A Turner prize-nominated piece was rescued from a condemned council flat in London. Roger Hiorns‘s salvaged ‘Seizure’ will be on display at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in Wakefield next Spring.

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In his most recent show at Gagosian Gallery in Paris, Out of the Blue, Into the Black, New York based artist Dan Colen  is the second part of a show in memory of his close friend Dash Snow. Out of the Blue, Into the Black continues where Come Out Come Out Wherever You Are (2009) left off, and is comprised of  paintings, installation, and a sculpture. Art Observed’s Jonathan Beer was able to catch up with the artist bef0re the show’s  opening on June 10.

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Dan Colen, Out of the Blue, Into the Black (2012), Installation View. All photos courtesy of Gagosian, Paris.

For his inaugural solo show at the Paris Gallery, Gagosian presents the exhibit, “Out of the Blue, Into the Black” featuring new works by Dan Colen. The New York artist, known for his participation in the Downtown art scene of the early 2000s, here memorializes his late friend and fellow artist Dash Snow in a tripartite installation of paintings and sculpture. The exhibition title, as well as those of the objects within it, references the opening and closing songs from Neil Young’s seminal 1979 album, Rust Never Sleeps: “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” and “My My, Hey Hey (Into the Blue)”—confronting the fear of obsolescence and death in an elegiac tribute that is both celebratory and somber, hopeful and despondent.

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This July, the Sperone Westwater gallery presents Moving Spirits, an exhibition of the kinetic works of Francois Morellet (France) and Gerhard von Graevenitz (Germany). The longtime collaborators are featured here through works dated between 1960 and 1976, the period coinciding with the artists’ involvement with the Light-Kinetic Movement.

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In a potential harbinger of a doomsday convergence between massive fast food chains and artwork held in museums such as the Tate Modern, Damien Hirst has donated one of his spin paintings to be displayed in Leicester Square’s newly remodeled Burger King in London.  The work is titled: ‘Beautiful Psychedelic Gherkin Exploding Tomato Sauce All Over Your Face, Flame Grilled Painting 2003′

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In an Op-ed, Eli Broad, founding chairman and trustee of the MOCA board, provides insight on the past and current changes at MOCA, including the departure of top curator, Paul Schimmel, on the museum’s behalf, concluding that: “MOCA will thrive and will avoid the problems that are plaguing other institutions while increasing attendance and membership, continuing to offer world-class exhibitions, and exhibiting its collection.”

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The New York Times interviews Mark Flood on his influences, vision, and position in the art world. “I’ve known people who I call ‘sacred monsters,’ like famous art people and such, who are so uptight about always doing everything the same way. So I’m trying to do things differently,” says the Houston artist whose show, The Hateful Years, will open on July 18, 2012 at Luxembourg & Dayan.

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Marina Abramović to teach The Abramović Method at MoMA PS1 Summer School this year. The renowned performance artist’s technique is designed to train students to achieve “a clear state of mind in order to develop ideas for their own work.”

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Caro Niederer, Karen Blixen’s Garden (2006) All images courtesy Hauser & Wirth unless otherwise noted.

Until July 27, Hauser & Wirth Gallery hosts 18 paintings by the Swiss artist Caro Niederer. Consistent, engrossing movement synthesizes a wide variety of subject and scale. Niederer’s work since 1990 is presented in a ‘capsule survey’ in a skylit room towards the rear of the gallery. Sprinkled throughout this room are illustrations from the Kama Sutra in which a burgeoning fascination with narrative is apparent. These walls serve to acclimate the visitor to a stimulating use of color in Niederer’s larger-scale work.

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Photography by Zoe Zabor for Art Observed (unless otherwise noted)

Set on the Oval Lawn at Madison Square Park, Charles Long‘s Pet Sounds invites visitors to observe and interact with bold, colorful forms. The Los Angeles based artist opened his new installation, that is both communicative and integrated into its atmosphere at 23rd Street and Fifth Avenue, on May 2nd. Facilitated by Mad. Sq. Art, Pet Sounds is Charles Long’s largest public commission yet.

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Kelly Crow of the Wall Street Journal describes the career of Zhang Xiaogang, China’s most expensive living artist, as a story that relates to the contemporary art market of China itself.

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A trove of 100 paintings and drawings possibly by Renaissance master Caravaggio is discovered in a castle in Milan. Worth a reported €700 million – the discovery is the subject of much contention as the authenticity of the collection remains uncertain.

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 A 2.5 ton bronze bull by sculptor Arturo Di Modica, similar to the Wall Street Bull by the same artist,  has been positioned near the front of NYSE Euronext (NYX)’s Amsterdam “as an antidote to Europe’s debt crisis.” “Europe is in an economic crisis. Think positive! Together we will go up!” read leaflets that were handed out by a spokesman for Di Modica.

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Antony Gormley, Proppers (Gallery View)

With a major exhibition of work at the Centro Cultural Banco de Brasil in Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Brasilia, British sculptor Antony Gormley has made his first foray into the South American art world in grand fashion.  To accompany this showing, the White Cube Gallery has sponsored its own show of new work by Gormley, in conjunction with his solo exhibition.

Antony Gormley, Liners (Gallery View)

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Five Dutch and Belgium museums, The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, MHKA in Antwerp, Gemeentemuseum The Hague, De Pont in Tilburg, and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, have collaborated to release an online video channel, ARTtube, featuring films about art and design and interviews with artists.

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Mr. Brainwash to open his largest show to date in a 200,000 square feet space in The Old Sorting Office in London on July 31, 2012.

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The Economist reviews art collector and businessman, Eli Broad‘s new book ‘The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking.’ “His personality comes through clearly enough, though one can quibble over whether his choice of ‘unreasonable’ to describe it is exactly right. Mr. Broad means it in the same way George Bernard Shaw did, when he said that the unreasonable man ‘persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends upon the unreasonable man.'”

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The Art Newspaper reports that artists have increasingly been opting to bequest to institutions over setting up expensive private foundations. “Bequests to institutions offer an important alternative for the majority of artists concerned with the beneficial disposition of their life’s creative works.”

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For the coming summer and fall months, Public Art Fund has organized “Common Ground’, an outdoor exhibition of sculptural and performance artworks.  Ten international artists were asked to present installations currently dotted around the historic center of City Hall Park in downtown New York.  The exhibit debuted May 24, and will remain on site for visitors until the end of November.

“Now, Speak!” (2011) by Amalia Pica before  Paul McCarthy’s inflatable ketchup bottle (more…)

The Guardian speculates on the rise and evolution of performance art, placing current exhibitions in the context of past extremes. Looking to the upcoming live performances at the Tate Modern‘s Tanks, Adrian Searle comments that: “performance, in fact, is now where it’s at; it’s hard to think of much recent art that isn’t, at some level, performative.”

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‘Gregory Crewdson: Beginnings,’ directed by Ben Shapiro, explores the origins and art of the inventive photographer and Yale professor. In an interview with Nowness, the artist states that: “it all starts with location, alone driving around in a car to the same spots again and again. It’s all about being on your own, and reacting to a place.”

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On view currently at Blum and Poe Gallery in Los Angeles is a 20-year retrospective of the work of Chinese painter Zhu Jinshi, exhibiting the expressive, bold works in oil-based paints he has created since he began his career in the late 1960’s.

Zhu Jinshi – Black Dan (1990) – Blum and Poe

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‬Judd Foundation to open Donald Judd‘s historic New York residence and studio for public view in June 2013. “Growing up in the building in the early ‘70s, it was always filled with artists discussing culture, history, and politics…We plan to open the building to the public next spring with that spirit in mind,” says daughter and foundation co-president, Rainer Judd.

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England based curator and media developer Heather Corcoran will replace Lauren Cornell this fall as Rhizome‘s new Executive Director.

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