“Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present” trailer released: “The hardest thing is to do something which is close to nothing.”

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Fashion brand Band of Outsiders to present a Marina Abramović-esque performance in an unannounced Paris gallery. A male model will spend 60 hours in a “small compartment built from cardboard boxes and wood planks.”

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‬Award winning documentary “Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present” to premier at NYC Film Forum June 13 and show through June 26.

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‪‬Marina Abramovic to renovate 1929, 20,000 sq ft building in Hudson, NY for the Marina Abramovic Institute for the Preservation of Performance Art, with a six hour time commitment expected from visitors and “long durational” wheelchair/massage chair hybrids (with attendants), Abramovic must first raise $15m

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Gearing up for a performance piece on the fourth floor.  All images for Art Observed by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand.

The festive albeit politically charged atmosphere at the 2012 76th annual Whitney Biennial‘s pre-show event was practically interdependent, with the political climate not only informing the sentiments of viewers, but arguably the art itself. While protesters outside encouraged entering guests to “Occupy the Whitney,” antagonizing Sotheby’s and Deutsche Bank for withholding benefits from workers and developing financial strategies to benefit the ‘one percent,’ art indoors at the biennial also challenged artistic convention against the same political scale, with over 50 artists showing work.

Chuck Close touring the second floor

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Abramović speaking at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2011 about the MoMA-related documentary, Marina: The Artist is Present. (Photo by Caroline Claisse via Art Observed)

This week, Serbian-born performance artist Marina Abramović signed on with Rotterdam-based architect Rem Koolhaus to redesign a historic community tennis club to house her Center for the Preservation of Performance Art (CPoPA) in Hudson, New York. As the name indicates, Abramović conceptualizes the creative space to exhibit long-term performance pieces, which may range from six hours to days on end. Visitors to the Hudson space will be seated in uniquely designed wheelchairs with desks, which can be wheeled to a set sleeping area if the performance piece goes on too long. In addition to the performance art center itself, Abramović is in discussions with Hudson’s local mayor to potentially build a new hotel for the art set. She told art patrons at The Core Club that she will need $8 million to fund the project.

The designated performance art center, via L Magazine

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‪Marina Abramovic hosts ‘Silent Party’ where guests wore mufflers and lab coats without speaking, to coincide with her film showcase of “The Artist is Present” at Sundance Film Festival. [AO Newslink]

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‪ This year’s Sundance Film Festival 2012 includes films on artists ‘Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,’ and ‘Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present.’ [AO Newslink]

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Marina Abramović fielding questions after the preview screening of Marina Abramović The Artist is Present at Soho Beach House. All photos on site for Art Observed by Caroline Claisse.

Marina Abramović was on site at Soho Beach House to present her new documentary Marina Abramović The Artist is Present, which was recently confirmed to show at Sundance Film Festival, and will air on HBO next year. The showcase featured a looping 15-minute preview clip—made while the film was still in production—and between each screening was a Q & A session with the artist and her filmmakers Jeff Dupre and Matthew Akers. Moving from the second floor screening room, a cocktail reception at the 8th floor poolside bar followed. The after-party was attended by the artist herself, along with Dasha Zhukova, magazine editor Jefferson Hack, and Waris Ahluwalia, among others. Both the viewing and the party were sponsored by NOWNESS, an online publication on luxury lifestyle and entertainment. A slide show of fashion, travel, art, and gastronomy was projected by the pool.

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Marina Abramović, Waris Ahluwalia, and friend in the back of Paris Paris. All photos by Caroline Claisse.

The grittier, satellite party to Le Baron, André Saraiva’s ‘Paris Paris’ pop-up karaoke club opened its exclusive downstairs doors Wednesday night. Paris Paris is something of a throwback, taking place in the original home of Le Baron after the latter jumped from the basement of Shelborne to Delano, with a few stops in between. Artists Marina Abramović, Aaron Young, and Nate Lowman, among others, arrived sometime after midnight, a full-band-backed karaoke session awaiting. Featuring mixologist Charles Vexenat’s Pernod Absinthe infused “Green Beast,” Paris Paris remains open through Saturday night, with Saraiva closing out the week with a Sunday BBQ at the Standard Hotel.

Karaoke on the stage

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Will Ryman’s Roses being installed on Miami Beach. Image via The Art Newspaper.

Art Observed is on site for this year’s 10th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach which officially runs December 1–4, with previews and parties throughout the entire week beginning on Tuesday, November 29th. More than 260 galleries from around the world will be representing over 2,000 artists, not including the several satellite shows taking place simultaneously across Miami, including NADA, SCOPE, Pulse, and the original Art Miami—twelve years Basel’s senior. Attracting 46,000 visitors in 2010, the fair is expanding every year, with various collaborations and special additions celebrating its 10th. The Swiss-based Basel art fair installment in Miami has evolved into something that may have lost some of its innocence from its earlier days but in the end has become the definitive closing party for the art market’s year. There have been many previews and summaries of the fair, the following is our view of the week to come.

Hennessy Youngman, still from ART THOUGHTZ: Relational Aesthetics. Via Youtube.
Youngman will be speaking at NADA Deauville Beach Resort on Thursday at 5 pm.

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‪‬Marina Abramović continues to develop her direction of the LA MoCA 2011 Gala, including controversial human centerpieces [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Ai Weiwei to be named WSJ Innovator of the Year in Art, Marina Abramović to accept on his behalf at MoMA award ceremony this Thursday [AO Newslink]

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LA MOCA announces Deborah Harry as headliner for its November 12th gala, which is being developed by Marina Abramovic [AO Newslink]

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Marina Abramović’s ‘The Artist Is Present’ Goes Virtual with Pippin Barr’s New Video Game [AO Newslink]

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All photos by L. Streeter for Art Observed.

At six o’clock on Saturday evening, throngs of guests could be seen gathering at the entrance of Robert Wilson’s art compound in Watermill, New York, awaiting entrance to “Voluptuous Panic.” Patrons of the arts gather here once a year to support the foundations ongoing effort to “provide a unique environment for young and emerging artists to explore new ideas and foster their career development” (via Watermillcenter.org).  Artists  from over 30 different countries living at the estate as a part of the Watermill International Summer Program Residency were asked to create installations and performances overlaying the six acre estate. Guests were invited to wander the grounds and woods exploring the various installations. This year, the attending crowd fit right in with the somewhat manic works themselves; the dress code, entitled “Fearless” allowed for a very flamboyant, almost surreal flock of guests.

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L-R: Willem Dafoe, Marina Abramovic, Antony, Robert Wilson-shot during workshops at Teatro Real, Madrid Sept.2010 via Mif

Life and Death of Marina Abramovic, a piece that blends performance art, music, and theater is on view at the Manchester International Festival (Mif) until July 16th 2011. Resulting from the collaboration between  theater director Robert Wilson, Serbian performance artist Marina Abramovic, actor Willem Dafoe, musician Antony Hegarty, and his group Antony & The Johnsons, the piece is inspired by both biographical data of Marina Abramovic, including her simulated death, and the cultural heritage of her home country. The content of Life and Death is accessible exclusively to the audience who purchase the tickets at the Lowry Theatre in Manchester.

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Marina Abramović speaks. All photos by L. Streeter, Art Observed.

Bomb Magazine celebrated its thirtieth birthday last night on the Bowery- a fitting location for a publication that emerged out of the unruly downtown art scene in 1981. Guest speakers Marina Abramović , Richard Armstrong, Betsy Baker and Francine Prose spoke to the history of the magazine alongside dinner and a silent auction. Guggenheim director Richard Armstrong described eloquently the substance of art media: “As makers of words and images, we need to realize our power. For all of you who make images, who work with words, Bomb is dedicated to bringing those together.”

Michael Stipe and Klaus Biesenbach

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Tiermetabolismus V (Katzchen) by Jonathan Meese at Bortolami Gallery, Art Basel Main Fair, Hall B, Booth I-09.

Art Observed will be on site as of today for the ninth edition of the America’s biggest contemporary art fair: Art Basel Miami Beach which will open to the public on Thursday December 2 and will run through Sunday, December 5.

The main section of the fair will house over 180 galleries and over 40,000 are expected following the December 2nd opening.  Annette Schönholzer and Marc Spiegler are the main fair organizers alongside its main sponsor UBS with Cartier, NetJets and AXA Art as the associate sponsors.  While Art Basel is still the main draw, the NADA Fair (the New Art Dealers Alliance) up the road at the Dauville Beach Resort will open to the public Thursday December 2. It will run through Sunday December 5 and also should not be missed.

Untitled (Art Fair Floor) by Ryan Reggiani.  Kate Werble Gallery at Nada Art Fair, booth 312.

The fair week is notable for its bridging of the Latin American buyers with American and British art centers as well as its uniquely intense amalgamation of social, media, fashion and other spheres of influence into the business of selling art.

The global art market seems to have stabilized this year and the main fair, along with its very significant satellites, should be met with lively buying this round.  Beyond this, all around Miami, the social calendar will be infused with events to the point where there is little chance to avoid regretfully missing something.

A view of an installation by Terrence Koh at The Island, an event during the week (see bel0w).

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Marina Abramović, Portrait with white lamb. 2010. Courtesy the artist, Marco Anelli and Lisson Gallery.

Currently on view at Lisson Gallery London is an exhibition of new and retrospective works by Marina Abramović. The installation showcases videos, photographs, and sculpture, divided in two parts between galleries across the street from one another. In one, her seminal Rhythm series is mounted in its entirety for the first time; in the other, Abramović’s new series Back to Simplicity makes its debut.

Back to Simplicity reveals a somewhat softer side of Abramović: exhausted from her recent 90-day performance at the MoMA New York, the artist returned to nature to renew her energy. Shot in upstate New York, where Abramović intends to open an institute for the preservation of performance art, the recent images are a far cry from the challenging, violent, and provocative work for which Abramović is known. Instead of pills, guns, or other tools of violence, the artist’s new companion is the lamb. As a symbol of innocence, this creature carries with it a gentler, more vulnerable air.

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Marina Abramović. Video still from Confession. 2010. Image courtesy the artist and Lisson Gallery.

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Ragnar Kjartansson, The End – Venice, June 2009, Performance shot, Commissioned by the Center for Icelandic Art. Image by Dave Yoder for The New York Times/Redux, courtesy of the artist, Luhring Augustine, New York and i8 Galleri, Reykjavik.

Currently on view at Luhring Augustine through August 13, 2010 is the gallery’s first solo show of Icelandic-born artist Ragnar Kjartansson. The exhibition offers a video and a room full to the brim with canvases Kjartansson painted during the Venice Biennale 2009. Born in 1976, the artist is the youngest to ever show at the Biennale. Multidisciplinary in his approach, Kjartansson creates with drawing, painting, sculpture, video, and theater. His work taps into not only his own cultural history and the Nordic notions of tragedy, but also the nostalgic history of bygone eras of theater, television, music, and art.

Installation shot. Image by Art Observed.

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Portrait with a Golden Mask, Marina Abramovic (2010) All images via Sean Kelly Gallery.

Currently on view at Sean Kelly Gallery is “Marina Abramovic: Personal Archaeology.”  While the Abramovic retrospective at MoMA recently ended, this show continues until mid-June. Compared with MoMA, the relatively smaller space and the less crowded galleries at Sean Kelly Gallery gives the viewer a chance to engage with Abramovic’s work in a more intimate setting. Personal Archaelogy presents many of the iconic works of this seminal performance artist from the 1970s up until the present day.

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Marina Abramovic, The Artist is Present, MoMA. Installation view with Portrait with Flowers, 2009. All photos by Ipek Irgit for Art Observed unless otherwise noted.

Marina Abramović is notorious for the centrality of her own body within her artwork. True, Abramović’s career can be read as a sort of bewildering physical endurance test, yet this would seemingly belie, a more important relationship than the artist to her own body, but the relationship between the artist, artwork and audience. In the case of her newest performance, The Artist is Present, part of the retrospective of the same name at MoMA, the artist is very much present, but most significantly the audience is present also.  In an interview on the MoMA website Abramović discusses her belief in the essential role the audience plays in performance art, if not all art work, “The work is done for the audience, without the audience the work doesn’t exist, it doesn’t make any meaning.”

Marina Abramovic, The Artist is Present, 2010

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Marina Abramovic and Klaus Biesenbach at Moma

Marina Abramovic gave a lecture Monday evening at the MOMA as a precursor to her major retrospective which will open there on March 14th. Abramovic has had a prolific career as a performance artist, much of her work pushes the boundaries of the physical body in endurance based pieces that posit her body as the art object.  The lecture was introduced by Klaus Biesenbach, director of MoMA’s PS1, as a way for Abramovic to speak before entering into a lengthy period of silence, a requirement for the main performance piece to the show, her longest solo piece ever performed.  She will spend over 600 hours in the museum over a period of three months without speaking or moving.

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