Ai Weiwei, Roots and Branches at Lisson (Installation View), via Art Observed

Ai Weiwei has returned to New York City for the first time since the return of his passport from the Chinese government, opening a quartet of exhibitions across its urban expanses that offer a strikingly deep and varied series of perspectives into the artist’s practice over the past few years.  Spread out across both locations of the Mary Boone Gallery, in addition to a show at Lisson, and one at Jeffrey Deitch Projects, the artist’s selection of works presents a nuanced look at his ongoing investment in the defense and articulation of universal human rights, moving from China, to Syria, and beyond.

Ai Weiwei, Roots and Branches at Mary Boone (Installation View), via Art Observed

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Walter Robinson, The Eager Ones (1979), via Art Observed

Filling the open spaces of Jeffrey Deitch’s reopened space at 18 Wooster, Walter Robinson’s Paintings and Other Indulgences demonstrates the wide scope of the artist’s interest in consumerist desire.  A traveling retrospective first launched at the University Galleries of Illinois State University, Paintings and Other Indulgences features a range of Robinson’s work spanning from 1979 to 2014, each of which address a wide span of pop culture imagery, imagined in the artist’s distinctive hand, ranging from greeting card kittens to Vicks VapoRub.

Walter Robinson, Lotion (1984) via Art Observed

Robinson’s work elevates the kitsch by giving it a frame, yet also highlights the hedonism of contemporary culture.  His process, immortalizing the vulgar and unspoken fragments of American society, evident in particular with his passionate re-creations of pulp novels, renders alluring works as occupied with their power of attraction as they are with their subject matter.  Vibrant and aggressively romantic, the images of these works are saturated with color and posturing desire, a layered approach that speaks in part to his work as both an artist and critic.  After co-founding the magazine Art-Rite in the 70s, Robinson went on to be an editor of Art in America, and a founder of ArtNet.  A well-established writer as regards the New York art scene, Robinson’s editorial eye is evident in the self-awareness of his works.

Robinson’s use of images from popular culture explores the central themes of postmodern art. His reproductions of symbols such as the hamburger reflect only the emptiness of consumerist America, revealing a signifier that is, in many ways, constructed.  The subconscious desires that his work involves lack true substance, and instead reflect the base human wants that sit at the core of advertising iconography.  Robinson’s take on pop art allows the viewer to locate himself within the art, but through a detached, somewhat dehumanized subject, never spilling over into overt brand-centrism or easily read consumer imagery.

While drawing on some of the darker themes of postmodern art, Robinson’s work displays a playful attitude toward lowbrow aesthetics.  The retrospective features several of his spin paintings, which predate those of Damien Hirst by roughly 10 years.  Similar to the rest of the pieces in their bright color and kitschy quality, Robinson’s spin art offers another angle into the purpose of his work.  These examples of abstract painting reveal the artist’s lighthearted approach, which he describes, overall, as “an accident.” Paintings and Other Indulgences displays this same line of humor and context that Robinson rides throughout, invoking pulp, while equally satirizing and elevating the oddities of our consumer society.

Walter Robinson, Ugly Trap (1986) via Art Observed

— M. Donovan

Read More:
Walter Robinson: A Retrospective [Exhibition Site]
An Interview with Walter Robinson in Advance of his Retrospective at Deitch [OhioEdit]
A Man-About Downtown Gets His Due [New Yorker]

Eddie Peake, Head (2016), via Art Observed

Jeffrey Deitch is back in New York.  Following several years of one-off projects, rumored re-openings and pop-up exhibitions, Deitch touched down at his former space at 18 Wooster for good, kicking off his renewed tenure in the building last week with a series of celebratory performances by British-born Eddie Peake.  The artist, whose neon and glitter encrusted works have long been a staple of Deitch’s exhibition program, brought a fittingly enthused atmosphere to the exhibition, as his work Head left a literal mark on the gallery itself. (more…)

Jeffrey Deitch will return to New York this fall at his former 18 Wooster Street space, presenting a traveling survey of the works of Walter Robinson.  “When I found out that [curator] Barry Blinderman had not been able to find a New York venue for his Walter Robinson exhibition, I volunteered that this would be the ideal project to inaugurate my return to my Wooster Street gallery,” Jeffrey Deitch said. (more…)

Jeffrey Deitch will be reopening his famed Deitch Projects gallery space at its former 18 Wooster Street location, Art News reports, with current resident Swiss Institute relocating at the conclusion of its lease.  Deitch is the owner of the building that houses the gallery.  “Swiss Institute has been a fixture of the NYC art community since our founding almost 30 years ago, and we will continue to present exhibitions at our location at 18 Wooster Street until our lease ends,” says director Simon Castets. “We will soon be announcing details about our future plans.” (more…)

Larry Gagosian and Jeffrey Deitch are teaming together for an exhibition during Art Basel Miami Beach this year, bearing the title Unrealism and taking place in the historic Moore Building in the Miami Design District.  “Larry and I have wanted to do a project together for some time,” Mr. Deitch said. “Everything came together.” (more…)

The New York Times publishes an in depth story on Kathy Grayson and  The Hole Gallery, which blends a forward thinking curatorial practice with a vibrant atmosphere. The gallery has charged into an art scene still bemoaning the loss of Jeffrey Deitch’s Deitch Projects space.  “There hasn’t been a gallery like this since Deitch,” said Mike Malbon, of Frank151 magazine. “It’s got a good buzz and a cool, creative vibe. Other art shows, to me, are just stuffy.” (more…)

Nate Lowman

All photos by E. Damenia for ArtObserved

This past Sunday, The Brant Foundation Art Study Center held the opening party and preview for Nate Lowman: I wanted to be an artist but all I got was this lousy career. The exhibition features recent and new work including paintings, collage and sculpture. Also on view on the foundation lawn was the actual White Ford Bronco from OJ Simpson’s June 17, 1994 car chase, and Gang Gang Dance performed. Artists such as Scott Campbell, Adam McEwen, Richard Prince, Kalup Linzy, Kaws and Aaron Young were in attendance, as well as dealers, collectors and museum directors such as Eli Broad, Jeffrey Deitch, Larry Gagosian and the Mugrabi family.

Gang Gang Dance performing

The OJ Simpson White Bronco brought in for the event from Los Angeles

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The New York Times reports on Jeffrey Deitch, highlighting that the controversy regarding the LA MOCA director is not one-sided. While Deitch entered direction of a museum in dire financial straits, he in fact has strengthened its online presence, has presented almost two dozen exhibitions – some groundbreaking – and has hosted successful celebrity fundraisers. However his critics assert that he has appealed to both the public and billionaire board member Eli Broad, while neglecting artists and curators, turning the museum into a “black hole”. (more…)

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles announced that Ari Emanuel, Hollywood power agent and broker, has been elected to its board. The museum also re-elected Maurice Marciano, art collector and founder of the Guess clothing brand. Mr. Emanuel is co-chief executive of the William Morris Endeavor agency and is involved with arts nonprofits, although he is not known to be an art collector. (more…)

Eric Yahnker, Finger (Bush’s Country Style Baked Beans), 2012 via The Hole, New York

LA-based artist Eric Yahnker’s first solo exhibition in New York City, entitled Virgin Birth ‘n’ Turf, opened earlier this month at The Hole.  An irreverent and and visceral exploration of the current socio-political climate, Virgin Birth ‘n’ Turf “provides a mad lab where “I get to swab the inner-cheek and place under a microscope a petri dish of the contemporary American experience in the shadow of another blisteringly contentious Presidential election, analyzing the gray matter and microorganisms which make us tick as well as the flesh-eating bacteria which plague us.”, according to the artist.

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Artists Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe will transform Chelsea’s Marlborough Gallery into a “junkyard fantasy” as part of their latest project, which hosts a grimy subterranean world with elements of sci-fi and squalor, described by Freeman as the debris after “some horrible event had happened and everyone had to evacuate.” Since their breakout work, Hello Meth Lab In The Sun, in 2008, (beginning in Marfa, reiterated in Art Basel Miami and Deitch projects in New York) shows of varying edginess have followed. “Shadow Pool: A Natural History of the San San International,” held at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, was the pair’s most recent solo venture.

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L.A.’s Museum of Contemporary Art has planned a special board meeting for this week after a summer of discontent and upheaval. This comes after Paul Schimmel, the museum’s long time chief curator was forced to resign in June due to tension between him and director, Jeffrey Deitch. Many board members, including prominent artists, have resigned or voiced their dissatisfaction in the wake of this decision, and thus the meeting is critical to unify the board and ensure financial support in the future.

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Following Paul Schimmel‘s June resignation from Los Angeles MOCA, the museum announced it will hire a new Chief Curator, a post it had decided to leave vacant after his departure. The reversal arises from the criticism of the direction the museum has taken since Jeffrey Deitch has come on board as Executive Director.

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Jeffrey Deitch defends the art-historical significance of the exhibitions he’s staged as director of Los Angeles MOCA amid recent criticism that he caters too strongly to a commercial audience.  “What we’re doing here now, it’s on the most serious level,” says Deitch, “It’s as good as any museum in the country.”

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Former MOCA Chief Executive Charles E. Young has called for the removal of museum director Jeffrey Deitch following a tumultuous month that included the resignation of long-time curator Paul Schimmel and artists John Baldessari, Catherine Opie, Barbara Kruger and Ed Ruscha. In an email to donor and influential board member Eli Broad, Young concluded that “I will do anything I can to try to right the MOCA ship, but nothing will work, in my mind, without a new Captain/Director.”

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In a strongly titled article, “A Los Angeles Museum on Life-Support” The New York Times analyzes the recent fall-out and standing of LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art, examining director Jeffrey Deitch‘s role in the recent happenings.

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Amidst the resignation of chief curator Paul Schimmel and artist-trustees Catherine Opie, Barbara Kruger, John Baldessari and Ed Ruscha,MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch responds to recent criticisms in an open letter and also an interview in which he rejects the notion of a more “celebrity-driven” exhibition program. “I believe that an art exhibition can be engaging, fun and deeply intellectually satisfying and serious,” Deitch said. “These are not contradictory concepts in art.”

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Ed Ruscha has resigned from the Board of Trustees at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Following Joh Baldessari, Catherine Opie and Barbara Kruger’s departure over the dismissal of long time curator Paul Schimmel, the board is now with no artist representation. In a letter to museum director Jeffrey Deitch, Ruscha was candid; “My defection may look obvious, but it will be all the better for the museum, which is on a course different than I imagined, but one I hope to support in the future.”

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John Baldessari resigns from the board of MOCA, Los Angeles after the museum’s ousting of chief curator Paul Schimmel, who came into philosophical disputes about the museum’s direction with major benefactor Eli Broad and director Jeffrey Deitch.  Baldessari is the fifth trustee to resign since February.

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All photos on site for Art Observed by Samuel Sveen.

Karen Kilimnick is showing at the Brant Foundation in Greenwich, Connecticut. The opening event occurred this Sunday with a preview by founder Peter Brant and a list of other art world notables such as Jeffrey Deitch, Gavin Brown, Julian Schnabel and May Anderson, John McEnroe, Dan Colen, Nate Lowman, Hanna Liden, Elias Hanson, Rikrit Tiravanija, and Elizabeth Peyton amongst other collectors and members of the press. Backing up to the expansive Greenwich Polo Grounds, the event mostly took place outdoors, under and around a tented table area where visitors snacked on steak frites and lamb roasted within view.

Cell phone video of the festivities

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‪‬Jeffrey Deitch discusses art in his home, famous friends, and how an artist’s work is not a ‘practice’

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Kembra Pfahler and Spencer Sweeney. All photos on site for Art Observed by Samuel Sveen.

E.V. Day and Kembra Pfahler have collaborated on a series of photographs in the French gardens of Claude Monet‘s Giverny estate, displaying the project within a thorough installation simulacrum thereof at The Hole Gallery in New York City. A pebble walkway through tulips and trees, around a lilly-padded pond complete with Monet’s famous Japanese bridge, guided the likes of Jeffrey Deitch, Terence Koh, Spencer Sweeney, Aurel Schmidt, and gallerist Kathy Grayson, among a full house Friday night. A clothed Pfahler—of the Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black (see video)—had an unclothed red ‘Femlin’ in tow, the artist’s strong feminist creature originally inspired by a character of Playboy.com, which happened to fund the entire exhibition.

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LA MoCA director Jeffrey Deitch and Mike D of The Beastie Boys collaborate for magazine Avant/Garde Diaries’ upcoming Los Angeles cultural festival “Transmission L.A.: AV Club” [AO Newslink]

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