Tracey Emin has been honored with a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) for her contributions to the arts. Emerging as a leading member of the UK’s 1990’s contemporary arts scene, Emin was recognized for her ongoing contributions to British culture. “Its amazing that I’ve been given this because its recognition for what I believe in and what I’ve worked for, so it’s a great feeling,” she said. (more…)
James Lee Byars, Early Works and The Angel (Installation view) via Michael Werner Gallery, London
Early Works and “The Angel,” currently on view at Michael Werner Gallery in London, exhibits major works from the late sculptor and performance artist James Lee Byars. Combining a selection of the artist’s early sculptural works, painted scrolls, and performative objects with the impressive glass sculpture “The Angel,” the show provides an interesting look into the artist’s formative influences and practices. The gallery is an apt location for this collection, as Michael Werner, the German art dealer and gallery’s namesake, historically had close ties with Byars, as well as his contemporary, Joseph Beuys.
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Via the Los Angeles Times
In a letter dated February 24th, Los Angeles County Museum of Art director Michael Govan and his co-chairs have made a formal offer to acquire the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in downtown Los Angeles. The proposal outlines a plan for the transition of ownership of MOCA’s two museum properties to LACMA, which would maintain their operation under the MOCA banner. (more…)
A collection of thousands of works by abstract painter Arthur Pinajian, discovered in a Long Island cottage, have been appraised at over $30 million dollars. The works, which were uncovered in 2007 when the house was purchased by new owners. Some have recently sold for $500,000, and 50 are currently on view at Manhattan’s Fuller Building.
Kevin Sutherland, the Miami pastor who was arrested last month for the attempted sale of several counterfeited works attributed to Damien Hirst, was indicted yesterday on grand larceny charges, to which he pleaded not guilty. The pastor had allegedly attempted to sell undercover officers a number of fake Hirsts (one of which is pictured here) for $185,000. His attorney, Sanford Talkin, claims that there is “more to the story.”
The View from Outside The 2013 Armory Show
The doors opened this morning on the 2013 edition of the Armory Art show, welcoming press and VIP’s into the massive exhibition halls of Piers 92 and 94 on the waterfront of New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. It was a special year for New York’s biggest annual art event, marking the 100 year anniversary of its namesake, the 1913 exhibition that welcomed the European avant-garde to American shores, and gave many their first glimpses of Marcel Duchamp, Matisse and Edvard Munch, among many others.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg Makes the Opening Remarks at The 2013 Armory Show (more…)
Attentive curators for the Metropolitan Museum of Art made quite a find at this past January’s Old Masters Week auctions, buying an authentic sketch by Jacques-Louis David for $840. The drawing, closely resembling David’s The Death of Socrates, was attributed to an anonymous artist, but the hawk-eyed curators took notice immediately. “The drawing style is typical of David. It was obvious we had to have it.” Said Met drawings curator George Goldner. (more…)
The closing of Christie’s online auction of works by Andy Warhol has seen the auction exceed expectations, pulling in a total of $2.3 million to benefit the Andy Warhol Foundation. With an online attendance of over 65,000 visitors, bidding for a number of works was extremely competitive, as evidenced by the sale of Warhol’s lithograph of Marilyn Monroe’s lips for $112,500, over 40 times its estimated sale price. Christie’s has already announced its next Warhol online auction in April, focusing on the artist’s time at Studio 54. (more…)
Jonathan Wateridge, Boy on a Wall (2012), via L&M Arts
Inter + Vista, an exhibition of new paintings by Jonathan Wateridge, marks the artist’s first exhibition in Los Angeles, presented by L&M Arts. The exhibition highlights Wateridge’s interest in the relationship of the traditional medium of oil paint on canvas and linen with placid scenes of contemporary society. (more…)
Art Club 2000, Untitled (Conran’s I) (1993), Courtesy of The New Museum
Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star, on view now at The New Museum, is a look 20 years into the not-so-distant-past, using 1993 (and the works produced and shown within that calendar year) as a critical reflection point into recent art history and practice.
The first Art13 Festival took place this past week in London, showing a high number of Asian and Middle Eastern Galleries and Artists competing for the attention of interested buyers. With about half of the showing artists of non-western origin, the show provided buyers with opportunities to purchase major works by Eastern Contemporary Art figureheads like the Indonesian painter Nyoman Masriadi, whose work Godlike has already commanded impressive attention and an equally impressive price tag of $350,000. “Fairs like Frieze and Art Basel tend to be a bit Western- centric,” Jasdeep Sandhu, of Singapore’s Gajah Gallery, said. “This presentation has a more global focus. It’s what the future of the art market might be.” (more…)
Artist Doug Aitken is currently preparing to unveil a “digital land artwork” at the Seattle Art Museum. Titled Mirror, the work consists of thin strips of LED lights and digital video of Seattle and the surrounding regions, and will be on view for the public beginning on March 24th. “Land art from the 1960s and 1970s exists in remote locations. I was interested in creating something very urban,” Aitken says. (more…)
The Gagosian Gallery’s current retrospective of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat is drawing impressive crowds to the gallery’s Chelsea location on 24th St. Weekend attendance has frequently topped 3,000 visitors a day, and weekday attendance has seen somewhere from 1,000 to 2,000 visitors daily. Attendance numbers are only expected to grow, with the upcoming Armory Show bringing much of the art world to New York City. (more…)
Bruce Nauman, Carousel (1988), via Hauser and Wirth
Turning a fresh perspective on the works of American artist Bruce Nauman, Hauser and Wirth is currently presenting a curated retrospective of the artist’s work, focusing on his large scale installations and neon works. Organized by Hauser and Wirth curator Philip Larratt-Smith, the exhibition presents Nauman’s work through a Freudian lens, using psychoanalytic evaluation and subconscious motivators as organizing principles in the presentation of Nauman’s work. (more…)
Tacita Dean, Fatigues (F) (2012), via Marian Goodman Gallery
Marian Goodman Gallery is currently hosting the first showing of Tacita Dean’s, Fatigues, a recent series of drawings initially exhibited in Kassel at this past summer’s documenta (13).
Tacita Dean, Fatigues (Installation view), via Marian Goodman Gallery
Following up on the success of last year’s special series of sound art installations at the Frieze New York Art Fair, the organization has announced the program for 2013’s Sounds Program. Premiering in the VIP cars and available for listening at stations throughout the fair, the roster of artists includes Trisha Baga, Charles Atlas and New Humans, and Haroon Mirza. Says curator Cecelia Alemani: “Last year Frieze Sounds captured visitors’ imaginations beyond my expectations. This year I wanted to commission artists who could use both the medium of sound and the journey to Randall’s Island as inspiration to metaphorically transport visitors up the East River.” (more…)
High profile technology companies, investors and entrepreneurs are quickly becoming major players in the art world, financing tech-centered arts installations and entering the currently lucrative art market. Interested less in globally recognized artists and more in digitally forward-thinking projects, these new buyers are changing the landscape and market for contemporary art. An engineer will look at a photograph or video art in a way a banker couldn’t— we think in ones and zeros, we think in terms of screens,” says collector and tech-entrepreneur Trevor Traina.
With the Art Dealers Association of America celebrating both its 50th anniversary and 25th year of the ADAA Art Show (running March 6th-10th), The Art Newspaper spoke with Director Linda Blumberg about the organization’s history, its response in the wake of hurrican Sandy, and the future of the art market. “We don’t know where it’s going to go. Are fairs going to replace galleries? I rather doubt it, but it’s our role as an organisation to make sure people understand why galleries are so important. We’re keen on getting that message out.” She says. (more…)
New York City’s Jack Shainman Gallery has announced an ambitious expansion, including a new space on 24th street in Chelsea on Manhattan’s West Side, and a five-acre schoolhouse property two hours north of the city in Kinderhook, NY. “The space in Kinderhook is kind of a life dream. It’s an amazing building built as an elementary school in 1931 and inaugurated by FDR,” says owner Jack Shainman. “Primarily, we’ll store our collection there, but it has great viewing rooms and exhibition rooms, and we will do exhibitions there in the summer. Previously, we often had to rent space to show large works. It will have about a 27-foot ceiling in the main gallery space, where we’ll have artists do special projects.” (more…)
A selection of 10 works by Andy Warhol depicting endangered species will go under the hammer later this month at Sotheby’s. The Endangered Species series, referred to by the artist as “animals in make-up,” include a bighorn ram, Pine Barrens tree frog, African elephant, and others, is expected to sell for £250,000 to £350,000. “I think he was making a statement by representing these animals in the same way as Monroe, the Queen, and Muhammad Ali. He wanted to highlight the issue of them disappearing.” Says Séverine Nackers, Sotheby’s head of prints in Europe. (more…)
The installation of two new outdoor art projects are underway in New York, and set to open early next week. Titled “No Limits” and “Topsy Turvy,” the works share an interest in reevaluating and reinterpreting the New York skyline; “No Limits” (by Alexandre Arrechea) through its bizarre re-imaginings of iconic buildings, and “Topsy Turvy” (by Sandra Gibson and Luis Recoder) through its camera obscura depiction of its surroundings in Madison Square Park. (more…)
As part of its ongoing week of Andy Warhol online auctions, Christie’s has posted an interview with the creator of Girls (and daughter of artists Laurie Simmons and Carroll Dunham), Lena Dunham, discussing her take on Warhol, and how the artist would engage with contemporary society today. “He would watch Real Housewives. We all just have to accept that. ” She says. (more…)
With the two year shut-down of SFMOMA for its major expansion project beginning this June, the institution is gearing up to announce a range of exhibitions and events across the Bay Area. The museum released a small press announcement on its Facebook recently, welcoming external input, and hinting at events to come. The construction will span 2013 to 2016, and will cost the museum $555 million. (more…)
Richard Wentworth, Black Maria (Installation View), via King’s Cross London
The result of a major commission project, Richard Wentworth‘s “Black Maria,” a timber theatrical structure set within the atrium of the Granary Building in the Saint Martins College of Art and Design, King’s Cross, is an installation that acts as a central public space during the day and a screening and discussion room during the evening and night. The structure was opened for its 4-week run on February 13th, 2013, and is available for viewing during normal hours at Central St. Martins.
Richard Wentworth, Black Maria (Installation View),via King’s Cross London
