Darryl Kelly, a cleanup man from New York City, when asked to clean out reclusive artist Harry Shunk’s apartment back in 2006, inadvertently found works by Christo to Andy Warhol after the Lichtenstein foundation had taken the rest. Mr. Kelly intends to auction the works off this fall.
Japanese artist Tatzu Nishi plans to build a structure supporting a living room which would enclose Columbus Circle’s historic monument, 6 stories above ground. The project, developed by the Public Art Fund, will allow the New York community to scale scaffolding and entertain an intimate face-to-face visit with the statue, surrounded by coffee tables, couches, and and the comforts of home. Workers will use the living room as an enclosed perch for restoration of the monument when the exhibition closes on November 18.
Zhang Huang, The Mountain Is Still A Mountain (Gallery View)
In the work of Zhang Huang, Buddhist incense ash frequently makes an appearance. It is a potent medium that stands at the intersection of the physical and the spiritual, the personal and the universal,the detritus of a tangible object destroyed for the sake of spiritual prostration. It represents the willing departure of the mind beyond the immediacy of flesh towards a higher power. For Huang, it also bears the signature of his own heritage , and serves as a fittingly specific medium to bring the political and social issues of modern China into the public eye.
Zhang Huang, My Literary Teacher (2008)
Damien Hirst designed the set of the closing ceremony for the London Olympics, created as a spin painting representing the British flag.
The Wall Street Journal reports on Yasuo Minagawa, one of the most renowned framers in Manhattan, who uses precision and care to create beautiful and handmade frames for his clients: “Mistake is enemy number one.”
Lehmann Maupin’s “Friends with Benefits,” installation view. All photography by M. Peralta for Art Observed unless otherwise noted.
“Friends with Benefits,” Lehmann Maupin‘s summer group show on view at their location at 201 Chrystie Street, is a correspondence between generations that reveals the concerns of each. The gallery asked five of their artists–Tony Oursler, Angel Otero, Tim Rollins, Mickalene Thomas, and Nari Ward–to request work from young artists they would like to support. Curated by Carla Camacho and Drew Moody, the result is an appealing disjunction of artistic histories, showing contemporary artists engaged with the concerns of a former generation while also reflecting on the artistic currents of their own time. The exhibition’s starting point, as described in the press release, is the notion of “the gallery community as a fertile space,” which takes a positive stance on the white cube as a place where older artists can encourage the work of younger artists.
LA MOCA’s beleaguerment continues as its main supporter, Eli Broad, misses two payments. At MOCA’s lowest endowment level of $5 million in 2008 Broad pledged $15 million, provided matching funds could be obtained. Broad has paid $6.25 million of the amount, and the endowment currently stands at $20 million. No matching has been made. In the last fiscal year, grants and contributions fell 21.5%, operating profit has declined and expenses rose 10.7% to $17.5 million at the museum.
Crowd Shot at the opening of People Who Work Here at David Zwirner. All photos by Aubrey Roemer for Art Observed.
On a hot summer evening, David Zwirner’s 19th Street Chelsea location held an opening for its artist employees titled People Who Work Here. The show is curated by Rawson Projects co-directors James Morrill and Chris Rawson, who are also fellow David Zwirner employees.
The Edinburgh airport has reversed its decision to censor Picasso‘s ” Nude Woman in a Red Armchair.” After complaints from several international arrivals, the airport, covered up the image, which was being used to advertise the Picasso and Modern British Art exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. The airport now, however, has reviewed their initial decision and reinstated the image after Gallery officials labeled the move as “bizarre” that “somehow a painted nude by one of the world’s most famous artists is found to be disturbing.”
Franz West’s sculpture “Eidolon” is stirring it up a bit in Montauk. Collector Adam Lindemann has been displaying the 14-foot phallic looking sculpture on his Montauk Bluffs estate, visible to beach goers. “Coincidentally it serves as a small homage to him — though one neighbor did refer to it as ‘Moby’s Dick.’ And I like to think Franz would have liked that.” Lindemann stated.
Mark Flood in front of his painting Entrada (2012) at the Hateful Years opening at Luxembourg & Dayan. All photos by Aubrey Roemer for Art Observed.
Mark Flood’s near mini-retrospective “The Hateful Years” opened this past Wednesday in the upper east-side gallery Luxembourg & Dayan. The five floors of the gallery are each devoted to separate bodies of work within the artist’s oeuvre. Starting on the ground floor with his well known lace paintings – the viewer moves chronologically backward in time through the various creative stages of Mark Flood’s self proclaimed “hateful” work. Exhibiting over 100 paintings, collages, sculptures, and mixed media works, this show redefines the scope and depth of Mark Flood’s vision as an artist.
Bob Odenkirk pens ‘A Portrait of the Artist’ for the New Yorker: “He’s been praised as ‘unfathomable at best’ and ‘bafflingly circumlocutory at worst’ by ArtFinger.” “He has adopted a man older than himself whom he has affectionately dubbed Grandbrother and with whom he trades birthday cards three times a year.”
The late John Chamberlain‘s sculptures, presented by Gagosian Gallery, are to be displayed at the Seagram Plaza in New York, beginning this Friday.
Detroit voters have approved an unusual and specific 10-year tax to secure funds for the Detroit Institute of the Arts. Expected to raise $23 million a year, Detroit Institute officials hope to raise up to $300 million for their endowment over the next 10 years. In return for supporting the tax, the DIA will offer free general admission for residents of approving counties.
Sotheby’s reported second quarter revenue which fell 18% to $303.9 million despite its successful first quarter, which the company called its “most profitable quarter in history.” Chief Executive Officer William Ruprecht stated “Our results reflect the global economy, which we’re all experiencing, income is down because sales are down. The overall health of the business is intact.”
British citizens have raised £8 million to save Edouard Manet‘s “Portrait of Fanny Claus” from leaving the country. The painting was originally sold last year to a foreign buyer, but the government placed and export bar on the work and therein made its sale available to British public institutions. Donations were made by over 1,000 members of the public , and were combined with £5.9 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £850,000 from The Art Fund to reach the £7.83 million needed to purchase the work for the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.
Following Paul Schimmel‘s June resignation from Los Angeles MOCA, the museum announced it will hire a new Chief Curator, a post it had decided to leave vacant after his departure. The reversal arises from the criticism of the direction the museum has taken since Jeffrey Deitch has come on board as Executive Director.
Having spent the last 60 years hanging in a Scottish farmhouse, a possible work of Leonardo da Vinci has been discovered. Facing financial difficulties, Fiona McLaren unknowingly brought her painting to Sotheby’s Scotland for appraisal, where it was discovered to be possibly worth over £100 million (about $156 million). The painting will be sent to London next year to be inspected by experts at the Hamilton Kerr Institute at the University of Cambridge and dated conclusively.
Tracey Emin – She Lay down Deep Beneath The Sea (2012) – Turner Contemporary
A few hours drive from London, on the Southeastern tip of the British mainland is the small seaside town of Margate. It was here where Tracey Emin was born and where she spent her difficult early years, so often documented in the works that first made her a major force of the British art world of the mid to late 90’s. Now, Emin has returned to her hometown, for an exhibition of new works at the newly opened Turner Contemporary. “She Lay Down Deep Beneath the Sea” showcases a diverse range of sculpture, drawing neons, and painting.
Marina Abramovic is featured in Antony And The Johnson’s “Cut the World” video. The previously unreleased song was originally composed for the artist’s biographical play “The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic.” Willem Dafoe appropriately co-stars in the beautiful, but violent and gory video, as he performed in Abramovic’s play as well.
Robert Hughes, fabled critic, artist, and documentarian dies at the age of 74 in New York. The Australian writer was described as an “eloquent, combative art critic and historian who lived with an operatic flair and wrote with a sense of authority that owed more to Zola or Ruskin than to his own century”.
Through the band Sigur Rós’s recent Mystery Film Experiment, artists have been able to use songs from their album and make their own music videos. The most recent was created for “Varúö” by Ryan McGinley, featuring the streets of New York City through McGinley’s vision. McGinley says of the video, “This piece is my poem to New York City. I wanted to bring a childhood innocence to the streets, through a character whose own light and wonder effects the world around her. I’m always interested in an atmosphere where dreams and reality mingle on equal terms.”
M+, the Museum of Visual Culture, set to open in Hong Kong in 2017, will aim to serve as Asia’s counterpoint to institutions such as the Centre Pompidou or the Guggenheim Bilbao. Tapping Lars Nittve, formerly of the Tate Modern, as executive director, M+ will be the cornerstone of a $2.8 billion government-backed undertaking that hopes to “raise the bar for Asian museums” and cement Hong Kong’s position on the international art map.
The New York Times describes how, as the price of art continues to increase, more art collectors seek to have the courts rule on cases of authenticity, as witnessed through the three recent cases involving Knoedler & Company; though often the arbiters decide based on their experience in contract law versus any knowledge of the arts.