Curator Jeffrey Uslip has left his position at St. Louis’ Contemporary Art Museum, following controversy over a Kelley Walker exhibition many found demeaning and insensitive to the concerns of the city’s African-American community.  “I just think he was operating inside of a bubble without the context of the greater majority of people that are living lives in St. Louis,” local artist Damon Davis said, after he challenged both Uslip and Walker during a public talk on his work. “I don’t think he took them into consideration.”  (more…)

Installation view, Cellblock I, Andrea Rosen Gallery. All photos on site by Erica Simone for Art Observed

The Andrea Rosen Gallery opened Cellblock I at its main space on December 1st, 2012, and simultaneously inaugurated its new, second location–just down the street at 544 West 24th Street–with Cellblock II. Both shows, held together under the theme (and anti-theme) of imprisonment, were curated by the prominent scholar and curator Robert Hobbs.

Robert Motherwell’s Dover Beach III at Cellblock II, Andrea Rosen Gallery

Hobbs is well-known for his work as an art historian and writer. He has been the Rhoda Thalhimer Endowed Chair at Virginia Commonwealth University since 1991, and a visiting professor at Yale University for eight years. He is known as the definitive Robert Smithson scholar, and has contributed seminal writings on many of the artists he selected to show, including Alice Aycock, Beverly Pepper, and Kelley Walker. (more…)

Image: Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild, 1994 via Sotheby’s
Estimate: £9,000,000 – 12,000,000
Sold for: £21,321,250

Sotheby’s just concluded its evening Postwar & Contemporary sale in London on October 12th with a sale total of £44,146,350 ($70,793,087),  the highest total of the three auction houses this week.

Gerhard Richter’s Abstraktes Bild, 1994 from the collection of Eric Clapton set a record price at £21,321,250 ($34,297,363). Alongside this work, the second cover lot of the sale was Yves Klein’s RE 9-I from the artist’s most sought-after series: the Relief éponge, which sold for  £3,737,250 with premium.

Image: Yves Klein, RE 9-I, 1961 via Sotheby’s
Estimate: £2,000,000 – 3,000,000
Sold for: £3,737,250

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Beatriz Milhazes, O Moderno, 2002 (est. $1-1.3 million, realized $1.1 million), via Phillipsdepury.com

Phillips de Pury’s Contemporary art evening sale on Monday night at their new space in the Claridge’s Hotel, London realized $17 million for 27 of 31 lots sold. The sum (which includes fees) fell within presale estimates of $16.4-27.3 million despite the withdrawal of a high priced Cindy Sherman, reportedly because another version of the work sold at Art Basel earlier this month. The equivalent sale last year at Phillips realized just $6 million and nearly half the lots offered went unsold.

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Damien Hirst, I am Become Death, Shatterer of Worlds, 2006 (est. 2.5-3.5 million GBP, realized 2.2 million GBP), via Christies.com

Thursday’s Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening auction brought in a total of 19,585,400 GBP, within the presale estimate of 15.9-22.7 million GBP. The auction had a sell through rate of 86% by lot and 92% by value, with 7 of the 51 lots bought in. While 40% of the lots exceeded their high presale estimates, the featured lot did not reach its low presale estimate. Damien Hirst‘s I am Become Death, Shatterer of Worlds carried a presale estimate of 2.5-3.5 million GBP and sold for 2.2 million GBP.  All sale totals stated in this article include buyer’s premiums and come directly from Christie’s official website or courtesy of The Baer Faxt.

more results and images after the jump…

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Picture Industry (Goodbye to All That), Installation view, Regen Projects II, Los Angeles. All images courtesy of Regen Projects.

Currently on view at Regen Projects, Los Angeles, is the group show Picture Industry (Goodbye to All That), curated by artist Walead Beshty. ‘Picture Industry’ refers both to the physical setting and the conceptual pretext within which the show is presented, with Los Angeles as the focus in terms of both place and content. Included in the exhibition are works by Tauba Auerbach, Thomas Barrow, Carol Bove, Troy Brauntuch, Tony Conrad, Abraham Cruzvillegas, De Rijke / De Rooij, Liz Deschenes, Isa Genzken, Wade Guyton, Robert Heinecken, Karen Kilimnik, Imi Knoebel, Michael Krebber, Glenn Ligon, Erlea Maneros Zabala, Albert Oehlen, Manfred Pernice, Seth Price, Richard Prince, Josephine Pryde, R.H. Quaytman, Eileen Quinlan, Miljohn Ruperto, Michael Snow, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Charline Von Heyl, Kelley Walker, James Welling, Christopher Williams & Christopher Wool.

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SculptureCenter’s annual fundraising event, Lucky Draw 2010. All images via SculptureCenter.

AO was on site for Lucky Draw 2010, a spirited annual benefit thrown by SculptureCenter to raise money for its exhibition program.  This year’s event set a new record for the highest gross, bringing in over $120,000 to the non-for-profit arts institution located in Long Island City, New York.

Volunteers moving a work by Kerstin Brätsch and Adele Röder (DAS INSTITUT)

On April 13, 2010, as ticket holders surveyed the offerings and made lists of their top picks, no one seemed to worry that the event’s unlucky date would disturb anyone’s luck.  The room was abuzz with excitement: unlike most art auctions, in this event the order in which the artworks are selected is determined by a lively and suspenseful random drawing.  The ticket price, at $450 a head, draws both novice and experienced collectors.

More text and related links after the jump….
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“Camp Forestia” (1996) by Peter Doig. Via NY Times.

On view now until early 2010, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has opened the Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection, which was originally acquired in 2005. The exhibit features over 2,500 contemporary works and surveys “various methods and materials within the styles of gestural and geometric abstraction, representation and figuration, and systems-based conceptual drawings.” Artists showcased in the exhibition include Lee Bontecou, Joseph Beuys, Donald Judd, Hanne Darboven, Elizabeth Peyton, John Currin, Amelie von Wulffen, Mona Hatoum, Lucy McKenzie, Paulina Olowska, Nate Lowman, and more.

“Untitled” by Kai Althoff (2004). Via NY Times.

Related Links:
Compass in Hand: Selections from The Judith Rothschild Foundation [MoMA]
Video – Compass in Hand: Curator Christian Rattemeyer discusses the exhibit [MoMA]
MoMA Pushes the Envelope in Works on Paper [NY Times]
Compass in Hand: Selections from the Rothschild Foundation [Art in America]
Compass in Hand: Art Review [ArtSlant]

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