Li Binyuan at MoMA PS1, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

Exploring shared conceptual space between two generations of Chinese performance artists, MoMA PS1’s Land: Zhang Huan and Li Binyuan is a highlight of its summer calendar.  The exhibition, which draws on each artist’s unique approach to the body, particularly bodies exposed to physical or mental extremes, as well as the forces applied to it, from urbanization to culture to the natural world, presents itself as a documentation of sorts, relying heavily on each artist’s history of performance and video.   (more…)

Zhang Huan, Shanxi Door No. 49 (2206), all images courtesy Pace Chesa Büsin

Pace Gallery has taken up space at Chesa Büsin in the Swiss town of Suoz this summer for a retrospective of works by Chinese artist Zhang Huan. Known for his especially visceral brand of performance art and his equally meticulous and exacting documentations, this exhibition primarily focuses on some of Zhang’s lesser known paintings, photography and works on paper. (more…)

Lynda Benglis sculptures and Hans Hurting paintings at Cheim & Read’s booth at Frieze Masters. All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed unless otherwise noted

Frieze Masters and Frieze London concluded on October 14th, with both fairs reporting solid sales on the high end. This year, there was a distinct focus on curated booths and curatorial projects and less of an overt feeling of commercialization. Frieze Masters in particular focused on serious connoisseurship and an academic approach, both of which translated into a successful fair for dealers.

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Doug Aitken, Now (2011) at 303 Gallery NY. All photos for Art Observed by Caroline Claisse.

AO is on site in London for this week’s Frieze Art Fair. With 173 galleries selling an estimated $350 million worth of art, a level of anxiety pervades as the week’s results will be indicative of the overall international contemporary art market. Works like Christian Jankowski’s droll The Finest Art on Water and Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine directly comment on the world economic state, while the overall demeanor remains upbeat, with art world moguls and A-list celebrities enjoying the festivities.

Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine (2011), Thomas Dane Gallery

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Yutaka Sone Little Manhattan (2007-2009) at David Zwirner Gallery – All images by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed

Art Observed remains on site in Basel, Switzerland for Art 42 Basel 2011.  The following is our second of the photosets of the main fair.  Stay tuned for more coverage of the main fair before the end of the week as well as profiles of the satellite exhibitions and events.

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Artist Wim Delvoye before one of his sculptures at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin

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All photos by Caroline Claisse.

Currently on view at the Punta della Dogana, housed in the magnificent Palazzo Grassi, is “The World Belongs to You.” Curated by Caroline Bourgeois, the exhibition brings together artists from different generations, geographical locations, and practices to explore history and current realities.

The Punta della Dogana became the official exhibition space of Francois Pinault‘s private collection in 2006, when he purchased the building from the city of Venice. It now houses works from internationally renowned contemporary artists such as Jeff Koons, Urs Fischer, Maurizio Cattelan, and Takashi Murakami.

Urs Fischer’s violet piano at Punta della Dogana.

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Free Tiger Returns to the Mountains No.66 (2010) by Zhang Huan, via Pace Gallery

Currently on view at the Pace Gallery in Beijing is an exhibition of recent works by Zhang Huan. Most renowned for his performance artwork, in recent years he has returned to working in a variety of mediums including painting, sculpture, and large-scale installations. “Free Tiger Returns to the Mountains” includes ash paintings (works made of a mixture of ashes collected from temples and adhesive) and cowhide sculptures. The paintings were created from his imagination instead using a photographic image. They are an expressive recreation of the artist’s idea of wildlife.

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Rulai (2008-2009), by Zhang Huan, via PaceWildenstein

Currently on view at PaceWildenstein in New York is Zhang Huan’s “Neither Coming Nor Going.” The artist’s second show at PaceWildenstein; this exhibition emphasizes the artist’s ongoing exploration of what it means to be human through tradition, historical associations and personal experience. The show will feature a monumental ash Buddha, Rulai (2008-2009) and also a series of unique large-scale works on paper.

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Zhang Huan, Zhu Gangqiang No.6, via White Cube

An exploration of memory, spirituality and hope through the miraculous survival of a pig is being conducted at London’s White Cube by Chinese performance and visual artist Zhang Huan. The show is based around one of the greatest natural disasters to hit China in recent memory. In May 2008, an earthquake reaching magnitude of 8 on the Richter Scale killed 60,000 people. Amongst the chaos, for 49 days, a pig persevered. Carried by Buddhist belief that the soul remains on earth between death and transmigration for exactly this amount of time, this pig is now a symbol of life and hope, renamed Cast-Iron Pig (or Zhu Gangqiang in Chinese, hence the theme of the show).

Related Links:
Exhibit Details [White Cube]
Zhuang Huan to design and direct a new production of Handel’s Semele [De Munt La Monnaie]
These Little Piggies Went to Art Show [London Evening Standard]
Zhang Huan: from Baroque to Beijing [Telegraph]

Zhang Huan, Zhu Gangqiang No.0, via White Cube

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A Jeff Koons sculpture causing consternation to the owner’s neighbors, via Curbed

A hedge-fund king adorns his Upper East Side penthouse terrace with a huge sculpture of a diamond by Jeff Koons [NY Post]
In related: Two interviews where Jeff Koons speaks about his work, financial troubles due to custody battle after divorce and art market [Art Market Monitor]

At the Ace Hotel via New York Magazine

The new ACE Hotel in New York has commissioned a mural of 4,000 graffiti stickers collected in New York by the Bronx-born artist, Michael Anderson [New York Magazine]
Lehman Brothers selling its corporate art collection to contribute to the bankrupt company coffers [Bloomberg]

Terence Koh in in a wedding dress via Supreme Management

Terence Koh gets married to Garrick Gott in a wedding dress like his mother once wore [Supreme Management]

T-shirt, Terence Koh’s design via Pipeline

In related, “Hand-finished” limited edition T-shirts with a bullet scar by Terence Koh are now in sale at the Opening Ceremony [Pipeline]
Robert Stevens’ film depicting animal cruelty starts a lawsuit resulting in a debate around free speech in art community [Artinfo]

Nate Lowman at the Hydra Workshop via C-Monster

The artsy jet-set on the Greek Isle at the Hydra Workshop presenting works by New York “bad boy,” Nate Lowman [Hydra Workshop via C-Monster]
Auction Houses face a dilemma as the previously bullish market reduced the supply of quality works to a growing market [NY Times]
The Tate Britain is looking for a director [e-flux]

A rendering of Pier 57 via Hudson River Park River Trust

Youngwoo’s proposal will bring in the Phillips auction house to turn part of Pier 57  into contemporary art galleries, the Tribeca Film Festival will program a movie theater and a two-acre park will be built on the pier’s roof [The New York Observer]
Reduced rents, spurred by a difficult economic climate, cause such galleries in L.A. as Gagosian, Blum & Poe, Susanna Vielmetter, and Cherry and Martin Roberts & Tilton to expand in Culver City [Art Review]

Zhang Huan to design Semele via Art Knowledge News

KT Wong Foundation commissions Chinese artist Zhang Huan to design and direct Semele opera in Belgium’s leading Opera House [Art Knowledge News]
French street artist, known as Zevs, arrested for painting a dripping Chanel logo above Armani boutique in Hong Kong; prosecutors ask for $861,000 to replace the affected facade [South China Morning Post]
Buyers battered by a credit crisis look for bargains in contemporary art, works by artists born post-1945 may be a smart investment [The Wall Street Journal]

The Fifer, Manet via Artinfo

While Musée D’Orsay is partially closed, de Young Museum in San Francisco will host two landmark exhibitions of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art from the vast collection of the French museum [Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco]
The Palm Springs Art Museum’s contemporary art collection grows with a gift of 116 works by 66 artists including Donald Judd, Louise Bourgeois and Gary Hume [Los Angeles Times]

Cindy Sherman on cover of Men’s Vogue via Art is Alive

Cindy Sherman, on the cover of L’Uomo Vogue [Art is Alive]
An interesting editorial on the issue of London’s National Portrait Gallery battling Wikipedia for uploading the copyrighted reproductions of their collection [The Wall Street Journal]
Sam Taylor-Wood’s debut film, a John Lennon biopic, to close the London film festival [TimesUK]

Louvre, FIAC hosted at Louvre, Cour Carree and Grand Palais via Erco

In Paris the 36th edition of FIAC brings together 196 modern art and contemporary galleries from 21 countries [Art Daily]
In related, the Musée du Louvre launches the English version of its online collections database [NY Times]
Rocco Landesman awaits confirmation for his position as a chairman-designate to National Endowment for the Arts and is likely to start the job on firmer ground than any of his recent predecessors [The New York Times]

The Wassaic Project via The New York Times

The Wassaic Project, an elevator grain converted into an art gallery, attracts art and young curators to the small town Northeast of New York [The New York Times]
The Downtown branch of the Whitney museum designed by Renzo Piano should be ready in 2012 [The Villager]

Os Gemeos at work on their mural in at Houston and Elizabeth via The Art Collectors

Brazilian street art duo Os Gemeos are completing a mural on the corner of Houston and Bowery in New York on the site of the Keith Haring tribute memorial [The Art Collectors]
A rare interview with Bruce Nauman after he was awarded the Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale [The Art Newspaper]
The British Museum has raised 2/3 of the $200 million for its new Herzog & de Meuron-designed wing [Bloomberg]

Hirst’s recurring butterfly imagery adorns Lance Armstrong’s bike frame via Designweek

With perhaps one of the more thought provoking of the Livestrong bike creations, Damien Hirst has designed the bike Lance Armstrong will use during the final stage of the Tour de France with his recurring mortality metaphor of butterflies [Galerie Perrotin]
A breakdown of ArtNews’s Top 200 Collectors: 81% collect contemporary, 34% collect modern, 9% collect Impressionist, and 9% collect Old Masters [ArtNews]

Digital rendering of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne’s menagerie on New York’s Park Avenue via NY Times

From Sept. 13 through Nov. 20, Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne’s animal menagerie will adorn the medians between 52nd and 57th Streets in Midtown Manhattan [NY Times]

Franz West’s The Ego and the Id via the The Public Art Fund

In related, Franz West’s 20 foot ‘The Ego and the Id’ will be installed Central Park at 5th Ave & 60th tomorrow, on loan from Amalia Dayan and Adam Lindemann through March [PublicArtFund]
BBC1 announces a four-part documentary focusing on Picasso, Dali, Matisse and Warhol, airing next year [BBC]
The Castlestone art fund is buying Post War art from deceased and non-producing artists such as Picasso and Warhol as it posits that pricing has dropped 20-40% from last year [International Advisor via ArtMarketMonitor] and a related email gaffe from Castlestone [ArtNewspaper]

Performance view of Anselm Kiefer’s ‘Am Anfang’ via Opera de Paris

German painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer directed and designed, ‘Am Anfang,’ or ‘At the Beginning,’ for the Opera de Bastille in Paris, is currently running [TheGuardian]
In related, contemporary artist Zhang Huan will design and direct a 250 year anniversary production of Handel’s Semele in Brussels for the 2009/10 season [ArtDaily]

A new Banksy mural in Africa via SlamxHype

A number of Banksy murals in Africa have popped up, possibly in Mali [World’s Best Ever] and related, 120,000 have visited the artist’s exhibition in his hometown of Bristol [BBC Bristol via FAD]
Charles Saatchi has replaced his Abstract America show his Kings Road gallery for an installation promoting the Jaguar XJ [Vogue]

John Morton at the site of his sound installation in Central Park via NY Times

A pedestrian tunnel in Central Park is the site of an immersive sound installation by John Morton [NY Times]
A brush fire near Getty Center caused Getty museum officials to evacuate 1,600 visitors and 800 employees [LA Times]

Michael Jackson series by Andy Warhol via ArtDaily

A portrait of Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol is dropped from a NY auction after overwhelming inquiries [ArtDaily]
Phillips de Pury & Company is launching a series of new theme auctions, including 21st century art and “New York, New York” [Artdaily]
Abu Dhabi Art, a new art fair, will debut in November [Artinfo]

A “plinther” participant in Antony Gormley’s One & Other via The Guardian

Antony Gormley’s ‘One&Other’ continues its 100-day run on the fourth plinth of Trafalgar Square in London [One & Other (livefeed)]
In related participatory British art, 23 museum visitors sufferred minor injuries during Robert Morris’s recent Bodyspacemotionthings reprisal at the Tate Modern [ArtInfo]
The Tate announces the judges of the 2010 Turner Prize [The Art Newspaper]

Chuck Close, Cindy (2006), jacquard tapestry, at PaceWildenstein

PaceWildenstein Gallery in Chelsea presents the latest Chuck Close exhibition, showing seven oil on canvas paintings in addition to tapestry portraits of Brad Pitt, Ellen Gallagher, Philip Glass, Lyle Ashton, Andres Serrano, Cindy Sherman, Lorna Simpson, Zhang Huan, and two self-portraits.  An exhibition catalog with an introductory essay by curator Lilly Wei accompanies the show.

PaceWildenstein
Chuck Clise: Selected Paintings and Tapestries, 2005-2009
534 West 25th Street, New York
May 1 – June 20, 2009

RELATED LINKS
Exhibition Page [PaceWildenstein]
Chuck Close: Tapestries [Magnolia Editions]
Chuck Close Opening Thursday 4/30 [Magnolia Editions Blog]
Video: Chuck Close Tapestries at PaceWildenstein [Magnolia Editions Blog]
Chuck Close Artist Page [Art Observed]

Chuck Close, Self Portrait/Color (2007) Tapestry at PaceWildenstein

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Grayson Perry; Entrance To The Forest; 2002; Victoria Miro Gallery; London -Photos by ArtObserved

“The surprise is the business we are doing. Frankly, people are expressing more confidence in the art market than the government or Wall Street right now,” said Sean Kelly of Sean Kelly Gallery. The night of December 2nd, Vernissage attendees glittered and Piper Heidsieck champagne flowed.  More importantly, buyers were in attendance, asking questions and indeed, according to most of the galleries interviewed for this article, buying.  On Thursday afternoon, Douglas Baxter, President of Pace Wildenstein professed “We’ve met expectations.” Also on Thursday, when asked his feelings on sales from the night before, a representative at Cheim & Read insisted his artists have been selling well, pointing to Jack Pierson sculpture and a pile of William Eggleston’s photos.  Margherita Belaief of Peres Projects had the same confidence, “It’s hard to say so early but in general, Dash Snow’s pieces are selling strong.”  While hesitant to disclose precise numbers, the overall sentiment of the top galleries was optimistic.

However, it’s important to note while the larger known artists have been selling strong, some galleries have reported some difficulty selling lesser known artist pieces.  Alfons Klosterfelde at Klosterfelde was most direct: “People are asking more questions and really want to know the details,” but he said pointedly as of Thursday, “there have been less sales” and Klosterfelde remarked the pieces sold were from the gallery’s more known artists.

Photos and Writing by Faith-Ann Young

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