The Central Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, via Art Observed

Spread between above the green lawns and trees of Venice’s Giardini, and the winding streets and canals of the Arsenale nearby, the Venice Biennale’s Central Pavilion has opened its doors for its Vernissage event, kicking off the 57th annual edition of the exhibition, and welcoming visitors to its first open viewings before it opens to the public this coming Saturday.   (more…)

Kader Attia, Reason’s Oxymorons (2015), via Art Observed

Currently on view at Lehmann Maupin’s Lower East Side exhibition space, a series of small cubicles stretch across the room, pulling the viewer through a banally labyrinthine series of pathways.  The piece, by the Algerian-French artist Kader Attia, is accompanied by a series of televisions, each playing a video of a doctor or other professional in psychological treatment, medical history or ethnography, and each discussing the range of medical and cultural frameworks currently in play in both Europe and Africa.   (more…)

A profile piece in the New Yorker this week focuses on artist Kader Attia, and his recent project at the Guggenheim, in which he recreated the  M’zab hilltop fortress in the Algerian city of Ghardaïa from over 700 pounds of couscous.  “Everyone knows that Braque and Picasso were strongly influenced by the tribal, primitive art of Africa,” he says. “This never happened in architecture. We don’t know the influence of traditional architecture on architects like Le Corbusier.” (more…)

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Tragic Anatomies (1996) by Jake and Dinos Chapman, via Artnet

Renowned advertising tycoon and art collector Charles Saatchi, 67, announced today that he would gift the Saatchi Gallery and over 200 works of art to the nation. Located in the Duke of York Square in Chelsea, the gallery will be renamed the Museum of Contemporary Art London in 2012 once Saatchi retires. The works which will be donated total more than $37.5 million and are situated in a 70,000 square foot gallery, one of the largest spaces in the world. Among the works to be donated  include Tracey Emin‘s “My Bed” (1998), Jake and Dinos Chapman‘s “Tragic Anatomies” (1996), Richard Wilson’s oil room (1987), and Kader Attia‘s “Ghost” (2007).

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Quilt by Alexandre da Cunha, and Six Billboards by Angus Fairhust, Art Basel.  Image via Art Daily, AP Photo/Keystone/Georgios Kefalas.

Yesterday marked the end of the most highly-attended Art Basel to date. The 41st annual contemporary art fair boasted 306 galleries from 36 countries, and AO was on site to peruse the work of some 2,5000 artists.  62,500 dealers, collectors, curators, high-profile shoppers, artists, and art appreciators navigated installations, browsed gallery booths, mingled, and enjoyed the city of Basel.  Artists, established and newcomers both, showcased works ranging from Polaroids to performance pieces, paintings to videos, sculptures to large-scale installations.  A social and teeming affair with an obvious commercial edge, Basel’s sales were optimistic.  Picasso, Warhol, Prince, Hirst, de Kooning, Pollock, and other similarly established artists reigned supreme as the focus of this year’s event.  Franck Giraud, a New York dealer, spoke to the New York Times about the lack of prominently featured up-and-comers: “Is it because that’s what the market wants, or is it because dealers didn’t want to take risks? I think it was a bit of both.” Nonetheless, certain galleries used Basel as a platform to introduce new artists and show off their latest signings.

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