Trevor Paglen’s The Last Pictures launched into orbit today from Kazakhstan at at 1:15 pm EST, with liftoff at 1:30 pm EST (US time/date). It may be viewed at: www.echostar.com/launch (more…)
The new Parrish Museum building, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is a sleek longhouse-inspired design, almost resembling an ultramodern chicken coop in Southampton. It hosts details such as a 600-foot-long outside wall of seamless concrete with a surface impression of wood grain, and the roof extends dramatically over a courtyard for outdoor events. The museum originally agreed to an $80 million design that was a host of connected buildings that would look like Long Island artist studios, but eventually requested the current iteration, costing just $26 million. (more…)
Annegret Soltau (b. 1946), NY Faces, chirurgische Operationen, 2001-2002, 51 x 51 cm, photo restitching, © Annegret Soltau
A series of paintings by Francis Bacon curated into dialogue with 5 internationally-acclaimed contemporary artists (Swedish Nathalie Djurberg, Romanian Adrian Ghenie, Italian Arcangelo Sassolino, Japanese Chiharu Shiota, and German Annegret Soltau) opened at the Centre for Contemporary Culture Strozzina (CCCS)Â in Florence, Italy on October 5th, 2012 and will remain on view until the end of January 2013.
Art by Offenders, “Wasted!,” HMP Channings Wood,  James Wood Silver Award for Oil or Acrylics, all images courtesy of the Koestler Trust
The selection made by British artist Sarah Lucas for Southbank Centre’s annual “Art by Offenders, Secure Patients, and Detainees” exhibition challenges stereotypes and gives a voice to the imprisoned. This display of visual art, film, music, and writing by prisoners, which opened September 20th and will run through November 25th, is presented in a partnership with the Kosteler Trust (the UK’s best-known prison arts charity) and Southbank Centre.
Art By Offenders, “Fun to Do,” HMP Blantyre House, Htein Lin & Vicky Bowman Highly Commended Award for Oil or Acrylic
A new book about “superflat” art in Japan has been written by sociologist Adrian Favell. He examines “cool Japan,” a methodology of spinning Japanese culture to western audiences, and its effect on the success of artists like Murakami and Nara, as well as the current movement away from superflat in Japanese art. The book is entitled “Before and After Superflat: A Short History of Japanese Contemporary Art 1990-2011” (more…)
The owner of a foundry used by Jasper Johns has been arrested for trying to sell a fake version of the artist’s sculpture, Flag. Authorities say that Brian Ramnarine created the cast for the piece but did not return the mold, and 20 years later tried to sell a bronze piece created from that mold without John’s knowledge and that he faked a signature.
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The Chairman of Christie’s, David Linley, is interviewed by the Financial Times to discuss the auction house’s recent success and his upbringing as part of the Royal Family. The auction house recently had a record season in the Postwar & Contemporary category, totaling $412 million. He discusses his view on various markets, from Old Masters to Chinese contemporary. (more…)
Kate Moss reveals her tattoo, depicting birds, which was designed and applied by artist Lucian Freud. “He told me about when he was in the navy, when he was 19 or something, and he used to do all of the tattoos for the sailors,” she said. (more…)
A painting that was previously believed to be a copy of a work by Peter Paul Rubens is now being considered an original. Mary Magdalene in mourning with her sister Martha has been restored, revealing new imagery. The head paintings conservator from the Hermitage museum in Saint Petersburg, Viktor Korobov, has examined the piece and believes it to be authentic. The work was discovered in Irbit, a small town near Yekaterinburg, Russia. (more…)
Andreas Gursky – Katar, (2012), courtesy Museum Kunstpalast Düsseldorf
On now at Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf, Germany is a selection of works from photographer Andreas Gursky, showcasing the artist’s continued practice at the forefront of the digital photography landscape. (more…)
Charles Atlas has created a video montage background piece for a documentary-style video of the band Antony and the Johnsons. “Turning” focuses on thirteen women (of which some are transgender), posing on a rotating disc. (more…)
Will Barnet, an artist whom President Obama bestowed with the National Medal of Arts just this year, has died at age 101. He explored various styles throughout his eight decade-long career, but was best known for his later work of stylized portraits and domestic scenes. (more…)
David Lynch has created a version of his Parisian club Silencio (which takes its inspiration from Mulholland Drive) at the Delano for Art Basel Miami this year. He designed all of the furniture and interior and curated the library and film projections. (more…)
William Turnbull in 1956 via The Guardian
Artist William Turnbull has died at the age of 90. His diverse artistic production included abstract painting, figurative and minimalist metal sculpture. He was considered a forerunner to the Pop Art movement and was one the Abstract Expressionist’s earliest adopters. His work is part of major public collections including the Tate, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and the Victoria and Albert Museum, among others. (more…)
Martha Roesler is hosting her Garage Sale at MoMA, starting today. Although it is not intended to be a performance piece, the artist stated that “It’s not symbolic activity. It’s real activity. Like most things, it has symbolic dimensions. But it is what it is.†(more…)
The author of Seven Days in the Art World, Sarah Thornton, recently wrote in TAR magazine about why she will no longer write about the art market. Adam Lindemann’s perspective and response to her piece on writing about writing about not writing about the marketing and the market of art appeared in the Observer. (more…)
Carte Blanche (Installation View), courtesy Galerie Seguin and Paula Cooper Gallery
Each year, Galerie Patrick Seguin in Paris opens its doors to international galleries of note from the United States, Europe, and the rest of the world. Â With no limits or constraints placed upon the guest curators, “Carte Blanche” allows a broad international audience exposure not only to great works from around the world, but also a taste of the various curatorial approaches and personal idioms of each invited gallery.
Bruce Conner – CROSSROADSÂ (1976), courtesy Galerie Seguin and Paula Cooper Gallery
This year, the invitation was extended to Paula Cooper Gallery in New York City, who chose a selection of artists from their early years as the first art gallery in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan.  First opened in 1968, the gallery has continued to grow with its hometown, now recognized as one of the premier art spaces in the city.
Paper Magazine profiles four young curatorial collaborative groups in Brooklyn, London, Detroit and San Francisco. Many share costs of mounting exhibitions and operate without a firm structure, holding other day jobs, but nevertheless are gaining international attention. (more…)
The Met has added a new curator in preparation to temporarily occupy the Whitney’s Breuer building in 2015. Nicolas Cullinan has been appointed as Curator in the modern and contemporary department by Chief Curator Sheena Wagstaff. He is currently the Curator of International Modern and Contemporary Art at the Tate Modern. (more…)
Anish Kapoor has enlisted Mark Wallinger, Bob and Roberta Smith, Tom Phillips and other art world heavyweights such as Alison Myners, chair of the ICA, and Tamara Rojo, artistic director of the English National Ballet to create a Gangnam Style video in support of Ai Weiwei. “It had to be done,” said Kapoor, “Yes, it is desperately silly, but what is the paradigm of the artist? The artist does stupid things with serious intent.” (more…)
Phillips de Pury saleroom photo by ArtObserved
On Thursday night, boutique auction house Phillips de Pury & Co. hosted the final Contemporary Art Evening Sale in a blockbuster week for the art market. Tallying $79.9 million against its projected estimate of $73 to $110 million, Phillips de Pury’s Chief Executive Officer, Michael McGinnis, stated “we’re happy with the competition and prices,” especially after the third consecutive night of Contemporary Art sales. McGinnis reflected on the evening saying ” it was a small and deliberate sale, with works specifically chosen to compliment the week.”
Andy Warhol Mao courtesy Phillips de Pury & Co.
Despite achieving just over its low estimates for the sale, Phillips de Pury had a sell by value of 98% and a sell by lot of 83%. With a very carefully selected 35 lots offered, only six artworks failed to find a buyer. However, all of the lots had third party guarantees, of which there were five guarantors.
The Louvre, together with the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (which includes the de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park and the Legion of Honor in Lincoln Park), have created an agreement to collaborate on exhibitions and to share artwork. The five-year agreement allows for a partnership promoting lending in both cities as well as joint publications, conservation projects and educational programs. (more…)
Liliana Porter (right) and Ana Tiscornia, photo by ArtObserved
The following an interview with Liliana Porter, November 14th, 2012, by Anna Mikaela Ekstrand for Art Observed:
As Liliana Porter received me in her West Village pied-a-terre for our interview, she asks, “hablas español?†The apartment is light, airy and sparsely decorated with objects such as a Claes Oldenburg pretzel on a shelf and a Richard Artschwager exclamation mark on a wall. As we walk to the window, Porter points out highlights of the view; the Chrysler building to the left and perhaps of more interest the rooftops and a garden beneath, belonging to Donna Karan “where she throws crazy partiesâ€. Looking down it feels like we are on the balcony of a theater.
Liliana Porter, Man with Axe, 2011 courtesy Hosfelt Gallery New York and Pinta
An interview with artist Aleksandra Mir who is attempting to bring the iconic bronze statue of Freddie Mercury in full costume — which is installed in Montreux, Switzerland — back to London’s Trafalgar Square. The band members of Queen commissioned artist Irena Sedlecka to create the piece after Mercury’s death. In 1991, the Westminster Council rejected the statue and had it sent to Montreux. (more…)
