Global contemporary art events and news observed from New York City. Suggestion? Email us.

London – Henry Moore: “Wunderkammer—Origin of Forms” at Gagosian Gallery Through April 2nd, 2015

Friday, April 3rd, 2015

Henry Moore - Gagosian - Wunderkammer Origin of Forms installation view3
Henry Moore, Wunderkammer – Origin of Forms installation view, Photo: Mike Bruce, Courtesy of Gagosian Gallery

Gagosian London presents a new look at Henry Moore’s body of work in its current exhibition, a cunningly arranged series of small-scale sculptures.  Though best-known for his large abstractions of the human form, Moore’s inspiration often came from small objects he found in nature—pebbles, shells, animal bones—which have been preserved in his Hertfordshire studio in Perry Green, his former home and now a museum and headquarters of the Henry Moore Foundation.  These pieces are currently on display in this unique show demonstrating Moore’s artistic process. (more…)

New York Post Offers a Glimpse Inside Jeff Koons’s Studio

Monday, March 30th, 2015

The New York Post reports on a recent tour of artist Jeff Koons’s 29th Street New York studio, by painter Alex Gardega, in an article that offers some interesting, and occasionally bleak snapshots from the artist’s high-precision production methods.  “They have lasers printing holes in paper, so they make thousands of pieces of paper with holes in it, and these artists sit all day long and take one stencil, dab paint over it, take the next over that,” he says. “Hundreds of times a day — all for a 5-inch section.” (more…)

Former Paris Home of Balthus Hits Market for $9 Million

Friday, February 13th, 2015

The Cour de Rohan that once was the home of the artist Balthus is currently on the market in Paris, the Wall Street Journal reports.  The four bedroom, four bathroom apartment with a secluded courtyard is being offered for about $9 million. (more…)

Gagosian Gallery to Recreate Henry Moore’s Studio For Exhibition Next Month

Thursday, January 15th, 2015

Gagosian Gallery in London will reportedly recreate the studio of sculptor Henry Moore for an exhibition next month.  The exhibition will be curated by Richard Calvocoressi, director of the Henry Moore Foundation. (more…)

W Magazine Tours Ugo Rondinone’s Harlem Home and Studio

Wednesday, December 31st, 2014

W Magazine takes an inside look at the design and architecture of artist Ugo Rondinone’s New York studio and loft, built in an abandoned church in Harlem Rondinone gut renovated for $4 million.  “Somehow I thought it was a bargain,” the artist says.  “I love the church. I can stay here for weeks without going out.”  (more…)

WSJ Tours Richard Prince’s Upstate Studio Compound

Friday, December 5th, 2014

The Wall Street Journal heads upstate for a tour of artist Richard Prince’s Catskill Mountains home, where the artist has built a studio and a number of immense sculptures and special projects he has never exhibited. “A lot of stuff here I don’t consider art, or at least it didn’t begin as art,” Prince says. “I’m just trying to make something I haven’t seen before. Cool stuff.” (more…)

David Hockney Discusses Purpose and Inspiration with WSJ

Thursday, November 27th, 2014

Artist David Hockney is interviewed in the Wall Street Journal this week, reviewing his recent work, and offering his take on the meaning of being an artist. “Lots of people don’t really look,” he says. “They scan the ground in front of them, but they don’t really look that hard.” (more…)

The Telegraph Tours Lucian Freud’s Kensington Home

Monday, November 3rd, 2014

The Telegraph takes a special look inside the home of late painter Lucian Freud’s home in Kensington, where the artist spent the last twenty years of life.  “He was a good cook, very fond of game, but he never ate carbs,” says former assistant David Dawson. He knew he needed to be light on his feet.” (more…)

Greenwich Village’s Whitney Studio Named National Treasure

Friday, October 10th, 2014

The Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Studio in Greenwich Village, the arts studio and salon that once served as the original home of the Whitney Museum, has been named a National Treasure by the National Trust, calling it “the cradle of the modern American art movement.” (more…)

New York – Roman Opalka: “Painting ∞” at Dominique Lévy Through October 18th, 2014

Thursday, September 18th, 2014

There’s any number of ways to approach Roman Opalka, whose work sits at the center of Dominique Lévy’s first show of the fall season (and the self-professed “most important show the gallery may ever host” according to Lévy herself).  One is through the visual content of his work, which is perhaps the most recognizable point of access.  Taking minimalist conceptual action to one of its natural conclusions, Opalka abandoned a gesturally abstract career in 1965, pursuing a new project: the painting, number by number, of the artist’s endless count to infinity.


Roman Opalka, Détail – Photo 5055607 (1965/1), via Dominique Lévy (more…)

Liverpool – Piet Mondrian: “Mondrian and His Studios” at the Tate Liverpool Through October 5th, 2014

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014


Piet Mondrian, Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red (1937-42) © 2014 Mondrian/Holtzman Trust c/p HCR International

Running in tandem with the Turner Contemporary in Margate’s expansive Piet Mondrian retrospective, the Tate Liverpool is currently exhibiting an immersive exhibition focusing on the Dutch artist’s creative process and physical locales. (more…)

London – Urs Fischer at Sadie Coles HQ Through August 16th, 2014

Friday, August 15th, 2014


Urs Fischer, TBD (2014), via Sadie Coles HQ, All images © the artist; courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London

A collection of new paintings by Swiss artist Urs Fischer are currently on view at Sadie Coles HQ in London. Marking a departure from the artist’s more flashy exhibitions of subversive installations and sculptures, this is the first time Fischer has devoted himself strictly to large-scale paintings. (more…)

Mana Fine Arts Brings Art Supercomplex to Jersey City

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2014

The New York Times takes a look inside Mana Fine Arts and Mana Contemporary, the nearly one million square foot art storage and exhibition space in Jersey City, which has become one of New York’s best kept secrets, and which is owned by moving magnate Moishe Mana, whose business has grown alongside New York’s art world.  “I remember moving artists in the early days,” Mana recalls. “And when they said they couldn’t afford my rate, I told them if they couldn’t make a living from their art, then they should find real jobs and keep art as a hobby.” (more…)

New York – Sterling Ruby: “SUNRISE SUNSET” at Hauser and Wirth Through July 25th, 2014

Monday, June 23rd, 2014


Sterling Ruby, ACTS/SOME RISE SOME REST (2014), via Hauser and Wirth

Hauser and Wirth’s current show of works by Sterling Ruby is something of a grab-bag, incorporating a wide swath of the artist’s current practice in sculpture, assemblage and collage spread across the gallery’s vast 18th Street exhibition space.  The large-scale and commanding physicality of the works is offered ample room for viewers to circle and consider, but Ruby doesn’t’ waste the space on a small set of works either.  Sculptures and hanging works take up almost every square inch of the gallery, arranged in close proximity.  It’s easy to miss one work or another, caught up in the commanding presence of a third nearby.


Sterling Ruby, SUNRISE SUNSET (Installation View), via Hauser and Wirth (more…)

The Telegraph Tours the Former Home of Louise Bourgeois

Monday, June 16th, 2014

The Telegraph takes a look inside the former home of late artist Louise Bourgeois, which will be reopened as a research center and exhibition space next year, and which was the site of the artist’s legendary work ethic.  “She would stay up for three days in a row, hyper,” says her former assistant Jerry Gorovoy. “We tried different sleeping pills, nothing worked. My days would start at ten, and sometimes she’d been sitting there since six waiting for me. ‘You’re late’ she’d say, in the black skirt and shirt she wore every day.” (more…)

Jeff Koons Profiled in New York Times

Friday, June 13th, 2014

The New York Times has published a profile on Jeff Koons, in the run-up to the artist’s landmark retrospective at the Whitney, particularly noting the difficulties that the artist’s monumental works are posing for the museum’s limited space.  “It’s the perfect storm of difficulties,” said Scott Rothkopf, the Whitney’s associate director of programs. “There are the sheer physical demands of the objects themselves, their high values and the fragile materials, to say nothing of the cliffhanger of waiting for works that have been in production for years.” (more…)

WSJ Looks Inside Lousie Bourgeois’s Former Chelsea Townhouse

Friday, May 30th, 2014

The Wall Street Journal takes an early look inside the New York home of Lousie Bourgeois, set to reopen next year as an art research center, exhibition space, and sculpture garden.  Filled with drawings and notes on the walls, yellowing paper and notes, the space is an indication of Bourgeois close affinity for working from home.  “It’s decrepit splendor,” says her longtime assistant Jerry Gorovoy.  (more…)

Whitney Museum Donates Studio Space to Socrates Sculpture Park

Friday, May 16th, 2014

As it prepares to move downtown, the Whitney has announced that it will donate its freestanding studio space uptown to Queens’s Socrates Sculpture Park.  “The Whitney Museum has generously presented us with an opportunity to explore the possibility of our first indoor space, which may be used to expand the park’s longstanding free arts education program,” says Socrates Sculpture Park director John Hatfield. “Other possible adaptable uses may include a gallery, visitor area or administrative space.” (more…)

New York Times Examines The Communal Lunches of Various Artist Studios

Monday, May 12th, 2014

The New York Times takes a look at the lunch habits of various artists in their studios, examining the communal eating time for artists and their assistants, particularly those of Urs Fischer, Cai Guo-Qiang and Marianne Vitale.  “What makes me sad,” Fischer says, “is when people have these lunches where they all go out individually, and then have plastic containers of salads, and sit in front of computers.” (more…)

Oscar Murillo Profiled in New York Times

Friday, March 14th, 2014

The New York Times delves into the work and life of Oscar Murillo, charting the artist’s meteoric rise over the past two years, and his current popularity on the market.  “I came to this by simply working,” Murillo says. “It’s the market, and that has nothing to do with me. I’m just trying to keep things normal. I’ve had to live below my means for so long that I’m keeping it that way.” (more…)

AO On-Site: Private Preview of Ugo Rondinone’s 2050 5th Avenue Space with “Monochromes” by Wesley Martin Berg

Thursday, January 30th, 2014


2050 5th Avenue, via Art Observed

There’s something particularly fitting about the conversion of Harlem’s Mt. Moriah Church by artist Ugo Rondinone.  Long interested in conflations of the human and the spiritual through physical sculpture and architecture (particularly the artist’s ongoing Human Nature series of human rock sculptures installed last year at both Rockefeller Center and Gladstone Gallery), the space fuses its towering facade with both studio and exhibition space inside.  Last week, Rondinone opened his studio and gallery, still under construction, for a private tour, showcasing the artist’s impressive architectural project, and his new exhibition in the space, a series of monochrome paintings by artist Wesley Martin Berg.


 A work by Wesley Martin Berg, via Art Observed (more…)

New York – Stan Douglas: “Luanda-Kinshasa” at David Zwirner Through February 22nd 2014

Sunday, January 26th, 2014


Stan Douglas, Luanda-Kinshasa (Installation view), all images courtesy David Zwirmer

Currently on view at David Zwirmer’s 533 West 19th Street location is the debut of a new film by Stan Douglas entitled Luanda-Kinhshasa, featuring a reconstruction of the famed Columbia 30th Street studio, where some of the most iconic recordings of the twentieth century were originally produced. The film will be on view at the gallery through February 22, 2014.

(more…)

Milan – Dieter & Björn Roth: “Islands” at HangarBiocca Through Febraury 9th, 2014

Saturday, January 25th, 2014


Björn and Dieter Roth, Selbstturm (1994-2013), via HangarBiocca

HangarBicocca, Milan’s 12,000 square meter former industrial space turned gallery, is the perfect place for Björn and Dieter Roth’s Islands exhibition. The huge interactive installation, curated by HangarBicocca’s Artistic Advisor Vicente Todolí (the former Director of the Tate Modern in London), interacts with the space beautifully, creating a unique environment defined by the artists. Visitors are drawn into the artwork as they walk through the several “islands” created by groupings of work: walls of paintings and prints, sculptures, an installation of repurposed materials, musical instruments, furniture, screens and household items that visitors are encouraged to interact with, including the 131 screens of Dieter Roth’s well-known video diary, the floors from the artists’ studio, and their sculptures: Zuckerturm (Sugar Tower), 1994-2013 and Selbstturm (Self Tower), 1994-2013. (more…)

Ryan McGinley Profiled in New York Times

Monday, November 25th, 2013

Artist Ryan McGinley is profiled in the New York Times, discussing the group of young protégés he has surrounded himself with at his downtown New York studio.  “In a way, it’s a curriculum, as I can give people advice because I’ve been through it,” he said.  “I was the first person to get attention within my crew, and I wanted people to share the success that I was enjoying. (more…)