AO Art Observed™

Cai Guo-Qiang “I want to believe” via I Love This World

Cai Guo-Qiang has “I Want To Believe” at Beijing’s National Art Museum for the Olympics [Artdaily]
and the artist was also behind the pyrotechnics at the opening ceremony [art 21]
Electronic band Underworld produces an art exhibition [NYSun]
In the tail of an embezzlement inquiry, Guggenheim Bilbao admits to a $6.17M loss due to the purchase of Richard Serra works in dollars versus euros [The Art Newspaper]
In Bern, Switzerland Paul McCarthy’s work ‘Complex Shit’ - a massive, inflatable depiction of dog feces - breaks from its moorings and knocks out a power line and some windows before crashing into a children’s home [GuardianUK] more here [The Independent]

“Pretty Ugly” at Gavin Brown Enterprise via Art Observed

Art Observed was on site at the opening of “Pretty Ugly” on Thursday, July 10th. The show took place at two neighboring galleries on Greenwich St. in New York: Gavin Brown’s Enterpise and Maccarone.
The show was curated by Alison Gingeras, of the Pinault collection, and featured work from more than 75 artists, including John Currin, Louise Bourgeois, the Chapman Brothers, Paul McCarthy, Takashi Murakami, Alice Neel, Hermann Nitsch, Andy Warhol, Francis Picabia, and Rob Pruitt, just to name a few.

Pretty Ugly: Press Release [Gavin Brown's Enterprise]
Pretty Ugly, Maccarone [Maccarone Gallery]
A Pretty Ugly New York Art Eclipse [Flash Art]
This Week in Art Openings: Totally Rad, Pretty Ugly, and The Shallow Curator [Papermag]
Pretty Ugly [Artlog]

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Untitled, Willem de Kooning (1984) via Artinfo

Sold for about $5.6 million.
Estimate was $2.4 million – $4 million.

The Contemporary Art sale at Phillips de Pury and Company monday had some disappointing news to report when 34% of the lots went unsold. Even some of the top by Xang Xiagang and Paul McCarthy found themselves unable to sell. Damien Hirst, who sold 3 of his 4 works in the auction, managed to barely meet his estimate on the ones sold.

Contemporary Market Bruised but Resilient After London Sales [Artinfo]
Market news: London’s contemporary art sales [Telegraph]
McCarthy, Zhang Flop in Tepid London Contemporary-Art Auction [Bloomberg]
London Contemporary Week Lurches Into Action at Phillips [Artinfo]

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Paul McCarthy’s “Spinning Room” (2008) at the Whitney Museum of American Art via NYTimes

An exhibition of new and barely seen works from one of America’s most important artists, Paul McCarthy, is open at the Whitney Museum of American Art. McCarthy, who increased his notoriety when he transformed the Maccarone Gallery into a chocolate factory last November, now has “Central Symmetrical Rotation Movement Three Installations, Two Films” at the Whitney through October 12. The show was curated by Chrissie Iles and is designed by McCarthy, in part to address the viewer’s sense of perception.

Whitney to Present Paul McCarthy: Central Symmetrical Rotation Movement [Artdaily]
A Trip Through the Revolving Doors of Perception [NYTimes]
On View Now: Paul McCarthy [The Whitney]
Maccarone now officially home of Peter Paul Chocolates [ArtObserved]
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Nine Multicolored Marilyns, Andy Warhol (1979-1986) via Phillips

Phillips de Pury & Company is holding it’s Contemporary Art Sale on June 29 and 30. The sale highlights works from Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Paul McCarthy, and many other distinguished contemporary artists.

Phillips Contemporary Art Sale [Phillips]

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“The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil” via Telegraph.co.uk

Follow up: Monet’s “The Railway Bridge at Argenteuil” sells for £20 million at Christie’s [Telegraph.co.uk]
Update: Make your own movie at Gondry Deitch Projects [New York Times]
Tracey Emin spends $8 million to save an art district in London [ArtForum via the Guardian.com]
Whitney Biennial’s busy schedule, starting next Thursday [New York Times]
A good overall summary on artist Paul McCarthy [LATimes via C-Monster]
Judge Denies Salander’s bankruptcy [Bloomberg]
Michael Ovitz may buy the Chelsea Art Museum Building for growing art collection [New York Post]

Former Dia Building via The Observer

Former Chelsea Dia Art Foundation building slated for apartment rentals and gallery space [The Observer]
How to preserve Paul McCarthy’s chocolate Santa [C-Monster]
Hudson Morgan covers Gagosian’s gallery festivities in Rome [Men's Vogue]
Parisian home of Pierre-Auguste Renoir is for sale [The Wall Street Journal]
The Times UK arts critic interviews Zhang Xiaogang [Times UK Online]
Guardian Unlimited UK interviews Peter Doig [Guardian Unlimited]
Suspect reports Saudi collector possibly behind Sao Paulo Picasso Theft [Art Forum]

Paul McCarthy Carribean Pirates 2001-2005 via Hauser & Wirth

Head Shop/Shop Head, a Paul McCarthy Retrospective featuring works from 1966 - 2006 as well as a series of new works created especially for the exhibition is on view through February 17, 2008 at S.M.A.K. (Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst/The Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art) in Ghent, Belgium.

Links:
Documentary on Paul McCarthy at S.M.A.K. [Worship the Glitch]
Paul McCarthy at S.M.A.K. [We Make Money Not Art]
Paul McCarthy [Wikipedia]

Videos from director and exhibition plus more photos after the jump (more…)