Installation view of Adansonias at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris via gallery’s website

Terence Koh, a controversial Canadian multimedia artist, has premiered his first solo show with Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Paris. The enigmatic exhibition cum installation cum operatic performance in two parts distinctly embodies Koh’s ouevre. The gallery is transformed via the artist’s multitude of references to mythology, identity, power, religion, fashion and sexuality. In addition to the time-based pieces Koh presented on October 6th and October 22nd, on display are various objects and wall pieces executed in the artist’s signature white monochrome style. An amalgam of drawings, photographs, and collages document the experimental opera project and reflect the influence of Parisian architecture and sensibility on Koh’s art.

A photograph of Adansonias opera performance staged by Terence Koh and 8 white-clad participants via Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac

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Terence Koh’s ‘Untitled (Urinal)’ on the opening night of ‘KKK,’ photo by ArtObserved

On Saturday, April 4, ‘Koons-Kelley-Koh,’ or ‘KKK,’ curated by LA-Berlin dealer Javier Peres opened at Mary Boone Gallery. The theme of the exhibition is rather loose. In the press release Peres wrote, ‘My purpose in assembling this exhibition was not to emphasize a curatorial message as such, but rather – quite simply – to put three of my favorite American artists side by side. No tricks, no gimmicks, no bullshit, just sculptures representative of each artist’s practice. I hope you enjoy looking.’ The show includes two sculptures by each artist. It does not feature any of Jeff Koons’s recent signature large-scale sculptures, with all but one of the works on the relatively small side. There is, however, a 24-foot-long piece by Terence Koh, a smashed-up urinal glued back together.

Koons-Kelley-Koh [Mary Boone Gallery]
About Last Night… [PaperMag]
Talking With Terence Koh [ArtCat]
Crate of the week (if not the year…) [Fine Art Shipping]
Terrence Koh, Jeff Koons, And Mike Kelley Host An Exibition At The Mary Boone Gallery [Guest of a Guest]
Terence Koh’s Mary Boone Opening [Style.com]

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David Zwirner booth at the Armory, showing Yan Pei-Ming, John McCracken, and Rachel Khedoori.

New York Armory Week 2009 is in full swing, with attendance higher than expected moving into the weekend.  Despite the absence of several blue chip galleries – including Matthew Marks and Lehmann Maupin – the gallerists’ collective mood seems hesitant but optimistic.  177 contemporary galleries are exhibiting in the Armory’s 11th year, along with the addition of a Modern wing at Pier 92 selling more established, less edgy work.

The Armory Show 2009 and the Armory Modern
Piers 92 and 94
12th Avenue at 54th Street
March 4-8, 2009

Armory Opening Party at MoMA.

RELATED LINKS
Sales still down, but spirits are buoyant [Art Newspaper]
On the Piers, Testing the Waters in a Down Art Market [New York Times]
Has the Recession Sparked a New Renaissance? [Guardian UK]
On the Scene at the Armory Preview Party [Style File Blog]
MoMA’s Armory Show Opening Benefit Party [Patrick McMullan]
Armory MoMA After Party [Guest of a Guest]
Now Dealing | The Armory Show [TheMoment]
Window-shoppers Descend on Armory Art Show [NYMag]
What’s Selling (or Not) at the New York Armory Show [NYMag]
‘Creepy’ Bernie Madoff Watercolor Fails to Sell at Armory Show [NYMag]
Dealers Sold on Armory Modern, Collectors Less So [ArtInfo]
The Herd Is Out, but Holding Back [ArtInfo]

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New York and Berlin gallerist Javier Peres, much a part of the success of Dan Colen, Assume Vivid Astro Focus, and Terrence Koh, opines on the “new, new school’ and the ways of the market [NYObserver]
The “serene mastery” of Italian painter Giorgio Morandi [WallStreetJournal] now at showing at the Met [ArtObserved]
In art market layoffs: Damien Hirst cuts up to 17 of the 22 in his studio [GuardianUK] and Pace Wildenstein cuts as well [Blackbook]

The highest priced “antique” on UK’s Antiques Roadshow is a £1m model of Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North [GuardianUK] more here [BBC]
The Museum of Modern Art is armed with a Twitter account [ArtFagCity]
On the heels of his recent no-sale at Phillips, [Art Observed] Damien Hirst is sanguine on the art market: “What goes up must come down” [ArtInfo]
Over 1/2 of the best selling artists of last year were Asian [Independent]
Global art dealer Jan Krugier dies at the age of 80 [ArtForum]

German artist Jonathan Meese via TheMoment

Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter, and Javier Peres as players in the Berlin art scene [NY Times- The Moment]
more Jonathan Meese, headlining Friday at the Journal Gallery, Brooklyn [The World’s Best Ever]
Valuable, yet difficult to execute and display “extreme” art [ArtInfo]
Rothko, Bacon highlight a very British-painter-based fall exhibit lineup in London [Bloomberg]
On “democracy” as a trend in British contemporary art, and how pricing can suffer from it [Guardian]
Deborah Harris is the new managing director of the Armory Show [ArtForum]
Director Sir Nicholas Serota sets 1 year deadline for funds for Transforming Tate Modern project [London SE1]
In more Tate news: 2007/8 acquisition year for the Tate Collection brought a record $111 million – 494 work harvest [Art Daily]