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

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980 Madison, the block long building currently home to Gagosian Uptown alongside several other art galleries and exhibition spaces on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, is currently up for sale.  Sources report that the building owners are looking to take advantage of a hot New York sales market, and some are reporting that the building could be worth over $400 Million.   (more…)

Following in the wake of Christie’s premium increases last week, Sotheby’s auction house has announced that it will increase its buyer’s premiums to 25 percent for the first $100,000 spent; 20 percent for $100,000 to $1.9 million and 12 percent on all exceeding prices.  The increase makes Christie’s a less expensive shopping option, and comes days after the news that Sotheby’s sales incomes have declined since last year. (more…)

Roy Lichtenstein, Whaam! (1963), via Tate Modern

Blazing a path through the world of contemporary and avant-garde art, Roy Lichtenstein stands as a giant of post-war painting, sculpture and conceptual art.  Celebrating the artist’s position at the vanguard of 20th century art, the Tate Modern is hosting a massive retrospective of the artist’s work, the first of its kind since the artist’s death in 1997.

Roy Lichtenstein, Sea Shore (1964), via The Guardian

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A number of paintings on the Berlin Wall’s East Side Gallery segment are under threat of demolition in the face of property development.  The stretch of wall is slated for demolition to make way for a set of luxury condominiums, and would see see the disappearance of the infamous mural of Soviet and East German leaders Leonid Brezhnev and Eric Honecker (respectively) locked in a passionate kiss.  “In this very place people died, and the idea of building luxury flats here would be like erecting a petrol station in front of one of Berlin’s museums,” said Sascha Disselkamp, manager of the Sage nightclub, who represents several high-profile Berlin nightclubs. (more…)

ARTNews sat down with the current head of the Tate Modern, Chris Dercon, to discuss his career, overseeing massive additions to the museum, including its new performance space The Tanks, and his personal philosophy to curating.  “Today, to be really cool and sexy is to be sharing,” he says. “Inclusivity instead of exclusivity. Let the private collectors in the private museums do the exclusivity game.” He said. (more…)

Since February of 2011, Sotheby’s stock valuation has been on a slow decline, signaling a potential downturn in the global art market.  Earnings per share, recorded last year at $2.46, are now down to $1.68, and sales are projected to fall 9.4%, caused in part by a weaker asian market than 2011’s record setting year.  Analysts are comparing the current state of the art market to the dot com bubble of the the early 2000’s.  “It hearkens back to what the Japanese were doing with buildings in New York in the late 1980s.” says Yale University lecturer Vikram Mansharamani. (more…)

In the face of a $40 Million cut as a result of Congress’s budget stalemate, the Smithsonian Museums are prepared to maintain their normal hours, vowing to find their way around the cuts in more creative ways.  The museums will absorb the cuts through delays in maintenance and construction, as well as other internal adjustments.  “We think we have a plan that allows us to squeak through to the end of this fiscal year. But we can’t sustain this,” Said Dennis Kelly, Director of the National Zoo. “At the end of the fiscal year, if we’re still in this mode, the entire Smithsonian is going to have to rethink all of our priorities.” (more…)

St. Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum has been announced as the location for next year’s Manifesta 10 exhibition.  The biennial exhibition of contemporary European art will see mark its 20th anniversary, as well as its first version of the event in Russia.  “With the arrival of Manifesta, the Hermitage will highlight its traditions: its roots within the epoch of Catherine the Great and her passion for the contemporary art of her time, and the role that the museum’s collections and exhibitions have always played in the artistic life of Russia. We see contemporary art is a natural, albeit intricate, development of these age-old traditions.”  Says Hermitage Director Mikhail Piotrovsky. (more…)

The notoriously reclusive painter David Hockney has reportedly snubbed repeated attempts to grant him the Freedom of the British city of Bridlington, where he has lived and worked for many years.  Local officials in the East Yorkshire town have also attempted to name a town gallery after him, but abandoned the effort when they could not establish contact.  “Unfortunately, we have not been able to obtain any response from Mr Hockney regarding the renaming of a gallery at The Spa or indeed in relation to the granting of the Freedom of Bridlington and I have to conclude therefore that this is something which does not appeal to him.”  Said Nigel Pearson, chief executive of Bridlington. (more…)

Julie Mehretu, Mind Breath and Beat Drawings (Installation View), via Marian Goodman

Marian Goodman Gallery in Paris is currently exhibiting a new series of works by painter and illustrator Julie Mehretu. in a show which Mehretu described as a ‘self-ethnographic project,’ involving a dissection of her identity as an artist through a free abstraction of her personal creative practice. The show is Mehretu’s first solo exhibition in France.

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The Brooklyn Museum announced today that it will hold an ambitious retrospective for the secretive art collective Bruce High Quality Foundation this summer.  The show, titled Ode To Joy: 2001-2013, will include a broad number of works (“under 17,000” according to a BHQF representative) from the collective’s decade of creative activity, and will document their ongoing practice of satire, political commentary, and exploration of contemporary America. (more…)

Following the success of the massive 2011-2012 arts initiative Pacific Standard Time, the J. Paul Getty Trust has announced a follow-up festival, to run in 2017.  Titled Los Angeles and Latin America (or L.A./L.A. for short), the show will explore the Latin American ties to the Los Angeles art scene, and the cross-pollination of ideas and cultures as a product of these roots.  “The fact that nearly half of the population of Los Angeles has roots in Latin America is so profound that it warrants a major exhibition and research project with accompanying publications,” said Getty Trust head James Cuno. “These are complicated roots, over many generations, and relationships between the U.S. and those antecedent countries have changed considerably over time, so we want to be respectful of those complexities.” (more…)

Alex Turnbull, a musician and filmmaker who once fronted the British punk band 23 Skidoo, is releasing a documentary chronicling the life of his father, sculptor William Turnbull.  Titled Beyond Time, the film details Turnbull’s highly regarded career alongside his family life, as well as his relentless creative drive.  “Bill cared if people didn’t like his work,” Alex says. “But do you change what you do if they don’t? No. That was Bill.” (more…)

Zhang Xiaogang, Beijing Voice (Installation View), Courtesy of PACE Beijing

PACE Beijing is currently exhibiting a selection new works by Chinese painter Zhang Xiaogang, showcasing the artist’s interpretations of Chinese identity, memory and relation.  The exhibition, part of PACE’s annual Beijing Voice’s event, is the first stop on the artist’s work in a global tour which will also include PACE exhibitions at their locations in New York and London. (more…)

Artist Peter Beard’s wife, Nejma Beard, spoke with New York Magazine in its new issue, detailing her efforts to help reclaim his reputation in the art market.  Beard, who was a close friend of Andy Warhol, has seen a resurgence in popularity in the last several years, and his wife’s efforts have helped to set new auction records for his work on the open market.   “Now that art is almost entirely a commodity,” Peter Beard writes, “I’m glad to be, shall we say, commodious.”

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In an unprecedented move, French President François Hollande has cleared Édouard Manet’s 1863 painting Olympia to leave the French capital for the first time since it was given to the nation in 1890.  The painting will travel to Venice for this year’s Biennale, where it will sit beside Titian’s The Venus of Urbino, which itself is legally unable to leave Italy.  “We want to show how Italian cultural models influenced Manet,” says Guy Cogeval, director at the Musée D’Orsay, where the Manet masterpiece has been on view for over 100 years.
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After announcing the construction of a performance dome in the Rockaways this spring, MoMA PS1 has taken more steps to aid in the New York neighborhood’s relief, calling for video proposals on how to create a sustainable waterfront.  Twenty-five proposals will be selected by a panel including Klaus Biesenbach, Niklas Maak, and Hans Ulrich Obrist among others, and presented at the new dome in the Rockaways this April. (more…)

Angus Fairhurst, Un-titled (Installation View) via Sadie Coles HQ

Sadie Coles HQ‘s current exhibition by the late Angus Fairhurst (1966-2008), Un-titled, explores notions of “doing and undoing, absence and presence, thinking and feeling.”  Culling from Fairhurst’s broad body of sculpture, painting, collage and photography, the show is a testament to the artist’s brief but impressive output.

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Trevor Paglen at Metro Pictures (Installation View), via Metro Pictures

American artist, geographer, and author Trevor Paglen’s first solo exhibition at Metro Pictures has opened this month, a selection of large color prints and black-and-white diptychs related to his ongoing project, The Last Pictures.  Compiling a striking collection of photographs from across the wide spectrum of human experience, Paglen creates a static document of mankind, flung into the Earth’s orbit.

Trevor Paglen opening at Metro Pictures (Installation View), via Daniel Creahan for ArtObserved

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