Artist Theaster Gates is interviewed in the most recent edition of BOMB Magazine, talking about his influences, his work at the University of Chicago, as well as its surrounding communities.  “One of the advantages that I have, being embedded in this Washington Park community and as an administrator at the University of Chicago, is that I come with a certain amount of cultural, intellectual, and political empathy,” Gates says. “This empathy allows me to feel more like an insider, and to experience a win for this community as a win for me too. It’s not just a political win, it’s also a “way-of-living” win.” (more…)

A new study released by the National Endowment for the Arts notes that attendance of art events has been on a steady decline over the past two decades, with only 33.4% of US adults attending some sort of cultural event during a calendar year. (more…)

Frieze London has announced that curator Clara M. Kim will take the helm for Spotlight, the special section of London’s Frieze Masters this fall.  Adriano Pedrosa, who led Spotlight since 2012, will still organize the section at Frieze New York in May. (more…)

Artist Vito Acconci has contributed a new architectural design proposal to the Tasmanian capital of Hobart, a twisting, maze-like bridge linking two of the city’s main memorial sites.  “All the surfaces of the maze are riddled with holes, from tiny to less or more than tiny; each of the many multiple mazes surrounds an empty open space,” says a spokesman from the artist’s studio. “You retrace your steps back and forth, and find your way from one maze to another, up and down and up again.”   (more…)

The North Carolina Museum of Art has received a major donation of modern and contemporary art from the collection of Jim and Mary Patton this week, including works by Richard Diebenkorn, Helen Frankenthaler, Ellsworth Kelly and Robert Motherwell, among others.  “This transformative gift significantly expands the breadth and scope of the Museum’s permanent collection and will allow our visitors to have an even more engaging and exciting experience in our modern and contemporary galleries,” says NCMA Director Lawrence J. Wheeler. (more…)

The Wall Street Journal profiles the ongoing collaboration between Rem Koolhaas and Dasha Zhukova to create the new home for Zhukova’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow’s Gorky Park.  “The building is basically a found object,” Koolhaas says. “We are embracing it as it is.” (more…)

Marina Abramovic brought her performance work in collaboration with Costume National to the Art of Elysium Benefit Gala last night in Los Angeles, inviting guests to enjoy dinner in individually numbered beds.  “Usually these parties are always boring, always the same,”Abramović said.  “There are so many ways of entertaining, [but] I am proposing in my way as an artist the possibility of entertaining that’s never been used before.” (more…)

Marlene Dumas is interviewed in The Guardian this week, in the run-up to her Tate Modern Retrospective, opening early next month.  “When I start work on a painting, it’s total kitsch!” Dumas jokes during the interview. “When I painted myself pregnant, I couldn’t do the legs, and the blond hair made it look like a bad Klimt!” (more…)

The New York Times notes the attractive benefits for wealthy collectors founding their own private, tax-exempt museums to house their art collections, allowing the collectors to deduct full market value for their donations even when the museum may be housed on the same property as their home.  “I’m not against it being done, but it’s got to be done well,” says Robert Storr, dean of the Yale School of Art. “If there’s to be a public forgiveness for taxes there should be a clear public benefit, and it should not be entirely at the discretion of the person running the museum or foundation.” (more…)

Andy Warhol, Shadows (Installation View), Photo by Brian Forrest. © 2014 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./Artists Rights Society (ARS), NewYork.

In the late 1970’s, Andy Warhol embarked on a new printing project, replicating a single photographic image of the artist’s studio bathed in shadow, a single “cap” of light hovering just to the left of center.  Reproducing the image over one hundred times in a series of color pairings, shades and contrasts, the work created a haunting, surreal environment, currently on view at MOCA in LA for a landmark exhibition of the piece on the West Coast. (more…)

Mario Schifano, Propaganda (1965), *All artwork images Courtesy of Artist Rights Society and Luxembourg & Dayan, installation shots Courtesy of Luxembourg & Dayan

Luxembourg & Dayan is presenting the New York leg of the gallery’s acclaimed London show from this past summer, Mario Schifano: 1960-67, which celebrated the seminal post-war Italian artist’s impressive career. Titled The ‘60s, the selection for thisshow delivers an ambitious look at a crucial period in the late artist’s life and career. Less known compared to his fellow counterparts, such as Pistoletto or Manzoni, Schifano had his breakthrough in the New York art scene with the infamous New Realists show at Sidney Janis Gallery in 1962.  (more…)

The New York Times profiles the work and life of Ray Johnson, an artist who left a subtle but lasting impact on the discourses of pop, conceptual and abstract art over the course of the last half century, before taking his own life in 1995.  “He was a guerrilla fighter against materialism and fame, and in a sense he’s still fighting today,” said Frances F. L. Beatty, president of Richard L. Feigen & Co., which represents Mr. Johnson’s estate. (more…)

The Whitney Museum has embarked on an ambitious expansion of its online database, dramatically growing its selection of images from 700 to 21,000 works.  A sizable portion of the museum’s collection, which has long been out of public view, will occupy a 60,000 square-foot section of the Whitney’s new Meatpacking District space. (more…)

Vito Schnabel will reportedly take over the St. Moritz gallery space formerly occupied by Bruno Bischofberger when the dealer vacates at the end of this season.  Bischofberger is reportedly moving his main space in Zürich into a 250,000-square-foot complex, and will be operating without a physical location in the meantime. (more…)

The New York City Ballet has announced its newest artist collaboration, this year partnering with Dustin Yellin to create a large-scale installation featuring a set of “3,000-pound glass sculptures.”  “I was moved thinking about these young, 25-year-old dancers [who are] full of life,” Yellin says, “and that they’re on their toes for all these hours.” (more…)

David Hockney, The Dancers IV. 14 August – 5 September 2014 (2014), via Art Observed

David Hockney’s new exhibition of paintings at Pace Gallery, his first full-size canvases since 2009, are a fitting continuation of the artist’s current interests, combining vaguely abstract environments and poses with a subtly loaded series of juxtapositions. The exhibition, which closes this Saturday, sees Hockney returning from several years focused on landscape studies and experimentations in digital video and photography to portraiture and human subjects. (more…)

The Wall Street Journal embarks on a tour of the MTA’s public arts projects, profiling some of the New York Subway’s most iconic murals, installations and pieces, including Roy Lichtenstein’s classic Times Square piece, and Sol LeWitt’s mural at 59th and Columbus. (more…)

The New York Times notes the increased willingness by auction houses to guarantee sales on their highest price lots, a practice that had fallen out of practice since the financial crisis of 2008.  But some critics note that the growing practice is actually a result of stiff competition and minuscule profit margins.  “They are trying to fix eroding margins by getting more of the upside from the guarantee,” said Michael Plummer, a partner at Artvest.

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Takashi Murakami is featured in Nowness’s ongoing artist profile series this week, discussing his recent show at Gagosian Gallery in New York, and the inspiration behind his new works.  “For me, (the works) look like 25 years ago,” Murakami says, “with the crazy economy and then the crash.”
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Olafur Eliasson, Contact exhibition on view at Fondation Louis Vuitton, 2014-2015, all photos by Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

Olafur Eliasson’s monographic exhibition Contact has been specifically imagined for the newly opened Fondation Louis Vuitton. This majestic museum commissioned by Bernard Arnault to American architect Frank Gehry is a vessel for contemporary art located in the Bois de Boulogne on the west side of Paris.

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Pipilotti Rist, Worry Will Vanish Horizon (video still)  (2014), All images Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Luhring Augustine New York.

One of the most seminal names in video art, Pipilotti Rist is presenting a new body of work at Hauser & Wirth’s two Britain locations. The Swiss born artist, who emerged in the rapidly developing field of video art during the 80’s with her infamous video I’m Not The Girl Who Misses Much, has presented an ambitious oeuvre throughout the years, reflecting on issues related to the body, gender and technology. In doing so, she has blended various mediums and structures that are challenging to consider under one practice, each one holding onto a distinct atmosphere set in what could be considered an alternate reality. (more…)

Christie’s has named Derek Gillman as its new new Chairman for Impressionist & Modern Art, SVP, The Americas.  “The idea of now moving from public service to Christie’s, where I started my career over 30 years ago, and doing something different, is both stimulating and exciting,” Gillman said. “I very much look forward to this new chapter.”  (more…)

In an effort to increase global vaccination rates for easily preventable illnesses, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has commissioned a group of artists to create works centered around encouraging disease prevention.  Among the artists is Vik Muniz, who has been experimenting with biological infection as a generative force for intricate printed works.  “Normally, patterns are soothing structures,” Mr. Muniz says, “and all of a sudden, there’s a lot of drama.” (more…)

The Paris Louvre has maintained its position at the top of the list of the world’s most visited museums, boasting an annual attendance of 9.3 million visitors for 2013.  Foreign visitors represented 70% of ticket sales, the museum said in a statement. (more…)