AO Art Observed™

Belgian Street Artist ROA (2011). Via The Huffington Post

The Geffen Contemporary Museum, as affiliated with the Museum of Contemporary Art, opened Art in the Streets on Sunday in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo. In addition to chronicling the foundation and evolution of international street art, the exhibition also raises questions about the validity of the art form as it clashes with the legal system, and the direction public art is taking overall. Since the opening, increased vandalism has sprung up in the neighborhood, and the protest group LA RAW was on site to question commodification and censorship. Art in the Streets is set to run through August 8th.

Jeffrey Deitch speaks in front of Metro painted by Risk in 2011, via the Los Angeles Times

more images and text after the jump…

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‘May Day’, the final exhibition before Deitch Projects closes it’s doors, exhibits significant new works by Shepard Fairey executed in his familiar palette of reds, black, and white. The show opens in conjunction with four other mural works by Fairey; a mural covering an 80 foot wall surrounding the Ace Hotel, one on Houston and Bowery, one for the Cooper Square Hotel, and a mural for the Music Hall of Williamsburg.  Both public and private murals, highlight Fairey’s play on constructed binaries–primarily between fine art and design, street art and galleries–as a means of stimulating curiosity about the surrounding visual culture.

Opening Night for May Day, Saturday May 1st at Deitch Projects

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Jeanne-Claude and Christo via smh

Jeanne-Claude, the radical artist best known for the joint projects undertaken with her husband Christo – most notably the wrapping of the Pont Neuf in Paris and the installation of 7,503 vinyl gates with bright orange panels in Central Park in 2005 – dies at the age of 74 in New York City [Guardian] a review of some of the couple’s monumental art here [Guardian]

Jeff Koons’ train installation via artculture

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) reconsiders plans for a Jeff Koons sculpture involving a replica of a 70-ft 1944 Baldwin locomotive to hang from a crane and estimated to cost $25 million [LATimes]

to stay apprised of the latest relevant news of the art world…

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Yoshitomo Nara installation view, via Marianne Boesky Gallery.

For Yoshitomo Nara’s fourth solo show at Marianne Boesky Gallery, the Japanese pop artist pairs new paintings and drawings with two large-scale sculptures.  Created with his collaborative group YNG – formally known as “Yoshitomo Nara + graf – the two stylized pine tree abodes are made of reclaimed wood and recall the feeling of a woodman’s cottage or some surreal abode.  The interiors are filled with sketches and doodles created in the artist’s hand, along with stuffed animals that match the playful, fairy-tale feeling of Nara’s work.

Marianne Boesky
Yoshitomo Nara
February 28 – March 28, 2009

RELATED LINKS

Exhibition Page [Marianne Boesky]
Artist Now In Rogue Gallery [New York Post]
Nara Arrested for Graffiti Before Boesky Opening [Art in America]
Openings: Yoshitomo Nara in NYC [Arrested Motion]
NYC///FIRST LOOK///YOSHITOMO NARA ROCKS MARIANNE BOESKY GALLERY [Supertouch]
On View: Yoshitomo Nara at Marianne Boesky [The Art Collectors]
Yoshitomo Nara at Marianne Boesky [NYArtBeat]

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Larry Gagosian via Askmen

An aggressive attempt to get the story behind Larry Gagosian, possibly the most influential yet enigmatic figure in the art world [NYTimes]

A Donald Judd installation in Marfa, TX via Drexel, University

On the stark, quirky, top art pilgrimage destination of Marfa, TX [Chicago Tribune]
Art is moving out of the hands corporations [FT]

After the Tate, New York on the Bowery, and a slum in Kenya, street artist JR appears in Cambodia [WoosterCollective via the World's Best Ever]
Nick Cohen’s critique of Nicolas Bourriaud’s curated vision of a “globalised cultural state” at the Tate’s ‘Ultramodern’ [ObserverUK]

Initial work on Raven’s Row in London via RavensRow

Alex Sainsbury opens non-profit exhibition space Raven Row’s in London [FT]

Richard Prince via Interview

Richard Prince donates “one of the most valuable and distinctive modern libraries in private hands” [TimesUK]
The Museum of Modern Art has relaunched a decidedly more interactive website [FastCompany]

Bruce Nauman via National Gallery of Australia

Bruce Nauman will represent the United States [ArtDaily] and John Baldessari (and Yoko Ono) to be awarded the Golden Lions at the 53rd Venice Biennale this year [ArtInfo]

Charles Saatchi via the Times UK

Charles Saatchi grants a rare interview: “art is my only extravagance” and another interview from Turner Prize winning Film director Steve McQueen [TimesUK]

David Zwirner with Simon de Pury via the Swiss Institute

On the resilient and very active power dealer David Zwirner: “Many people have cash on hand and they are waiting for first-rate objects” [Bloomberg]

Maria Baibakova via the Guardian UK

On Maria Baibakova, young Russian heiress addition to the art world (not Daria “Dasha” Zhukova) [TheIndependent]
Will Gompertz on Joseph Beuys, his Duchampian influence and other noteworthy points such as the myth of the inception of his art at the hands of Tartars in the Crimean War [GuardianUK]

Pablo Picasso’s Boy Leading a Horse” (1905 to 1906)  via the MoMA

Guggenheim and MoMA keep two works by Picasso after settlement with heirs alleging works were sold under Nazi duress [Bloomberg]
The austerity of Christie’s and Sotheby’s during leaner times in the art market [NYimes]
In related, how major London galleries are cutting staff and shuttering spaces [TheArtNewspaper]

Railcars and rooftops bear JR’s imagery in Kibera, Kenya via WoosterCollective

Street artist JR wheatpastes his art on 2,000 square meters of rooftops and railcars in a Kenyan slum [WoosterCollective]
On the practice of hypothecating fine art as collateral for loans [Financial Times]

Damien Hirst’s “Human skull in space” (oil on canvas), cover art for the 150th anniversary edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species – via the The GuardianUK

Damien Hirst does cover design for the 150 year anniversary of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species [GuardianUK]
The rise of Nicola Vassell, from gallerina to Director at Deitch Projects in New York [NYTimes]

The Colossus, historically attributed to Goya, via Reuters

Chief conservator of the Prado announces that their Colossus was probably created by Goya’s apprentice [Reuters]
The Dallas Museum of Art is in acquisition mode [Artdaily]
A profile of artist Walton Ford, creator of dramatic naturalist canvases [NewYorker via C-Monster]

Shepard Fairey via the NYTimes

Street art legend Shepard Fairey shadowed in action by the New York Times[NYTimes]
Art as an unexpected hedge amongst billionaires in uncertain times, and Sarah Thornton has more on this here [Forbes] [TelegraphUK]
Levi’s to launch limited edition jeans featuring Murakami’s flowers [Nylon]
Ex-wife of Jeff Koons/former porn star/Italian parliament member gets to keep her son [Bloomberg]
Flea market purchase revealed to be work by 17th-century Flemish master Pieter Brueghel the Younger [GuardianUK}
Art Market Blog offers another view to market conclusions drawn from last week's Kate Moss, Banksy auction,  previously covered by Art Observed here [Art Market Blog] 
A guide to buying contemporary art[TimesOnline]

Bansky mural at Howard St. and Broadway photo by ArtObserved

The large-scale Banksy piece on the corner of Howard St. and Broadway in Soho is the second entire-building-facade work found in downtown Manhattan this week (the first covered by ArtObserved here) and is also the second collaboration between Banksy and the professional advertisement firm, Colossal Media.  The massive rat, filled with fast scrawling black-lines to appear as if done in crayon or marker, stands next to dripping red letters reading, “LET THEM EAT CRACK.” 

Banksy Goes Legal: Rent Walls & Hires Painters[Supertouch]
Banksy Reacts To Wall Street [TheWorlds Best Ever]
A Could-Be Banksy Mural Appears on Soho Wall [NYTimes]
Banksygate 2008: Natives Respond [Gothamist]
Banksy Official Website

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“Concetto spaziale, La fine di Dio” by Lucio Fontana via Christie’s

Highest-valued sale Christie’s has yet to auction during Frieze Art week will be a Lucio Fontana egg-shaped canvas estimated at $21.8 million [Bloomberg]
LACMA announces $55 million gift directed toward new pavilion amongst other endeavors from POM Wonderful and Fiji water owners [ArtDaily]
Street artist Kaws, now at Emmanuel Perrotin in Miami (as covered by AO here), collaborates on shoes with Marc Jacobs [TheWorldsBestEver]
An interview with Catherine Opie, whose work can now be seen at the Guggenheim [Artforum]
Ukrainian (not Russian, as cited in linked article) steel oligarch Victor Pinchuk announces Director for his new Kiev museum and that he was in fact a major buyer at Hirst’s Sotheby’s auction [ArtInfo]

‘Paris, 2008′ by Jonathan Yeo, at The Outsiders show, via Gawker

Damien Hirst, who set a record in a groundbreaking primary market auction, has bought Jonathan Yeo’s ‘Paris, 2008′ piece for an undisclosed amount. ‘Paris, 2008,’ which is on display at the UK Lazarides Gallery’s Outsiders show covered by AO here and currently housed at 282 Bowery.  Though the show was not without other spectacle, this particular collage piece has made the news because it is made entirely of clippings from porn magazines, much like Yeo’s other famous portrait of George W. Bush.

Hirst snaps up Paris Hilton picture [The Press Association]
Hirst buys Paris ‘porn’ portrait [BBC]
AO On Site: The Outsiders [ArtObserved]
Damien Hirst’s primary-market Sotheby’s auction sets records alongside historic financial market collapse [ArtObserved]

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Banksy mural at Wooster and Grand St, via The World’s Best Ever

A three story high rat wearing an I Heart New York t-shirt, caught red handed drawing another rat, was erected on Saturday near the intersection of Wooster and Grand Streets in SoHo. Unmistakably done in Banksy’s signature style, the mural was actually painted by Colossal Media, a professional firm, and not the artist himself. The mural was comissioned, although its not exactly clear by whom. There is also speculation that Banksy himself may have been near the site of the mural as it was going up, or at least may have been in the city for the Lazarides Gallery’s Outsiders show on Bowery, which AO recently recently covered On Site.

New Banksy piece in NYC’s SoHo [The World's Best Ever]
Banksy mural going up right now in SoHo [Gothamist]

Monkey Queen by Banksy, via Lyon and Turnbull

Despite an initial reluctance to identify the works as his, five pieces confirmed to be made by prolific and secretive graffiti artist Banksy went up for auction in Central London last night on September 27th. However, in a marked departure from other, recent high profile contemporary art auctions by popular artists, this time no records were broken. In fact, the Lyon and Turnbull auction struggled to drum up enough interest to meet the lower end of estimates, with some lots even being withdrawn from the auction altogether. In fact, more than two thirds of lots in the auction remained unsold when it was over (74 of 270 sold). One shocked expert even went as far as calling the auction “a bloodbath,” according to the UK’s Independent. Other artists whose works were auctioned included Kate Moss, Sam Taylor-Wood (who recently split with Jay Jopling, owner of the White Cube gallery), Peter Doherty, and Sean Scully, among others.

A prevalent opinion of art market followers is that the recent auction success on the higher end from artists such as Damien Hirst may be due to an artificial propping up of the sales from direct marketing to new buyers such as Russians and other new found pools of wealth by well oiled marketing machines such as Sotheby’s. However, for the bread and butter lower priced works, there perhaps simply is no escaping that there is less confidence and less money in the system overall.

Banksy Official Website
Lyon and Turnbull: Sale 222 page
Banksy’s artworks fail to shift [BBC News]
Banksy Works Go Unsold; Buyers Stay Away From Urban-Art Auction [Bloomberg]
Banksy Won’t Say if Works for Sale Are His [Gawker]
Art Sale Moss-acre [Independent]

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Zevs recreating his Chanel logo on a ‘naked canvas,’ at ‘The Outsiders,’ Photo by ArtObserved

Lazarides Gallery, which opened in 2004 and now has four spaces in the UK, opened The Outsiders, a special “hit-and-run” show at 282 Bowery (at Houston Street) in New York City. Open Sept. 26-Oct. 12, 2008.
Featured artists include Faile, one of the most recognizable international street artist collectives; Paul Insect, France’s JR, Antony Micallef and the refreshingly controversial Jonathan Yeo. Also on display are works by Vhils, Invader, Conor Harrington, David Choe, Zevs, Mark Jenkins, Todd James, Miranda Donovan, Blu, Polly Morgan Borf, BAST, Mode 2 and Ian Francis.

THE OUTSIDERS -LAZARIDES
282 Bowery (at Houston St)
September 26 to October 12, 2008

Lazarides – The Outsiders
Graffiti Adorns New Gallery [New York Sun]
JR Gets Large in NYC [The World's Best Ever]
Video of Zevs Performance [The World's Best Ever]
Paris Hilton portrait is made of Porn [AP]
Portraits of President Bush, Paris Hilton exhibited in NYC are made of porn mag images [Chicago Tribune]
Photos: Outsiders NY at Lazarides in NYC [C-MONSTER]
Giant Girl Reclines on Houston Street [NyTimes]

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White Gloves, KAWS, 2001via Phillips

Phillips de Pury & Company is holding an auction of street art pieces on September 6th, as part of their Saturday@Phillips series. On sale will be a large collection of pieces ranging from paintings, photographs, jewelry, toys, and other various pieces from well-known artists like Kaws, Invader, Judith Supine, Beejoir, and Bast. The auction represents the growing popularity of the street art movement, the influence of which can be seen on fashion shows, advertising, and galleries and museums in the contemporary art world.

The Word on the Street, by Alex Smith [PhillipsArtExpert]
Urban Art Auction At Phillips de Pury September 6 [Highsnobiety]
The Word on the Street [Phillips]

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Evil Is Banal, Dumas self-portrait, Marlene Dumas (1984) via New York Magazine

Faces of Marlene Dumas will come to New York [New York Magazine] -
The 7,500 square feet Devi Art Foundation, India’s first contemporary art museum [New York Times]
A highlight of some new shows in Chelsea for the Fall, starting Sept 4th [NYSun]
Sao Paulo heatedly debates when graffiti is considered urban art [NY Sun]
Francesco Clemente on Charlie Rose last week [Charlie Rose - Youtube]

James Powderly, via freetibet2008

Street artist James Powderly detained in Bejing for laser projection of political artwork [ArtForum], with more on the incident here [Artinfo]
Undercover FBI agents in the US targeting increasingly shady art theft world [WallStreetJournal]
Cans Festival, a street art milestone, covered previously by AO here, will soon re-open in London [World'sBestEver]
Tribute exhibit for artist Blinky Palermo, “24 Colors – for Blinky” at Dia:Beacon [NYTimes]
A dark parody on the lucrative potential of a murdered Damien Hirst’s preserved body sold to wealthy Russians [ArtNet] and relative commentary in the New York Times [NYT]

Famed street artist Swoon and crew float junkyard utopia downstate to Deitch Studios in LIC [NYTimes]
Anthony Haden-Guest on the effect’s of global financial turmoil on corporate art sponsorship [Portfolio]
Assume Vivid Astro Focus installs colorful window display at the Modern restaurant at the MoMa [NYSun]
A critique of Sarah Thornton’s book, ‘Seven Days in the Art World’ (with Video) [Art Market Monitor]
Sotheby’s holds a preview for $120.8M of Damien Hirst’s direct auction works in New Delhi, India and the Hamptons [Bloomberg]

Neck Face “Cannibal Carnival” image via GQ

American graffiti artist Neckface is showing his third solo exhibition ‘Cannibal Carnival’ in LA at New Image art gallery from tomorrow, August 16th until September 20th. The show will exhibit the artist’s signature horrifyingly morbid images among likely other assorted installations. Neckface, an underground, anonymous artist, is often associated with taggers and skateboarding but has recently broken into commercial success at auction. Due what can be called a cult following, the show should be well attended and if nothing else interesting. From the press release:

“friends of the artist and professional skaters Sammy Baca and Lizard King will be skating in a caged off mini-ramp filled with objects they encounter every day: knives, spray paint, and booze of course. “They are both satanic,” Neckface says. “Sammy once carved Satan into Lizard King’s chest with a knife.” ”

Neck Face eats his own [GQ]
Neck Face in LA: Cannibal Carnival [The Worlds Best Ever]
Sneek Peek: Nasty Neck Face at New Image Art [Super Touch]
Neck Face “Cannibal Carnival [Hypebeast]
A Neck Face Halloween [Art Observed]
Neck Face opening at Dactyl Foundation Wednesday 10.31 [Art Observed]
Newimage Art Gallery

more pictures after the jump…

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Starry Night, Vincent Van Gogh (1889) via Artdaily

Van Gogh’s Cypresses and The Starry Night exhibited now at Yale [artdaily]
Haunch of Venison, a Christie’s-owned-gallery, causes some rebuke in the system [NY Mag]
Update: The Sun Reviews Byrne ‘playing the building’ and Burden at Rockefeller Center [NYSun]
A Summer gallery line-up for Paris [Bloomberg]
Time lapse video from Cans Street Art Festival in London, covered by AO here [Wooster Collective via WorldsBestEver]
Sotheby’s selling (post-cubism) Italian Futurism as the next big trend? [Economist]

Image via Overspray

This Friday, London’s Tate Modern will open an exhibition of six internationally recognized street artists. The show is the first major museum exhibition in London to display the work of street artists and it will use the riverside exterior façade of the Tate to display their work.  After the success of last weekend’s Banksy-organized Cans Festival, and with the current popularity of street art in London, the exhibition is expected to be well-received.

Street Art to Adorn Tate [The Overspray Magazine Fishbowl]
Tate Modern [Tate Modern]
Graffiti on the Gallery [Times Online]
How the Tate Got Streetwise [guardian.co.uk]
Street Art Comes to the Tate Modern [Artinfo]
The art market: Riding the street art wave [Financial Times]
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Cans festival via Supertouch

This past weekend, the Cans Festival took over an empty railway tunnel near Waterloo train station in London. This massive graffiti exhibition showcased the work of famous British graffiti artist Banksy as well as more than 40 other artists including Bsas Stencil, James Dodd (dlux), Ron English, and John Grider.

“Biggest” Banksy exhibition in London tunnel [Reuters]
The Cans Festival [The Cans Festival]
Banksy [Banksy]
The Cans Festival- London 3/4/5/ May 2008 [NowPublic]

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Salander’s son Jonah tries to block a photographer via Portofolio

Salander ordered to cede control of finances by trustee [NY Times]
Update: Salander lists homes to pay creditors [Wall Street Journal]
Update: a Portfolio summary of the Salander fraud affair [Portofolio]
NYC officials cite graffiti’s rise in legitimacy as art as cause for recent surge [NY Post]
Moscow’s first foreigner-owned gallery [Artinfo]

Aby Rosen via Wikipedia

Aby Rosen’s influence on the worlds of real estate and art [NYMag]
Review of “The Gates” documentary on HBO [New York Times] and here [New York Sun]
An evaluation of street art’s move to high art [Financial Times]
Editorial on Title validity of “forced sales” under Nazi threats [Wall Street Journal]
Update: Review of Tuymans’s Disney themed works at Zwirner [New York Sun]

Banksy via The World’s Best Ever

These new Banksy graffiti pieces were spotted in Los Angeles recently. The artist, based in London, is known for his underground graffiti artwork and his distinctive stenciling technique.
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