Pierre Huyghe, After ALife Ahead (2017), via Art Observed

Placing monumental works and nuanced environmental engagements across the city of Münster once each decade, the Skulptur Projekte touched down in the city again this summer,  spreading its wings over the German city for its fifth edition. Offering yet another take on the massively-scaled European art festivals, biennials and other curated events, Münster’s entry in this summer’s calendar is noteworthy in its engagement with the city itself. Embracing the location-sensitive capabilities of sculpture and public art, Skulptur Projekte welcomes meditations on what art might be capable of when inserted into the fabric of daily life, presenting a city where nuanced, conceptually-rich pieces of art can be encountered and experienced at almost any turn. (more…)

Jeremy Deller (curator), “Love is Enough” installation view (2014). via Modern Art Oxford

In Love is Enough at Modern Art Oxford, artist Jeremy Deller brings together the work of William Morris and Andy Warhol, two renowned artists from vastly disparate eras who served as something of artistic icons of their respective generations.  Drawing on a uniquely perceptive appreciation of both artists, Deller has created a seamless installation that shows a conversation across centuries over the accessibility of art and its purpose in countering the harshness of industrialism. (more…)

Jeremy Deller, English Magic (2012),  All images courtesy of Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Jeremy Deller’s English Magic has come to the United States this summer.   The artist’s video and installation work, created specifically for the British Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale, addresses British society and politics through a complexly intertwined mythology and cultural iconography.  It’s the latest participant in the Hirschhorn’s Directions series, an on-going program which has been running since 1979, and which has seen the likes of Tacita Dean, Juan Munoz and Pipilotti Rist bringing works to the Hirshhorn, aiming to engage with emerging and established artists showcasing both new and old works. (more…)

British Pavilion (Installation view) 2013

With the impressively well-stocked selection of pavilions at this year’s Biennale, the United Kingdom has turned to Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller to represent the country, presenting a complexly layered thematic exhibition titled English Magic.  Best known for his restaging of the miners’ strike battle of Orgreave in 2001, his 2009 road trip though America with a car wrecked by a bomb in Iraq, and his 2012 touring bounce house version of Stonehenge, Deller has brought his controversial, political resumé to bear on the largest stage for his country’s creative reputation, creating a visually aggressive criticism of modern wealth.

Jeremy Deller, St. Helier on Fire 2017, British Pavilion 2013

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The British Council, which is overseeing Jeremy Deller’s Great Britain pavilion at the Venice Biennale, has removed a banner from the exhibition, which reads “Prince Harry Kills Me,” after concerns that the message may provoke attacks on British troops in the Middle East.  “We asked Jeremy to reconsider the banner and poster … on the grounds that it could potentially be misconstrued in environments where the British army is currently deployed and perceived to be disrespectful of those who had lost their lives,” a British Council spokesman said. (more…)

FIAC crowds, photo by Tiphaine Popesco for Art Observed

FIAC closed today, Sunday October 21st, with dealers reporting strong sales and a collective sigh of relief that the proposed inclusion of artwork over €50,000 to France’s wealth tax had not passed.  The fair was, by all accounts, well-organized and exhibited an impressive program of young galleries alongside work by established blue-chip artists. This year the fair added exhibition space in the Salon d’Honneur, the newly-renovated upper floor of the historic Grand Palais.  In past years the fair has seen more European collectors, but this year dealers reported sales to many collectors from Asia, Russia and the Middle East as well. The fair was directed by Jennifer Flay.

Marc Quinn, The Origin of the World, 2012, photo by Tiphaine Popesco for Art Observed

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‪‬Turner Prize winning artist Jeremy Deller, who recently created an inflatable, bouncy Stonehenge sculpture, to represent Britain at Venice Biennale 2013, joining the ranks of Lucian Freud, Anish Kapoor, Tracy Emin, and 2011’s Mike Nelson as UK representatives

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Installation View  All photographs are via Gagosian Gallery unless otherwise noted

Currently on view at Gagosian Gallery, 6-24 Britannia street, London is the exhibition titled “Crash, Homage to J.G. Ballard” , a group show dedicated, as the name suggests, to the oeuvre of J.D. Ballard, a prominent British novelist and short-story writer, a representative of the New Wave movement in science fiction.  The exhibition was put together to pay tribute to the enormous cultural influence of J.D. Ballard’s fiction on many visual artists. The impressive selection of works by  such prominent artists as Ed Ruscha, Richard Hamilton, AndyWarhol and Helmut Newton illustrates profound engagement of the writer with the works of visual artists of his generation and their mutual influence.

More images and related links after the jump….
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Untitled (Grey and Brown) (1991) by Fiona Rae, via Tate Britain

Currently on display at Tate Britain “Classified” presents a collection of the Tate’s newest additions featuring the work of British artists such as Damien Hirst, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Jeremy Deller and Tacita Dean. The exhibit will highlight new acquisitions which will be on display for the the first time such as Jake and Dinos Chapman’s Family Collection (2002) and two works from Damien Hirst’s recent gift to Tate: The Accquired Inability to Escape (1991) and Life Without You (1991).

Exhibition Page
Art at Tate Britain: it’s classified [The Guardian]
Damien Hirst v. the Chapmans at Tate Britain [The Guardian]
Culture Minute Video: Classified at Tate Britain [The Telegraph]
Classified: Contemporary Art at Tate Britain [Fadwebsite]

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