Ryan McGinley, Dash (Manhattan Bridge) (2000), via Team Gallery

Over nearly two decades, photographer Ryan McGinley has explored the deep emotional character and vivid energy of American youth, capturing its subcultures, heroes and creative communities in moments of joy and exuberance, desire and rebellion.  This long engagement with the broad cultural underground of the United States has seen the artist build a striking and diverse oeuvre, one which receives a well-deserved reflection in the artist’s most recent show at Team Gallery, Early, a survey of the artist’s work between 1999 and 2003.

Ryan McGinley, Early (Installation View), via Team Gallery

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Ryan McGinley is featured in GQ this week, showing the magazine some of his favorite books of photography, ranging from a lo-fi, photocopied Harmony Korine book to Philippe Halsman’s Jump Book.  “He was photographing celebrities, right, and he got all these people—Marilyn Monroe, Richard Nixon—to jump for him, presumably when he was with them for other assignments,” he says.  “It’s such a simple idea, so telling of his personality. And the pictures are so carefree and fun.” (more…)

The High Line in New York unveiled a new project for its ongoing public works series yesterday, welcoming photographer and filmmaker Ryan McGinley to exhibit his piece Blue Falling (2007) on the billboard at 18th Street and 10th Avenue.  This will be the ninth installation of work at the site, and follows works by John Baldessari, David Shrigley, Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, among others.  The work will be on view until April 30th. (more…)

Black Cake, Installation view at 83 Grand Street, Courtesy of Team Gallery, New York

Black Cake at Team Gallery is a multi-generational group exhibition curated by Alex Gartenfeld, the young critic and curator whose former West Street Gallery project space was a notable new addition to the downtown art scene before it closed last summer. The exhibition takes its point of departure from the Gaelic spring ritual of Beltane (by way of scholar Roberto Calasso’s account in his 1994 book The Ruin of Kasch), during which a cake would be prepared and divided among members of a tribe. One piece would be covered in ash (hence the name “black cake”), and whomever chose this piece would be pushed into the Beltane bonfire, becoming a sacrificial casualty of the fertility holiday. The exhibition presents the diverse aesthetic iterations of “sweetness” and social identity in contemporary art, notions addressed dynamically across a variety of media through the works on view.

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The first public art installation to utilize the Taxi TV format begins running today.  A collaboration between artist Ryan McGinley and Icelandic musicians Sigur Rós, the 30-second video will air in 3,000 equipped taxicabs across New York City.  “I wanted to bring a childhood innocence to the streets, through a character whose own light and wonder affect the world around her. Iʼm always interested in an atmosphere where dreams and reality mingle on equal terms.”  Says McGinley. (more…)

Terry Richardson and Pharrell Williams at OHWOW It Ain’t Fair 2012 photo by Aviva for Art Observed

On December 7th, 2012, at 743 Washington Avenue (on the Miami Beach side and not across the bay in the design district) OHWOW inaugurated the fifth and last edition of It Ain’t Fair (IAF), a venue for avant-garde art across all media. It began in 2008 in Miami, concurrent with the main fair, as another way to view work by emerging artists such as Tauba Auerbach, Ashley Bickerton, Cyprien Gaillard, Clayton Patterson and others.

Atmosphere at OHWOW It Aint Fair Miami 2012, all photos by E. Schwartzberg for ArtObserved unless otherwise noted

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Linda Yablonsky discusses art curation on the set of Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon’s new movie, Arbitrage, in which works by several contemporary artists including Ryan McGinley, Donald Baechler, Marilyn Minter, Adam McEwen and Huma Bhaba, make an appearance.  Gere plays a hedge-fund mogul art collector. The filmmakers focused on believability: in addition to choosing the building which was a former home of Jean-Michel Basquiat, the film borrowed work from Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn of Salon 94 Gallery and others.  (more…)

Through the band Sigur Rós’s recent Mystery Film Experiment, artists have been able to use songs from their album and make their own music videos. The most recent was created for “Varúö” by Ryan McGinley, featuring the streets of New York City through McGinley’s vision.  McGinley says of the video, “This piece is my poem to New York City.  I wanted to bring a childhood innocence to the streets, through a character whose own light and wonder effects the world around her.  I’m always interested in an atmosphere where dreams and reality mingle on equal terms.”

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Ryan McGinley, Tom (Golden Tunnel) (2010), via OHWOW Gallery

On view now through August 27^th is “Post 9-11” at Los Angeles’s OHWOW Gallery. The group show features works by  New York-based artists who have in common both their rise to fame in the years since 9/11, and outspoken work that addresses sex, drugs, and the general decadence of the New York art scene at the time. Dan Colen, Terence Koh, Hanna Liden, Nate Lowman, Adam McEwen, Ryan McGinley, Agathe Snow, Dash Snow, and Aaron Young  all have work represented in this show that aims to chronicle their relationships, collaborations, and responses to external circumstances of the past decade.

More text and images after the jump…

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Judge dismisses photographer Janine “Jah Jah” Gordon’s copyright infringement case against Ryan McGinley citing “Such a conception of copyright law has no basis in statute, case law, or common sense” [AO Newslink]

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Ryan McGinley sued for copyright infringement, “Jah Jah” Gordon claims 150 of his photographs are based on her work [AO Newslink]

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Ryan McGinley, Jake (Fall Foliage) (2011), via Gabriel Rolt

Although it was his pointed and unabashed live action shots of young, fit nudes jumping off cliffs, climbing trees, and running down sand dunes that transformed Ryan McGinley into an a globally recognized artist, the artist’s current exhibition at Gabriel Rolt in Amsterdam, Somewhere Place, showing through May 14^th, reveals a turn towards more cinematic, choreographed, Baroque imagery. The exhibit also marks McGinley’s first foray into color studio photography, and the young nudes that have become characteristic of his work have moved indoors, calling attention to McGinley’s increased use of choreographed settings and postures in his work.

Ryan McGinley’s “Somewhere Place” Installation, via Gabriel Rolt

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Another view of the main lobby, A Scott Campbell “tropical fantasy” (represented by the Miami based OHWOW Gallery) is the top center work

Art Observed was on site at the Soho Beach House Miami during the week of Art Basel Miami Beach for a tour of the 150 work art collection assembled for the private club and hotel.    Keeping a close connection with the artistic community has been an important part of the strategy for the Soho house brand, which has multiple locations in England as well as in New York and newly in Los Angeles, Berlin and Miami Beach.   This week marked the first Art Basel Miami Beach for the location and it hit the ground running,  hosting some important events such as dinners for White Cube and Victoria Miro galleries and a W Magazine event.

A John Baldessari on the left and a Friends With You on the right, in a hallway on the main floor

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Simone de Pury gets down to close a bid from Jen Brill, Kaws and others fill the crowd.  All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

Last night was the annual benefit for RxArt, held on 29th Street, just off 6th avenue in Chelsea, New York.  RxArt is a charity organization which fosters ” artistic expression and awareness through the challenging yet rewarding task of engaging patients through contemporary art in healthcare facilities.”  The non-profit organization curates and installs art work, from some of the most recognizable contemporary artists working today, in hospitals and other healthcare locations.   Last night was, again, a success with artist’s work for silent auction along the walls of the event space and with a live auction that took place at 9 o’clock which featured the master of ceremonies Simone de Pury in rare auctioneer form.  The event never fails in gathering many notable artists and art world professionals as attendees, this year bringing Kaws, Dan Colen, Will Cotton, Nate Lowman, Aaron Young, Terry Richardson, Ryan McGinley and others.

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Dash Snow, Untitled (Metallic Trees) – God Spoiled, 2007. All images via galerie du jour unless otherwise noted.

Currently on view at galerie du jour is an exhibition entitled “3 + 1.” The 3 in this case refers to the New York trio of Dash Snow, Ryan McGinley and Harmony Korine, while 1 refers to the Parisian fashion designer agnès b. (née Angès Andrée Marguerite Toublé, 1941).  The show will remain at agnès b.’s galerie du jour, which specializes in contemporary photography, through November 6, 2010.  In the exhibit’s press release, agnès b. explains that her goal was not to pay homage to the late Snow, but rather to commemorate his life through a presentation of his work, a year after his death, in the company of his friends and peers.

Ryan McGinley, Chelsea, 2010

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Ryan McGinley, Luz, 2010

It would be easy to quickly walk through Team Gallery right now and feel like you have seen some pretty satisfying photos. However, Ryan McGinley’s “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” is more complex than its enjoyable simplicity may first imply.

Sean, 2010

ArtObserved On Site at the Ryan McGinley, “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere,” at Team Gallery

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The entrance to Art Basel Miami Beach 2009

“There’s a lot less ornament and a lot more substance,” declared Micky Wolfson Jr., founder of Miami Beach’s Wolfsonian Museum – this phrase sums-up many reflections on the eighth edition of Art Basel Miami Beach closed on Sunday, December 6 where smaller parties dominated and collectors purchased cautiously. In keeping with tradition edgy Contemporary pieces were bestsellers at Art Basel Miami Beach with larger, museum-targeted pieces dominating the booths along with traditional works by Popular Latin American artists such as the Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco. Interestingly, while many Asian and European buyers skipped the fair, additional Portuguese speakers were hired to aid Latin American buyers who were out in force.

Santigold performs at the Raleigh Hotel

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Kathy Grayson, center, at the opening of ‘New York Minute’ via Depart Foundation

New York City has been the center of the contemporary art world for over half a century, and while contemporary art production and dissemination has been influenced by globalization, with new centers of of activity gaining recognition around the world in cities such as Berlin, Moscow, or Shanghai, there’s still something about New York that attracts new and established artists alike. ‘New York Minute’ is an exhibition produced by the young Italian philanthropist Pierpaolo Barzan’s DEPART Foundation to bring the energy and sense of community found in New York’s downtown art scene to Rome, hosted by Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Roma (MACRO).

‘New York Minute’ brings together sixty artists who live and work in New York, or are involved in its extended network, and showcases new tendencies in art that have developed out of that community. Curated by Kathy Grayson, director of New York’s Deitch Projects, the exhibition groups those new tendencies under three headings: the brash and gritty street punk aesthetic of artists such as Dash Snow, Terence Koh, Aurel Schmidt, the rainbow inflected wild figuration of Assume Vivid Astro Focus, Paper Rad, or Jules de Balincourt, and the new abstractions of artists including Tauba Auerbach, Xylor Jane, and Dan Colen.

The opening night brought thousands of young Romans looking to vibe on the energy brought to the city by the New York contingent. Kathy Grayson answered ArtObserved’s questions about what makes the New York scene so special, how ‘New York Minute’ is spreading its infectious communal energy, and what the plans are for the future.

DEPART FOUNDATION BOWS WITH “NEW YORK MINUTE” [Artnet]
New York Minute [Art in America]
Minute Made [Artforum]
Sixty New York-Based Artists Featured in Exhibition at Museo D’Arte Contemporanea Roma [ArtDaily]
The Heart of the New York Art World Beats in Italy at the “New York Minute” Show [Paper Magazine]
It’s a New York Art ‘Renaissance,’ Argues Upcoming Show [NYMagazine]
Wine-Maker Uncorks New York in Rome [Bloomberg]
New York Minute with Dash Snow, Aurel Schmidt, Barry McGee and Others [The Fader]
“New York Minute” exhibition [SLAMXHYPE]

The logo of ‘New York Minute’ by Chris Johanson via Depart Foundation

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Tracy (Dripping), Ryan McGinley (2009) via RyanMcGinley.com

Currently on show at the Alison Jacques Gallery, London is Moonmilk; a series 22 new color photographs from the American photographer Ryan McGinley. For this, his first ever solo show in the UK, McGinley presents the viewer with a series of photographs he captured over the period of a year in spectacular caves across North America.  The show’s title, Moonmilk, alludes to the white, crystalline deposits found on the walls of caves – a substance once believed to have been formed by light from celestial bodies passing through rock into darkened worlds below. In this instance, the huge geographical features created by the Moonmilk serve as a phenomenal backdrop to McGinley’s nude models.

Related Links:
Alison Jacques Galley Homepage
Ryan McGinley website
Sexy Art: Ryan McGinley’s ‘Moonmilk” nudes exhibit [examiner.com]
Moonmilk: going underground with Ryan McGinley [Guardian.co.uk]
Openings: Ryan McGinley’s ‘Moonmilk’ [ArrestedMotion]

More text and images after the jump…

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Judith Supine, Above the City in a Summer Night Dream via Wooster Collective

Judith Supine installs his “Above the City in a Summer Night Dream” on top of the Williamsburg Bridge in New York [Wooster Collective]
Ryan McGinley writes on Dash Snow in Vice Magazine [Vice via Art Fag City]
India’s contemporary art “superstar,” Subodh Gupta, before his first UK solo show at Hauser & Wirth, speaks of his Western influences [Financial Times]
In related, The Economist discusses the state of Indian Contemporary art with a summary of the International Art Fair in Delhi [Economist]

Julien Fronsacq (Palais de Tokyo, Paris), Olivier Sailliard (Musée de la Mode et du Textile, Paris),and Hans Ulrich Obrist (Serpentine Gallery, London) model for Yohji Yamamoto’s Y, via ArtJetSet

The spring lookbook for Yohji Yamamoto’s Y features curators as models [ArtJetSet]
Gagosian Gallery sues Lufthansa and Art Crate Inc. over the destruction of a 1969 Brice Marden painting worth $3 million [NY Times]
Russian artist, Presniakov, to sue Hilton heiress for failing to pay $10 million for his artwork [Reuters]
Meanwhile a Moscow dealer sues Luhring Augustine over George Condo paintings [Bloomberg]
Graffiti charges against Yoshitomo Nara dropped after 6 months of proper behavior [Artforum]
The Norton Simon Museum’s ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ become the center of a legal battle after an heir to the work claims the paintings were looted by the Nazis [LA Times]

Gavin Turk’s ‘Brillo 5’ a bronze sculpture of a cardboard box for sale via Christie’s

Christie’s announces its First Open Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art, scheduled for September 23rd [Artdaily]
LA art gallery Blum and Poe expands its gallery into a new space launching October 2 in related both Sotheby’s and Christie’s downsize their LA operations [Lindsay Pollock]
Christie’s converts an icon Brooklyn warehouse into a rigorously guarded storage space [The New York Times]
With 372,000 visitors, the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit was the most attended show in the Guggenheim Museum’s history [NY Times]
In related, Banksy’s guerilla Bristol Museum show reaches over 300,000 visitors [Guardian]

Posters for the New York Minute exhibition at Macro in Rome via OHWOW

An interview with Charles Saatchi, who is releasing a book on September 8th detailing his experiences as an art collector [Guardian]
Daniel Richter leads a protest against the demolition of artist studio and gallery space in Hamburg [Artinfo]
Moscow International Biennale for Young Art- an ambitious art initiative announces call for applications [Art Daily]
AMR- a new index by analysts for tracking prices aimed solely on post-war art is created [Financial Times]
The Scotsman Steps built in 1899 will become a panel for famous contemporary artist- Martin Creed’s installation [News Scotsman via ArtInfo]
A painting uncovered in Iraq is picked up by the media as a Picasso but is likely inauthentic [ArtMarketMonitor]

Pipilotti Rist via Panache

The Gucci Group award, previously awarded to artists including Steve McQueen and Julian Schnabel, has announced its 4 nominees, among which is artist Pipilotti Rist [Vogue]
This year’s Frieze Music Presentation will be a performance choreographed by artist Martin Creed [Frieze]
In response to LACMA’s decision to end its long standing weekend film program, two outside organizations step in with $150,000 pledge in an attempt to save it [Los Angeles Times]

Skewville wooden sneakers via C-Monster

The ubiquitous Skewville wooden sneakers have online documentation [Skewville via C-Monster]
The latest V magazine profiles 6 projects presented at the 53d Venice Biennale, including those by Tauba Auerbach, Aurel Schmidt, Dan Colen and the late Dash Snow [V magazine]
Art exhibitions to see this fall as suggested by New York art critic Jerry Saltz [Artnet]
The values of art related financial indexes increase as the market is possibly recovering [ArtInfo]
Townhouses restored and owned by photographer Annie Leibovitz could potentially cure her $24 million loan obligations to Art Capital Market [Bloomberg]

Nils Folke installation via Phillips De Pury

Phillips De Pury & Co installs sculptures by Nils Folke in its windows to be viewed from High Line park in New York [Phillips De Pury]
Newly created Arts Editor role at the BBC News is being assumed by Will Gompertz who is the current Director of Tate Media at the Tate [BBC]
This year’s Vanity Fair 100 includes art world figures Bernard Arnault (#10), François-Henri Pinault (#20), Miuccia Prada (#40) and Jean Pigozzi (#74) [Vanity Fair]
Ed Ruscha will receive the Artistic Excellence Award from the National Arts Awards on October 5, 2009 [Americans For The Arts]
The Guardian investigates the art scene in Moscow complete with the listing new exhibition spaces [Guardian]

Agathe Snow, Wish upon a Star detail via The Fireplace Project

Currently showing in The Fireplace Project in East Hampton, New York, is an exhibition by Agathe Snow.  Works exhibited are made from recycled materials that went into Agathe Snow’s show at the Sculpture Center in Long Island City in Queens last year. The installations are great in size, yet light to the eye- almost childish in their appearance of clean forms and bold color combinations; they play with conventions of contemporary art but do not defy them in establishing a language of their own.  The show of Agathe Snow’s works runs through August 23, 2009.

Related Links:
Agathe Snow “Terrestrial Forms” [The Fireplace Project]
Layout 1 [The Fireplace Project]
The Fireplace Project [Artfacts]
Wrap Artist/Agathe Snow [The Moment – NYTimes]
Agathe Snow “Terrestrial Forms” at The Fireplace Project [Slamxhype]

Agathe Snow, “Terrestrial Forms” an installation view via The Fireplace Project

More text, pictures and an interview with Edsel Williams after the jump…

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Portrait of Pastor Swalmius, Rembrandt via BBC

Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Antwerp restores the “Portrait of Pastor Swalmius” and discovers it is Rembrandt’s creation, as such, the value of the work increases from $1.4 million to $28 million [BBC]
Russian Minister of Culture, looking for $100m to fund the development of a museum of contemporary art in Moscow, turns both to governmental support and private investors [Art Info]
The destruction in fire of Peggy Cafritz’ Collection mourned not only by her, but also by museums and galleries that recognized its value [The New York Times]
This Thursday night, Artist Duke Riley planning a naval battle for Queens Museum of Art gets support from volunteers, the event titled “Those About To Die Salute You” promises to be the city’s art party of the summer [Wall Street Journal]
A major site-specific sculpture installation by Anish Kapoor will be at Guggenheim for the Museum’s 50th anniversary [Guggenheim]
An $150,000 Philadelphia art prize announces finalists and boasts being the largest prize given for visual arts in a juried competition [Art Review]
In related, The Kandinsky Prize, the most important Contemporary art prize in Russia, will be showing works in London and will coincide with the Frieze Art Fair [Art Daily]

Leonardo Da Vinci, Mona Lisa via Louvre

A woman threw a tea cup at Mona Lisa in Louvre, as the painting hangs behind a bullet proof glass it is not damaged, the woman is taken to a psychiatric word [CNN]
Rocco Landesman’s pending appointment as the head of National Endowment for the Arts has been confirmed by US Senate [Los Angeles Times]
Elizabeth Andrews, a gallery supervisor, intends to file a lawsuit against the Tate Modern regarding its cold temperature contributing to her deteriorating health as she is forced to move there from Tate Britain [Art Review]

Bruce Nauman via Sperone Westwater

A plane will perform Bruce Nauman’s Skywriting Project on September 12 in Pasadena, 40 years after the idea’s conception [Artforum]
3 months after its inauguration, MoCA China runs out of money and Mr. Aranita, its founder flees to Hawaii leaving his ex-girlfriend and only legal partner to deal with his many debts [Art Newspaper]
After Ryan McGinley spent two months in caves of North America for photo shoots, his Manhattan food choices are documented by New York Magazine [Grub Street]

Unicorn The Child’s Dream, Damien Hirst via Guardian

Damien Hirst’s vitrine “The Child’s Dream” will become a part of Tate St Ives exhibition titled “The Dark Monarch” starting 10 October [Art Daily]
After Sotheby’s profit declines 87%, William Sheridan, its Financial Officer, claims that art prices and sales have bottomed [Bloomberg]
Due in part to failed relationship with Sotheby’s, Stephen Ranger resigns as president of Toronto auction house Ritchies, as the auction house lays off its entire staff of 25 people [CBC]

Presidio, San Francisco – a historical site where Fisher planned to build a museum via LAT

Gap founder Donald Fisher’s immense collection of art may not be available to public in San Francisco, since his plan of building a museum in Presidio has been opposed by the preservationists [Los Angeles Times]
With rent prices dropping almost to half of what they used to be, art dealers open galleries in the Hamptons where their clients spend Summers [The Art Newspaper]
To stop graffiti artists, Rome’s Mayor tries to pass a new law which assumes not only fines but also mandates cleaning up the defaced walls [Life in Italy]
In reaction to decline of art donations, senator Charles Schumer tries to pass a bill making donating tax-advantageous [Wall Street Journal]
Christie’s in collaboration with Pierre Bergé and Associates announce the second Yves Saint Laurent auction estimated to raise $3-4 million for H.I.V research and in related Sotheby’s 4 November, 2009 sale will include seven Impressionist paintings from the Durand-Ruel collection [Auction Publicity]

Newport Mill transformed into an exhibition space via The Moment

Enormous old mill in New Hampshire is transformed by William Ruger into an exhibition space where an inaugural show “H2O Film on Water” will be held [The Moment]
Ryan McGinness is commissioned to create his first site-specific work to celebrate the opening of a new wing in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts [Art Info]
The 5 star Hotel Marienbad in Berlin accepts artwork as a form of payment as long as artists are not local [Guardian]
Glenn D. Lowry, the director of MoMA took a voluntary pay cut and yet managed to be the highest paid Museum Director in the six US museums with biggest budgets, landing $1.32 million for the fiscal year [The New York Times]
Funded by team owners, 14 site-specific works are created by prominent contemporary artists including Olafur Eliasson for the Dallas Cowboys Stadium [The Art Newspaper]

A sculpture of horses and a carriage at Versailles by Xavier Veilhan via artcollc

On September 13, Xavier Veilhan will follow in Jeff Koons’s footsteps by bringing contemporary sculpture to the Chateau de Versailles [ArtCoLLC]
On the lack of transparency in the art market reflected in this year’s Art Basel [Economist]
An interview with Chuck Close in which he discusses how his perceptive disabilities are reflected in his work [Wall Street Journal]

A still from Deadpan by Steve McQueen via the GuardianUK

Beginning July 1st, Creative Time will present Turner Prize winner and current UK Venice Biennale representative Steve McQueen’s Deadpan on the MTV screen in Times Square [Creative Time]
Parkett Art magazine marks 25 years this June 25th in Chelsea, NY [EFlux]
Conceptual artist Dan Graham is speaking at 192 Books in Chelsea, New York on Wednesday, July 1 [192Books.com]

Trafalgar Square’s empty fourth plinth, which will host Antony Gormley’s ‘One & Other’ via Guardian UK

The first round of participants have been announced for Antony Gormley’s living statue project: ‘One & Other,’ on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth in ondon [BBC]

A previous installation of Terracotta Army via VisitStHelens

In related, Anthony Gormley sets up his 40,000 figure “Terracotta Army” in a Devon, UK barn [TelegraphUK]
Dartmouth receives a $50 million donation to support the visual arts [Dartmouth]
Architect Richard Meier is designing major expansion for the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills [LA Times]

Picasso’s ‘Le Moulin de la Galette’ owned by the Guggenheim, allegedly sold under Nazi duress, via Artnet

Judge issues written memo chastizing MoMA and Guggenheim and heirs of Nazi victim for secret settlement over two Picasso paintings in restitution case [Bloomberg]
The Whitney kept it festive this week for its annual Art Party and auction in West Soho, New York [Park Avenue Peerage]
Behind the scenes shots of the making of Banksy’s Bristol exhibition [The WorldsBestEver]

‘Screentest’ for designer Adam Kimmel’s new campaign via Hint

Black and white films and stills by Andy Warhol’s long-time assistant Gerard Malanga from Designer Adam Kimmel’s look book, exhibited at Thaddeus Ropac gallery, feature art world figures Matthew Barney, Francesco Clemente, Ryan McGinley, Dan Colen, Aaron Young and Nate Lowman [AdamKimmel]

Still from Brett Gorvy’s interview with Andy Warhol’s assistant, Gerard Malanga, via Christie’s

In related (to the Kimmel story), Christie’s Brett Gorvy speaks Gerard Malanga on Warhol’s ‘Death and Disaster’ series [Christie’s via Art Market Monitor]

Moody’s, which currently has Sotheby’s bonds below investment grade placed its debt on review for a possible downgrade [Bloomberg] More on the damage to Sotheby’s profits here [ArtNewspaper]
Guy Bennett, co-head of Christie’s Impressionist and Modern art department worldwide, resigns [NY Times]
Christie’s begins more salary cuts [Bloomberg]
Citing financial difficulties, Bellwether Gallery closes after a ten year run [Art Fag City]
the Art Institute of Chicago lays off 20 staff members [Chicago Tribune via Artsjournal]
With its endowment down by 18%, the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum will lay off 25 full-time staff [CrainsNewYork]
Art museum attendance in the US is down 23%-26% [ArtReview]
And a summary on the methods New York galleries are using to deal with the recession [NYTimes]

Often times, Art Basel Miami is pigeonholed as the tropical mai-tai of the art world, all decoration and pizzazz…..and not much substance. Thus, it was refreshing when, on a quiet Friday evening December 5th, on the rooftop of the newly opened Mondrian hotel, Assouline, Accompanied Literary Society, and Intermix hosted an intimate and intellectual dinner discussion with an enviably high-caliber panel. Curated by Neville Wakefield and moderated by Glenn O’Brien, the panel included legendary art maven Mary Boone, a pregnant and radiant Rachel Feinstein, acclaimed writer Sarah Thornton (who trooped through the discussion despite having a dismal case of laryngitis), collector Adam Lindemann, and young man-about-town, artist, and significant other of Mary Kate Olson, Nate Lowman.

Words By Faith-Ann Young
Photos Courtesy of Nick Hunt / Patrick McMullen

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