Shooting into the Corner, Anish Kapoor, 2009. Image via Scai the Bathhouse.
Anish Kapoor has installed five new sculptures at Scai the Bathhouse, Tokyo. This is the third time Kapoor has exhibited his sculptures at the Japanese contemporary art gallery. Although from Mumbai, India, Scai’s location prompted Kapoor to draw inspiration from Japanese craft, and to collaborate with an urushi lacquerware artist.
Untitled, Anish Kapoor, 2009. Image via Scai the Bathhouse.
Quiver of Arrows, 2010 by Mike Nelson All images via 303 Gallery unless otherwise noted
Currently on view at 303 Gallery at 547 W 21 Street, New York is the exhibition of new works by a contemporary British installation artist Mike Nelson. Quiver of Arrows, an installation constructed of four travel trailers from 1939- 1969 that form Nelson’s extended labyrinths, is the artist’s first solo show in the United States.
Video of the Installation via Art Observed
More texts, images and links after the jump… (more…)
A spiraling sculpture designed by Turner Prize-winning artist Anish Kapoor, in collaboration with leading structural designer, Cecil Balmond, has been chosen as the monument to mark the London 2012 Olympic Games. When finished, the 377-foot sculpture will stand taller than Big Ben or the Statue of Liberty and is set to dominate the east London landscape, perhaps as a permanent attraction for generations to come. Kapoor and Balmond’s Orbit, which will be placed between the aquatics center and the main stadium, was chosen from a shortlist of three, beating tower-based bids by the artist Antony Gormley and the architects Caruso St John.Indian steel magnet, Lakshmi Mittal, is providing about $24 million of the total cost of the structure, with the remaining amount coming from the Greater London Authority. From the beginning, the award of the Olympics to London has been regarded as bad news and so, the unveiling of this colossal monument has provided much opportunity for jestering. Officially titled ArcelorMittal Orbit, suggested nicknames are rolling in thick and fast: The Guardian favored suggestions such as ‘The Leaning Tower of Umbilical Cord’, another suggested ‘Hubble Bubble’ or the ‘Colossus of Stratford’
More on MOCA’s new director, Jeffrey Deitch, who brings his more business-oriented background to the Museum in LA: [Bloomberg] Deitch’s contract with the museum has certain safeguards against conflicts of interest that might arise from his foot in the business world– among the new rules, Deitch must notify the museum’s board of anything he adds to or sells from his collection. [LATimes]
Eli Broad and his Broad Art Foundation reveal that they are considering 3 different Westside locations on which to build and endow a museum for his art collection. The third site was recently revealed as being a ten-acre parcel on the campus of West LA College in Culver City. [LA Times]
Works by Picasso and Henri Rousseau have been stolen from a private villa in the South of France, marking the country’s second major art robbery in that week– (work by impressionist painter Edgar Degas was stolen from the Cantini Museum in Marseilles only days before). [FT]
To stay apprised of the latest relevant news of the art world…
Richard Wright’s winning wall painting, via TimesOnline
Last night, Richard Wright was announced the winner of the prestigious Turner Prize at a ceremony in Tate Britain. Wright’s highly intricate gold-leaf painting that won him the prize can be seen across one wall of the Turner Prize exhibition currently on display at Tate Britain through January 6, 2010. Wright lives in Glasgow and so follows an illustrious line of Scotland-based winners – from Douglas Gordon back in 1996 to Martin Creed in 2001 and Simon Starling in 2005. At 49, Wright is the oldest man to win the prize since the under-50 age limit was imposed in 1991.
Wright rejected painting on canvas in the late 1980s and has become best known for his wall paintings which are temporarily crafted onto walls in overlooked places with the knowledge that they will soon be erased – almost everything Wright has created since this decision has been destroyed. His paintings combine graphic imagery and intricate patterning from sources as varied as Medieval painting, graphics and typography.
Four artists, working a variety of media, were in contention for the prize – Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer, and Richard Wright – Hiorns had been the critics’ favorite going into the competition.
Andrew Dickson, Arts Editor of the Guardian, talks to Turner Prize winner Richard Wright, Stephen Deuchar, Carol Ann Duffy, and 2001 Turner winner Martin Creed via The Guardian
Richard Wright: 2009 Turner Prize Winner [The Guardian]
A Turner Prize Winner Who Takes Viewers By Surprise [NY Times]
Turner Prize Winner Richard Wright Shocks World – Actual Art [Daily Mail]
Richard Wright Who Wrecks His Own Work Wins Turner Prize [Bloomberg]
I’d Like Him to Do My Living Room Wall [TimesOnline]
School of Art [BBC News]
You could call Wright’s art Minimalist, but it is also luxurious [Independent]
Richard Wright Wins Turner Prize [Financial Times]
Fresco Painter Richard Wright Wins Turner Prize [Reuters]
Richard Wright’s untitled wall painting, via Times UK
Now on view at Tate Britain is an exhibition of the four artists shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize, Britain’s most prestigious – and most controversial – art prize. Featuring Enrico David, Roger Hiorns, Lucy Skaer, and Richard Wright, the exhibition showcases both works for which the artists were nominated as well as new works. The winner of the prize will be announced on December 7, 2009, via a live televised broadcast. Though the Turner Prize has been awarded to well-regarded artists including Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, and Wolfgang Tillmans, it has been the source of controversy for its attentions to unconventional YBAs like Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. This year’s nominees, however, have been noted for their lack of shock tactics. Gone are Emin’s dirty sheets and used condoms, replaced by Wright’s delicate wall drawing and Skaer’s archaeological assemblages.
Jeff Koons’s giant rabbit at the Covent Garden in London via Hypebeast
A giant helium-filled Jeff Koons balloon made its UK debut on October 8th, the inflatable rabbit floated above central London, it will be displayed in Covent garden [The Independent] Coinciding with the Frieze fair, the 10th Turbine Hall commission launches, Baldessari’s retrospective opening the same day, Hayward Gallery presents Ed Ruscha, Turner Prize coming up and many other shows and openings, turn London into the center of attention [Guardian UK]
Frieze art fair excites not merely the International art scene, but also the social diaries of those who like to mingle with the rich and famous [Guardian UK] the contemporary art event even has installations to turn its visitors into the subjects of the artwork. [The Independent] Only displaying works by contemporary living artists, Frieze has been considered 1-dimensional in the past. Frieze helps London take over the art world in October [The Independent]- but not without competition, as FIAC, the Parisian fair, is to begin next week and may steal the battle as art collectors in today’s economic climate are forced to pick which fairs they will be attending [The Wall Street Journal]
A drawing sold at auction for $19,000 in the late 1990s is now attracting attention for its authorship, if by Leonardo Da Vinci, a theory that recent research strongly suggests, the work could be worth as much as $147 million [Bloomberg]
The Wapping Project in London, often compared to Tate Modern, is expanding with the opening of the Wapping Project Bankside- a new gallery reminiscent of a New York loft to feature film, video and photography almost “a stone’s throw” from Tate [The Moment]
The Whitney Museum of American Art’s plans for a second Renzo Piana location have advanced [The New York Times]
To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week …(more…)
On view now at Gagosian Gallery’s Davies Street location in London is an exhibition of the work of Richard Wright, one of four artists shortlisted for this year’s Turner Prize. The highlight of the show is a site-specific painting on the ceiling made with silver leaf. Many of Wright’s works are created in situ, responding to the architectural layout, often working with overlooked places, with the overall design of the work evolving until its completion. The exhibition also includes a number of works on paper.
“Extremities (smooth, smooth),” Pipilotti Rist’s contribution to “Walking in My Mind,” the Hayward Gallery. via The Guardian.
Currently showing at the Hayward Gallery are the minds of ten artists — or, at least, how the artists feel they can represent the melding of product and creative process. Ten installation artists from around the world are featured in the show. Some are relative newcomers who are showing new pieces at the Hayward, like Swedish Bo Christian Larsson and Japanese Chiharu Shiota, who exhibit for the first time in London, and Dutch artist Mark Manders, who shows for the first time in a major British exhibition. Others are more well-established, including Yayoi Kusama and Turner prize-winner Keith Tyson, as well as the late controversial American artist Jason Rhoades. Also exhibiting are Charles Avery (UK), Thomas Hirschhorn (Switzerland), and Pipilotti Rist (Switzerland).
The White Cube is hosting Gilbert & George’s “Jack Freak Pictures,” the largest series ever by the artists. Both the Hoxton and Mason’s Yard galleries will be home to the paint collection, of selections also showed at Berlin’s Arndt & Partner. The exhibition quite literally makes freaks of Jack as in the Union Jack. Set in the East End of London, “Jack Freak Pictures” is peopled with medals, maps, street-signs and other recognizable symbols of British identity. The series is in line with other works by Gilbert & George, who subsume identity questions surrounding sexuality, religion, and nation into the provocative colors which their grid pictures confine.
PR photo of Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth, via the Guardian UK.
Noted British sculptor and Turner Prize winner Antony Gormley is seeking to recruit up to 2,400 volunteers to participate in his latest work, One & Other, atop Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth.
Participants will have an entire hour atop the plinth, and are free to do anything legal. Gormley has commented that he expects there to be “naked riots,” and that he would be “upset if at least one person did not take their clothes off.” The only requirements for partake in One and Other are that participants are over 16 years of age and are residents of the UK while the show is on display. Applications will be accepted through a website designed for that purpose, and Sky Arts will broadcast coverage of the plinth. Video coverage of the plinth will also be streaming live at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The website will notify participants in three tranches starting in April.
On the motivation and objective behind the ‘sculpture,’ Gormley had this to say:
“The idea behind One & Other is a simple one. Through elevation onto the plinth and removal from the common ground, the body becomes a metaphor, symbol, emblem – a point of reference, focus and thought. In the context of Trafalgar Square with its military, valedictory and male historical statues to specific individuals, this elevation of everyday life to the position formerly occupied by monumental art allows us to reflect on the diversity, vulnerability and particularity of the individual in contemporary society. It could be tragic but it could also be funny.” — via the Guardian UK
Gormley won the opportunity to display One and Other through a process run by the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group. Other artists who have exhibited on the plinth include Marc Quinn, Rachel Whiteread and Thomas Schutte.
Mark Leckey receiving the Turner Prize, via the Guardian
The only male among the four artists selected as nominees for this year’s Turner Prize emerged as the winner of what is widely considered Britain’s most important contemporary arts competition, held at the Tate Britain museum for the last 24 years. Mark Leckey’s Cinema in the Round clinched the Turner Prize, joining the ranks of Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili, Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry, Rachel Whiteread, the Chapman Brothers, Tomma Abts, Steve McQueen, among many other now prominent artists. The Turner Prize is awarded to the best artist under 50 by a jury which changes every year. Leckey’s works included films that examined the role of movies and other media in the daily lives of viewers, and how they see themselves. Cinema in the Round examined this theme in depth, referencing external cultural imagery drawn from such as sources as Felix the Cat, Homer Simpson, Titanic the movie and Philip Guston. Leckey beat out fellow artists Runa Islam, Cathy Wilkes, and Goshka Macuga for the £25,000 prize, which was presented by musician Nick Cave. The other competitors took home £5,000 as consolation prize.
British artist Rachel Whiteread’s installation Place (Village)(2006-08) is currently on view for the first time in The United States at The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. This recent work is the centerpiece of an exhibition simply titled RachelWhiteread which also features a selection of the artist’s earlier pieces including casts of doors, the insides of boxes, and wood flooring, as well as drawings and collages.
Also in Wall Street Journal weekend: Barry McGee is new mural on nyc's Houston/Bowery wall that has featured Haring, Fairey, Os Gemeos 3 days ago
Work by Steve Powers (Espo) featured in Wall Street Journal weekend edition's article on Urban Art Foundation's attempt to landmark graffiti 3 days ago
NYTimes: feature on Mary Boone Gallery's Barbara Kruger: show in East Hampton,NY; new Rizzoli book; and a permanent piece at the new Whitney 4 days ago
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