David Alfaro Siqueiros’ America Tropical mural on Olvera Street near downtown L.A. has been covered up for decades and is due to be unveiled again on October 9th. Close to $10 million spent in a public-private partnership, the mural has been conserved to the degree it was possible, as there are no existing photographs of the original. Whitewashed and completely painted over in the 30s, the incendiary 18 x 80-foot fresco was executed in 1932 with imagery of an indigenous Mexican man tied to a cross with an American eagle perched above. (more…)

Shanghai is opening two state-run museums today, celebrating China’s National Holiday. It will inaugurate the China Art Palace in the former China Pavilion of the 2010 Expo, as well as The Power Station of Art in a converted factory, formerly The Expo’s Urban Best Practices Area. The Power Station of Art will be China’s first national contemporary art museum. The 2012 Shanghai Biennial opens there tomorrow and runs through March 2013. The museum is also planning an Andy Warhol retrospective. (more…)

Frieze Projects promises to showcase the more colorful side of the fair’s various components this year, with the chef of Moro cooking Canada Goose and hairy bittercress. DIS, billed as a “post-internet lifestyle magazine”, will host nighttime photo shoots including 20 breast-feeding women, African street sellers selling real Chanel bags and a faked scene in which a gallery owner has a heart attack. (more…)

Blum & Poe Gallery is expanding, and is set to open in Tokyo in the coming months. Tim Blum, a co-founder, says that it is a “major moment for post-war Japanese art. There seems to be a real dialogue going on right now.” The gallery plans to strengthen relationships with artists and present secondary-market material from both Japanese and Western historical art movements. (more…)

Image: Richard Phillips, Black Water, 2012 via Gagosian

Currently on view at Gagosian’s 24th Street location is a solo show of the work of Richard Phillips.  The imagery mostly revolves around three internationally-renowned female celebrities: Lindsay Lohan, Sasha Grey and Adriana Lima, with the inclusion of one painting of the ocean at night. Through three videos and ten large-scale paintings, Phillips examines the superstar beauties and posits our fascination with them against one simple yet punctuating image.

Image: Richard Phillips, Installation View, via Gagosian

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