Artist Mélanie Matranga has been awarded the first annual Frieze Artist Award, a new prize that welcomes emerging artists to create an ambitious work for the Frieze London fair.  Matranga’s work will feature a set of videos “that follow a young artistic couple as they negotiate ‘freedom, success and the proper functioning of a couple.’ The episodes will be filmed during the construction of Frieze London in Regent’s Park, including a purpose-built café, which Matranga has designed for use by visitors.” (more…)

Mika Rottenberg, Bowls Balls Souls Holes (Bingo) (Installation View), via Osman Can Yerebakan

Mika Rottenberg’s artistic practice has long focused on the production methods and social schemes of contemporary work, orchestrating structurally perfect and visually playful videos in which actresses specifically cast for their physical looks twist the notion of productivity. Using meticulously planned and often vague plots, Rottenberg contemplates on the “nature” of making things in her videos, usually installed along with the pieces used in the production of the video.

Mika Rottenberg, Tsss Tsss Tsss (2014), via Osman Can Yerebakan (more…)

Gemini G.E.L. at Joni Moisant Weyl Gallery in Chelsea opened its “Art on Color” show this past Thursday, June 8th, a show that challenges the traditional white-walled gallery notion by introducing bold colors on its walls. A colorful palette of oranges, yellows, and greens backdrops artworks by represented artists: John Baldessari, Ann Hamilton, David Hockney, Ellsworth Kelly, Roy Lichtenstein, Brice Marden, Man Ray, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist and Joel Shapiro. “[David Hockney] pointed out to us that when you look at art on a white wall the first thing you see is the frame, but when you look at art on a wall with color, the first thing you see is the art,” Peter Stamberg, one of the gallery’s architects, explained at the opening.

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Tauba Auerbach, The New Ambidextrous Universe IV (2014), all images courtesy ICA London

On view currently at ICA London is the first solo exhibition in the UK by New York-based artist Tauba Auerbach. Entitled The New Ambidextrous Universe, the exhibition is composed of her recent works in sculpture and photography, focusing on themes of symmetry and reflection as scientific principles, hinting at the existence of a mirror universe.

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Lothar Baumgarten, Los Aristòcrates de la Selva y la Reina de Castilla (2011-2012), Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman

Currently on view at Marian Goodman Gallery is Los Aristòcrates de la Selva y la Reina de Castilla, a large scale exhibition by the renowned German conceptual artist Lothar Baumgarten. Known for his slide projections, site-specific installations and sound recordings in which he a range of different issues from international politics to institutionalization of the arts, Baumgarten is once again presenting a complex body of work at Marian Goodman Gallery. Carrying the idea of civilization into the core of his argument, the artist touches upon different representations of cultural identity and evolution of the mankind.

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Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (Just Sour) (1982), By Kent Pell from The Schorr Family Collection © The Estate Of Jean-Michel Basquiat, ADAGP, Paris/ARS, New York 2014

Now through June 13, the Acquavella Gallery is hosting an exhibition entirely dedicated to Jean-Michel Basquiat’s works on paper. The show, curated by Fred Hoffman, includes 22 drawings and one painting from the collection of Herbert and Lenore Schorr, a pair of Basquiat’s earliest collectors and friends, and dedicated predominantly to the artist’s works on paper, revealing a range and complexity few associate with Basquiat’s work.

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Unttitled (1981), By Kent Pell from The Schorr Family Collection © The Estate Of Jean-Michel Basquiat, ADAGP, Paris/ARS, New York 2014

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The New York Times writes on the state of the art market, noting the risks inherent in a market that relies partially on taste and the opinions of art advisors to determine market value and success.  “Art is an asset, not an asset class,” said Luke Dugdale, a private client wealth management director for the Royal Bank of Canada.  “If it were an asset class, the F.C.A. would regulate it, and that would kill the art world. It’s a market in which everyone can be an adviser.”  (more…)

A group of artists including Jeff Koons, Catherine Opie, and Carrie Mae Weems are contributing to the Water Tank Project this summer, a public art installation that will place various artists’ work on water tanks around New York.  “Water is our most challenged but taken-for-granted resource. It’s all around us but virtually invisible,” curatorial team member Neville Wakefield says. “By drawing attention to the water tanks, we hope to alert the world to the wastage of our most precious commodity.” (more…)

Anicka Yi, Washing Away of Wrongs (2014), via Kelly Lee for Art Observed

The works at Anicka Yi’s Divorce, which was on view at 47 Canal until Sunday June 8th, felt like something of a series of scenarios: moments of banal chores, sexual trysts and social interaction that work together to create a sense of disjointed narrative.  Incorporating many of the art world’s currently popular tropes, particularly household materials and industrial approaches to display and mounting, Yi turned her objects towards a particularly personal subject: that of divorce. (more…)

Marina Abramovic is interfviewed in the Wall Street Journal this week, in advance of the opening for her newest performance 512 Hours at the Serpentine this week.  In the article Abramovic discusses her latest work, her beliefs in performance and technique, and her longing to travel to space.  “I was at Necker Island with Richard Branson,” she says, “and I asked him: ‘Is it possible to pay just half a ticket so I can go to space and stay there, so I don’t need a return?’ He is still thinking about it.” (more…)

The New York Times takes a look at the fading presence of art galleries in the Central London neighborhoods of Mayfair and St. James’s, as increasing rents push dealers from an area they have traditionally occupied for decades.  The article also cites the challenges associated with the state of the current market.  “Modern art is not 500 weeks old — it’s 500 years old,” says dealer James Mayor. “London’s pre-eminence in art dealing and connoisseurship comes from that fact. The perception is that the only art that exists is new art sold in supermarket-type galleries. That doesn’t give the public a chance to develop a taste for anything that’s not force-fed them by the supermarkets. We need diversity.” (more…)

The New York Times notes the increased prominence of contemporary and modern art in Chinese commercial centers, as galleries open up alongside luxury fashion and consumer goods shops.  Billed as “museum-retail” by current innovators like the K11 Foundation, the approach looks to target Chinese shoppers not normally inclined to viewing or purchasing art.  “A lot of people in China think that art is for very rich people and get intimidated,” says K11’s Eric Chan. (more…)

The Musée Picasso in Paris has announced Laurent Le Bon, currently a the head of the Centre Pompidou-Metz, as its newest director, following the dismissal of Anne Baldassari earlier this year.   (more…)

The New York Times profiles the work of the overlooked New York School painter Raymond Spillenger, who passed away last year at the age of 89, leaving behind a massive collection of paintings and drawings that speaks to the artist’s long and often unacknowledged career.  “Was it fear of failure?” says his son Clyde. “An unwillingness to be self-promoting? Some of the others had big personalities, but our father was quiet and diffident, not the type to compete.” (more…)

Art Basel has announced its selections for the Parcours section of the Swiss fair, installing public works by, Darren Bader, Pierre Bismuth, Ryan Gander, and more.  The show will consist of 15 site-specific projects installed around the city, and will also include Seth Price’s audio work 8-4 9-5 10-6 11-7, an eight-hour dance track meant played around Basel. (more…)

Writer Georgina Adams takes another look at the thriving auction market in The Financial Times this week, and questions just how long the currently astronomical prices at auction for contemporary works can sustain themselves.  Adams, the author of Big Bucks – The Explosion of the Art Market in the 21st Century, offers a cohesive study of the current state of the market, from the art fair explosion to the influence of powerful new international economies, not to mention the role of the new independent curator.  “Their influence on what is good art today has to an extent replaced the artistic agenda once set by museums and art critics,” she writes.

Preorder Here: “Big Bucks – The Explosion of the Art Market in the 21st Century” by Georgina Adams
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Helly Nahmad, recently convicted to a year in prison following his role in an illegal gambling ring, is being sued alongside his father for allegedly helping to hide a $20 Million Modigliani reportedly looted by Nazis.  The case, filed  by Frenchman Phillippe Maestracci in Manhattan Supreme Court this week, argues that the painting was hidden through a secretive company called International Art Center, and will attempt to force Nahmad to disclose the IAC’s leadership, and where it is located.  “This painting was bought at a Christie’s London auction in 1996 by IAC, and the location of the painting is a matter of public record,” says Nahmad lawyer Richard Golub. (more…)

The Eli Broad Museum, is suing German architectural fabricator Seele over the still-unfinished steel facade of the museum, which has allegedly delayed the opening of the museum until 2015.  The $19.8 million lawsuit “speaks for itself,” says Broad Foundation spokesperson Karen Denne. “We are fairly confident that the museum will open in 2015, and we will announce an opening date later this year.” (more…)

A Francis Bacon portrait of Lucian Freud, formerly owned by renowned children’s writer Roald Dahl is set to hit the auction block this month at Christie’s in London, estimated to sell for up to £12m at auction.  “Both were enigmatic outsiders who were hard to pin down and liked to work in small, claustrophobic spaces,” says Christie’s Francis Outred.  “Both also aroused controversy and fascination in their public and private lives.” (more…)

The British Council has confirmed reports from earlier this month that a YBA show planned for Moscow has been cancelled.  The show had suffered from lack of funding, following the withdrawal of potential sponsorship funds from Russian patrons Vladimir and Ekaterina Semenikhin of the Ekaterina Foundation over harsh Western criticism of Russian involvement in Ukraine.   (more…)

The Hirshhorn has announced that Australian-born, veteran director of the Asia Society Museum, Melissa Chiu, will take the helm as the Museum’s new director, bringing a strong background in video and new media art to the post.  “I am very excited,” Chiu said. “It’s an amazing institution.” (more…)

Keith Haring, Moses and the Burning Bush (1985), via Art Observed

On view at Gladstone Gallery is an exhibition of large-scale works by Keith Haring, including canvases and tarps painted in the artist’s immediately recognizable style, which has since become part of a widely reproduced visual language of the late 20th century. The display will remain on view through June 14, 2014.

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In a desire to combine art and science, artist Diemut Strebe has created a copy of Vincent van Gogh’s ear by using living cells of the great-great-grandson of Van Gogh’s brother.  The newly created ear is currently on display at The Centre for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany, and is planned to be shown in New York next year.

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Ai Weiwei, Mask (2013) All Images Courtesy of the artist and Lisson Gallery

One of the most influential and politically vocal artists of his generation, Ai Weiwei has found himself in the headlines frequently since his 2011 seizure by the Chinese government and subsequent imprisonment for more than eighty days without any official charges being declared. As a prominent objector of Chinese government’s oppressive demeanor, Weiwei has been an active figure in the country‘s struggle for freedom of speech and personal rights.  Following up on Ai’s presence internationally in the past year, Lisson is currently presenting Ai Weiwei’s third solo exhibition with the gallery, touching upon the artist’s most familiar themes, explored through a combination of new and old objects. (more…)