady Gaga. Titled Devil’s Heaven, the event showcased a diverse group of performances which differed in content, but effectively came together to produce an ominous and sensual atmosphere as guests followed the prescribed path through the foundation’s grounds, appropriately lit by the setting sun and the fire of tiki torches.
View of Watermill grounds, courtesy Matthew Teti for Art Observed (more…)
As part of a Juxtapoz Magazine-benefit auction for the Ride It skatepark in Detroit, artist Matthew Barney has designed a special edition skateboard, tipped with a chunk of graphite. Part of Barney’s ongoing “Drawing Restraint” series, the design allows riders to literally inscribe their movements across a terrain. (more…)
