Sterling Ruby, SP288 (2014), Courtesy Sterling Ruby Studio and Gagosian Gallery.

Declared ‘one of the most interesting artists to emerge in this century’ by Roberta Smith, Sterling Ruby has become one of the major fixtures among West Coast artists after leaving the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena in 2005. The L.A. based artist, who is known for his large scale ceramic or bronze sculptures and ambitious installations challenging the limits of artistic production (his first exhibition with Hauser & Wirth was on view in Chelsea this spring after the artist joined the gallery roster), is presenting VIVIDS, his spray paint works on canvas at Gagosian Hong Kong.  This exhibition is another addition to Ruby’s recent series of projects in Asia, which started with an exhibition at Taka Ishii Gallery in Tokyo, and will continue with the Gwangju and Taipei biennials, alongside an upcoming exhibition at the Ullens Center in Beijing. (more…)

An article in the New York Times documents painter Martin Wong’s early contributions to the patronization and encouragement of New York Graffiti art, financially backing struggling artists and buying some of their works for his own personal collection.  The story comes as the Museum of the City of New York prepares to open a show on the artist’s early collection of street art pieces.  “He always thought those first pieces, in a fundamental way, were the legs of a major art movement,” artist Lee Quiñones said. (more…)

Street artist Swoon is currently working on a new piece at the corner of Houston and Bowery in downtown New York,part of the Groundswell Community Mural Project.  Taking on the themes of destruction and renewal brought last year by Hurricane Sandy, the piece looks to feautre several swells of populist imagery, centered by a ghostly female figure.   (more…)

Sterling Ruby, SP Paintings (Installation View), courtesy Nahmad Contemporary

This past month, Nahmad Contemporary was home to its inaugural show, a body of new work by American artist Sterling Ruby, entitled “SP Paintings;” a series he has been developing for a number of years, but has never collectively displayed in an exhibition until now.

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Uriel Landeros, the University of Houston student who spray-painted over Picasso’s Woman in a Red Armchair at Houston’s Menil Collection, has been sentenced to two years behind bars for vandalism.  Landeros was facing up to 10 years in prison for felony vandalism, but pleaded guilty for a reduced sentence.  “We are heartened and grateful that the judicial process has come to completion,” said Menil spokesperson Gretchen Bock Sammons. “As for the Picasso, the restoration is complete and successful and the painting will eventually go on view — as works from the collection do, in rotation.” (more…)

Uriel Landeros, the Houston man accused of vandalizing Pablo Picasso’s Woman in a Red Chair, has surrendered to authorities at the United States-Mexico border near McAllen, TX.  Landeros allegedly defaced the painting while it was on view at the Menil Collection in Houston with spray paint.  “I don’t regret anything that I’ve done.”  He said in an interview last fall. (more…)