William Kentridge, Installation View (2012), courtesy The Tate Modern

I Am Not Me, the Horse Is Not Mine by William Kentridge, consists of six individual projections juxtaposed against various walls of the Tanks in the Tate Modern. The projections cumulatively comprise a narrative that depicts the story of The Nose (1837), by Nikolai Gogol, whereby a spiteful nose departs itself from its owner’s face, tries to leave the city and is consequently arrested. However despite this, one morning when the owner wakes up, he finds his nose has returned.

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A fan clip of M.I.A. performing Paper Planes at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale – click to watch

12/12/12 at 12:00 opened the first-ever Indian Biennial, held in the South Indian city of Kochi, Kerala, 30 kilometers from the historic Muziris islands. Twenty-three of the eighty-two showcased artists in the Biennale are native to the state, with more than forty from India. The remaining artists come from all over the world, including Ai Weiwei (China), Ernesto Neto (Brazil), Cyprien Gaillard (France), and Wangechi Mutu (Kenya) among others. Musician M.I.A., whose family is originally Sri Lankan, inaugurated the showcase with her own Indian performing debut, additionally contributing her own hologram-based artworks to be viewed throughout the exhibitions. Modeled after the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris runs for three months, through March 13th, 2013. (more…)

“Weiwei-isms”, a new book by Ai Weiwei that was published this month by Princeton University Press, provides a look into the Chinese dissident artist’s view on political affairs and human rights issues. “During my detention, they kept asking me: Ai Weiwei, what is the reason you have become like this today? My answer is: First, I refuse to forget. My parents, my family, their whole generation and my generation all paid a great deal in the struggle for freedom of speech. Many people died just because of one sentence or even one word. Somebody has to take responsibility for that.” (from Der Spiegel, Nov. 21, 2011)
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Tracey Emin was granted a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for her outstanding contributions to the arts. “I think they pushed me in at the deep end. But I’m absolutely thrilled. It’s been insane trying to keep it a secret but I’m really looking forward to seeing the look on my mum’s face”, Emin said. (more…)

Art insurance claim totals from Hurricane Sandy are estimated to climb to $500 million, $300 million of which are claims by the artist Peter Max. The number is much higher than initially estimated — AXA, one of the largest insurers, had initially estimated that it would pay out $40 million in losses. The total number includes damage to artwork as well as to gallery structures. (more…)

Rosemarie Trockel: A Cosmos, all images courtesy New Museum

The New Museum, in collaboration with the Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofia, presents the illuminating and expansive world of Rosemarie Trockel. Lynn Cooke, former deputy director and chief curator at Reina Sofia, worked with Trockel to imagine a world that is very much Trockel’s without being Trockel-centric: her lumpy sculptures and smooth, linear woolworks are shown with a massive preserved lobster and other natural artifacts; her videos and installations abide just a level above the orangutan Tilda’s three paintings; 18th century naturalist Maria Sybilla Merian‘s precise watercolors hang near the self-taught Judith Scott‘s frenetically wrapped yarn sculptures. (more…)

“The Clock”, Christian Marclay’s 24-hour long video montage, has been acquired by the MoMA and will be on view this month including a special New Year’s eve showing. The film won the Golden Lion at the 2011 Venice Biennale and will be on view at MoMA during public hours. (more…)

The WSJ examines current exhibitions and works that blur the line between — and explore the intricate relationship of — painting and photography; among them is the Whitney’s popular Wade Guyton midcareer retrospective, where the artist prints images directly onto canvas using an inkjet printer; as well as Gerhard Richter’s strip pieces, “paintings” made with machines . (more…)

Isa Genzken, Installation View (2012), courtesy Hauser & Wirth

Hauser & Wirth is currently showing Isa Genzken’s mixed media readymade assemblages, a variety of figural sculptures. Isa Genzken was born in 1948 and currently resides and works in Berlin. She was previously married to Gerhard Richter, with whom she has collaborated over the years. Genzken is a mixed media sculptor whose work draws on aspects of constructivism and minimalism, also taking inspiration from architecture. Her work is often compromised of media associated with building materials, used in conjunction with readymades.

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Glenn Ligon, “Untitled (If I Can’t Have Love, I’ll Take Sunshine),” 2006, Neon and paint, Courtesy of Luhring Augustine

Currently on display at Luhring Augustine in Chelsea is Glenn Ligon: Neon, his first solo exhibition at the gallery. Over the past seven years, Ligon has created these neons, which relate to his famous text paintings that he created back in the 1980s. The pieces address a variety of historical, social and political issues, all with the underpinning of the use and re-use of language.

Glenn Ligon, “Palindrome #1”, 2007, Neon, Courtesy of Luhring Augustine (more…)

Workers renovating the former residence of Otto Dix have uncovered six murals by the artist. The home is being turned into a museum, to be run by the Stuttgart Kuntmuseum. The Carneval-themed pieces, most likely from 1966, were behind a bookcase in the cellar library and are incredibly well-preserved. The museum will open in June 2013. (more…)

The Vatican Museum has announced that tourists who visit the Sistine Chapel must be suction-cleaned and chilled before entering. The five million tourists who visit the Sistine Chapel yearly are causing Michelangelo’s frescoes to degrade via the introduction of sweat, dust, skin flakes and hair, in addition to high temperatures from 20,000 tourists daily. “We will cover the 100 meters before the entrance with a carpet that cleans shoes; we will install suction vents on the sides to suck dust from clothes and we will lower temperatures to reduce the heat and humidity of bodies,” said the director of the Museums, “Dust, temperature, humidity and carbon dioxide are the great enemies of the paintings.”
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Antony Gormley, Installation View (2012), Courtesy of the White Cube Gallery

With scatterings of futuristic beings juxtaposed against white walls walls and the faded grey floor of  White Cube’s Bermondsey space is Antony Gormley’s new exhibition, Model. Darkened figures lurk in the shadows, emerging from the concrete; domineering inhabitants shun away the seemingly unwelcome spectators. Occupying the South Gallery is the massive work, itself entitled Model, which allows visitors to walk into its complete darkness and allow anything to happen.

Antony Gormley, Model (2012), Courtesy of the White Cube Gallery

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With unconditional free reign, Playboy Magazine asked seven artists, among them Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman Will Cotton, Jill Magid, and Tracey Emin, to each contribute a centerfold image for their January-February 2013 issue. Chrissie Iles, senior curator of the Whitney Musuem, said, “The work is incisive in its poetic questioning of the ethics of human behavior and the hidden political structures of society”. Richard Prince’s piece is a photograph called Untitled Girlfriend 2012. Cindy Sherman contributed explicit photographs taken in 1992. (more…)

Kehinde Wiley, The Three Graces, all images courtesy Galerie Daniel Templon

Galerie Daniel Templon in Paris is presenting Kehinde Wiley’s first solo show in France, entitled The World Stage: France, 1880-1960. Wiley’s portraits feature mostly black and brown men on elaborate, baroque backgrounds, their natural stances modified by Wiley to echo the Napoleonic, kingly gestures of traditional portraits like those of Anthony van Dyck.

Kehinde Wiley, Bonaparte in the Great Mosque of Cairo

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Christie’s will offer Sandro Botticelli’s “Madonna and Child With the Young Saint John the Baptist” in Hong Kong next month. The work has a presale estimate of $5 million and should be an indicator of interest in a non-Christian Eastern market. The auction house is hoping that the subject matter could translate as a emotional scene between mother and son. Ken Yeh of Christie’s Asia stated that “When you spend that kind of money, you have to think about resale value,” he said. “It’s no longer just to decorate your house.” (more…)

Simon de Pury Phillips Auction House, image via GQ

Simon de Pury, chairman and principal auctioneer of Phillips de Pury & Co., along with his wife Michaela, a senior director, have announced that they will leave their posts at the auction house, effective today. It will be renamed Phillips in 2013.

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Pieter Schoolwerth, After Troy 6 (2012), courtesy Miguel Abreu

The paintings of Pieter Schoolwerth sit at a peculiar intersection of homage and irreverence, combining classic painting techniques with a uniquely surreal vision of contemporary society, exploring the act of representation in painting, and continually playing with the nature of the human body as depicted in the fine arts. (more…)

Bloomberg calculates that $594.6 million was achieved for the top ten lots  in Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art categories in 2012. This is a 44% increase from 2011. An uncertain global economic climate, the European debt crisis and impending US tax code changes all likely impacted the increase in sales. The top lot was Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”, which sold for $119.9 million, the highest price paid for a work at auction. (more…)

Pace Gallery is in lease negotiation with Related Companies for more office space at 511-541 West 25th St. The gallery already occupies exhibition spaces at 508, 510 and 534 West 25th St, as well as its 57th Street headquarters. (more…)

Richard Artschwager, Horizon 2011. All images courtesy David Nolan Gallery

Richard Artschwager’s desert landscapes are the subject of an exhibition at the David Nolan Gallery in New York. Throughout Artschwager’s career, he has been known for his use of non-traditional materials in both sculpture and painting, such as wood, formica and Celotex(a fiberboard used for ceiling panels). He is also recognized for his large grisaille paintings, based on grid structures. These desert landscapes are a clear departure, and emit an emotional sensibility that Artschwager rarely lets us get a glimpse of — only recently has he employed such a vivid exploration of color.

Richard Artschwager Landscape with Pond 2011

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The Armory Show, in the centennial year of its namesake exhibition, announced its list of new and returning visitors for 2013. It will present over 200 galleries from 30 countries at its fifteenth edition from March 7-10th, 2013. The Contemporary section on Pier 94 will house both blue-chip exhibitors and younger galleries, and Pier 92 will again be a showcase for Modern work. Liz Magic Laser has been named the Armory Artist Commission, and Eric Shiner, Director of the Warhol Museum, will curate Armory Focus: USA. (more…)

“Daniele Barbaro” of 1545 has been part of the National Gallery of Canada’s holdings since the museum acquired it in 1928. At that time, the msueum believed it was in fact by Titian himelf because of correspondence between the subject and the Bishop. However, another painting of Daniele Barbaro is in the Prado, and a comparison of the two in the 1990s resulted in the determination that the NGC’s was a copy. A recent restoration has revealed that it is in fact by the Venetian master, and has been confirmed by Prado experts.
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“Everything about my work is driven by my learning disabilities”, said Chuck Close as he gave a private tour of his current exhibition at Pace Gallery to a group of schoolchildren from a poverty-stricken community in Bridgeport, CT. It is part of Turnaround Arts, a federally-funded public-private partnership with a focus on arts using a mentorship program. The artist has faced numerous challenges in his life, from neurological and learning disabilities at a young age, to prosopagnosia (inability to recognize faces), to his paralysis from a spinal artery collapse. (more…)