The Renzo Piano Workshop has unveiled a handbag design collaboration with fashion designer Max Mara, taking the facade of the Whitney Museum as its inspiration.  Proceeds from the bag’s sale will go to benefit the Renzo Piano Foundation.  “We tried to maintain a simple, pure design,” says the architect, “working only on the details by applying a creative use of technology and placing the accent on respect for the materials.” (more…)

Renzo Piano, Model for New Whitney Museum (Installation View), via Alex Cosio for Art Observed

The Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea, in collaboration with Fondazione Renzo Piano, is currently exhibiting a retrospective of work produced by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the architecture firm conceived and headed by Pritzker Prize laureate Renzo Piano. Piano, who was born into a family of contractors in Genoa, has emphasized the importance of hands-on experimentation as well as technological innovation throughout his career.  Particularly of note are Piano’s models and sketches regarding the design and construction of the Whitney Museum’s future home, tucked between the High Line and Hudson River in the Meatpacking District. (more…)

The residential Museum Tower building in Dallas issues a formal letter stating that it is working to resolve issues that its highly reflective surface has created for the Nasher Sculpture Center, an outdoor “roofless” museum. The New York times reports that due to the glare, the reflection from Museum Tower is burning the plants in the center’s garden and virtually blinding museum goers. (more…)

The Astrup Fearnley Museum will reopen in a new space designed by Renzo Piano in Oslo on Sept. 29th. The new site is in a newly-redeveloped waterfront area that will allow the museum to show more of its permanent collection, says the museum’s director, Gunnar Kvaran. The first show, “To Be With Art Is All We Ask”, will include works owned by the museum with pieces by Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Cindy Sherman, among others.  (more…)

Jeff Koons’s giant rabbit at the Covent Garden in London via Hypebeast

A giant helium-filled Jeff Koons balloon made its UK debut on October 8th, the inflatable rabbit floated above central London, it will be displayed in Covent garden [The Independent]
Coinciding with the Frieze fair, the 10th Turbine Hall commission launches, Baldessari’s retrospective opening the same day, Hayward Gallery presents Ed Ruscha, Turner Prize coming up and many other shows and openings, turn London into the center of attention [Guardian UK]
Frieze art fair excites not merely the International art scene, but also the social diaries of those who like to mingle with the rich and famous [Guardian UK] the contemporary art event even has installations to turn its visitors into the subjects of the artwork. [The Independent] Only displaying works by contemporary living artists, Frieze has been considered 1-dimensional in the past. Frieze helps London take over the art world in October [The Independent]- but not without competition, as FIAC, the Parisian fair, is to begin next week and may steal the battle as art collectors in today’s economic climate are forced to pick which fairs they will be attending [The Wall Street Journal]

Unrecognized work by Leonardo Da Vinci via Antiques Trade Gazette

A drawing sold at auction for $19,000 in the late 1990s is now attracting attention for its authorship, if by Leonardo Da Vinci, a theory that recent research strongly suggests, the work could be worth as much as $147 million [Bloomberg]
The Wapping Project in London, often compared to Tate Modern, is expanding with the opening of the Wapping Project Bankside- a new gallery reminiscent of a New York loft to feature film, video and photography almost “a stone’s throw” from Tate [The Moment]
The Whitney Museum of American Art’s plans for a second Renzo Piana location have advanced [The New York Times]

To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week … (more…)

Ben Lewis BBC reporter for ‘The Great Contemporary Art Bubble’ via The Age

A video player of the BBC documentary: ‘The Great Contemporary Art Bubble’ which, though scathing, gained extraordinary access to collectors such as Adam Lindemann, Aby Rosen and the Mugrabi’s.  Of note is that the documentary filmmaker Ben Lewis actually admits to being the source that leaked White Cube’s unsold inventory prior to the famous Damien Hirst Sotheby’s Auction of 2008 [BBC]

The Guggenheim Museum via Guggenheim.org

The Guggenheim Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary with an exhibition on Frank Lloyd Wright [NYTimes]
The Wall Street Journal calls a possible art price floor based on NY Spring auction activity being the “smallest in 5 years” [Wall Street Journal]
A lawsuit is filed against Christie’s over $3.2 million accepted bid alledgedly made after another accepted phone bid [Bloomberg]
On the austere outlook for recent art school graduates [Financial Times]

Supermarkets censor Manic Street Preachers album cover by Jenny Saville [BBC]
On Art in America owner Peter Brandt’s new exhibition space / festivities at his Greenwich estate [Art Forum]

A digital rendering of Karl Haendel’s ‘Scribble’ on 441 Broadway via NY Times

Art Production Fund sponsors a by-hand, massive “scribble” (on wall once used by Banksy) on Howard Street in Soho, New York [NY Times]
An article on the effect at auction of the duration of artists’ careers as well as how prolific they are [NYMag]
The Museum of Contemporary Art in LA cuts four exhibitions and 17 more jobs [LATimes]
The Fine Art Fund Group sets up to bid on 2 corporate art collections worth up to $65 million and holding works by Picasso and Cindy Sherman [Financial Times]

Maria Baibakova via WWD

24-year old Russian Heiress Maria Baibakova is launching new contemporary shows in Moscow [WWD]
The Obama family redecorates the White House with works by Jasper Johns,Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg [Wall Street Journal]

Deitch Projects director Nicola Vassell in her Soho loft via NYMag

On the salon-like atmosphere at Deitch Projects director Nicola Vassell’s Soho, New York apartment [NYMag]
Steve McQueen has lunch with the FT, speaks on his film ‘Hunger’ and the Venice Biennial [Financial Times]

The Museum Brandhorst in Munich via Cubeme.com

Munich’s Brandhorst Museum opens, housing works by Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman, Damien Hirst and Gerhard Richter [The Art Newspaper]

A trip photo by Rita Ackermann in Marfa via Blackbook

Rita Ackermann documents her artist in residence in Marfa, home of Donald Judd’s Chianti Foundation [BlackBook]

101 Spring Street, the former home and studio of artist Donald Judd in Soho, New York

In related, the Judd Foundation will restore 101 Spring Street, a cast iron building that was the home and studio of artist Donald Judd. [ArtDaily]

The artist Dash Snow in his Bowery Studio via the Fashionisto

Artist Dash Snow profiled in Muse Magazine [Muse]
Nearly 11,000 people have applied to be part of Antony Gormley’s interactive sculpture on London’s Fourth Plinth, to run from July to October [Independent]
‘Sold Out,’ the original title for ‘The Warhol Effect,’ the Tate Modern’s autumn show featuring Hirst, Koons and Haring , was rumored to have been vetoed by one of the artists due to its double meaning [GuardianUK]
Damien Hirst is the Art Curator for ‘Boogie Woogie,’ a new fictional film on the inside of the art world [TimesUK]
And Hirst opens a show of his work in Prague [RadioPrague]

The Torment of Saint Anthony, reportedly by Michelangelo

The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas purchases what it believes to be Michelangelo’s first painting, which he completed when he was 12 or 13 years old [DallasNews]
The Hermitage and the State Russian Museum are accused of tax evasion by the Federal Tax Police [The St. Petersburg Times] via ArtinAmerica

The Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing via ArtInfo

The 264,000 square foot Renzo Piano designed Modern Wing of The Art Institute of Chicago opens, making the museum the second largest in the US [ChicagoTribune]
A £3 million, 2-ton Henry Moore sculpture stolen in 2005 was most likely melted down and sold for £1,500 worth of scrap metal [GuardianUK]
President Sarkozy will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the controversial Louvre in Abu Dhabi [ArtNewspaper]

Richard Prince’s ‘After Dark’ Tapestry on the Hong Kong Museum of Art via Wallpaper

Richard Prince covers the Hong Kong Museum of Art in pulp-fiction novel covers to commemorate the exhibition “Louis Vuitton : A Passion for Creation” [ArtDaily]
In related, with a 31% attendance increase and strong sales, the 2nd Hong Kong International Art Fair is deemed a success [HongKongArtFair]

The New home of Hauser and Wirth New York at 32 East 69th Street via ArtInfo

Gallerist David Zwirner will open a new gallery in Shigeru Ban’s Metal Shutter House on West 19th Street and, uptown, Hauser & Wirth New York (following last month’s debut of Swallow Street, its London exhibition space for emerging artists) will open an Annabelle Selldorf-designed space in the building that was formerly occupied by Zwirner and Wirth on 32 East 69th Street [ArtReview]
The Albion Gallery in London closes in bankruptcy [Artinfo]
Roughly 25 out of 388 galleries in Chelsea have closed but at least 10 new galleries have opened, with more are on the way [Crain’s]

The plan of the new whitney downtown via the NY Sun

The subject of some buzz for a while but officially announced a few days ago, a new Whitney museum will be built downtown in the Meatpacking district, opening in 20012. Thus far, the reaction of the community towards the Renzo Piano designed building has been very positive.

So Far, Community Backs Whitney’s Downtown Vision [NY Sun]
The Whitney Expands Downtown [The Gothamist]
Whitney Unveils Renzo Piano Design for Downtown Space [Artinfo]
Downtown Whitney gets support [The Real Deal]
Whitney’s Downtown Sanctuary [Ny Times]
Renzo Piano’s Plans for Downtown Whitney Outpost [ArtForum]

(more…)

Banksy’s graffiti in London via Supertouch

Banksy’s possibly largest most brazen, work to date [Supertouch]
Update: Murakami’s superflat: “epidemic wanderlust produced by psycho-socio-sexual binarism”[NYObserver]
Update: Rothko kin successfully transfer his remains [NY Times]
“The New York canon” from Acconi to Warhol [New York mag]
Painter Ross Bleckner to write a memoir [Daily news]
Whitney Biennial annex at Henri Bendel window [Artnet]
Centre Pompidou cancels Calder exhibition due to lack of funds [Art NewsPaper]

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Victoria Beckham by Juergen Teller via New York Times

Juergen Teller’s casual, quirky, highbrow photographs  [NYTimes]
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Rothko’s kin petition to transfer his remains [NYTimes]
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Book Review: Renzo Piano’s monopoly; “Piano effect” [archidose via C-Monster]
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Matthew Barney honored by the National Arts Club [ NY Sun]
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Indian contemporary art at Wolverhampton, UK [Financial Times]
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Interview with Glenn Lowry, MOMA’s director [Timeout New York]
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LA Museum of Modern Art via Bloomberg

Renzo Piano too popular with Museums? Too many projects? [Bloomberg]
Collectors steal the headlines at Jasper Johns opening at the Met [NY Mag]
Knight Foundation gives $5 million to Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, $15 million other Miami institutions [NY Times]
Hong Kong International Art & Antiques Show adds Contemporary Art for first time in decade [ArtDaily]
China over takes France as 3rd largest Art Market Worldwide [ArtNewspaper]
Martin Lawerence Gallery sues Brooklyn Man, Chrisitie’s over supposedly stolen Warhol [NYDailyNews]