Van Ruisdael, A Ruined Castle Gateway, all photos courtesy of Sotheby’s

Though not offered as much of a media spotlight as May’s auspicious and highly publicized Contemporary Art Auctions, today’s Old Masters at Sotheby’s was not entirely bereft of the spring auctions’ over-the-top price tags and bidding wars.

The belle of the ball came early in the sale when Lot 5, a landscape painting by Jacob Isaacksz Van Ruisdael with an estimate of $100,000- 150,000, sold at the Hammer Price of $725,000.  Sandwiched between several unsold lots, this work was an unpredictable success, garnering a sales price well beyond the scope of its estimate. Van Ruisdael’s auction record price was set in 2005, with a work that sold for $4.5 million; this anomaly aside, his work generally ranges from the $100,000-$400,000 range.  A Ruined Castle Gateway measures only 10 7/8 by 14 3/4 inches, but in spite of the work’s need for restoration and its small size, the painting is a beautiful example of Arcadian landscape portraiture.  The painting’s ruined walls harken back to the Roman Empire and ideals of classicism, and are a hallmark trait of Van Ruisdael’s work.

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Jim Shaw, Cake (Jim Head Clutch) (2010), via Patrick Painter

Patrick Painter, Inc presents a new exhibition of works by Jim Shaw, surrealist multimedia artist at their Santa Monica location. Currently included in this new exhibition entitled “CAKES, MEN IN PAIN, WHITE RECTANGLES, DEVIL IN THE DETAILS” are several large-scale works that include dual canvases and a multitude of working art media.  This new show serves to take a personal and experiential view of two dimensional artwork. Like many of his other exhibitions,  this show features many works that rely on unique and personal material from Shaw’s own intimate history and subconscious.

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Philip-Lorca DiCorcia, 2011, via Sprueth Magers

One hundred of Philip Lorca DiCorcia‘s Polaroid photos have been elegantly installed at Sprueth Magers gallery in London.  The 100 Polaroids, all resting comfortably on a single silver lip trailing the white walls, have been assumed from DiCorcias’s Thousand series (2007), itself selected from 4,000 Polaroids, spanning 30 years of work.  Having been pulled from previous and current projects, both professional and private, this exhibition is deliberately disparate as an entity.

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Bushwick Open Studios marked its 5th anniversary with this year’s showcase, opening artist’s studios, lofts and even private apartments to the public. Over 350 artists participated in the event orchestrated by Arts in Bushwick, a volunteer-based organization.  Those undeterred by the temporary (yet seemingly endless) suspension of the L train made their way to the offbeat Brooklyn neighborhood via a series of shuttles, bikes, car services and the like.   The Bushwick area is arguably the highest concentration of new artist studios and residences in the greater metro area.  Similar to the progression underwent by Soho in the 1970’s, Bushwick is filled with industrial lofts permeated by a natural light that results in suitable studio spaces for artists. In this neighborhood, however, the art hangs not only in these “designated spaces” but is alive in the streets and sidewalks.

Alana Fitzgerald with her work at Splinters and Logs Studio

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Lawrence Weiner, At a Distance to the Foreground (1999). All images Nicolas Linnert for Art Observed.

Closing this week is Paula Cooper Gallery’s group exhibition Locations, a showcase of work by fifteen artists involving mapping and locality. At a moment when art and its surrounding socioeconomic structure have moved steadily to occupy a global, deterritorialized sphere, this arrangement of works is distinctive in its look back to a mid-century Modernist practice regarding spatial surroundings.

Installation view at Paula Cooper Gallery.

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Inside the Greek Pavilion – all photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

“The Biennale is like a wind machine,” Biennale President Paolo Baratta eccentrically stated at the festival’s opening. Whether he was referring to the Biennale’s power to stir things up, or to fuel the art world through another two years, the metaphor felt apt. Early last week, the 54th Venice Biennale opened to press and professionals. Although the usual vaporetto strike caused momentary chaos, determined art world people made their way around the city in water taxis, iPhone/iPad apps in hand. The exhibition opened to the public on Saturday, June 4th and runs through November 27th, 2011.

Artist Kwok Mang-ho (a.k.a Frog King), who represented Hong Kong.

Full overview of pavilions, exhibitions, events, and awards after the jump… (more…)

Move over vaporetti — there’s a new barge in town. Slated to gracing the banks of the Grand Canal in Venice over the past five days was a project by The Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, entitled “Commercial Break.” The exhibition is organized by Neville Wakefield, a contemporary art writer prolific curator globally. Powered by POST Magazine, “Commercial Break” considers itself to be a provocative architectural intervention in a city where no advertising is traditionally displayed. Unfortunately, as Artinfo reported, the city pulled permits a few days before and the videos were instead screened at the project’s Bauer Hotel party. The woman behind the “GCCC” is Dasha Zukhova, girlfriend of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich; it is the institution’s second project in Venice.  All videos are now viewable on the exhibition’s website.

Among videos featured is one by  Richard Phillips, starring Lindsey Lohan.

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All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

“In Praise of Doubt” is the second half of two exhibitions currently staged by the Francois Pinault Foundation. It housed in the Punta della Dogana just a stone’s throw from Palazzo Grassi, where part one, “The World Belongs to You” can be found. The two exhibitions share a curator, Caroline Bourgeois, and both run in parallel with the Venice Biennale 2011.

The exhibition presents both historical pieces and new works, several of which are site-specific projects. The theme, as hinted by its title, is uncertainty, the questioning of identity, and revisiting intimate space in relation to the space of the artwork. The artists included are art world regulars Adel Abdesemed, Marcel Broodthaers, Maurizio Cattelan, Subodh Gupta, David Hammons, Roni Horn, Thomas Houseago, Donald Judd, Edward Keinholz, Jeff Koons, Paul McCarthy, Julie Mehretu, Bruce Nauman, Sigmar Polke, Thomas Schutte, Sturtevant, Tatiana Trouve, and Chen Zhen. Out of these twenty, a surprising half have never been exhibited before in an exhibition by the Francois Pinault Foundation.

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Marya Kazoun, They were there (2011). All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed unless otherwise noted.

Glasstress 2011 is an exhibition devoted solely to glass, featuring internationally renowned artists, architects, and designers such as Zaha Hadid, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Kiki Smith, Doug and Mike Starn, Fred Wilson, Marya Kazoun, Huan Zhang, and even musician Pharrell Williams. It is one of the official 37 collateral events of the biennale, and also includes a reinstallment of Doug and Mike Starn’s Big Bambú on the roof of the Dorsoduro, next door to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.

The walkway of Doug and Mike Starn’s Big Bambú. Image courtesy NYT.

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I, Impostor. All images by Cristiano Corte, courtesy of the British Council, unless otherwise noted.

Mike Nelson, who has twice been short-listed for the Turner Prize, is the first installation artist to be invited by the British Council to create a new work in the UK’s Pavilion in the 2011 Venice Biennale. Nelson is known for site-specific large scale installations with enigmatic titles: The Deliverance and the Patience (2001), Triple Bluff Canyon (2004), To the Memory of HP Lovecraft (2008), and so on. Curated by Richard Riley, with Andrea Rose as Commissioner, this transformative pavilion is one of the most talked about at this year’s biennale.

British Pavilion. Photograph by John Riddy, courtesy of Matt’s Gallery London, Franco Noero Turin, and 303 Gallery New York.

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Lithuaninan artist Darius Miksys installing Behind the White Curtain. All images by Caroline Claisse unless otherwise noted.

On Saturday, Biennale President Paolo Baratta announced the winners of the Golden and Silver Lions. One of the categories was for Best National Presentation, which went to Christopher Schlingensief’s posthumous German pavilion, but the judges gave an honorable mention to the Lithuanian pavilion. According to Baratta’s statement, their reason was “its conceptually elegant, and productively ambiguous framing of a nation’s art history.” Art Observed was on site for the performative installation.

Exterior of the pavilion, image courtesy e-flux.

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All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

Art Observed was on site for “The Heard and the Unheard,” a project by Soundscape Taiwan.  The installation, housed in the Taiwan Pavilion (in the Palazzo delle Prigioni), was curated by Amy Cheng with artists Hong-Kai Wu and Yu-Hsien Yu, in collaboration with the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. The inauguration of the installation kicked off with a party entitled “Sounds Edgy!” with performances by Fujui Wang and DJ @llen. In the background, the Sound Library/Bar provides a backdrop of Taiwan’s socio-historical context and the current impetus for change.

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Central “International” Pavilion, which partially houses the 54th International Art Exhibition. All images by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

Curated by Bice Curiger, The 54th International Art Exhibition opened today to the public. Displayed are works from newcomers and established artists including Maurizio Cattelan, Martin Creed, Trisha Donnelly, Urs Fischer, Fischli & Weiss, Klara Lidén, Christian Marclay, Philippe Parreno, Sigmar Polke, Pipilotti Rist, Cindy Sherman, and James Turrell. The exhibition’s title, and this year’s theme, is ILLUMInations, inspired in part by 16th century Venetian painter Tintoretto, whose works Curiger boldly included in the exhibition.

Earlier today, Biennale Director Paolo Baratta announced the winners of three official prizes decided on by the International Jury of the 54th International Art Exhibition.

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Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore, the site of Anish Kapoor’s “Ascension.” All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

Anish Kapoor‘s new project at the Basilica di San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice is “Ascension.” Backed by Galleria Continua (in collaboration with Fondazione Giorgio Cini and illycaffe), the project is curated by Lorenzo Fiaschi. In the site-specific installation, a column of white smoke rises from a circular base at the intersection between the transept and the nave of the basilica, making the immaterial tangible.

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Jonathan Meese, Wir, Erzkinder lernen Macht (Süsses Dorf der Verdammtin) = Die Gören (2007) via Tim Van Laere Gallery

On view at the Tim Van Laere Gallery in Antwerp until June 25th, is Jonathan Meese’s 2007 sculpture, Wir, Erzkinder lernen Macht (Süsses Dorf der Verdammtin) = Die Gören. The show, which opened on May 12th, is part of the gallery’s ongoing focus on significant sculptural work in their outdoor exhibition space.

Artist Jonathan Meese (far left) at exhibition opening via Tim Van Laere Gallery

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All photos by Caroline Claisse.

Andrea Thal and Thomas Hirschhorn represent Switzerland in the 2011 Venice Biennale.  Previous representatives have included Silvia Bächli and Fabrice Gygi (2009), Ugo Rondinone (2007), and Pipilotti Rist (2005) whose work is visible in the Arsenale.

Hirschhorn is a Bern-born, Paris-based artist best known for large-scale “DIY” style installations using duct tape and tinfoil.  Thal’s practice is based in music and performance; she runs an artist-run gallery space in Zurich, Les Complices.* Hirschhorn has also created a special website for the project, which provides insight into his working process: Crystals of Resistance.

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Installation view of Miroslaw Balka’s Nonetheless (2011), via Nordenhake.

In a show titled “Nonetheless”, Polish artist MirosÅ‚aw BaÅ‚ka presents four recent pieces at Berlin’s Galerie Nordenhake. The works are composed of wood, nails, steel, plastic, concrete, glass, and light, and have titles referencing the pieces’ dimensions.   “Nonetheless” hints at an ability do more than expected, which be said of the exhibition itself.

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All photos by Caroline Claisse for Art Observed.

One of the biggest official collateral events of the 54th Venice Biennale is “Venice in Venice.” The exhibition’s fill title is “Venice in Venice: Glow & Reflection – Venice California Art from 1960 to the Present,” organized by Foundation 20 21 and taking place June 1st – July 31st at Palazzo Contarini Dagli Scrigni. Curated by Tim Nye and Jaqueline Miro, the exhibition include works by seminal Southern California artists Peter Alexander, John Altoon, Charles Arnoldi, Billy Al Bengston, Larry Bell, Tony Berlant, Wallace Berman, Vija Celmins, Bruce Conner, Ron Cooper, Mary Corse, Laddie John Dill, Joe Goode, Robert Graham, George Herms, Robert Irwin, Craig Kauffman, John McCracken, Ed Moses,Kenneth Price, Ed Ruscha, and James Turrell.

Curator Jacqueline Miro, Director of the Getty Image Research Institute Andrew Perchuk, and artists exhibiting in the Venice in Venice show.

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German pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale 2011. All images by Caroline Claisse.

The German pavilion is represented this year by the late artist Christoph Schlingensief. The pavilion is a lively homage to the artist, whose also worked as a director of film, theater, and opera. Schlingensief passed away last year from cancer during the planning phase of his contribution to the Biennale. Due to the difficulty of realizing a project without the artist’s presence, the pavilion’s organizers decided not to exhibit his latest project, “which existed in developmental, sketch-like form.” Less wunderkammer than spatial experience, the exhibition features existing works covering Schlingensief’s endeavors in film, theater, video, and Africa.

To complement the exhibition, the pavilion’s curator, Susanne Gaensheimer, has organized a publication and a virtual “scavenger hunt” on the pavilion’s web site. The artist is represented by Hauser & Wirth. Among the pavilion’s past representatives are Liam Gillick (2009), Isa Genzken (2007), Thomas Scheibitz and Tino Seghal (2005), Martin Kippenberger and Candida Höfer (2003). In 1993, German representatives Hans Haacke and Nam June Paik won the Golden Lion for Best Pavilion.

Inside the pavilion.

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All photos by Caroline Claisse unless otherwise noted.

Representing the United States in the Venice Biennale 2011 is artist duo Allora & Calzadilla. Based in Puerto Rico, the real-life couple Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla‘s work is deeply political, though they would have you think otherwise.

The exhibition, entitled “Gloria,” features six newly commissioned works. It is curated by Lisa Freiman, chair of the contemporary art department at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the institution the U.S. State Department entrusted with the selection. The organizing committee is the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. Previous representatives of the U.S. are Bruce Nauman (2009) who won the Golden Lion for his country, Felix Gonzalez-Torres (2007), Ed Ruscha (2005), and Fred Wilson (2003).

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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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All photos by Caroline Claisse.

“Chance” is French artist Christian Boltanski‘s installation at the French Pavilion of the Venice Biennale 2011. Born in Paris in 1944, Boltanski is known for his sprawling, existential projects. The exhibition is curated by Jean-Hubert Martin, former director of the Centre Pompidou.

The artist sat down with Art Observed to talk about life, death, optimism, and Venetian cuisine.

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