As part of the Guggenheim‘s performing-arts Works & Process series, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi brings Sergei Prokofiev’s suspenseful, timeless classic to life in front of Will Cotton‘s newly commissioned, candy-coated installation. Cotton’s largest painting to date (30′ x 11’) is set with a gingerbread castle inhabited by the wolf and his friends. George Manahan conducts the Juilliard Ensemble. (more…)
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All photos on site for Art Observed by Rachel Willis.
New York-based painter Will Cotton’s most recent body of work is currently on display at the Mary Boone Gallery on Fifth Avenue. The show consists of multiple large-scale paintings and one sculpture, all of which feature the imagery of Cotton’s signature candy-filled landscapes. Cotton comments on Western consumerism by creating an aesthetic world inhabited by two hallmarks of American overindulgence: attractive women and trans fat goodies. Featured in this exhibition is Crown, the first of a series of paintings that depict pop singer Katy Perry surrounded by a world of ornately decorated cakes.
Will Cotton and Katy Perry at the exhibition opening, via People
Will Cotton‘s new paintings at Michael Kohn Gallery depict beautiful women caught inside dreamlike, manufactured fantasies. In a show that tethers Cotton’s natural mastery of painting to the undeniable pull of popular culture and mass consumption, Cotton seems to be struggling to walk the line between the empowerment and overpowering his subject matter. Contextualizing the female icon within a candy-coated dream world, Cotton is no newcomer to traditional subject matter, and his large-scale paintings straddle exaltation and exploitation.
Simone de Pury gets down to close a bid from Jen Brill, Kaws and others fill the crowd. All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.
Last night was the annual benefit for RxArt, held on 29th Street, just off 6th avenue in Chelsea, New York. RxArt is a charity organization which fosters ” artistic expression and awareness through the challenging yet rewarding task of engaging patients through contemporary art in healthcare facilities.” The non-profit organization curates and installs art work, from some of the most recognizable contemporary artists working today, in hospitals and other healthcare locations. Last night was, again, a success with artist’s work for silent auction along the walls of the event space and with a live auction that took place at 9 o’clock which featured the master of ceremonies Simone de Pury in rare auctioneer form. The event never fails in gathering many notable artists and art world professionals as attendees, this year bringing Kaws, Dan Colen, Will Cotton, Nate Lowman, Aaron Young, Terry Richardson, Ryan McGinley and others.
NYAA’s “Take Home a Nude” benefit, hosted by Sotheby’s, October 18, 2010. All photos by Deborah Heuberger for Art Observed.
For the 19th installment of the New York Academy of Art‘s annual Take Home a Nude benefit, the organization honored Eric Fischl for his outstanding contribution to contemporary art, scholarship, and the mission of the Academy. The representational style and enduring interest in the human form which characterize Fischl’s body of work are consistent with the Academy’s reputation as “The first and most significant graduate school in the United States to focus on the human body.”
What began in 1991 as a modest fundraiser held at the Academy’s Tribeca headquarters has evolved into one the most prestigious arts events of the season. This year’s venue was generously provided by Sotheby’s, where works were installed throughout five gallery spaces, hosting cocktail hour, silent and live auctions, and a post-auction dinner.
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On Wednesday night, AOL inc. kicked-off their 25th Anniversary celebrations in New York with an intimate ceremony at the New Museum to launch Project on Creativity – a new initiative spearheaded by a series of portraits of the innovators and creatives photographed by American artist Chuck Close – a select few, including images Dalai Lama, segway inventor Dean Kamen, artist Kara Walker, director Gus Van Sant and the actress Claire Danes, were displayed in the Seventh-Floor Sky Room at the Museum which was packed with the members of the New York society world including Andy and Kate Spade, Lisa Anastos, Genevieve Jones, Jennifer Missoni, Will Cotton, Waris Ahlualia, Glenn O’Brien, Bill Powers and AOL CEO Tim Armstrong. The ground floor of the museum was dedicated to a high-tech display of original artwork by four artists from around the world who are part of a larger group of 41 young artists who are to be featured on AOL’s homepage as well as AOLArtists.com – a new destination where users can learn more about how AOL is using creative expression across their sites and the artists who created involved. In addition to these initiatives, AOL representatives used the evening as an opportunity to announce plans for 25 for 25 – a scholarship program, which will grant 25 $25,000 scholarships to tomorrow’s journalists, artists, illustrators, chefs, producers, videographers, and editors. The evening continued for guests who headed a few blocks north to the Bowery hotel for the official after party which was headlined by an intimate performance John Legend.
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Maurizio Cattelan’s ‘Trophy Wife,’ depicting Stephanie Seymour, currently going through a messy divorce from Peter Brant, who owns the piece
-Recent court filings in the divorce of Peter Brant and Stephanie Seymour reveal disputes over nearly 50 works by Andy Warhol, as well as works by Richard Prince, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cindy Sherman, Jeff Koons, Julian Schnabel, and a bust of Seymour made by Maurizio Cattelan [Vanity Fair]
-And in related, Udo Fritz-Hermann Brandhorst, an heir to Germany’s Henkel AG & Co. fortune, settled out of court a dispute with his former mistress over two works by Damien Hirst [Bloomberg]
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Allison Schulnik’s music video for Grizzly Bear’s ‘Ready, Able’
– Painter Allison Schulnik’s claymation music video for Grizzly Bear’s ‘Ready, Able’ via The Flog
-Tracey Emin reading her new book of poems “Those Who Suffer Love” and “Strangeland” at University Settlement as part of Performa 09 [Supreme Being]
-Also related, a round-up of Performa 09 includes a “Pasta Sauna” based on the Futurist Manifesto, Tacita Dean, William Kentridge, Merce Cunningham and more [Financial Times]
To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week…
-Eric Fischl, Chie Fueki, Hilary Harkness, Will Cotton, Francesco Clemente, Peter Halley and Barbara Kruger are all a part of the long list of artists who have created, dedicated and portrayed Ron Warren in their works; Mary Boone’s assistant he has always played an understated yet influential role leading to a Mary Boone Gallery exhibition in his honor [The New York Times]
-The 2009 edition of the Power 100 by ArtReview is released with Hans Ulrich Obrist taking the first place and the list showcasing some changes in the influences and forces of the art world; the top ten include dealers and artists as Larry Gagosian, Francois Pinault, Eli Broad and Bruce Nauman [ArtReview]
-In related, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, the director of Serpentine Gallery, just voted to be the art world’s most powerful figure by the Power 100, gives an idea of how busy his week gets [The Independent]
-A $310 million collection of Mark Rothko paintings to be shown next spring in artist’s first Moscow solo exhibition at Dasha Zkukova’s Garage Center for Contemporary Culture [Bloomberg]
To stay apprised of most of the relevant art news for this past week… (more…)
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David Zwirner booth at the Armory, showing Yan Pei-Ming, John McCracken, and Rachel Khedoori.
New York Armory Week 2009 is in full swing, with attendance higher than expected moving into the weekend. Despite the absence of several blue chip galleries – including Matthew Marks and Lehmann Maupin – the gallerists’ collective mood seems hesitant but optimistic. 177 contemporary galleries are exhibiting in the Armory’s 11th year, along with the addition of a Modern wing at Pier 92 selling more established, less edgy work.
The Armory Show 2009 and the Armory Modern
Piers 92 and 94
12th Avenue at 54th Street
March 4-8, 2009
On view now at Mary Boone Gallery’s Fifth Avenue location is an exhibition of new paintings by Will Cotton. Cotton is known for his photorealistic candyland dreamscapes, often featuring scantily-clad female figures lounging in cotton candy clouds or bathing in chocolate pools. Cotton’s current series is inspired by Hudson River School painter Thomas Cole’s acclaimed ‘The Course of Empire’ series. The human eye-candy disappears from these decadent landscapes, but the exhibition includes a series of portrait studies in the style of Renaissance portraiture with young beautiful women wearing status symbols made of sugar.
Until March 31, The Eden Rock hotel will display Will Cotton new works on paper. The artist was recently the guest of the hotel for three weeks in one of their beachside bungalows.
