Archive for the 'Featured Post' Category

London – Mark Bradford: “Cerberus” at Hauser and Wirth Through December 21st, 2019

Thursday, December 19th, 2019

Mark Bradford, Sapphire Blue(2019), via Hauser & Wirth
Mark Bradford, Sapphire Blue (2019), via Hauser & Wirth

Cerberus, Mark Bradford’s first exhibition at Hauser & Wirth in London extends across the gallery’s spaces in the city, compiling a range of works including film, new paintings and sculptural work, often moving between each format, the show sees Bradford returning to ancient mythology, a consistent source of inspiration for the artist. Engaging in particular with the many headed dog guarding the entryway to Hades, Cerberus, Bradford’s show marks an engaged and intriguing investigation of conflict and healing, trauma and time through works that negotiate states in the same way that the multi-headed creature stands between hell and the mortal realm.

Mark Bradford, Dancing in the Street (2019), via Hauser & Wirth
Mark Bradford, Dancing in the Street (2019), via Hauser & Wirth

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New York – Brice Marden: “It reminds me of something, and I don’t know what it is” at Gagosian Through December 21st, 2019

Tuesday, December 17th, 2019

Brice Marden, Elevation (2018-2019), via Gagosian
Brice Marden, Elevation (2018-2019), via Gagosian

On view at Gagosian’s uptown exhibition space, artist Brice Marden has compiled a selection of pieces that continue his investigations of the languages of modernity, and the histories of abstraction that have informed his work over the past few decades. Marking in particular a continuation of his “Letter” series, the works on view incorporate networks of calligraphic lines and strokes, woven through fields of color and tone. (more…)

New York – Peter Halley: “Heterotopia II” at Green Naftali Through December 20th, 2019

Monday, December 16th, 2019

Peter Halley, Helicon (2019), via Greene Naftali
Peter Halley, Helicon (2019), via Greene Naftali

Working across a range of media over the course of his career, including painting, architectural installation, digital prints, and critical writing, artist Peter Halley has strived to illuminate the structures of social space and communication that shape our experience of contemporary life. Opening his second solo exhibition with Greene Naftali this fall, Halley is presenting Heterotopia II, an ambitious large-scale installation that explores relationships between painting and architectural space. (more…)

New York – Nairy Baghramian & Janette Laverrière: “Work Desk for an Ambassador’s Wife” at Marian Goodman Through December 20th, 2019

Sunday, December 15th, 2019

Janette Laverrière and Nairy Baghramian, Seating Platform Eyebrow (2009), via Marian Goodman
Janette Laverrière and Nairy Baghramian, Seating Platform Eyebrow (2009), via Marian Goodman

In some ways a celebration of the life and work of Janette Laverrière, Marian Goodman is currently hosting an exhibition of works at its New York gallery space that combines the designer’s ideas with that of Nairy Baghramian’s, centering the show on a collaborative project that the two worked on before Laverrièr’s death in 2011. Presenting sketches, drawings and maquettes of Baghramian’s works from 1999 to the present that were never intended to be realized, the show is an intriguing portrait of collaboration and friendship. (more…)

Los Angeles – Kiko Kostadinov: “OTTO 95.8” at Morán Morán Through December 21st, 2019

Thursday, December 12th, 2019

Kiko Kostadinov, OTTO 95.8 (Installation View), via Art Observed
Kiko Kostadinov, OTTO 95.8 (Installation View), via Moran Moran

Currently on view at Los Angeles’s Morán Morán, London-based, Bulgarian designer Kiko Kostadinov presents a series of works unified under the title OTTO 95.8. Kostadinov’s practice, inspired by everyday uniforms and utilitarian work wear, includes objects that he creates to run parallel to his design work. Incorporating readymade and functional items, the compound constructions in this exhibition illustrate Kostadinov’s attraction to alien rather than familiar elements, a recurring theme informing every aspect of his practice.  (more…)

AO On-Site – Miami: NADA Miami at Ice Palace Studios, December 5th – 8th, 2019

Saturday, December 7th, 2019

Raque Ford at Martos Gallery, via Art Observed
Raque Ford at Martos Gallery, via Art Observed

Art Week Miami is underway, and the city itself seems to have slowly built its own counterpoint to the sprawling complex of fairs across Biscayne Bay at the Miami Beach Convention Center.  While Miami Beach continues to draw massive crowds of both buyers and visitors, its luxe appointments have long found a compelling counterpoint at NADA Miami, set up inside the Ice Palace Film Studios, where the focus is on showcasing new art and to celebrating the rising talents from around the globe. Exploring new or underexposed art that is not typical of the “art establishment,” by their words, NADA Miami is also the one of the only major American art fairs to be produced by a non-profit organization, and is recognized as a much needed alternative assembly of the world’s youngest and strongest art galleries dealing with emerging contemporary art.

Anneke Russden at Galerie Tatjana Peters, via Art Observed
Anneke Russden at Galerie Tatjana Peters, via Art Observed

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AO ON-SITE – MIAMI BEACH: UNTITLED ART FAIR, DECEMBER 4TH – 8TH, 2019

Thursday, December 5th, 2019

Camille Kachani at Zipper Galeria, via Art Observed
Camille Kachani at Zipper Galeria, via Art Observed

Turning the corner onto the iconic drag of Ocean Drive, one’s attention is immediately drawn to the slender white tent laid out along the ocean skyline, a gleaming structure that houses the Untitled Art Fair underneath its minimalist structure.  Its annual home, placed squarely in the midst of boozey beachgoers, restaurant soundsystems, and the annual flood of Art Basel Miami Beach visitors, the fair has one of the more unique positions in a week full of unique offerings, one that balances some of the most familiar sights of the city with the impressive work on view inside.  Compounded by the floor to ceiling windows in the fair tent, the fair is an annual must-attend for those looking to get their dose of dynamic contemporary art and Florida sun in one go. (more…)

AO ON-SITE – MIAMI BEACH: ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH 2019 AT MIAMI BEACH CONVENTION CENTER, DECEMBER 4th – 8TH, 2019

Wednesday, December 4th, 2019

Jim Dine at Ben Brown, via Art Observed
Jim Dine at Ben Brown, via Art Observed

Closing its doors this evening, the week of sales at Art Basel Miami Beach has kicked off, capping off a strong week for galleries in South Florida, and a strong opportunity to close out the year with a flourish.  Commanding a roster of over 200 galleries from around the world, the marquee event of the fall market season in the U.S., and one of the biggest social events of the art world calendar has gotten underway, with thousands flocking to the sun and sand of the Florida metropolis. (more…)

AO Preview – Miami: Art Basel Miami Beach and Miami Art Week, December 3rd – 8th, 2019

Sunday, December 1st, 2019

Elmgreen & Dragset, Before the Storm (2019), via Kukje
Elmgreen & Dragset, Before the Storm (2019), via Kukje

With the conclusion of another year, the art world has once again turned its attention to the bustling Miami cityscape for another year of of the Art Basel fair franchise on the tip of the Florida peninsula.  Bringing together the global art community for a week of fairs, exhibitions and parties on the streets of Miami and Miami Beach, the fair and its satellites will look to further its influence and footprint in the city. (more…)

New York – Anish Kapoor at Lisson Gallery Through December 20th, 2019

Wednesday, November 27th, 2019

Anish Kapoor, New Born (2019), via Lisson
Anish Kapoor, New Born (2019), via Lisson

Currently on at both of Lisson Gallery’s New York exhibition spaces, artist Anish Kapoor orchestrates a striking investigation of perception, space, time and movement through a selection of new works. This is Kapoor’s first show with Lisson in the U.S., an impressive note considering his nearly forty years with the gallery. (more…)

New York – Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg: “One Last Trip To The Underworld” at Tanya Bonakdar Through December 20th, 2019

Monday, November 25th, 2019

Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, One Last Trip To The Underworld (Installlation View), via Tanya Bonakdar

Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, One Last Trip To The Underworld (Installlation View), via Tanya Bonakdar

Marking their first exhibition in New York in over 5 years, the artist duo of Nathalie Djurberg and Hans Berg have touched down in New York City for an expansive solo exhibition at Tanya Bonakdar’s expansive Chelsea exhibition space. The show, which marks the world premiere of four new video works, continues the pair’s collaborative vision and surreal landscapes, which explore the shadows of human subconsciousness. Using sculpture, stop-motion film, sound, and immersive installation the artists construct narratives that speak to emotional tension, confliction, sexual impulse, and violence.

The show is rife with dark humor and absurdity. Large-scale flower sculptures dot the floors of the space, each accented with a range of grotesque details and bizarre creatures flitting across their surfaces in mid-pollination. Countered by immense, full-wall videos, these pieces seem to create the landscape against which this action on-screen plays out. The gallery becomes a playing field for the subconscious, hints of tension and violence, desire and sexual aggression, all writ large on the walls as these sculptures translate that same energy into three dimensional space.

Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, One Last Trip To The Underworld (Installlation View), via Tanya Bonakdar
Nathalie Djurberg & Hans Berg, One Last Trip To The Underworld (Installlation View), via Tanya Bonakdar

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New York – Karen Kilimnik at 303 Gallery Through December 20th, 2019

Friday, November 22nd, 2019

Karen Kilimnik (Installation View), via 303
Karen Kilimnik (Installation View), via 303

Comprising her 12th solo show with 303 Gallery, artist Karen Kilimnik returns to New York with a new body of works, snaking through a range of materials and techniques that touch on painting, photography, collage, sculpture and video, all displayed in the Petersburger exhibition style.

Karen Kilimnik, the sports car rally + and the treasure hunt, england, Steed, Emma Peel, assorted villains + the butler - bentley (2007), via 303
Karen Kilimnik, the sports car rally + and the treasure hunt, england, Steed, Emma Peel, assorted villains + the butler – bentley (2007), via 303

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New York – Matthew Barney: “Embrasure” at Gladstone Gallery Through December 21st, 2019

Wednesday, November 20th, 2019

Matthew Barney, Embrasure (Installation View), via Gladstone Gallery
Matthew Barney, Embrasure (Installation View), via Gladstone Gallery

Artist Matthew Barney’s victory lap continues after the 2018 release of his latest film Redoubt, a wolf hunt in Idaho’s rugged Sawtooth Mountains that continues the artist’s ongoing preoccupation with landscape as both setting and subject. For his current show in New York, on view at Gladstone Gallery, the artist presents a set of new drawings, etchings, and sculpture that draw from the film, and expand on its allegorical and cosmological themes. (more…)

New York – Douglas Gordon at Eva Presenhuber Through December 15th, 2019

Tuesday, November 19th, 2019

Douglas Gordon, Happy Birthday to Me (2008-ongoing), via Eva Presenhuber
Douglas Gordon, Happy Birthday to Me (2008-ongoing), via Eva Presenhuber

Presenting a range of works continuing his interest in cinema and the collective memory, the construction of images on the screen and in our heads, artist Douglas Gordon returns to Eva Presenhuber in New York City with a selection of works centered around his ongoing installation Happy Birthday To Me…, accompanied by a new 24-part burned print work titled Self Portrait of You + Me (Neighborly Love), a film installation titled Video Diptych, and more, compiling the artist’s respective works into both a portrait of his own practice, and that of the concepts described above. (more…)

NEW YORK – “CONVERSATION PIECE: DESIGN IS DEAD” AT 109 THOMPSON THROUGH NOVEMBER 16TH, 2019

Saturday, November 16th, 2019

Charlap Hyman & Herrero, Shell Lamp I, Moulded plastic, and Astrologia Zodiac Black Natural Abaca Round Rug, Hemp, 2018; Chiarastella Cattana, Dune, Jacquard woven textile, 2019; Yali, Vignole Table, Glass top, iron base, 2019. © Annie Schlecter.
Charlap Hyman & Herrero, Shell Lamp I, Moulded plastic, and Astrologia Zodiac Black Natural Abaca Round Rug, Hemp, 2018; Chiarastella Cattana, Dune, Jacquard woven textile, 2019; Yali, Vignole Table, Glass top, iron base, 2019. © Annie Schlecter.

Currently on view for the week at 109 Thompson Street is the pop-up exhibition ‘Conversation Piece: Design is Dead’, a shoebox of a gallery space that designer Adam Charlap Hyman has dramatically transformed into an underwater grotto. The eponymous title of the show is the frequent tagline of Enzo Mari, a maverick Italian designer highly critical of modern design with a host of catechisms to prove it. He attributes the solipsism of design—namely, its death—as ‘the overlaying of icons without any reference to history… In most cases the essence becomes a confusing mess, created without logic.’ (more…)

AO Auction Recap – New York: Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sales, November 13th – 14th, 2019

Thursday, November 14th, 2019

Ed Ruscha, Hurting the Word Radio #2 (1964), via Christie's
Ed Ruscha, Hurting the Word Radio #2 (1964), final price: $52,485,000, via Christie’s

With the closing of sales last night in New York, the major auction houses have drawn the curtain on a busy year on the secondary market, capping a trio of strong outings for Post-War and Contemporary Art that have once again underscored the state of the art market currently.  A number  of guaranteed sales and high estimate prices seem to have eradicated much of the surprise at the higher end of the market, but its value-setting functions remain intact, as a number of records fell over the course of the past two evenings, and a group of artists made the jump from heritage prizes to certified blue-chip bets. (more…)

AO Auction Recap – New York: Impressionist and Modern Evening Sales, November 12th and 13th, 2019

Wednesday, November 13th, 2019

Claude Monet, Charing Cross Bridge (1903), via Sotheby's
Claude Monet, Charing Cross Bridge (1903), final price: $27,600,000  via Sotheby’s

Marking their entries of the week’s packed calendar of Impressionist and Modern Evening Sales, the Impressionist and Modern Sales have concluded in New York, rounding out the first half of a bustling week of sales that also caps off the second half of the year’s major secondary market sales. (more…)

AO Auction Preview – New York Auction Week, November 11th – 14th, 2019

Friday, November 8th, 2019

Willem de Kooning, Untitled XXII (1977), via Sotheby's
Willem de Kooning, Untitled XXII (1977), via Sotheby’s

Capping off the events of the fall art market before one last blowout in Miami, New York City will play home to a last series of major art auctions, offering a last look for the year on just how the contemporary market is faring. Considering relatively unpredictable sales in London this past month, and and more uncertainty on the global horizon, it should make for an intriguing picture of how U.S. dealers are preparing for the months to come. (more…)

Berlin – Mai-Thu Perret: “Agua Viva” at Galerie Barbara Weiss Through November 9th, 2019

Friday, November 1st, 2019

Mai-Thu Perret, Agua Viva (Installation View), via Galerie Barbara Weiss
Mai-Thu Perret, Agua Viva (Installation View), via Galerie Barbara Weiss

Currently on at Galerie Barbara Weiss in Berlin, artist Mai-Thu Perret has opened an exhibition of new works drawing on a range of conceptual vectors to explore modernity in conversation with a range of disparate timelines and frames of reference. Drawing its title from writer Clarice Lispector’s book of the same name, the work seems to explore a similar exploration of time as atomic, as suspended along a series of varied singularities that converge and break apart, each moment a collision of varied possibilities and probabilities. (more…)

Paris – Mona Hatoum at Chantal Crousel Through November 23rd, 2019

Thursday, October 31st, 2019

Mona Hatoum, Hot Spot (Stand) (2018), via Chantal Crousel
Mona Hatoum, Hot Spot (stand) (2018), via Chantal Crousel

Currently on at Chantal Crousel in Paris, artist Mona Hatoum continues her incisive, challenging work reflecting on world conflicts, migrations, and surveillance, using materials as varied as steel, brick, concrete, and human hair to create spaces of tension, paradox, and ambiguity. Using these materials as a way to explore and elaboration on political systems of oppression and destruction, the artist’s work is a poetic and often startling challenge to power. (more…)

Paris – Urs Fischer: “Leo” at Gagosian Gallery Through December 20th, 2019

Wednesday, October 30th, 2019

Urs Fischer, Leo (George & Irmelin) (2019), via Gagosian
Urs Fischer, Leo (George & Irmelin) (2019), via Gagosian

With the opening of FIAC this past month, Gagosian Gallery filled its ground-floor space in Paris with new work by Urs Fischer, including an impressive new candle work by the artist depicting actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio. Continuing the artist’s enigmatic engagement with the aura of fame and fortune, his new candle sculpture marks a return to his interest in collectors and art world influencers, turning their visages into slowly melting piles of wax. (more…)

New York – Henry Taylor: “NIECE COUSIN KIN LOOK HOW LONG IT’S BEEN” at Blum & Poe Through December 21st, 2019

Tuesday, October 29th, 2019

Henry Taylor, NIECE COUSIN KIN LOOK HOW LONG IT'S BEEN (Installation View), via Blum & Poe
Henry Taylor, NIECE COUSIN KIN LOOK HOW LONG IT’S BEEN (Installation View), via Blum & Poe

Los Angeles-based artist Henry Taylor touches down at Blum & Poe in New York this month, bringing with him a body of new portraits and large-scale compositions under the title NIECE COUSIN KIN LOOK HOW LONG IT’S BEEN, his sixth exhibition with the gallery.  (more…)

AO Preview – New York: Performa 19 in New York City, November 1st – 24th, 2019

Monday, October 28th, 2019

Bunny Rogers, A Very Special Holiday Performance in Columbine Auditorium (2017), via Performa
Bunny Rogers, A Very Special Holiday Performance in Columbine Auditorium (2017), via Performa

With the turning of the seasons and the first tastes of brisk fall weather, this year’s edition of the Performa Biennial is set to open in New York.  Marking the 8th edition of an event founded by art historian and curator RoseLee Goldberg, Performa is dedicated to exploring the critical role of live performance in the history of twentieth-century art and to encouraging new directions in performance for the twenty-first century.  A favorite among the New York art world, the fair offers a deep look at a range of performing practices and perspectives spread across the city, inviting adventurous art lovers to dive into the fabric of the city to seek out inspiring and energetic new work.

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New York – Roy DeCarava: “the sound i saw” and “Light Break” at David Zwirner Through October 26th, 2019

Friday, October 25th, 2019

Roy DeCarava, Bill and Son (1962), via David Zwirner
Roy DeCarava, Bill and Son (1962), via David Zwirner

Marking its first presentation of the work of photographer Roy DeCarava since announcing exclusive representation of his estate last year, David Zwirner has opened an impressive pair of shows devoted to divergent bodies of work. Exploring the artist’s expansive vision and unique sense of the image, the pair of shows highlight why Zwirner was so devoted to representing the artist’s work. (more…)