AO Art Observed™

Dakis Jaonnou’s Yacht “Guilty” Designed by Jeff Koons

More on Greek billionaire Dakis Joannou’s Jeff Koons-designed yacht [GQ]
Interview with Takashi Murakami: “maximalist” [Esquire]
More on Sarah Thornton’s Seven Days in the Art World [Portfolio]
A telling selection of 30 years of quotes from Tracey Emin [GuardianUK]
Portrait auctioned for $21,850 in 1998 by Christie’s is now attributed by some to Leonardo Da Vinci and may sell for over $50M [NewYorkTimes]

Larry Gagosian at the opening of Center of Contemporary Culture Moscow (CCCM) via Style.com

Moscow is anticipating a worthy contemporary art scene brought by Larry Gagosian. Building upon the strong review from last year’s first show, Gagosian Gallery is making its presence in Russia. “For what you are about to receive” is Gagosian’s a second exhibition will be held at Red October Chocolate Factory, opening on September 18th until Ocober 25th. Artist Aaron Young will be presenting a motorcycle performance Arc Light for the opening of the show (AO has exclusive video from Aaron Young’s motorcycle show in New York here). This show will exhibit works by well-known contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons, Willen de Kooning, Richard Serra and Takashi Murakami. Curated to explore the conceptual relationship between commercial production and artistic abstraction, the show is intended to engage the viewers with modern materialism.

Gagosian Gallery in Moscow [Artnet News]
Gagosian Gallery
Read more about the exhibition at the Russian art blog IZO here and here.

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Jessica Joffe at the 15th Annual Watermill Summer Benefit via Park Ave Peerage

Fashion dazzle at Robert Wilson’s annual Watermill benefit [Park Avenue Peerage] more boldfaced names here [NYMag] and swanky goings on here [Papermag] and here [Artnet] and here [Art Forum]
A Private Contemporary Art collection in a eerie WWII Berlin bunker [Bloomberg] also coverd here [NYSun] and by Art Observed previously here [AO]
Damien Hirst’s controversial, straight-to-auction sale at Sotheby’s, previously covered by AO here,  will be followed by more of his works for sale amongst others, again directly, in October [Sotheby's] [AO] [Bloomberg] more here [NY Sun]
London: Tickets are now available for Frieze Art Fair 2008’s Frieze Projects and Frieze [Frieze Art Fair 2008] Tokyo: Takashi Murakami’s Kaikai Kiki announces GEISAI #11 [Artipedia] 8/6
Indian contemporary art is on the rise [How to Spend It, FT]
An Economist’s qualitative approach to works by great masters [NYT]

Red, Andy Warhol, (1978) via Gagosian

Gagosian’s spacious Chelsea gallery presents 13 contemporary artists in ‘Retrospective’: Chris Burden, Marcel Duchamp, Tom Friedman, Piero Golia, Douglas Gordon, Richard Hamilton, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Takashi Murakami, Piotr Uklański, Andy Warhol, Martin Kippenberger, and Ed Ruscha. Keeping in company with several thematic group shows this summer, this one has been assembled by Andisheh Avini, Gagosian curator, and artist.

Press Release [Gagosian]
‘Retrospective’: Been There, Sold That [NYSun]
Some Shows For Escape, Some For Introspection [NYTimes]
View video of the Retrospective group show here [Gagosian]

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Temenos, one of five giant public art works by Anish Kapoor via Guardian

Anish Kapoor’s $30M Public art project in Middlesbrough, UK [Guardian]
$500,000 in Warhols, Lichtensteins stolen from Swedish Museum [Artdaily]
Murakami ceases Cerulean LLC’s resale of sculpture at Christie’s after contract violation [Artinfo]
Noteworthy video of Rauschenberg on his ‘Erased de Kooning Drawing‘ [Seattlepi via C-Monster]
Art title insurance by ARIS offers new and broader protection for collectors [NYSun]
Banksy’s street crew, ‘Pest Control’, certifies authentic works in response to copies [Rawartint]
In response to museum pleas, senate loosens tax deduction rules on art donations [NYTimes]

“Pretty Ugly” at Gavin Brown Enterprise via Art Observed

Art Observed was on site at the opening of “Pretty Ugly” on Thursday, July 10th. The show took place at two neighboring galleries on Greenwich St. in New York: Gavin Brown’s Enterpise and Maccarone.
The show was curated by Alison Gingeras, of the Pinault collection, and featured work from more than 75 artists, including John Currin, Louise Bourgeois, the Chapman Brothers, Paul McCarthy, Takashi Murakami, Alice Neel, Hermann Nitsch, Andy Warhol, Francis Picabia, and Rob Pruitt, just to name a few.

Pretty Ugly: Press Release [Gavin Brown's Enterprise]
Pretty Ugly, Maccarone [Maccarone Gallery]
A Pretty Ugly New York Art Eclipse [Flash Art]
This Week in Art Openings: Totally Rad, Pretty Ugly, and The Shallow Curator [Papermag]
Pretty Ugly [Artlog]

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Chant 2, Bridget Riley (1967) via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s is holding its Contemporary Art Evening Auction on Tuesday, July 1st at its New Bond St. location in London. The sale’s highlights include works from Francis Bacon, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Anish Kapoor, Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Gerhard Richter, Bridget Riley, Andy Warhol and a number of other notable contemporary artists. The complete body of works for this sale will be on view at Sotheby’s New Bond St. galleries Monday, June 30 from 9am-7pm and Tuesday, July 1 from 9am-12noon.

Bridget Riley’s piece, Chant 2, a unique color painting which will be in the sale, was part of a show which won the artist the esteemed International Prize for Painting at the 34th Venice Biennale in 1968 .

Estimate: $4,000,000 - $6,000,000 (Pictured above)

London Contemporary Art Evening Auction [Sotheby's]

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Untitled (cowboy) 1998-99 via Serpentine Gallery

American artist Richard Prince follows his recent Guggenheim retrospective with Richard Prince: Continuation at Serpentine Gallery in London. This show will include recent work as well as Prince’s more established pieces from the past 30 years, such as his cowboy series, where the artist rephotographed and enlarged images of American masculinity from Marlboro cigarette advertisements.

Richard Prince [official website]
Richard Prince: Continuation [Serpentine Gallery]
Richard Prince at the Serpentine [red carnation]
Richard Prince and Marc Jacobs Create Expensive Purses [Elle UK]

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partying at the Art Basel via the New York Times

The 39th Annual Art Basel, visited by 60,000 guests over the course of the fair, proved to be a very successful showcase of the world’s most famous artists. Basel, on the Rhine where Switzerland meets France and Germany, created a perfect setting for wealthy collectors, art enthusiasts, and 300 international exhibitors to network and indulge among the most stylish and cultured of the art world.

Brad Pitt Buys Table at Art Basel; Mittal, Abramovich Browse [Bloomberg]
The 39th Edition of Art Basel Closes With Outstanding Results [artdaily]
Ellsworth Kelly, Basking in Basel [New York Times]
Pre-Partying With the Jet Set of the Art World [New York Times]
Russians Help Art Basel Shake Economic Woe, Falling U.S. Demand [Bloomberg]
The Art Fair Explosion and Its Fallout [WSJ]
In Basel, Contemporary Art Enjoys a Bounty of Friends [NYTimes]
Picture perfect [Financial times]
Art Basel, Switzerland, Is On, Right Now [Art Observed]

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Millionaire Nurse, Richard Prince via Artnet

The record-setting Francis Bacon triptych wasn’t the only artwork purchased for large sums at Sotheby’s the other night. The evening sale, which amassed a total of $386 Million and came on the heels of a successful night at Christie’s was filled with powerhouse artwork and collectors –indicating that maybe not all Americans bearish on art.

Market Exuberance Surprises [International Herald Tribune]
Sotheby’s Stock Rises After Strong Contemporary Sales [Forbes]
Francis Bacon Triptych Tops Sales [Art Observed]
Sotheby’s begs the question - what recession? [New York Times]
$86 Million Corpse at Sotheby’s [Bloomberg]
The Scene at Sotheby’s [Wall Street Journal]
Bringing Home the Bacon [Artforum]

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Image via lilli in the city

Murakami, the subject of much news here in New York at the moment, returns to Los Angeles for the first time since his influential show at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). From May 3 to June 14, Blum & Poe will present Takashi Murakami’s “Davy Jones’s Tear.” This is a rare solo show of his new works.

Blum & Poe Gallery
“Takashi Murakami Davy Jones’ Show” [The Style Latte]
“Takashi Murakami: New Paintings” [LATimes]

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Vito Schnabel via The Age.com

Vito Schnabel’s art dealing off to a fast start [NY Sun]
The other (non-Hirst) British human skull artist [Guardian.co.uk]
$100M pier upgrade allows Armory Show to expand exhibitors [NYTimes]
An in-depth profile of Larry Gagosian via those who know him [Economist]
Takashi Murakami on Time’s most influential people list [ArtInfo]

Lowman and Colen’s, Wet Pain, at Maccarone via NY mag

A critique of Dan Colen and Nate Lowman at Maccarone [NY mag]
Supreme launches Marilyn Minter skate decks [Supertouch]
Collector/Art in America owner Peter Brant’s supermodel wife editor of Warhol’s Interview [Sassybella]
Antwerp’s low profile art gallery gems [NY Times]
Sotheby’s Previews $30 million of contemporary art in an upscale Russian mall [Bloomberg]
Update: Murakami as a capitalist in Brooklyn [The Economist]

Banksy’s graffiti in London via Supertouch

Banksy’s possibly largest most brazen, work to date [Supertouch]
Update: Murakami’s superflat: “epidemic wanderlust produced by psycho-socio-sexual binarism”[NYObserver]
Update: Rothko kin successfully transfer his remains [NY Times]
“The New York canon” from Acconi to Warhol [New York mag]
Painter Ross Bleckner to write a memoir [Daily news]
Whitney Biennial annex at Henri Bendel window [Artnet]
Centre Pompidou cancels Calder exhibition due to lack of funds [Art NewsPaper]

Murakami’s work via New York Times

“©Murakami,” a retrospective of 16 years of Takashi Murakami’s art, had a star-studded opening at the Brooklyn Museum of Art this Friday, after a strong showing on the West Coast.

Murakami’ s opening [Bloomberg]
Murakami at the Brooklyn Museum [New York Times]
Takashi Murakami’s opening [Supertouch]
Kanye West, Marc Jacobs at Murakami’s opening [New York Magazine]
Brooklyn Museum [Brooklyn Museum]
Murakami’s opening [Wall street Journal]

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Murakami’s Flowerball (3D) 2002 - to be shown at Brooklyn Museum via ArtDaily.org

©Murakami (See Murakami), which has garnered much hype leading up to its debut, April 5th, will feature in addition to ©Murakami, a fully operational Louis Vuitton store featuring a series of Murakami-styled bags, limited edition canvases featuring “Monogramouflage”, a collaboration between Murakami and Vuitton’s artistic director, Marc Jacobs.

Brooklyn Museum announces Vuitton store within murakami exhibition [ArtDaily.org]
Vuitton Sales benefit little-known charity [NY Sun]
Murakami Vuitton bags for sale at Brooklyn Museum [NY Daily News]
Louis Vuitton at Brooklyn Museum, brought to you by Takashi Murakami [ArtInfo]

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Justin Anderson via the Moment

Art handlers in the forefront, and the back story [NYTimes, the moment]
The story of Gauguin’s severed head Arii Matamoe [NY Times]
Gugg. ex-director Krens up to more than expected in Abu Dhabi [NYMag]
China’s art market as a mere “pump and dump” PR play [Forbes]
Murakami interview before Brooklyn Museum show [New York Magazine]
Spencer Tunick’s nudes at Four Seasons restaurant [New York Post]
Update: The Guardian’s criticism of Whitney Biennial [Guardian.co.uk]
Asian art wrap-up: Yen bolsters Christie’s sales; Sotheby’s slumps [Bloomberg]

Yayoi Kusama via T-Magazine

An interview with “dot” artist,Yayoi Kusama [T Magazine]
Louis Vuitton’s boutique controversy at Brooklyn’s Murakami Show [Arts Journal]
On “looted” Russian & French Paintings at Royal Academy of Art [NY Times]
Update: Critique of Jasper John’s recent show [Financial Times]
Wealthy eclipsing public funding for commissioning new works? [Financial Times]

Tagged Murakami Billboard via Boing Boing

Murakami Billboard in Los Angeles tagged [Art Fag City] and subsequently kept by Murakami [Boing Boing]
Russian Art Prices continue to grow [FT]
London Auctions buoyed by Expressionists [NYSun]
Detailed Summary of LACMA and Eli Broad Controversy [NYT]
NYC Evening Museum Party Schedule [NYT]
Gagosian maintains Schnabel Oscar plans despite writers strike [NY Observer]
Proenza Schouler inspirated by Donald Judd on MARFA, Texas trip [Style]
Richter’s “Zwei Liebespaare” sells for £7.3M, exceeds expectations [Christies]
Art forced out of Britain by Tax Laws: 40% of work’s value [Times Online UK]
Auction houses are increasingly financiers versus exchange agents[Economist]

Flower Ball via Retromodern
Takashi Murakami released a $400 soccer ball for those looking to play in style. This release brings to light the ever increasing presence of commercialism in art.

Athletic and Trendy? [Pure Point]
Flower Ball [Cereal Art]