Lisa Yuskavage, Déjà Vu (2017) via Art Observed

On view at David Zwirner Gallery‘s London exhibition space, now through July 28th, is a new series of new paintings by Lisa Yuskavage.  Often associated with the re-emergence of figuration in contemporary painting, Yuskavage’s work is noted for its psychedelic, colorfully vibrant style, and its often sexually-charged subject matter. Her paintings embody a unique genre of portraiture—a blending of imagined and contemporary subjects set against classical tropes and icons of human sexuality. In this series, Yuskavage draws upon the world of American hippies, where slinky, bodacious women lounge about and cavort with semi-nude men. It is worth noting that while the hyper-sexualized women remain the dominant characters, the inclusion of men in her work is a fairly new departure for Yuskavage. (more…)

‪‬Collectors Michael Hort and wife Susan discuss with Forbes their collecting style, which includes works by Richard Prince, Marlene Dumas, Lisa Yuskavage, Cindy Sherman, Kehinde Wiley, and John Currin, as well as their Rema Hort Mann Foundation

(more…)

Paul McCarthy, Cultural Gothic (1992). All photos on site for Art Observed by Caroline Claisse.

Art Observed was on site for the private Tuesday evening preview of the Rubell Family Collection/Contemporary Arts Foundation show American Exuberance. Throughout 28 gallery spaces in a 45,000 sq ft museum, 190 works by 64 artists explore the American condition today through art, dissecting the paradoxical arenas of culture, economics, and politics. A 244-page catalog includes written commentaries by 13 of the artists from the notable roster, as follows: Thomas Houseago, Richard Jackson, Rashid Johnson, Nate Lowman, Richard Prince, Sterling Ruby, Haim Steinbach, Ryan Trecartin, and to name a few. About a quarter of the works were made in 2011 specifically for the show.  Also, Art Observed returned the next morning on Wednesday for Jennifer Rubell’s 11th annual breakfast, which is presented every morning throughout the week, treats visitors to a small jar of fresh yogurt, to be ‘anointed’ with honey dripping from the ceiling.

Collecting dripping honey at Jennifer Rubell’s Incubation yogurt and honey breakfast.

(more…)

The Mound (2011), left. Triptych (2011), right.

Lisa Yuskavage is currently showing her third solo exhibition at David Zwirner Gallery. In a mix of early French Impressionism (a la Manet) and Dali-esque Surrealism, Yuskavage captures the languid, voluptuous figures of the female body through a feminist lens. The artist also takes on themes of landscape, time, and plot, in a way that extends her visual resonance.

Art Observed on site for the opening

More text and images after the jump…
(more…)

Lisa Yuskavage, Walking the Dog, 2009, oil on linen, 77 x 65 inches, 195.6 x 165.1cm, courtesy of Greengrassi Gallery.

Currently on view at Greengrassi Gallery in London is a solo exhibition of oil paintings by Lisa Yuskavage. This show is Yuskavage’s fourth, solo exhibition at Greengrassi. A new series of paintings are featured depicting realistic, yet often exaggerated, sexualized female figures set in whimsical interiors and landscapes. The fictional world created by the juxtaposition of highly erotic figures in such fantastical environments establishes an unsettling mood.

Lisa Yuskavage, Piggyback Ride, 2009, oil on linen, 60 x 50 inches, 152.4 x 127 x 5.1cm, courtesy of Greengrassi Gallery.

More text and images after the jump…

(more…)

–>
Exhibition view, “The Female Gaze: Woman Look at Women,” at Cheim & Read. Pictured works include Victoria Civera’s Searcher (far left) and Vanessa Beecroft’s Blonde Figure Lying (floor).

Through September 19, 2009, Cheim & Read will show “The Female Gaze: Women Look At Women.”  Featured are works by women of women, with aim to reorient the typically-male framing of women in art.  Works range in medium from the paintings of Alice Neel and Lisa Yuskavage to the sculptures of Kara Walker, the text poems of Jenny Holzer and the photographs by Diane Arbus, the installations by Louise Bourgeois and even collage work by Ellen Gallagher.

Related links:
–>
Cheim & Read – Exhibition – The Female Gaze [Cheim and Read]
–>
Now Hanging: Girlie Show [The Moment Blog, New York Times]
–>
The Female Gaze, The Cheim and Read Gallery, New York [Financial Times]
–>
The Female Gaze: Women look at Women [Artforum]
–>
“The Female Gaze: Women Look at Women” at Cheim & Reid [Contemporary Art Daily]

–>
Cindy Sherman, Untitled, at Cheim & Read.

(more…)

Jenny Saville’s Hyphen, 1999, part of Paint Made Flesh at The Phillips Collection.

“Paint Made Flesh,” a series of 43 oil paintings that focus on the human body, is showing at The Phillips Collection through September 13.  Featured artists incude Pablo Picasso, Leon Golub, Ivan Albright, Cecily Brown, David Park, Philip Guston, and more.  “At times when figure painting was considered outdated,” comments Assistant Curator Renee Maurer, these and other artists included in the show “continue to explore the expressive potential of the painted human body.”

Related links:
Current Exhibitions at the Phillips Gallery
Paint Made Flesh
“Paint Made Flesh” Survey opens at The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC [Art Knowledge News]
“Paint Made Flesh” Is More Than Skin-Deep [Washington Post]
“Paint Made Flesh” : Modern Bodies, Naked Eyes [NPR]

John Currin, Hobo (1999), via NPR.

(more…)

Currently on view at Sotheby’s New York for the first time and for a short time only is a selection of works from the collection of Steven and Alexandra Cohen.  The exhibition consists of twenty pieces by masters of the modern period, such as Picasso, de Kooning and Warhol, and leading contemporary artists, dealing with women as subject matter.   Other artists represented in Women are: Edvard Munch, Paul Cézanne, Henri Matisse, Amedeo Modigliani. Robert Rauschenberg and Susan Weil, Yves Klein, Gerhard Richter, Cindy Sherman, Lucian Freud, Richard Prince, Marlene Dumas and Lisa Yuskavage.

Sotheby’s New York
–>
Women: A Loan Exhibition from the Collection of Steven and Alexandra Cohen
–>
1334 York Ave, New York,
–>
10th floor
–>
April 2 – April 14, 2009

RELATED LINKS

Exhibition Page and Press Release [Sotheby’s]
–>
NY Times Carol Vogel Previews the Exhibition [New York Times]
–>
Steven Cohen’s Rise as a Collector [The Independent]
–>
MAO Critiquing Cohen’s Motives [MAO]
–>
NY Mag Examines Cohen’s Motives [New York Magazine]
–>
The Exhibition in the Light of the Art Market [Wealth Bulletin]
–>
Speculations on the Exhibition [ArtForum]
–>
Speculations on the Exhibition II [ArtInfo]
–>
Speculations on Cohen’s Motives [Bloomberg]
–>
Exploring Cohen’s Motives [Luxist]
–>
Preview of the Exhibition [Bloomberg]

(more…)

Le Repos (1932) by Pablo Picasso, via Artnet

Steven Cohen, founder of prominent hedge fund SAC Capital, and his wife Alexandra have lent Sotheby’s 20 artworks valued at $450 million worth of art from their very substantial collection. The works will be displayed from April 2nd to April 14th at Sotheby’s New York headquarters, and will revolve around the female form and its portrayal from 1890 to the present. The exhibition is not tied to a sale, and is entitled Women.

Women III by Willem de Kooning, Turquoise Marilyn by Andy Warhol, Madonna by Edvard Munch, and Le Repos by Pablo Picasso will be amongst the pieces on display, alongside paintings by more contemporary artists such as Lisa Yuskavage and Marlene Dumas.  Cohen bought the de Kooning from David Geffen for $137 million, spent $80 million to acquire Turquoise Marilyn from Stefan Edlis, and acquired the Picasso at auction for $34.7 million.

Cohen and his wife are avid collectors, and have accumulated one of the most significant collections of 20th century art in the world, according to Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art. Cohen is known for owning a formaldehyde-enclosed shark by Damien Hirst, currently on loan to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and has been steadily expanding his collection over the last ten years, buying works by major artists.

In a statement released through Sotheby’s, Mr Cohen remarked: “Our collection has not been curated before. It will be an exciting experience for us.”

SAC Capital has also become one of the larger shareholders of Sotheby’s, accumulating a 5.9% stake after its share price has collapsed over the past 6 months due to lackluster results.

SAC Capital’s Steve Cohen Lends Sotheby’s 20 Artworks [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s investor to show collection [Financial Times]
Hedge fund manager Steve Cohen puts £320m art collection on show [Telegraph UK]
The tycoon who loved women so much he spent $700m on them[Independent UK]
Why’s Steve Cohen Showing Sotheby’s So Much Love? [New York Magazine]
Sotheby’s to Show Works From Cohen Collection [ArtInfo]

(more…)

Lisa Yuskavage’s second solo show with David Zwirner Gallery opened on February 19th in Chelsea, the first of three Zwirner openings over the next two weeks.  Yuskavage, a graduate of Yale’s illustrious MFA program, is a certified art star: she’s been profiled in mainstream press like Vanity Fair and W, and her work is collected by the likes of Charles Saatchi and Jean-Pierre Lehmann. In addition to her current solo exhibition at David Zwirner, Lisa Yuskavage is part of two group shows in early 2009: “Diana and Actaeon: The Forbidden Glimpse of the Naked Body” at the Stiftung Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf, Germany and “Paint Made Flesh” at the The Frist Center for the Visual Arts, Nashville, TN.

The World’s Best Ever: Lisa Yuskavage at David Zwirner
Exhibition page: Solo show by Lisa Yuskavage
Profile: Lisa Yuskavage at David Zwirner Lisa Yuskavage
Previously on ArtObserved: AO Roundup: 2008 Frieze Art Fair, Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips London Auctions Lisa Yuskavage New P

Lisa Yuskavage New Paintings at David Zwirner
533 West 19th Street, New York, NY
Open Tues – Sat, 10am to 6pm

more after the jump… (more…)

Duane Hanson’s “Flea Market Lady” staffs Emmanuel Perrotin’s booth at Frieze via New York Magazine

In the midst of perhaps the most spectacular global financial and credit market cave-ins ever experienced, The Frieze Art Fair in London, one of the three largest contemporary art fairs, felt a slowdown in some attendance indicators, sales volume and pricing; a harbinger of similar buyer sentiment reflected in anemic sales totals from all of the three major contemporary art auctions that followed in London over the weekend from Sotheby’s, Phillips and Christie’s respectively. In light of the true magnitude of the global wealth disrupted in recent weeks, overall, the output of the Frieze art fair and the concurrent contemporary art auctions likely could have been worse. The following is a roundup of the news and images looking back from the close of the Frieze fair as well as detailed summaries of each auction.

Takashi Murakami’s “Tongari-Kun” 2004. Though it was headliner of the Phillips Auction on Saturday, it failed to sell. Image via Phillips

Newslinks, images and more on the Frieze Art Fair and on the Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips auctions after the jump…

(more…)