Peter Halley, Unseen Paintings (Installation View), via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

During the years 1992 to 2002, Peter Halley’s paintings were rarely seen in New York City — during that entire ten-year span there was only one exhibition of his paintings in the city. The artist, whose body of work helped to define a return to abstract, painterly language in the New York avant-garde during the 1980’s, was noticeably absent, a note that often leaves his work somewhat divorced from some of the other artists living and working during that era. Now, an exhibition at Sperone Westwater aims to reintroduce the artist’s work from that era to the city, culling together a body of eight works that emphasize his aesthetic interests during the period, and continuing his exploration of geometric and geographic forms. (more…)

Fabio Viale, Stargate (Installation View), via Sperone Westwater

Exploring the intricate interrelations between object, environment, product and creator, Italian sculptor Fabio Viale creates staggeringly lifelike marble busts of the the everyday, paying homage to the vast heritage of Italian sculpture while inviting a range of interpretations and correlations between his works.  For his first solo show at New York’s Sperone Westwater gallery, titled Stargate, the artist is exhibiting a selection of recent works that juxtaposes the classic medium against the often banal detritus of contemporary society, in turn exploring the values afforded to each.

Fabio Viale, Souvenir Pieta (2006), via Daniel Creahan for ArtObserved

(more…)

Sperone Westwater announced a group exhibition entitled “Giotto’s O”, to inaugurate its new space in Lugano, Switzerland on November 30th, 2012. The gallery inaugurated a new Foster + Partners-designed building on the Bowery in 2010. (more…)

This July, the Sperone Westwater gallery presents Moving Spirits, an exhibition of the kinetic works of Francois Morellet (France) and Gerhard von Graevenitz (Germany). The longtime collaborators are featured here through works dated between 1960 and 1976, the period coinciding with the artists’ involvement with the Light-Kinetic Movement.

(more…)

Tom Sachs, James Brown’s Hair Products (2009). All images via Tom Sachs.

The press release for Work, Tom Sachs’ current show at Sperone Westwater Gallery begins with quotes from both himself and soul pioneer James Brown on the word itself. It’s a fitting introduction for Sachs, who has continually explored the nature of “work” in contemporary art through pop art tropes of “readymade” objects by emphasizing the handmade nature of the piece, or occasionally by simulating it, bringing dialogues on authorship and originality to the forefront. For this show, Sachs takes major cues from the Godfather of Soul, commonly nicknamed “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” enshrining Brown through his own worldly possessions. These repurposed artifacts range from sculptures of his hair dryer, replicas of his hair products, and a piece called James Brown’s Last Supper: a TV Dinner tray housed in a television cum road-case that blends Brown’s demise with the inescapable nature of his legacy.

Tom Sachs, Cinderblock (2011)

(more…)

Evan Penny, Michael, Variation #3 (2010), via Sperone Westwater

Walk one block north from the New Museum and you will find Evan Penny’s exhibition at Sperone Westwater, open until March 26th and presenting a collection of five oversized, hyperrealistic sculptures of human figures that bridge the gap between art and spectacle.  The gallery is also currently showing  work by Emil Lukas.

More text and images after the jump…

(more…)

Bruce Nauman For Beginners (all the combinations of the thumb and fingers), 2010. All images courtesy of Sperone Westwater.

Currently on view at Sperone Westwater‘s new Bowery location are new video and sound pieces by artist Bruce Nauman. According to a statement given by Assistant Director Maryse Brand to The Huffington Post, the inspiration for the new works on display arose when the artist read the words ‘for children’ in a book, which made Nauman consider piano pieces written specifically for children learning to play the piano. This in turn, led to the piece For Beginners (all the combinations of the thumb and fingers), two large video projections of the Nauman’s hands in all 31 different possible combinations of each finger and thumbs. Each video is accompanied by an audio feed of the artist reading instructions for each combination. The two videos are the same except for the background color, but are not synchronized, making a layering of sound.

Bruce Nauman For Children/For Beginners, 2010.

More text and images after the jump…

(more…)

Exterior View of Sperone Westwater, 257 Bowery, NYC, image courtesy of Dezeen.

Sperone Westwater opened the doors of its new gallery space on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010. A retrospective of Guillermo Kuitca’s work was chosen as the Bowery location’s inaugural show. The gallery has a longstanding relationship with the Argentinean artist, whose work is inspired by the study of architecture, theater, and cartography. This is his eighth solo show at Sperone Westwater. “Guillermo Kuitca: Paintings 2008-2010 & Le Sacre 1992” consists of recent paintings, which developed from his famous 2007 series with which he represented Argentina at the Venice Biennale, and the important 1992 installation Le Sacre.

More images and text after the jump…

(more…)

Team Gallery Booth at Art Basel 2010, Image via Art Basel.

AO is on site at Art Basel, Switzerland, where Wednesday marked the official, public opening of the international show.  On the roster was an inaugural Conversation Series speech by Paul McCarthy, an Art Film at Stadtkino Basel, and an Artist’s Talk with Rodney Graham at Kunstmuseum.  If the congenial and thronged atmosphere hadn’t tipped us off to the anticipation surrounding this year’s exhibitions, Tuesday’s sales would have been a clear indication.   A $15 million Picasso 1960 plaster maquette, Personnage, was snatched up immediately from Krugier Gallery by one of the VIP guests (an American collector) invited to Basel’s early opening, as was a line drawing by the same artist, one by Egon Schiele, and paintings by Max Ernst and Paul Klee. Sara Kay of the Geneva- and New York-based Kugier Gallery was unable to disclose the buyer of yesterday’s Picasso sale, but ten minutes after the purchase’s confirmation noted to Art Info that “[The] piece went to a very important collector with the best modern masters.  This is museum-quality, not trophy-level. It’s a very serious piece.” Skarstedt Gallery also enjoyed a  meritorious patronage yesterday, with sales including a Christopher Wool painting, Untitled, for $800,000, a Barbara Kruger photograph for $700,000, a Cindy Sherman piece for $500,000, and two works by George Condo: The Madman and The Colorful Banker, which fetched $375,000 and $225,000, respectively.  Hufkens Gallery sold a Louise Bourgeois etching, A Baudelaire (#7), which the late artist completed several months before her death in May, for $650,000 to a European collector.  Cheim & Read boasted a lucrative afternoon as well, with sales including a $2 million Joan Mitchell abstraction, a $125,000 Sam Francis drawing, a $100,000 Ghada Amer painting, Paradise, and a 28-strong Bourgeois watercolor series, Les Fleurs.  Lisson Gallery sold two Anish Kapoor‘s for $742,000.  Richard Prince‘s Student Nurse brought Gagosian $4.2 million, and Paul McCarthy’s bronze suites–Sneezy and Dopey–yielded Hauser & Wirth a combined total of $3 million. Blum & Poe sold a dyptich by Takashi Murakami for $1 million. White Cube reportedly sold six of Damien Hirst‘s new paintings, as well as Hirst’s “Memories of Love,” valued at $3.48 million. Lehmann Maupin sold two neon works by Tracey Emin, each for $74,000.

Damien Hirst, ““Memories of Love,” at White Cube’s booth, sold for $3.48 million. Image by Art Observed.

More images and text after the jump…

(more…)

Installation view: Richard Tuttle’s “Village V”. All images courtesy of Tom Powel Imaging for Sperone Westwater Gallery.

Currently on view at Sperone Westwater Gallery through May 22, 2010, is Richard Tuttle‘s “Village V”. The exhibition is composed of 26 drawings and one sculpture against stenciled walls. It seeks to expand the concept of drawing, investigate color and line, question ideas of composition and frame, and merge the mystical with the tangible. The work was one of Tuttle’s six “Villages” shown in “Richard Tuttle: It’s a Room for 3 People” at the Drawing Center in 2005.

Richard Tuttle, “Village V, No. II, 9”, 2004, balsa wood, sawdust, acrylic and graphite on paper, 14 x 16 7/8 inches (35,6 x 42,9 cm)

More text and images after the jump… (more…)

The First Annual Art Awards via Guggenheim.org

Last night, October 29, marked the inauguration of a new annual art event: Rob Pruitt presented The First Annual Art Awards at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New Yorkin association with the city’s oldest alternative art space, White Columns.

The awards were conceived by artist, Rob Pruitt, as a performance-based artwork; for the occasion he recruited the characters of Index Magazine’s wry satirical web series, Delusional Downtown Divas. The New York Times have reported that “…the Divas schemed to infiltrate the art establishment by any means possible. In one segment they pitched a tent in the Guggenheim, doing their laundry in the lobby fountain.”

Jeffrey Deitch and Kembra Pfahler at The First Annual Art Awards at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum via style.com

More images, text and related links after the jump….

(more…)

Kirsten Dunst on the set of a production by Takashi Murakami in collaboration with McG via aarting

Tate Modern’s “Pop Life: Art in a Material World,” features a video that is a collaboration between McG – famous Hollywood director, and Murakami – Japan’s king of pop art: starring actress Kirsten Dunst on the streets of Akihabara in Tokyo for “Turning Japanese” by rock band The Vapors [The Wall Street Journal]
A 1984 work by Chinese artist Li Keran sold for $940,000, the most for a print at a Hong Kong auction, where bidding led by mainland buyers has taken many prices several times above estimates [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s Asia sales in Hong Kong revealed that demand for Chinese paintings, while firm, is mixed; as the market is still vulnerable, less pricey, quality pieces were the ones to realize numbers higher than their estimates [Reuters]
Works including those by Renoir, Pollock, Degas and Rembrandt stolen from the home of a retired Harvard Medical School professor and collector, and his business partner; only authentic pieces were taken, leaving behind impeccable reproductions [Boston Globe via Art Market Monitor] in related Uncooperative and unable to produce evidence that the stolen art existed, Angelo Amadio and Dr. Ralph Kennaugh, become suspects of the theft to which allegedly they are victims [ArtDaily]

Tracey Emin via Guardian UK

Discouraged by British government’s top rate tax, Tracey Emin threatens to abandon England for France where she claims the politicians understand the importance of supporting culture and art [Guardian UK] in related At the London’s Frieze Art Fair, in the booth of New York’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery, Tracey Emin, known for her confessional artwork, is offering to make customized artworks based on answers to fifteen personal questions [Artinfo]
Fanjul paintings nationalized by Cuba in an exhibit in Museo del Prado in Madrid involve legal consequences as the Museum is being investigated by the US department of state for illegal trafficking of a work of art owned by US citizen confiscated by Cuban government [The Art Newspaper]
Turner Prize exhibit at Tate Britain in London this time startles the viewers with the lack of now expected blood, outrage and other shock factors [Bloomberg]
The Bloomberg administration makes an announcement of its plan to give nonprofit cultural groups access to gallery and theater space in city owned properties and help artists develop business plans [Crain’s Business]

Donald Judd concrete constructions in Marfa Texas via Hip-Ster-Krit

6 of 15 concrete constructions built by Donald Judd in Marfa Texas required repair and conservation work, October 10th the works will once again be open to the public [Artinfo]
A look at the Chinese Gao brothers who are shocking their country with brave, politically challenging art works, such as a life-size sculpture of Mao whose body is only reunited with his head on ‘special occasions’ [The New York Times]
When most artists’ prices are decreasing in a recession, a few go up: Italian Maurizio Cattelan is one of those who thrive in the tough economic times, an analysis of his work reveals some truths on the variables of the art market [The Economist]

Damien Hirst posing in front of his work via ARTblog +

A portrait of Damien Hirst built through an interview: his influences, unusual artistic paths (such as painting) and mediums to come, and a subjective depiction of the artist’s personality [Times Online] in related Hirst tells BBC that he will not be producing large scale installations and will rather concentrate solely on painting by applying oil to the canvas with his hands, something he has been secretly doing these recent years [BBC] and in related the FT reports that Hirst lays off much of his staff, closes two studios and is actually making paintings himself; while the galleries give no comments on the unsold works worth millions [Financial Times]
As art fairs struggle to retain exhibitors, a new modern and contemporary fair in Abu Dhabi signs up forty-eight names, including PaceWildenstein, Gagosian, Acquavella and White Cube [Lindsay Pollock] related 50 paintings from the New York Guggenheim Museum to be shown in Abu Dhabi [Arts Abu Dhabi]

‘Fuego Flores’ by Jean Michel Basquiat via Auction Publicity

Sotheby’s October Contemporary Art Auction, estimated to realize in excess of £9 million, will include works by leading artists, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Anish Kapoor, Andy Warhol, Chris Ofili, Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Antony Gormley and Yan Pei-Ming [Auction Publicity]
Following in the footsteps of Anselm Kiefer and Toni Morrison, Umberto Eco has been named the next guest curator at the Louvre; the show “Vertige de la Liste” (Vertigo of Lists) will revolve around his chosen theme “the list” [Artinfo] in related news, talks are underway to open a McDonald’s restaurant and a McCafé at the Louvre next month [Telegraph]
An art dealer from Stockholm, Sweden has been accused of faking works by heavyweight modernists including Georges Braque, Alberto Giacometti, Edvard Munch, and Egon Schiele [Artnet]

Child of lonely – performance by Terence Koh October 6 at Thaddaeus Ropac Gallery, Photo Olivier Zahm via purple DIARY

Terence Koh prepared his first solo show at the Parisian gallery Thaddaeus Ropac, which takes a form of an imaginary opera in eight acts, the first act taking place October 6, 2009 [The Art Newspaper]
The four artists shortlisted for Turner Prize 2009 are: Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer and Richard Wright; the winner is to be announced December 7th [Turner Prize 2009]
Jerry Saltz writes about new galleries emerging despite the economic crises, provides a list of new galleries to see and comments on the effects of the recession on the female artists [New York mag]

The current state of the building to house Sperone Westwater and the computer rendering of it via Lindsay Pollock

A concrete foundation is rising at the site of the future Sperone Westwater gallery designed by the British architect Sir Norman Foster on the Bowery; the 10 story building will rise only one block away from New Museum [Lindsay Pollock]
As opposed to expanding outside their home in LA, Tim Blum and Jeff Poe open a new 21,000 square foot space conveniently located in front of their existing gallery on South La Cienga Boulevard, Los Angeles [Los Angeles Times]

Jacket designed by JR via The World’s Best Ever

A jacket from JR’s Face2Face Project comes in a limited edition of only 100 [The World’s Best Ever] in related A video interview with JR in Paris about his project Women are Heroes, which allows the viewers to call a number and hear an interview with one of the chosen women for the project [Vernissage TV]
An interview with Dasha Zhukova that notes her easy acceptance in the art world [Guardian UK]
28 as opposed to 40 exhibitors had pulled out of the Frieze Art Fair, yet despite the equally disappointing numbers, many lesser known, but in no way inferior galleries, will get a shot at the famous art fair [Telegraph]

Miranda July via Vice

Miranda July creates a series of photographs to imitate and bring attention to the extras in iconic movies [Vice]
An Italian professor, Dr Seracini, has been working on technology that can enable the search for the largest painting Leonardo da Vinci ever painted – The Battle of Anghiari, a work he believes to be hidden underneath the frescoes in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio [The New York Times]
MoMA received an unexpected gift this month – an estate, estimated to be worth more than $10 million, belonging to the late Michael H. Dunn, a bachelor from Derby, Vermont [The New Yorker]

–>
Installation view of  “Panagiota: Conversation #1, Variation 1” (left) and “Panagiota: Conversation #1, Variation 2,” (right) (both 2006-7), on display at Evan Penny exhibition at Sperone Westwater. Image via Sperone Westwater.

Sperone Westwater will be exhibiting works by South African born, Toronto-based sculptor Evan Penny through February 14th, 2009. Penny is renowned for his sculptures crafted from silicone, hair, aluminum and pigment that are both photorealistic and stretched, skewed and otherwise manipulated beyond the ‘real’ human form.

The sculptor’s newest show features 10 pieces and marks the first time he incorporates time-based photography, introducing time and motion as considerations in his works. Two sculptures, “Panagiota: Conversation #1, Variation 2″ and “Panagiota: Conversation #1, Variation 1,” both from 2008, reflect his exploration of these formal elements. The basis of the sculptures are photographs of Penny’s friend Panagiota engaging him in conversation–instead of sculpting a bust based on each individual photograph, they are instead melded and portrayed in a single bust, enabling us to visualize the subject moving through time and space.

This is the artist’s second solo show at Sperone Westwater, who also represents the artist in the United States.  A full color catalogue with an essay by Kenneth Silver, Professor of Modern Art at New York University, accompanies this exhibition.

Exhibition Page : Evan Penny at Sperone Westwater
–>
Press Release : Evan Penny at Sperone Westwater
–>
Gallery Page : Sperone Westwater
–>
Picks: Evan Penny at Sperone Westwater [ArtForum]

(more…)

Proposed design for Sperone Westwater gallery building on Bowery, designed by Norman Foster, via Curbed

The Sperone Westwater gallery recently announced its $8.5 million acquisition of a building on the Bowery, just a block away from the New Museum, solidifying the area’s reputation as a burgeoning art hub. The five story, twelve thousand square foot pre-war building will be re-designed by Lord Foster, whose work includes landmarks such as the Reichstag, the Heart Tower, and the 30 St Mary Axe in London (better known as The Gherkin). The proposed new building’s facade will boast glass tubes, and a bold red cube-shaped moving room as a highlight, setting the building apart as a unique, modern piece of architecture in an older neighborhood.

Sperone Westwater
Foster and Partners
BLOCKBUSTER: Norman Foster plans Bowery Gallery Building [Curbed]
SoHo apartment building sells for $8.5 million [CoStar]

(more…)

Hello Kitty lowered into position via Wallpaper

From May 8 – June 21 the Sperone Westwater Gallery presents the works of Tom Sachs. The gallery has divided up the gallery space into smaller spaces each housing an individual work.  Sachs has handmade each of the pieces in this exhibit, using various items to create a “do it yourself” feel.  The Lever House has sponsored Sachs to create large scale creations.  In the plaza is a 21 foot Hello Kitty with fountains, and a 7 foot Crying Miffy.  In the lobby, Sachs has created 6-9 feet tall towers made of batteries, and even a bronze dumpster.

Sachs & Co [The New Yorker]
Tom Sachs “Animals” [Sperone Westwater]
Tom Sachs’ Bronze Collection [Wallpaper]
Tom Sachs – Animals [likeyou]

(more…)