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Installation view of Castellani/Flavin/Judd/Uecker via Haunch of Venison

Currently on view at Haunch of Venison in London is an exhibition that explores the connections between four seminal artists; Enrico Castellani, Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, and Günther Uecker. The exhibition includes works from 1964 to today from these four artists who were born within six years of each other and shared aesthetic objects while working on different sides of the Atlantic.

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Installation view of Castellani/Flavin/Judd/Uecker via Haunch of Venison

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Untitled (detail), Neckface via O.H.W.O.W.

Opening this Halloween at O.H.W.O.W. gallery in Miami is what some may call a 10,000 square feet haunted house, and others may refer to as a large-scale site-specific installation leading to the exhibit by Neckface.  “Devil’s Disciple”, the artist’s first solo show in Miami, already has, and will undoubtedly continue to contribute to the ongoing dialectic that revolves around Neckface. As the masked idol of thousands repeatedly breaks the boundaries of acceptable, he simultaneously manages to maintain and excite the curiosity of art historians and climb the rigid hierarchy he so opposes. Perhaps, it is the innocence in the immediacy of expression that makes charming what otherwise is conceived as revolting; perhaps art world misses the documented urge of expression.
When asked about his inspiration and creative process Neckface answers: “Somtimes its just fucked up situations that i think of in my head, sometimes its what i would really like to do to someone, whether it would be an ex-girlfriend or somebody who pissed me off earlier in the day …” It is the brutal, almost primal and ironically- the unmasked, that pulls the viewer in Neckface’s world.  Sartre writes “I am the one who pulls myself from the nothingness to which I aspire: the hatred, the disgust of existing, these are as many ways to make myself exist, to thrust myself into existence”. Neckface’s step into the realm coined as “aesthetic of disgust” is endearing and effective for it is uncalculated and raw. “Devil’s Disciple” will be opening at O.H.W.O.W. on October 31, 2009. “Halloween is my day. Some people like Christmas, I like Halloween” explains the artist.

Neckface creates a dummy in the window of O.H.W.O.W. via NBC Miami

More text, pictures, video and excerpts from Neckface’s answers to AO after the jump…

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The First Annual Art Awards via Guggenheim.org

Last night, October 29, marked the inauguration of a new annual art event: Rob Pruitt presented The First Annual Art Awards at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New Yorkin association with the city’s oldest alternative art space, White Columns.

The awards were conceived by artist, Rob Pruitt, as a performance-based artwork; for the occasion he recruited the characters of Index Magazine’s wry satirical web series, Delusional Downtown Divas. The New York Times have reported that “…the Divas schemed to infiltrate the art establishment by any means possible. In one segment they pitched a tent in the Guggenheim, doing their laundry in the lobby fountain.”

Jeffrey Deitch and Kembra Pfahler at The First Annual Art Awards at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum via style.com

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Ghosts X, Sam Taylor-Wood (2008) via White Cube

Ghosts – an exhibition of photographs by Sam Taylor-Wood – is currently in its last days at the Brontë Parsonage Museum in West Yorkshire, England. The Ghosts series was originally exhibited as part of Taylor-Wood’s most recent show, Yes I No, at White Cube in October 2008. Now exhibited in the former home of the famed Brontë sisters – Charlotte, Emily and Anne – a new emphasis is brought to the series which should be apparent to any reader of Emily Brontë’s passionate novel, Wuthering Heights. All of Taylor-Wood’s photographs were shot in a four-mile radius of the supposed backdrop of Wuthering Heights and capture the bleak and unremitting landscape of the moors which echoes the brutal portrayal of heightened passion and suffering found in the fictional novel.

Ghosts IV, Sam Taylor-Wood (2008) via The Independent

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Untitled, Gerhard Richter (1985) via mima

Currently on show, through November 15, at Middlesbrough’s Institute of Modern Art (mima), is Gerhard Richter: Modern Times. Gerhard Richter is undoubtedly one of the most significant artists of our time; with works held by almost every major museum in the world, and is said to have brought ‘painting back to life.’  This exhibition covers all aspects of the artist’s complex practice and is particularly important as it includes unique works in many different media. Gerhard Richter: Modern Times comes close on the heels of a number of exhibitions that have widened the public’s view of Richter including a major retrospective at The National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh, a groundbreaking survey of his portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the unforgettable 4900 Colours: Version II at the Serpentine Gallery in London.

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11 Schieben [11 Panes], Gerhard Richter (2004) via mima

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Installation view of Subodh Gupta’s ‘Common Man’ via Hauser & Wirth

Called both the “Damien Hirst of Delhi” and the “Marcel Duchamp of Asia,” Subodh Gupta currently has an exhibition on view at Hauser & Wirth in London.  Known for creating iconic works that reference both his Indian background and Western art, this exhibition, ‘Common Man,’ includes a number of large works that playfully use famous works as well as pieces that reference the artist’s own oeuvre. Gupta, who has called himself “the idol thief,”  took Marcel Duchamp’s infamous ‘L.H.O.O.Q.,’ a postcard of the Mona Lisa upon which Duchamp drew a mustache, and turned it into a bronze bust. Many of the works appear to composed of ready made commodities, but are actually newly fabricated out of traditional materials like bronze in a nod to the weight such materials carry in an artistic context.

Subodh Gupta’s ‘Et tu, Duchamp?’ via Hauser & Wirth

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Arshile Gorky’s “Waterfall” (1942-43). Image courtesy of the museum. © 2009 Estate of Arshile Gorky / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The Philadelphia Museum of Art is currently showing a retrospective of Arshile Gorky’s work. Closing in January, the exhibition includes “creative chambers” which explore thirty years of Gorky’s artistic evolution in still-life, from Cubism to Surrealism. After it closes in Philadelphia, the show will travel to Tate Modern and LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art.

Gorky’s “Water of the Mill,” courtesy of PMA. © 2009 Estate of Arshile Gorky / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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Head of a Muse, Raphael via Guardian UK

-Offered for the first time at public auction as part of Christie’s Old Masters sale, Raphael’s drawing “Head of a Muse”- a study for a figure in one of his Vatican frescoes, if it achieves its estimate £12-16million, will break the auction record for an old master drawing currently held by Michelangelo’s and Leonardo da Vinci’s works [Guardian UK]

-As art collectors become more cautious with their purchases, dealers at Frieze and FIAC fairs put works on reserve, among them $40 million Mondrian allegedly put on hold for Bernard Arnault [Bloomberg]

-Ms. Temkin, the chief curator of painting and sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, introduces unexpected changes, unframing certain paintings and subjecting the almost sacralized permanent collection to frequent renewal [The New York Times]

“Your Mercury Ocean” Skateboard by Olafur Eliasson via aarting

-Another collaboration between Mekanism and Olafur Eliasson results in a 13-ply deck 3d patterned skateboard with a mirror coating [aarting]
-In related, Olafur Eliasson commissions by the mayor of Copenhagen to design a bridge for the Danish capital; the artist shares his plans for a transparent bridge in a close vicinity to the water [The Art Newspaper]

– The survey carried out by the Art Fund, the UK’s independent art charity, shows that despite the substantial drop in public funding and investment income, a figure that proves to grow in the context of economic fall is the number of visits to museums [Art Knowledge News]

-In the midst of economic uncertainty, gallery Matthew Marks, which represents artists such as Jasper Johns, and Peter Fischli and David Weiss, plans on expansion with a new space on the West Coast [The New York Times]

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Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain, Paris via fiac.com

The action at France’s biggest art fair, Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain (FIAC) in Paris came to a stand still on Saturday, October 24. The aftermath of FIAC, much like Frieze before it, is buzzing with discussion surrounding sales – big and small. On Saturday Bloomberg News reported that Piet Mondrian’s abstract Composition With Blue, Red and Yellow, valued between $30 and $40 million, was put on hold while a wealthy buyer made up their mind. Similarly, it seems the Pablo Picasso painting, Femme Ecrivant, was reserved by a potential buyer during the first few hours of FIAC’s VIP preview on October 21.

Galerie Suzanne Tarasieve – photo by Art Observed

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Glenn Brown, “Christina of Denmark” (2008). Via Gagosian Gallery.

On view now until November 26, 2009, the Gagosian Gallery in London features several paintings and sculptures by Glenn Brown. This exhibition focuses on the evolution of the images that Brown borrows from other works as well as the titles he uses for his paintings, which deliberately reference pop culture. The museum describes Brown’s borrowing of images as “a slow and intuitive process over many months, by which the subject of and medium of each painting slowly morph and accumulate into ‘replicant’ versions of their former selves.”

Glenn Brown, “If you know how to get here, please come” (2009). Via Gagosian Gallery.

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How it is (2009) by Miroslaw Balka, via The Guardian

Currently on view at the Tate Modern is the latest commission in The Unilever Series: How It Is by Polish artist Miroslaw Balka. The piece, named after the 1961 prose work by Samuel Beckett where characters are crawling continuously through mud and darkness, is a giant steel structure standing on two-meter stilts. At thirteen meters high and thirty meters long it appears to be a big dark looming chamber while also reflecting the architecture of the Tate Modern itself. Guests can walk inside the pitch-black interior and listen to the echo of their footsteps on the steel above.

Entrance into the installation by way of the ramp, via The Guardian

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Karfunkelfee (2009) by Anselm Kiefer, via White Cube

Currently on view at the White Cube in London is Anselm Kiefer‘s Karfunkelfee and The Fertile Crescent, featuring two new work by the renowned German artist. The artist continue to reflect upon the violence and paradoxes of human history in his work offering abstract images that emphasize the cycles of creation and destruction.  The exhibitions are staged at the White Cube Mason’s Yard and White Cube Hoxton Square making them the largest gallery showing of Kiefer’s work to date in London.

Aus Dunklen Fichten flog ins blau der Aar (2009) by Anselm Kiefer, via White Cube

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Gavin Turk, Pop (1993), showing with Tate Modern’s “Pop Life: Art in a Material World” through January 17. Image via The London Paper.

Tate Modern is currently showing works by artists that embrace mass media and popular culture. Its motto is Andy Warhol’s proclamation that “good business is the best art,” and artists such as Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Tracey Emin, and more present works that are, accordingly, a blend of popular and left of center culture. “Pop Life: Art in a Material World,” which also features a new piece by Takashi Murakami, closes on January 17.

Foreground, House of Martin Luther King (1990), by Rob Pruitt and Walter Early; background, Damien Hirst’s False Idol (2008). From “Pop Life,” images via The Guardian.

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Remembering, Ai Weiwei’s installation of 9,000 backpacks conceived for the façade of Haus der Kunst reading “She lived happily for seven years in this world” via Monoculaire

Ai Weiwei’s work is currently showing at Haus der Kunst in Munich. The major solo exhibition titled “So Sorry” is authenticating the artist’s move towards increasingly political realm. Older works by Ai Weiwei will be shown at the German art house along with two newly commissioned ones. Chris Dercon, the curator of the show, and Ai Weiwei conceived of the large-scale collaboration almost three years ago.

One of the most important Chinese artists of 20th century, Ai Weiwei does not allow place for contextual involvement that surpasses his artistic intentions. This is not to say that any possibility of “third meaning” is denied, yet it is manipulated to an extent that the relationship between the work and the space of the museum becomes parallel to the dynamics of a dictatorial system. The history of Haus der Kunst -  the Third Reich’s first monumental propaganda building commissioned by Hitler to display German art – is put into the servitude of Ai Weiwei’s political message masterfully, thus symptomatic of accordingly the artist’s achievement and curatorial ideal- one where the curator achieves the illusion of absence.  Ai Weiwei’s show at Haus der Kunst runs through January 17, 2010.

Soft Ground and Rooted Upon, Ai Weiwei via Artdaily

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Portrait of Geoff Dyer Talking, Francis Bacon (1966) at FIAC, Paris

If Frieze opened willing to court the unavoidable media speculation about sales or the lack of them: FIAC, and the exhibitors it houses this year, have in the early stages proved characteristically reticent. Not to mention laconic. At least on the surface. This morning there was little sign that much of Paris and beyond would descend on the Grand Palais and the Cour Carrée du Louvre at noon.

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.

Lucy Skaer’s ‘Black Alphabet’ via Tate

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In London’s Regents Park – as part of Frieze Art Fair – A ‘re-enactment’ as part of Jordan Wolfson’s intervention, Your Napoleon, based on the String Theory

Based in Berlin and New York, artist Jordan Wolfson creates videos, installations and photographs that exist on the spectrum between Pop Art and Conceptualism – inventively fusing the two into a unique language, his works reference and mix up common mythologies and histories, technology,  popular culture, and media, whilst maintaining the touch of uncanny personal experience. Wolfson was this year’s winner of the prestigious Cartier Award, at Frieze Art Fair. There he staged an elaborate project appropriating the scientific concept of String Theory, to comment on how we try to understand and describe the reality of our world. Participants were able to sign up to a tour through the fair guided by a String Theorist, the ensuing conversation was recorded and then transcribed. Each tour added to a constantly evolving and expanding script. Wolfson then manipulated this script by randomly placing excerpts from the last 30 years of cultural history – including stories about  – marrying science with popular culture. Finally, these stories were re-enacted just outside the fair, in Regents Park, in a private recital with the artist and two performers. The project as a whole represented the collective cultural psyche of the fair using a distinctive conceptual language.

Related Links:
Frieze Art Fair
Frieze Foundation Cartier Award

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Damian Ortega, “Cosmic Thing” (2002). Via Institute of Contemporary Art.

On view now until January 18, 2010, the Institute of Contemporary Art is hosting the first-ever survey of Mexican artist Damian Ortega’s work. The exhibition will include selections of Ortega’s sculptures, installations, photographs, and videos with a focus on the breadth of his artistic output over time.

Damian Ortega exhibit at the ICA via NECN(Click to view video on NECN site)

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Ron, Will Cotton via Artnet

-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]

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Polar Bears of the Liro, Marc Quinn (2008) Sold within estimate range for £97,250

The Contemporary Sales at Phillips de Pury & Company on Saturday October 17 offered a truly diverse selection of works from premier Contemporary artists. The 43-lot evening sale included four unique works by Martin Kippenberger from the Bleich-Rossi Collection alongside exciting works by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lucio Fontana, Steven Parrino, On Kawara, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol and Jonathan Meese. The Day sale kicked off with a charity auction of twenty-one works by internationally renowned artists, including Anselm Kiefer, Rudolf Stingel and Francesco Vezzoli, to benefit the EMERGENCY charitable organization. The total sales from the Day sale amounted to £2,643,713 and the Evening sale brought in £4,104,950 against a low estimate of £5 million.

Concetto Spaziale, Lucio Fontana (1958-60)

Related Links:
Phillips de Pury & Company Website
Full List of Auction Results [Phillips de Pury]
Basquiat sells as buyers get picky at Choosy at $6.7 million auction [Bloomberg]
Signs of Life in London’s Art Market [WSJ]
A Whole New Spectrum of Buyers [Art Market Monitor]

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Three Color Curl (CMY: Irvine, California, August 24th, 2008, Fuji Crystal Archive Type C). 2008. Walead Beshty via MOMA

A vanguard showcase of contemporary photographers – Walead Beshty , Daniel Gordon, Sara VanDerBeek, Carter Mull, Leslie Hewitt, Sterling Ruby – is currently on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. An annual program that aims to bring cutting-edge artists to the attention of novelty-craving public has acquired a new thematic dimension. As the Associate Curator and the organizer of New Photography 2009, Eva Respini observes that this year’s select artists come from varied backgrounds and most “actively work in other disciplines” and draw inspiration from “drawing, sculpture, video, and installation.” The exhibit runs through January 11, 2010.

Related links:
New Photography 2009 Press Release [MOMA]
Pictures Generation Roundtable: After Materiality and Style [Art in America]
Artists that Push the Boundaries of Photography [PDN Pulse]
Tate Triennial 2009 [Frieze Magazine]
Who is Sterling Ruby? [Frieze Magazine]
Words Without Pictures Review [ArtForum]
Art in Review: Leslie Hewitt [NY Times]
The Whitney Biennial 2008: About the Artist – Leslie Hewitt [The Whitney]
Daniel Gordon [ArtForum]
Sara VanDerBeek Review [ArtReview]
Marc Foxx Gallery: Carter Mull

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Paris Bar, Martin Kippenberger

To celebrate Frieze Art Fair, currently underway in London’s Regent’s Park, Christie’s auction house held a series of auctions selling Post-War and Contemporary Art – the most notable of which occurred last night, October 16, and saw many record-breaking sales. The presale estimate for the evening auction was £6.8 million and in the end all but 1 of the 25 contemporary works sold, totaling £11.2 million.  It is of course relevant to note that the totals are down incredibly from last year’s estimates of  £57.8 million – £75.6 million for Christie’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale in London on Sunday, October 19th of last year.  That said, the leading highlights included significant works by Peter Doig, Martin Kippenberger, Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Neo Rauch, Dash Snow, Pino Pascali and a rare, early rediscovered drawing by Lucian Freud. All sale totals stated in this article include buyer’s premiums and come directly from Christie’s official website or courtesy of The Baer Faxt.

Stellwerk (Signal Box), Neo Rauch

Related Links:
Christie’s Homepage
Christie’s Sells $18.3 million, Lures Buyers with Low Estimates [Bloomberg]
Sotheby’s and Christie’s Auction Within Estimates [Reuters]
Auction Reports: post-war and contemporary art [The Art Newspaper]

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Der diagnostische Blick V (The diagnostic view V) (1992) by Luc Tuymans, via Wexner Center

Now on view at the Wexner Center in Columbus, Ohio is the first US retrospective of the work of Belgian contemporary artist Luc Tuymans. The largest presentation of the artist’s work to date, Tuymans (b. 1958) is considered to be one of the most significant European painters of his generation, drawing on both the historical traditions of Northern European painting while appropriating contemporary developments of photography, cinema, and television. The artist often addresses issues of history and memory found in works that depict the postcolonial situation in the Congo and the global aftermath of 9/11.

Press Release [Wexner Center]
Video Discussion of Luc Tuymans Retrospective at Wexner Center [Art Forum]
The Tuymans Effect [Art Forum]
Luc Tuymans Captures the Moment [WSJ]
Open to Interpretation [Columbus Dispatch]
Fall’s Best Art Shows [Vogue.com]
Behind the Blur: Curator Helen Molesworth on Luc Tuymans [Artinfo]
Risks and Retreats [NY Times]
Luc Tuymans on his New Body of Work [TimesUK]

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