Opening reception for Doug Aitken ‘Migration’ at 303 Gallery photos by Art Observed

Art Observed was on site at the well attended opening reception for Doug Aitken’s new installations at 303 Gallery. His piece called ‘Migration’ is the first exhibition to inhabit the new 303 Gallery space on 21st Street but the opening also took place correspondingly at the gallery’s original 22nd street location. On 22nd street, a series of 30 abstract watercolors greet you when you first enter the brightly lit circular room, and lead you to the back gallery which houses a series of illuminated signs. The large-scale signs are lit up and filled with panoramic photos of our contemporary landscape.

‘Migration’, an audio-visual installation, is played on three large screens spaced throughout the new 21st Street gallery space. In the footage, Doug Aitken takes wild North American migratory animals out of their natural environment and juxtaposes them in roadside hotel and motel rooms, all the while supplementing the footage with a dramatic soundtrack. The guests at the opening reception spread out through the gallery in search of a preferred viewing vantage point; some standing in front of the screen, sitting on the ground, or mingling towards the front of the gallery. The exhibition will continue to be on view at547 W. 21 St through November 1st and 525 W. 22 St through November 8th.

Art Observed Exclusive Videos of the opening:
Opening reception for Doug Aitken: Migration at 303 Gallery [Art Observed]

Doug Aitken: Migration [303 Gallery]
303 Gallery current exhibitions [Artslant]
Doug Aitken at 303 Gallery [Supreme Management]
AO On Site: 303 Gallery’s 25th Anniversary Summer Celebration, Wednesday night, July 23 NYC [ArtObserved]

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KAWS with SpongeBob acrylic piece included in his exhibit Saturated, via hypebeast

This weekend marked the opening of Saturated, KAWS’ first solo show since 2002. The exhibition held at Miami’s Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin was curated by Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D fame and included pop-art acrylic works inline with the artists signature style. The paintings’ subjects included animated icons SpongeBob SquarePants and the Smurfs. The collection like previous work by KAWS includes well known imagery as an attempt to be produce art that is universally understood, transcending languages and cultures. The artist who came to fame in the early 90’s through subverting images on billboard, bus shelter, and phone booth advertisements has previously reworked the animated icons The Simpons, Mickey Mouse, and Michelin Man among others.

Interview: KAWS [The Moment]
KAWS’ Saturated at Emmanuel Perrotin [The World’s Best Ever]
KAWS “Saturated” Show Opening [hypebeast]
Opening Nite: KAWS’ “Saturated” [supertouch]

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Soon-to-be-former Lehman Brothers corporate headquarters

Lehman Brothers may sell some or all of its 3,500-work corporate art collection [Bloomberg]
How the Wall Street firm implosion jeopardizes New York arts funding [NY Sun]
French art dealers, armed with currency arbitrage, settle into Manhattan [The Art Newspaper]
7 artists recontextualise the River Thames [GuardianUK]
Following ‘Pest Control,’ ‘Vermin,’ a second Banksy authentication group emerges [Art Info]
Five 17th century Dutch paintings stolen in 2002 at $4.2M of insurable value are recovered [BBC]

Dash Snow (co-author of NEST), Brian McPeck (of A.R.E. Weapons) and Kembra Pfahler (of The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black and author of Beautalism) at Santo’s Party House; photo taken by Bijoux Altamirano

Last Monday night, September 15th, AO was on site at Santo’s Party House for Deitch Projects’ book launch. Deitch Projects has released two new books, NEST by Dash Snow and Dan Colen and Beautalism by Kembra Pfahler. The celebration was kicked off by performances by The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, led by Kembra Pfahler, the author of Beautalism and frequent collaborator of Deitch projects, and a short set from TV Baby.

CURRENT READING: Nest: Dash Snow Dan Colen: Deitch Projects [The Imagist]
Nest and Beautalism Book Launch at Santos Party House [The World’s Best Ever]
Deitch projects book launch [ArtLoversNewYork]
Hint Tip: Deitch Projects [Hintmag]
Nest: July 26, 2007 to August 18, 2007 [Deitch Projects]
The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black [MySpace]

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Crucifixion (1933) by Francis Bacon, via the Tate Britain

In celebration of the centenary of the artist’s birth, the Tate Britain has put together a Francis Bacon retrospective encompassing 71 paintings covering the most important creative periods of the noted 20th century artist. The retrospective is the first in Britain since 1985, before the artist passed away in 1992. Bacon’s work forces the viewer to confront very disturbing, hyperfigurative images of mortality, lust, fear and violence, often incorporated gory, mangled or otherwise distorted depictions of human and animal anatomy. Bacon’s ‘Triptych’ (1976) recently set a record this May when Roman Abramovich (Russian billionaire and owner of Chelsea FC) bought it for $86.2 million at a Sotheby’s auction in New York, earning him the distinction of being the most expensive postwar artist.

Major Celebration Heralding Francis Bacon’s Centenary Opens at Tate Gallery in London [ArtDaily]
Francis Bacon: ‘The man’s a bloody genius’ [Guardian]
Video Commentary from Chris Stephens, co-curator of the exhibition [Tate Britain]
Francis Bacon at the Tate Britain [Times Online]
Bacon’s Darkness in a New Light [Wall Street Journal]
Reviews roundup: Francis Bacon at Tate Britain [Guardian]
London set for Bacon centenary exhibition [AFP]
Bacon Show Has $6 Billion Art, Horror, Corpses [Bloomberg]
Francis Bacon claims his place at the top of the market [Art Newspaper]
Francis Bacon: touching the void, video review of the exhibit [Times Online]

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Baroque Egg with Bow (2006), Jeff Koons via Gagosian

New York art magnate Larry Gagosian brings an eclectic mix of avant-garde art to Moscow in his new show, For What You Are about to Receive. Entitled in spirit of the Bolshevik revolution, “Red October” is the name given to the former chocolate factory in which Gagosian Gallery will showcase over 100 works by approximately 50 post-war artists. Never-seen works by Jeff Koons, Anish Kapoor, Cy Twombly, Richard Serra, and Edward Ruscha will be included in addition to works by Roy Lichtenstein, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Takashi Murakami, Aaron Young, and Yayoi Kusama. A statement by the gallery maintains that the exhibition, “investigates the twin pillars of twentieth century art: the readymade and pure abstraction, reflecting on the sublime through a self-conscious engagement with material and process.” For What You Are about to Receive is Gagosian’s second showing in Moscow, following an auspicious exhibit at Barvikha Luxury Village one year earlier. The show also inaugurates “Red October” as a new contemporary arts center in Moscow, however, Gagosian denies inquiries about opening a permanent establishment in the city.

Gagosian Plans Moscow Show in Former Chocolate Factory [Artinfo]
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For What Your Are About to Receive [Gagosian]
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Gagosian To Host Second Moscow Exhibit [NYSun]
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Gagosian Gallery in Moscow [Artnet]

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Rendering of Herzog & de Meuron’s 56 Leonard St. tower including the site specific sculpture designed by artist Anish Kapoor via Andrea Schwan Inc.

The design for Pritzer Prize winning architects, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron’s Tribeca tower was released earlier this week. The $650 million project will be 57-stories high with condominiums ranging from 1,430 square feet to 6,360 square feet, and is projected to be open in 2010. The tower is said to house 145 residences each with its unique floor plan and complete with a private balcony. The translucent skyscraper will be the first high-rise commission for the Swiss architects, who have had their hand in designing the Beijing National Stadium in China for the recent 2008 Olympic games, the Tate Modern in London, and the de Young Museum in San Francisco. The contemporary artist Anish Kapoor has been commissioned to install one of his signature stainless steel, reflective sculptures on the ground floor. The tower will appear to be resting a top his sculpture, and will be the first permanent public artwork for the artist in New York City.

Construction Begins On Herzog & De Meuron’s 56 Leonard Street [Artdaily]
Olympic Bird’s Nest architects design NY high-rise [Associated Press]
A Stack of Houses [NYTimes]
Fantastical Form in TriBeCa: Herzog & de Meuron’s 56 Leonard St. [NYSun]
At 57 Stories, 56 Leonard St. to Tower Over Tribeca [Tribeca Tribune]
One’s Huge, the Other’s Crazy [NYMag]
Herzog & de Meuron reach for the sky [World Architecture News]
Herzog & de Meuron’s Plans Unveiled for New York City Tower [ArtForum]
New York Developer commissions Anish Kapoor for Herzog & de Meuron residential project in Tribeca [ArtObserved]

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Cubist Still Life by Arshile Gorky, one of the paintings stolen from the Los Angeles’s couples home via LA Times

An unidentified elderly couple of Enico, Los Angeles were at home preoccupied while a thief, or possible thieves, entered their home and stole an art collection worth millions of dollars. At least a dozen paintings were stolen including works by Marc Chagall, Hans Hofmann, Chaim Soutine, Arshile Gorky, Emil Nolde, Lyonel Feininger, Diego Rivera, and Kees van Dongen. Each stolen work was worth at least six figures, some of them closer to $1 million. While the theft occurred in August police waited until September to publicly announce the crime and the $200,000 reward for information leading to the return of the paintings. The couple remains unidentified by police as does the source of the reward money. It remains unclear if was a single thief, or a group. Police are also uncertain if it was a common thief-likely to pawn off the paintings immediately, or a more sophisticated thief with ties to collectors or criminal gangs specializing in pilfered artwork. Art theft is by FBI estimates is a $6-billion-a-year global industry.

Swift L.A. art heist claims couple’s collection worth millions [LA Times]
A Dozen Artworks Stolen from L.A. Collectors’ Home [ArtInfo]
Find stolen paintings, collect $200,000 [Two Coats of Paint]

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Tracey Emin and her sparrow, now returned via BBC

For second time in 3 months, Tracey Emin’s 4-inch Liverpool sparrow is stolen then returned [BBC]
Photo profile of collector / Art in America and Interview-owner Peter Brant [TMagazine-New York Times]
Art Basel commits Miami Beach for 3 years [ArtForum]
Midtown gallery sued after improperly safeguarded Dali’s are stolen [New York Post]
Oliafur Eliasson interviewed [GuardianUK]
New art fair Art Berlin Contemporary opens with 70 artists and 40 Berlin galleries [ArtReview]

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Strings, ‘An der Isar (2006) by Wolfgang Tillmans via Chantal Crousel

In his first solo exhibition in Paris since 2002’s Vue d’en Haut, with Strings German artist Wolfgang Tillmans continues his intricately planned configurations of photographs capturing seemingly unrelated people, landscapes and objects juxtaposed with found media, news clippings, photocopied documents and various other objects. The photographs, together with the other elements of each arrangement, take on an almost sculptural quality once taken in as a whole, with each piece contributing to a dialogue embodied in the assembled work. Tillmans’ pieces will be on exhibition at Paris’ Chantal Crousel Gallery from September 13th through October 25th.

STRINGS
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September 13 – October 25, 2008
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For more information, visit www.crousel.com

Wolfgang Tillmans, Strings [Crousel]
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Wolfgang Tillmans – Artist Bio [ArtInfo]

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Damien Hirst’s “The Golden Calf” / calf, 18 carat gold, glass, gold-plated steel, silicone and formaldehyde solution with Carrara marble plinth / Hammer Price with Buyer’s Premium: £10,345,250 via monstersandcritics

Sotheby’s quotes Damien Hirst as saying “I think the market is bigger than anyone knows. I love art, and this proves I’m not alone.” After much fanfare and controversy, and against the surreal backdrop of a severe financial market collapse led by Lehman Brothers buckling in the largest bankruptcy in US history, “Beautiful Inside My Head Forever” Damien Hirst’s direct-to-the-market auction by Sotheby’s London, was a conclusive success. Perhaps boosted in part by a recently lower British pound, the groundbreaking sale collected $127 million dollars (£70 million) on the first day, and an additional $72.9 million dollars (£40.9 million) on the second day for a grand total just shy of $200 million dollars, beating the previous record for the auction of a collection by a single artist formerly held by Picasso by roughly ten times, which fetched $20 million for an 88-work collection in 1993. Over three sessions, 218 of the 223 lots changed hands with some works sellng for well below their low estimates and others selling for multiples of high estimates.

Sotheby’s Website
Does Hirst auction point to a bull market in art? [WallStreetJournal]
Hirst’s Two Day Auction Raises 115.5 million pounds [Bloomberg]
Hirst auction beats 62 million pound estimate [BBC]
Hirst Auction a Paradigm-Smashing Success [CultureGrrl]
AO News roundup: Damien Hirst’s ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’ auction at Sotheby’s London is happening right now [ArtObserved]
Jopling responds, and Hirst’s Sotheby’s sale bandwagon rolls on amidst the buzz and controversy [ArtObserved]
A disclosure of White Cube’s unsold Damien Hirst inventory before the artist’s controversial September 15th direct sale by Sotheby’s [ArtObserved]

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Holy War by David Lachapelle via ArtObserved

David Lachapelle’s “Auguries of Innocence” collection is everything but austere.  Overt images of violence, sexual practice, religious imagery, and glutenous materialism are synergized into monumental collages.
Notables in attendance included Andre Balazs, Gavin Brown, Hope Atherton, Amanda Lepore, and Tony Shafrazi. Lepore and Lachapelle have had a prolific history of collaboration, one of the most famous being Lachapelle’s New York exhibit “Artists and Prostitutes 1985-2005,” in which Lepore inhabited a voyeuristic themed life-sized set.
This is the fourth solo show Lachapelle has exhibited at Shafrazi Gallery, the first being his “All American” show in 2002. The exhibit will be open to the public until October 24.

David Lachapelle Official Website
“Less about the Lil Kim’s of the world and more about its lil problems” [Timeout NY]
Tony Shafrazi Official Website

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Damien Hirst poses beside his work of art ‘The Incredible Journey‘ at Sotheby’s in London on Monday, September 8 via Art Daily

Damien Hirst’s Sotheby’s sale, Beautiful Inside My Head Forever, is taking place in London this afternoon and this evening.  The Sotheby’s sale is made up of 223 lots and estimated at over $115 million. There has been a flurry of more recent news and skepticism surrounding this controversial event as the Sotheby’s/Damien Hirst PR machine kicked into full gear. Perhaps most notable in the press buzz was that the globally respected Australian art critic, Robert Hughes, last week referred to Hirst’s artwork in the sale as “absurd” and “tacky commodities.” This press event was notable in that it actually elicited a response from Hirst himself. The Telegraph reports that Hughes has labeled Hirst’s formaldehyde tiger shark, which was sold by Charles Saatchi in 2004 for nearly $10,000,00, as “the world’s most over-rated marine organism.” Additionally, there was buzz in the press of Sotheby’s stock reacting to lower price estimates before the sale. Art Observed will have a roundup of the relevant news stories, a review of the sale, its results and ramifications when the auctions closes in a matter of hours.

Damien Hirst – Beautiful Inside My Head Forever (Evening Sale) [Sotheby’s]

Hirst’s Pricey Zoo Fills Sotheby’s With Bling: Martin Gayford and Sotheby’s Falls on Speculation Hirst’s Sale May Flop and Damien Hirst Sells Pickled Beasts, Pockets Profits: Interview [Bloomberg]

Hughes Denounces Hirst’s Art as “Absurd” and Hirst Hits Back at Hughes [ArtInfo]
Damien Hirst’s art ‘absurd’ and ‘tacky’, says critic Robert Hughes [Telegraph]
Hirst hits back at Aussie critic [Sydney Morning Herald]

Damien Hirst Presents His Works of Art In Historic Sale to be Held at Sotheby’s in London and Upcoming Sotheby’s Auction and Hirst’s Publishing Company, Other Criteria, Share Similar Aim, to Democratize Art [Art Daily]

Form a queue for Damien Hirst’s sale of the century and Commentary: Hirst betting his reputation on this sale and Does Damien Hirst’s auction at Sotheby’s mean the end of the gallery? [Times Online]

Day of the dead: Robert Hughes explains and Hirst’s auction does not demean the art world and Reformed Britart rebel takes time out with £65m sale [Guardian]

Bad Boy Makes Good and Hirst vs. Hughes [TIME]
Damien Hirst goes for broke at Sotheby’s [IHT]
The Gist: Damien Hirst’s ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’ Sale [New York Mag]
The Midas touch that turns the art world lethally cold [Financial Times]
Damien Hirst: “I’m a Punk at Heart” [New York Observer]
Rembrandt? I’m just like him, says Hirst – it’s all about cash [Independent]
Report: Hirst Auction Critical To Market Confidence [NYSun]

Damien Hirst sale at Sotheby’s previously covered by Art Observed here, here, and here [Art Observed]

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Forbidden Love, Faile (2006) via TAC
Lot 230: Forbidden Love, Faile (2006) / Estimate: $21,700 – $36,100 / Hammer Price: $39,703

On Saturday, September 6th, Phillips de Pury & Company held it’s Saturday @ Phillips sale featuring some of the most notorious names in Street Art. Until now, there had never been a Street Art auction of this magnitude. Many of the artists featured at the September 6th Saturday @ Phillips had never been to auction before, because of the nature of their work, and the anonymity of Street artists. The end total including premium was just under $850,000. Those that sold for the most and exceeded their estimates were works by Faile, Andres Serrano, Carcel Dzama, Swoon, and Banksy. Although one of Banksy’s pieces sold for over double its estimate, the well-known street artist also had two pieces among the unsold lots.

Philips Results [The Art Collectors]
Street art bonanza at Phillips de Pury auction [Design Week]
Saturday @ Phillips [Phillips de Pury]
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Proposed design for Sperone Westwater gallery building on Bowery, designed by Norman Foster, via Curbed

The Sperone Westwater gallery recently announced its $8.5 million acquisition of a building on the Bowery, just a block away from the New Museum, solidifying the area’s reputation as a burgeoning art hub. The five story, twelve thousand square foot pre-war building will be re-designed by Lord Foster, whose work includes landmarks such as the Reichstag, the Heart Tower, and the 30 St Mary Axe in London (better known as The Gherkin). The proposed new building’s facade will boast glass tubes, and a bold red cube-shaped moving room as a highlight, setting the building apart as a unique, modern piece of architecture in an older neighborhood.

Sperone Westwater
Foster and Partners
BLOCKBUSTER: Norman Foster plans Bowery Gallery Building [Curbed]
SoHo apartment building sells for $8.5 million [CoStar]

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Lucian Freud’s rarely-seen, unfinished Portrait of Francis Bacon via Artdaily

Lucian Freud’s unfinished Francis Bacon portrait to be auctioned by Christie’s London in October [Art Daily]
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MoMA purchases Chinese contemporary art from private collection [Art Newspaper]
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Osaka museum pulls three Chagall’s after authenticity is questioned [Art Info]
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Jeff Koons “Man of Trust documentary” sold in €2,500 limited edition kangaroo mirror boxes at Colette [World’s Best Ever]
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On the vulnerability of the global art market “which has risen so very high on little more than PR and salesmanship” [Financial Times]

The New Museum (center) and its new acquisition (to the right), via Art Daily

After unveiling its $50 million, SANAA-designed new location last December, the New Museum recently announced its acquisition of 231 Bowery, a building to the immediate south of its current location, for $16.6 million. The building, which is currently home to a restaurant equipment distributor and several offices, has 47,000 square feet of space, which will be used as office and storage space until plans are finalized for new programs.

NEW MUSEUM
New Museum buys adjacent building on the Bowery [ArtForum]
New Museum acquires adjacent building on the Bowery [Art Daily]

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Contraband Room, United States Border and Customs Protection via Wired

Opening September 13th, Taryn Simon unearths the unseen images behind America’s closed doors. Images of a cryopreservation unit in Clinton Township, Michigan; a nuclear waste encapsulation and storage facility in Southeastern Washington State; a mentally retarded white tiger in Eureka Springs, Arkansas; and a Braille copy of Playboy Magazine in New York City are just some of several vibrant recordings included in Simon’s calculated cross-country venture.  Referred to as “occult glamour” in her publication’s foreword, Simon’s photography is procured by a large format 4×5″ camera to take a single negative which mimics the formalized aesthetic of traditional portraiture.  At age 33, Simon has celebrated national and international success with previous exhibitions at The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and Kunst-Werke Institute of Contemporary Art, Berlin among others.

Lens Crafters by Kathleen Kingsbury [TIME]
No More Secrets [The London Telegraph]
Access All Areas [Frieze]
Taryn Simon Official Website

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‘Rabbit’ by Jeff Koons, as displayed at Versailles via Art Daily

Jeff Koons, an art world celebrity since the 1980’s for his stainless steel pop-art renderings of everyday, vernacular objects–and notorious for his marriage to porn star/legislator La Cicciolina–is currently on exhibit in the royal apartments and gardens of Versailles palace, west of Paris. The show, which was organized by French billionaire collector (and owner of Christie’s) Francois Pinault, will feature 17 pieces from the corpus of the man who is arguably the biggest-selling living artist, including well known works such as Rabbit, Lobster, Large Vase of Flowers and Split Rocker

Chateau de Versailles: Jeff Koons exhibition [Official Website]
Jeff Koons Takes His Contemporary Culture to Versailles [Artdaily]
Conflict of Interest Around Koons? [ArtForum]
Koons @ Versaille [Aarting]
Jeff Koons brings pop art revolution to Versailles [AFP]
French Protest Koons Show at Versailles [Artinfo]
Jeff Koons Shows His Contemporary Culture in The Château de Versailles [Raw art Weblog]
Koons’s Bunnies, Beheaded Queen Parade in Paris Fall Season and Jeff Koons’s Flashy Toys Invade Versailles, Stir French Revolt [Bloomberg]
Jeff Koons sets up at the Palace of Versailles, France in September [ArtObserved]

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The Revolution Continues, ‘Untitled’‘ (1999) by Yue Minjun, via Saatchi Gallery

Charles Saatchi, one of the UK’s wealthiest and largest art collectors, will re-open his renowned contemporary art gallery at its new home in the Duke of York’s former military barracks, following several delays and false starts due in part to construction issues. The gallery’s first exhibition will be The Revolution Continues: New Art from China, which will run from the gallery’s opening on October 9th until January 18th, 2009. The inaugural exhibit will feature 30 artists China’s white-hot contemporary art scene, including marquee names such as Yue Minjun, Fang Lijun, and Zhang Xiaogang. In line with fulfilling the new Saatchi gallery’s goal of introducing contemporary art to a broader (and younger) audience, admission to the gallery’s exhibits will be free thanks to a sponsorship deal with Phillips de Pury & Company.

Saatchi Gallery
Saatchi Gallery London: Virtual Tour
Saatchi Gallery Moves to New Home [GuardianUK]
Saatchi Finds a Home [NY Times]

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German artist Jonathan Meese via TheMoment

Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter, and Javier Peres as players in the Berlin art scene [NY Times- The Moment]
more Jonathan Meese, headlining Friday at the Journal Gallery, Brooklyn [The World’s Best Ever]
Valuable, yet difficult to execute and display “extreme” art [ArtInfo]
Rothko, Bacon highlight a very British-painter-based fall exhibit lineup in London [Bloomberg]
On “democracy” as a trend in British contemporary art, and how pricing can suffer from it [Guardian]
Deborah Harris is the new managing director of the Armory Show [ArtForum]
Director Sir Nicholas Serota sets 1 year deadline for funds for Transforming Tate Modern project [London SE1]
In more Tate news: 2007/8 acquisition year for the Tate Collection brought a record $111 million – 494 work harvest [Art Daily]

Thomas P. Campbell (Left) and Philippe de Montebello (Right) via IHT

After an arduous eight-month search, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced that Thomas P. Campbell will be succeeding Philippe de Montebello as its new Director.  Come January 1st, 2009 Mr. Campbell will take over the reins from de Montebello, who has been serving as director of the Met for the past 31 years. Campbell has been with the Metropolitan Museum of Art since 1995 serving in the Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, with a specialty in European tapestries.  Some were surprised that the relatively young Campbell was chosen over Ian Wardropper, his 57-year-old superior. The committee also reportedly considered Max Hollein, from the Städel Museum and the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt as Philippe de Montebello’s successor.

Met Museum’s New Chief Knows About Tapestries; Challenges Loom [Bloomberg]
Thomas P. Campbell Named Next Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art [Artdaily]
Met Selects Curator to Run Museum [Wall Street Journal]
Met names Thomas P. Campbell as its new director [IHT]
Met Names New Director [Artinfo]
Curator at Met Named Director of the Museum [NYTimes]
Tapestry expert named head of NY Met museum [AFP]
Met Picks New Director, Thomas P. Campbell, from Within [Gothamist]

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Echo (2008) Louise Bourgeois via Cheim & Read

Louise Bourgeois revisits familiar themes in her exhibition Echos, on display now at Cheim & Read. Like Bourgeois’s recent retrospective held at the Guggenheim this past June Echos concentrates on the themes of home, family, motherhood, and sexuality. Echos examines the constructs of the female identity, especially those in conflict such as female/male, organic/geometric, and particular to this exhibit mother/father. Comprised of discarded clothing and aged painted wood the featured sculptures are reminiscent of Bourgeois’s earlier work of the 1940’s and 50’s and serve to represent the familial hierarchies. The gouaches on display depict the relations between mother and child and are influenced in part by Bourgeois’s own role as mother as well as the death of her own mother when the artist was twenty. The paintings which are comprised of blood red paint further the organic aesthetic of the exhibit and mirror the artist’s continual emphasis on nature as seen in her mixed-media exhibit held at the Zurich’s Hauser & Wirth this past June covered here.

Louise Bourgeois at Guggenheim [Art Observed]
Louise Bourgeois Echo at Cheim & Read [Cheim & Read]
Louise Bourgeois: Echo at Cheim & Read [Chelsea Art Galleries]

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High, ‘Winston, Camel, Salem, Marlboro’ by Tony Oursler, via Lisson Gallery

Acclaimed video and installation artist Tony Oursler’s works will be on display at the Lisson Gallery through October 3rd, 2008. Oursler, who is based in the US, typically incorporates video, sculpture, sound and spoken text in his installations and pieces, and has garnered a reputation for producing pieces that often engage, disturb and fascinate the viewer. Most of the works on display at the Gallery are very recent, and include installations as well as wall-mounted pieces that also tend to incorporate video or sound.

HIGH – TONY OURSLER
Lisson Gallery, London, UK
September 3 – October 3, 2008

Lisson Gallery
Tony Oursler official website
Tony Oursler profile [ArtInfo]

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