Mark Manders, Room with Unfired Clay Figures (2015), via Rae Wang for Art Observed

There’s a distinct narrative arc running throughout the work of Mark Manders, albeit one that’s noticeably obtuse.  Utilizing familiar materials, forms and techniques throughout his work, the artist transposes materials into a conversation with architectural space and time, often winding explorations of the art historical and explorations of human affect into his enigmatic sculptures and installations.  For the artist’s new exhibition at Tanya Bonakdar, the artist returns to his notion of “self-portrait as building,” weaving his personal histories and aesthetic interests into a sprawling installation and series of sculptures that poses challenging questions on the body, force, and art practice in general.

Mark Manders, Dry Figure on Chair (2015), via Rae Wang for Art Observed (more…)

Mark Manders, Room with Reduced Chair and Camouflaged Factory (2003) , via Art Observed

Compiled from over 100 works in the Guggenheim Museum’s personal collection, the current exhibition at the uptown institution, Storylines: Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim, feels like something of a victory lap for the museum, following up on its excellent On Kawara exhibition with an extended show of contemporary works that spans the last thirty years, and which uncovers a broad curatorial focus at the core of its collection.  Emphasizing a nuanced interest in the narrative as a core unifying element for disparately realized works, objects and assemblages, Storylines pulls from diverse practices to portray the often challenging representative missions that contemporary artists set for themselves. (more…)

Jeff Koons, Ushering in Banality, 1988. Polychromed wood. All photos by Christian Saltas, unless otherwise noted.

The Foundation of Arts for a Contemporary Europe (FACE) is a collaboration between five non-profit art foundations: the Deste Foundation in Athens, Greece; the Ellipse Foundation in Cascais, Portugal; the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin, Italy; La Maison Rouge in Paris, France; and Magasin 3 Konsthall in Stockholm, Sweden. Established in 2008, the FACE alliance is dedicated to the promotion of emerging international artists by supporting the production and exhibition of new works. Their first initiative takes the form of a traveling exhibition entitled “Investigations of a Dog.”

Bruce Nauman, Untitled (Suspended Chair, Vertical III), 1987.

The exhibition draws its title from a 1922 short story by Franz Kafka, and the selection of works take up the existentialist themes present in Kafka’s work: disillusionment, humanity, and marginalization. Among participating artists are: Maurizio Cattelan, Roberto Cuoghi, Mark Dion, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Urs Fischer, Fischli & Weiss, Claire Fontaine, David Hammons, Thomas Hirschhorn, William Kentridge, Kimsooja, Jeff Koons, Sherrie Levine, Mark Manders, Paul McCarthy, Bruce Nauman, Martin Parr, Aurel Schmidt, Santiago Sierra, Lorna Simpson, and Kara Walker.

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Gabriel Orozco, Black Kites Perspective (right), 1997, digital C-print, 41 x 51 cm. Courtesy of Marian Goodman.

Last weekend marked the opening of “Thrice Upon A Time” at Magasin 3 Konsthall in Stockholm, Sweden. The exhibition, which runs through December 12, 2010, is the institution’s most comprehensive to date. Curated by Richard Julin, Elisabeth Millqvist, and Tessa Praun, the exhibition draws on Magasin 3’s rich collection of works by established international and emerging contemporary artists. The ambitious show features over 200 pieces of photography, drawing, painting, film and sculpture. Just a week away from the Swedish elections, the opening was filled with political hopefuls and those in the know in Stockholm’s growing art scene.

On the role call are recognizable international names such as Uta Barth, Walter De Maria, Gabriel Orozco, Chris Ofili, Tal R, Gerhard Richter, Cindy Sherman, Fred Sandback, and Richard Tuttle. Many of the fresher faces are included in Moderna Museet’s fall show “The Moderna Exhibition 2010” opening October 2, 2010.

Sculptures by Danish artist Tal R, Hyacint, 2008, glazed ceramic, 107 x 28 x 34 and 105 x 36 x 49 cm. Photo by Christian Saltas.

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Masters of the Universe, Tim Noble & Sue Webster (1998-2000). All photographs by Oskar Proctor for ArtObserved.

“Skin Fruit,” the much-anticipated, Jeff Koons­-curated exhibition featuring million-dollar works by the biggest names in contemporary art continues at the New Museum through June 6, 2010. The New Museum’s questionable decision to exhibit works from the collection of one of its trustees, Greek billionaire Dakis Joannou, resulted in an art world controversy that threatened to upstage the show itself from the very beginning. When a large mix of celebrities and art-world-insiders flooded the Museum for the opening reception – attendees included Cyndi Lauper, U2’s the Edge, and collectors Don and Mera Rubell – the irony of placing the ritzy collection in a museum that was once championed for its promotion of the underdog was only exaggerated. And the critics responded accordingly. Christian Viveros-Fauné lambasted that the show is totally wrong for our times “in just about every possible way.” According to the exhibition press release, the featured works by Franz West, Charles Ray, Matthew Barney, Richard Prince, Robert Gober, Mike Kelley, Paul McCarthy, Tim Noble and Sue Webster, Kiki Smith, Kara Walker, Maurizio Cattelan, Tauba Auerbach, Chris Ofili, Dan Colen and Terence Koh, amongst others, aim to “evoke the tensions between exterior and interior, between what we see and what we consume” – a curatorial spin critics say was invented in an effort to disguise a “rudderless display of art as trophy hunting” as an art exhibition. While this may be true, Skin Fruit essentially offers the common man an opportunity to view important works from one of the finest and most original collections of contemporary art in the world that have rarely, or never been seen in New York.

Revolution Counter-Revolution, Charles Ray (1990/2010)

Photo-essay and full round-up of links after the jump….
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