Jason Rhoades, My Madinah. In pursuit of my ermitage… (2004), via Art Observed

Exploring a range of works from the career of Jason Rhoades, Hauser & Wirth Los Angeles has assembled a challenging exhibition for its spring calendar, one that feels particularly resonant in the tense geopolitical situations of 2017.  Installations, 1994-2006, drives at Rhoades’s shared language of consumption and mythology, space and commerce, as a fertile site for the investigation of the modern world, and the cultural collisions stemming from its increasing interconnectivity.   (more…)

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1982), via Sotheby’s

A pair of auctions capped off the May Evening Sales this evening, as Phillips and Sotheby’s concluded their respective Post-War and Contemporary marquee sales.  Notching a number of impressive records at both auction houses, the evening was an impressively strong final night for a week that made good on promises for the market’s slow but steady recovery. (more…)

Cy Twombly, Leda and the Swan (1962), via Christie’s

The week’s long stream of major auction sales saw another strong outing by Christie’s last night, with the auction house cruising through a 71 lot outing to reach a final tally of $448.1 million with only a handful of pieces going unsold.  The sale, which saw an overwhelming push from American buyers, meets early rumblings about a recovering market, and hints at continued growth over the coming months. (more…)

Kazimir Malevich, Suprematist Composition with Plane in Projection (1915), via Sotheby’s

The Impressionist and Modern Sale at Sotheby’s this past evening has closed out the early week’s offerings in that market, capping a $173.8 million sale that saw few major highlights or sparks in bidding, a marked contrast from the occasional fireworks of Monday’s sale at Christie’s.  Despite early claims by Sotheby’s that the auction market was gradually strengthening again after several tepid sales in past months, the past evening’s outing in New York saw somewhat modest results that paled in comparison.  The sale’s sell-through rate hovered at 74%, tempered by the early withdrawal of an Egon Schiele work some had anticipated would reach over $30 million. (more…)

Contantin Brancusi, La Muse Endormie (1913), via Christie’s

The first auction of the week has come and gone in New York, as Christie’s notched an impressive outing for its Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale, confirming expectations of a solid return of buying interest in the secondary market.   Considering the past several outings for the auction houses in London and New York, where only a handful of buyers were reportedly keeping the market afloat, this week’s sales hit a different note entirely, with ample phone bids that saw one major auction record fall with Constantin Brancusi’s La Muse Endormie demolishing expectations at over $57 million, and marquee lots performing quite well over the course of the evening.  (more…)

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1982), via Sothebys

Following a bustling two weeks of sales and shows, focus returns to New York City this week for a marathon run of auction sales that will set the stage for the summer season, offering one a chance for collectors to get their hands on marquee works before Art Basel in June marks a break in market action before the fall auction season.  Five sales in a stretch of only four days should offer buyers a range of options, with both Impressionist/Modern and Post-War/Contemporary categories seeing ample opportunities to buy.

Pablo Picasso, Femme assise, robe bleue (1939), via Christie’s (more…)

Phyllida Barlow, Folly at the British Pavilion, via Art Observed

Spread out across the Giardini and the various storehouses and spaces inside the Arsenale, the Venice Biennale‘s annual invitations to various nations around the globe serves to offer a counterpoint to the sprawling main exhibition, Viva Arte Viva.  Presented by individual curators and supported by art institutions back home, the shows offer not only a selection of singular voices from around the globe, but equally a look at the various national discourses of each country’s artistic institutions and infrastructure, a point that equally sets it as a strong conversation piece against the curatorial discipline of the main exhibition’s lone organizer, in this case Centre Pompidou’s Christine Macel.

Jana Zelibska at the Czech Republic Pavilion, via Art Observed

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Etel Adnan| Gerhard Richter at THE FLAG Art Foundation, 2017. Photography by Object Studies

The FLAG Art Foundation’s joint exhibition of works by Etel Adnan and Gerhard Richter promises a unique perspective towards rarely-seen works by two of the most prolific artists working today.  Both celebrated for their distinct renderings of abstraction and color spectrum, Adnan and Richter have pursued disparate trajectories that mark them today as pioneers in nonfigurative art.  Yet certain graphical and technical similarities between the two make for a striking exhibition, consolidating the two artists’ work through tapestry, a path for which both painters diverged from their canvas-based practices to experiment with visual extents of the traditional craft method. (more…)

Anne Imhof’s Faust at the German Pavilion, via Art Observed

The Golden Lions have been announced for this year’s edition of the Venice Biennale, with Anne Imhof and Franz Erhard Walther taking top honors for their work in the German National Pavilion and Main Exhibition, respectively.  The full list of winners is included below.   (more…)

The Central Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, via Art Observed

Spread between above the green lawns and trees of Venice’s Giardini, and the winding streets and canals of the Arsenale nearby, the Venice Biennale’s Central Pavilion has opened its doors for its Vernissage event, kicking off the 57th annual edition of the exhibition, and welcoming visitors to its first open viewings before it opens to the public this coming Saturday.   (more…)

Philip Guston, The Line (1978), via Art Observed

Aiming for a head start on the hustle and bustle of the Venice Biennale Vernissage, the Galerie dell’Accademia in Venice’s (Neighborhood) opened its entry for the week’s proceedings this past Monday; an exhibition tracing the vivid graphic practice of artist Philip Guston, and his work’s interaction with the texts of the 19th and 20th (check) centuries’ most exploratory writers and poets.  The exhibition, Philip Guston and the Poets, captures a series of the artist’s paintings and drawings, displayed alongside selections of text by D.H. Lawrence, W.B. Yeats, Wallace Stevens, Eugenio Montale and T.S. Eliot, offering deeper links to both the artist’s work, and the historical threads of literary culture that often run parallel to it.

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Chris Ofili, Hearsay 2 (2017), via Art Observed

Chris Ofili’s Poolside Magic series, first begun in 2012, is a swirling body of watercolor and charcoal works, running through a visual system of theme and variation that the artist recently returned to this year, adding new details, text and visual threads that cements the artist’s work as an exchange with the continued threads of his own career as much as with the visual iconographies and scenes that he continues to repeat and revisit five years after his first series of works.  Capping his new entries in the series with an exhibition in Venice this week, Victoria Miro has planted its foot in the city of Venice permanently, a fittingly lyrical introduction for the gallery and its artists to the long tradition of Venice and its history of art.

Chris Ofili, Elipsis 1 (2017), via Art Observed

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The Venice Biennale

With the first weeks of May upon us, so too comes the opening days of the Venice Biennale, as the 57th edition of the over a century-old art exhibition returns to the Italian city for another summer and Art Observed is in Venice to report on a broad and intriguing opening week of presentation.  Curated this year by Christine Macel, the chief curator at the Centre Pompidou, the fair’s title Viva Art Viva, traces a turn back from the intense political engagement of Okwui Enwezor’s 2015 Biennale, yet promises a no-less thorough look at the world during a particularly challenging era in history. (more…)

Jeppe Hein at 303 Gallery, via Art Observed

Following a solid four days of operation on Randall’s Island, Frieze New York closed this evening, bringing a conclusion to the first weeks of May’s busy art calendar, and setting the stage for major auctions coming shortly for the city.  The final hours today brought one last push of sales, as dealers rallied to wrap final talks with their clients, while other late guests walked the aisles looking for a hidden gem.   (more…)

Chéri Samba,”Complexe d’un enfant,” (2017), Magnin-A Gallery, Paris. Via Art Observed

Returning to New York City for its third edition, the 1:54 Art Fair touched down at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn’s Red Hook Neighborhood this weekend, bringing with it a wide range of works drawing from the fertile landscape of contemporary African art practice.  Founded by curator Touria El Glaoui several years ago as a companion fair to Frieze in London, the fair has since grown to encompass fairs on both sides of the Atlantic, serving as a vital mouthpiece for contemporary African art and artists from across the continent. (more…)

Julio Le Parc at Galeria Sur Puntada del Este, via Art Observed

Following the success of The European Fine Arts Fair’s (TEFAF) inaugural fair in October 2016, TEFAF New York debuts its sophomore fair dedicated to fine art, antiques, and design on May 4th at the Park Avenue Armory, with a particular focus on more contemporary pieces and artists. TEFAF New York Spring has its origins in Maastricht, Netherlands and was born out of exhibitors’ desire for the fair, which meticulously vets its artwork, to expand into the vibrant New York art world. Since 2016, TEFAF New York and Artvest have worked together in order to curate a fall and a spring show at the Park Avenue Armory. (more…)

Olafur Eliasson at Tanya Bonakdar, via Art Observed

As the weather continues to heat up in New York City, galleries from around the globe have descended once again onto Randall’s Island in the northern reaches of the city, bringing scores of new works for the sixth edition of Frieze’s New York fair.  Marking the first week of an extremely busy month that sees dealers, collectors and the rest of the art world split between New York and Venice, the fair opened today as a first breath in a bustling series of events that nevertheless saw strong attendance and strong interest for the works on hand, with many dealers using the fair as an opportunity to capitalize on their artist’s presence at major exhibitions in the U.S., Italy, and elsewhere.

Thomas Kovachevich, Cool T (1981), via Callicoon Fine Arts

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Ernesto Burgos, Mancha (2017), all images via Kate Werble Gallery

Artist Ernesto Burgos is presenting seven new pieces for his third solo show with Kate Werble Gallery up through May 6th.  For the past five years, Burgos has continued to make organic, sculptural forms from fiberglass, which he then paints over using a range of materials including spray paint, charcoal, oil stick and lacquer, embellishing his pieces with an additional layer of gestural mark-making.  Here, Burgos continues his investigation of form and material while experimenting with the size and presentation of his work.
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Sophie Calle, Here Lie the Secrets of the Visitors of Green-Wood Cemetery (Installation View), via Lindsay LeBoyer for Art Observed

Sophie Calle’s work has long dealt with the shadows and specters of intimacy, delving into spaces and sites where the artist’s active engagement with both her subjects and viewers turns the corner from artistic interaction to less easily defined forms.  It’s a messy sense of shared space and time, one which the artist takes great care to reflect both her own engagement and the varied perceptions of her participants in equal measure, and one which feels all the more delicate and immediate as a result.  (more…)

Frieze New York, via Frieze

As the art world gears up for another busy month in both the U.S. and Europe, the Frieze New York art fair is preparing to touch down once again on Randall’s Island, just off the coastline of Manhattan.  The fair, which turns six this year, is once again returning its signature program of forward-thinking art and on-site projects that stands as one of the final market events before the art world moves into its slower summer months.

Sven Loven, OL Rebellion (2017), via Jan Kaps (more…)

Vito Acconi, via Huffington Post

Vito Acconci, the groundbreaking artist, architect and performer whose impact on the field of contemporary art counts among the most influential of the 20th Century, has passed away at the age of 77.  Acconci suffered a stroke this week, from which he did not recover.

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Teresita Fernandez, Fire (America) (Installation View), via Art Observed

Teresita Fernández has long explored the intertwined relationships of humanity, natural phenomena, and the resulting expanses of landscape that emerge from the continued engagement of humanity with the world around us.  Her pieces mix creative inquiry with studied engagements with the environment.  “Landscape is about the history of people in places and how we position ourselves within those spaces,” she writes, emphasizing the human aspect of viewing and seeking to understand the spaces outside modern civilization in its relation to mankind.  This ongoing conceptual project takes on new wrinkles and points of entry in Fire (America), a show of new works currently on view at Lehmann Maupin’s downtown location this month. (more…)

Adrián Villar Rojas, The Theater of Disappearance (2017), via Art Observed

Spread across the rooftop garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Adrián Villar Rojas has brought a body of new sculptures to kick off this season’s Rooftop Commission project, part of an ongoing series inviting contemporary artists to create large-scale sculptural works on the concrete patio above the institution’s storied halls.  Drawing from the formal language of with the Met’s own holdings, Villar Rojas’s work joins previous installations by Cornelia Parker, Pierre Huyghe and Dan Graham, among others, exploring the museum’s site and history against the New York skyline. (more…)

Cy Twombly, (Installation View), via Art Observed

The Centre Pompidou’s unique architectural layout gives itself over to the work of Cy Twombly this spring, spreading the artist’s work on a line of sight that parallels his pieces with the expansive cityscape of the French capital in Gallery 1.  The expansive retrospective, which has already earned major plaudits, unfolds gradually against this backdrop, offering a bold exploration of the artist’s impressive and influential canon.  The comprehensive collection of paintings, sculptures and photographs spans Twombly’s full career, highlighting his wide breadth of artistic styles, media and subject matter, while exploring the evolution and elaboration of his craft over the course of his career.

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