Ai Weiwei has begun his three-year tenure as a visiting professor at Berlin’s University of the Arts this month, and introduced himself to the student body with some unique musings on the nature and definition of art. “It’s a bit like with sex,” Ai told the gathered audience this week. “One can have a lot of experience, and nevertheless find it extremely difficult to define.” (more…)
Richard Bell, Embassy (2015), via Performa
Performa, New York’s iconic and ongoing performance art Biennial has returned to the city this month, kicking off this past Sunday with a full calendar of events running through the 22nd. The 15th edition of the event, Performa is offering a particularly strong calendar of events over the coming weeks, mixing high art stage performances, conceptual exercises, live poetics and confrontational pieces across the city’s range of venues, institutions and galleries. (more…)
Doris Salcedo is the recipient of the Nasher Sculpture Center’s first $100,000 Nasher Prize. “Through her use of meaningful, everyday materials, often in unexpected and socially-charged public spaces in her native Colombia and elsewhere around the world, Doris Salcedo has created a body of work that is both aesthetically striking and politically resonant,” says Nasher Sculpture Center director Jeremy Strick. (more…)
The Rodin Museum is spearheading the sales of newly cast bronze sculptures from the artist’s original molds, in an effort to finance a $17.7 million restoration of the Left Bank exhibition space. “They don’t have many more big pieces, because most editions are sold out,” says Gilles Perrault, an art expert for France’s high court. “They may have a few more examples left. But today, what the Rodin museum makes are mostly little pieces and variations.” (more…)
An article in Vanity Fair traces the controversies of the Taubman family in recent years as patriarch Alfred Taubman’s estate goes to auction at Sotheby’s this week, including a note on the estate’s inflated guarantee. “Bobby [Taubman] is a board member; he’s supposed to increase shareholder value,” says one anonymous insider. “It’s going to be very hard for Sotheby’s to earn out that guarantee.” (more…)
The Wall Street Journal notes an increasing number of collectors donating works to smaller non-profits and institutions like hospitals, in an effort to have these works kept in public view rather than sitting in museum storage, and points to the increased benefits these works have on patients and visitors. “Studies have shown that artwork helps to reduce stress and boredom, reduces blood pressure and increases white-blood-cell count, all of which are factors in the healing process,” says Jessica R. Finch, art program manager at Boston Children’s Hospital (more…)
Gilbert and George are profiled in The Guardian this week, as the pair open a new show of works at White Cube, featuring cryptically inscribed banner works with texts like “Fuck the Planet,” which the artist’s argue carry parallel meanings. “We need to just leave nature alone,” says George. “Human beings should only be in the city because it makes them freer and more tolerant than the ones isolated on top of the mountain.” Gilbert agrees: “It’s the same as the love of God, who is just another dictator.” (more…)
The WSJ investigates the occasionally opaque practice of art gallery waiting lists, which it points out are often used to sort buyers and build relationships, or to help sell works which are still held in inventory. “They may make you buy works by other artists they represent, pieces they haven’t been able to sell and which you may not like,” says Pace Gallery President Marc Glimcher. “They may say, ‘We’ll let you buy a work you want, but you’ll also have to buy one to donate to a museum, and we’ll tell you which museum.’” (more…)
The Financial Times profiles Ed Ruscha this week, as the artist opens a new show at Sprüth Magers in Berlin. “Things that catch my attention are things that are usually negligible or forgotten, or overlooked or denigrated in some way or another,” he says. (more…)
The EU has stepped down on its proposed ban of cadmium paint pigments, after studies showed that the type of cadmium used in the paints were not as harmful as previously reported. “While we discussed the technical case for cadmium pigments, many artists were passionately able to stress the economic and artistic importance of cadmiums as they uniquely bring warmth, light, strength and color to paintings to stand the test of time,” says Rachel Volpé of Spectrum Paints. (more…)
A new drama produced by Sony Television for its Crackle streaming-unit will focus on the competitive nature of the contemporary auction house. the New York Times reports. The Art of More premieres on November 19th, and will star Dennis Quaid, Kate Bosworth and Cary Elwes. “Because of these high prices, it’s seen as a very glamorous place — the drama of auctions, the high spectacle of it,” says Christie’s Brett Gorvy. “We’ve got $100 million paintings, celebrities in the auction room — a DiCaprio — a cattle call of names, the sense that the art market is a very sexy place, a lot of conniving and innuendo that might be part of this. I’m not surprised it makes for a TV program.” (more…)
Liam Gillick, A Broadcast from 1887 on the Subject of our Time (1996)
On view at Maureen Paley through November 22nd is a solo exhibition by prominent British conceptualist Liam Gillick, continuing the artist’s vastly interdisciplinary practice mining fluid and interconnected social norms, and scrutinizing the overt or arcane methods that agents of society pursue in response to such dynamics. (more…)
Josh Smith, Untitled (2014), all photos via Osman Can Yerebakan for Art Observed
Luhring Augustine is currently hosting its sixth collaboration with New York based artist Josh Smith. Having emerged in the early 2000s alongside a group of critically challenging and occasionally irreverent artists including Kelley Walker, Sterling Ruby and Seth Price, Smith is one of the foremost representatives of a genre that delivers spontaneity and audaciousness in presence, yet asserts a depth that is subliminal and immaculate. Here, the artist takes his signature penchant for deconstruction to one of many natural conclusions, executing minimal compositions that tie his interest in gesture and hand to an almost free-associative exchange with the art historical. (more…)
Alex Hubbard, (to be titled) (2015), via Maccarone
Maccarone Gallery has tapped Alex Hubbard for its inaugural show in Los Angeles, opening the doors on its impressively spacious South Mission Street exhibition space with a series of large-scale paintings that lean on a diverse set of materials including urethane, resin, and fiberglass in their challenging, polymorphous constructions. (more…)
The Bruce High Quality Foundation University has announced a joint fundraiser and art exhibition for next week, titled Arcadia, and featuring an impressive lineup of performers including Francis and the Lights, and LE1F, and a body of work inspired by painter Nicholas Poussin, as well as a new entry in the Absolut Art Bar series, designed by Bruce High Quality Foundation. The party and opening takes place on Nov. 5th. (more…)
CNBC notes increased trends towards online art auctions among the larger auction houses, with Sotheby’s and other houses looking increasingly to online sales. “(Online auctions) take place simultaneously with a live stream that connects the bidder to the auction floor, as if they were attending in person,” Natalie Townsend, a spokesperson for Invaluable. “The tech behind it is very precise, as you can imagine there can be no time lapses when it comes to bidding on high ticket items, and features a comprehensive bidding dashboard to give the auctioneer instant visibility on bid updates from mobile bidders.” (more…)
Sotheby’s is stuck in the middle of conflicting claims over a Buddha statue reportedly stolen from a San Francisco gallery in 1983, and which recently appeared on the block during the auction house’s Indian and Southeast Asian Art sale this September. Even though gallerist Gary Crawford was able to halt the sale, he is suing for the return of the statue, which Sotheby’s is still holding due to claims of ownership by its consigner, Weider Health and Fitness. (more…)
A report on the state of the Chinese art market by the National Law Review has found drastic contractions in the market’s auction turnaround rate, dropping by 30%, a drop that the publication attributes to the government’s ongoing anti-corruption campaign. “Although it remains to see whether the anti-corruption campaign could make the ultimate success, the impact on the art world is visible,” the artice concludes. “Like the investors concern about political risks, China art market stakeholders also need to learn to predict and manage the unexpected impact the changing of political landscape may have on the market.” (more…)
ArtLifting, a new online platform for homeless and disadvantaged artists to sell their work has raised $1.1 million in seed funding from Toms Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, angel investor Joanne Wilson, author and entrepreneur Eric Ries, social impact accelerator Tumml, among others, TechCrunch reports. “It’s exciting to see entrepreneurs focusing on strengths in our communities to create change,” Mycoskie said in a statement. (more…)
Morgan Library Director of Collections Peggy Fogelman has been announced as the new director at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. “Peggy is the perfect fit for the Gardner with her impressive background ranging from work in large prestigious institutions to small, intimate museums,” says Steve Kidder, the Gardner Museum’s Board President. “She brings us the best intersection of creativity, vision, and successful execution. We look forward to seeing what she dreams up for this very special Museum.” (more…)
The exhibitor list for the 2016 edition of Art Basel Hong Kong has been announced, running from Thursday, March 24 to Saturday, March 26, and hosting 239 galleries from 35 countries, including 28 first-time galleries at the event. Notable attendees include Marianne Boesky, which returns after a brief hiatus from the fair, and Selma Feriani Gallery, the first African gallery outside South Africa to attend. (more…)
Isa Genzken, Nefertiti Sculpture (2015), via Art Observed
David Zwirner has opened the front door on its elusively large, hangar-style exhibition space on 19th street for a show of new sculptural work by Isa Genzken, continuing the artist’s ongoing interests in the intersections of fashion and sculpture, and an engagement with the human form in a particularly explicit manner. The show is the artist’s third with the gallery in 10 years. (more…)
Ranking online auctioneer Auctionata has acquired the London-based valuation company ValueMyStuff, part of the company’s international expansion plans. “Having access to the best experts worldwide is an essential aspect of Auctionata’s business model,” says Alexander Zacke, founder and CEO of Auctionata. “Through the acquisition of VMS we are able to expand the expertise from which we provide our customers with fast and reliable valuations. As the market leader and inventor of the livestream auction, we are thus not only shaping the user experience for our bidders, but also for our consignors.” (more…)
