Artist Taryn Simon will reprise her powerful work An Occupation of Loss at a secret location in London, a piece in which she brings together a group of professional mourners from around the globe to perform their craft.  “Their performance activates tears in the mourners – and sometimes in those who enter the heightened atmosphere of the towers,†she says. (more…)
Goldsmiths College in South London will open a new art gallery in a converted swimming baths near the school. The building will be designed by Turner Prize-winning collective Assemble. “Of course this is a building with a roof and walls and lighting, something I’ve wanted to do for a while; at the same time there is still an element of working with artists to make the building make sense, to use the idiosyncrasies of the building,†says director Sarah McCrory. (more…)
Laura Owens and Wendy Yao’s 356 Mission Gallery and Ooga Booga Bookstore project is shutting its doors in Los Angeles’s Boyle Heights. “It was a labor of love, with finite resources, and never intended to last forever,†collaborator Whitney Yao said in a statement. “We still believe that art spaces are vital to the cultural empowerment of all people, and that artists can be allies of vulnerable communities.†(more…)
Bugada & Cargnel gallery in Paris has “ceased its activities,†Art News reports, closing up shop at its Belleville space. “We wish to thank all those, artists, gallery staff, collectors, curators, art critics, art lovers, who accompanied us, supported us, trusted us, or simply appreciated the exhibitions we organized and our work during all these years,â€Â the gallery wrote, adding that there were plans for future projects. (more…)
Mona Hatoum, Electrified (variable II) (2014), via White Cube
Drawing gallerists, collectors and artists from the UK, Europe, and even further afield, Frieze London is set to open its doors this week for the fourteenth edition of the market calendar staple, and the first since the summer’s Brexit vote drew a line in the sand between the UK and the rest of Europe.  Considering early assurances by gallerists, many seem to think that the UK’s pending break may not bode as poorly for the country’s role as an international market capital as initially thought, but the proof will be in the pudding at Frieze, where the number eager buyers will serve as the real bellwether for a market that has already seen its share of struggles this year.
Martin Soto Clemente, Frenetic Gossamer (2016), via Frieze
Richard Long, Untitled (2006), via Lisson Gallery
This week, the global art world touches down in Regent’s Park for the 13th edition of the Frieze art fair, marking one of the first major staples of the fall festival circuit in London.  Featuring over 160 galleries from both the UK and around the globe, the event promises another year of in-depth exhibitions, special projects and installations across the British capital. (more…)
In the Courtyard of Messe Basel
As the opening previews draw to a close in Basel today, the 46th edition of Switzerland’s massive art fair and exhibition is well underway, capping two initial days of strong sales and attendance during the VIP Previews that have set a brisk tone for the week’s proceedings. (more…)
Outside Art Basel, via Art Basel
The doors are set to open at Messeplatz in Basel, Switzerland this week, for the 46th edition of the Art Basel art fair, the massive fair exhibition that has come to define the early summer months in Europe.  Bringing the massively international scope of the world’s elite galleries, this year’s Art Basel promises another strong outing. (more…)
Josh Reames at Johannes Vogt, all photos via Art Observed
NADA New York returned to the edge of the Lower East Side, drawing a diverse, hip crowd to the Basketball City complex. Free in price, NADA once again brought high-quality exhibitors and young artists, combining art from regional and international galleries alongside NYC Downtown heavy hitters.  This year’s preview event was an engaging alternative to the bright lights and high prices of Frieze. Embodying the social, communal nature of the city’s young arts scene, NADA’s Preview day was filled with with conversation, friendly jokes and familial reunions.  Maintaining the lightness of art openings opposed to the serious air of sales oriented art fairs, the galleries, their friends and artists will spend this weekend sipping drinks out of plastic cups while a roster of interdisciplinary performances, conversations and events take place. (more…)
Galeria Franco Noero, via Art Observed
The doors are open on Frieze New York, marking the early days of the summer art season with a major art event up the East River on Randall’s Island.  Returning for its fourth year, the fair has come into its own as a dedicated staple in the New York Art Calendar, and its presentation this year seems to echo it, with a stripped back tent design that seemed to stretch out much longer than in previous years, but distilled the experience down to only three rows of booths, with the occasional inlet allowing for an enjoyable wander through the space.  The VIP opening launched Wednesday morning for a quiet preview where a number of major collectors and celebrities strolled the aisles, among them Neil Patrick Harris, Mike Meyers, Uma Thurman, Leonardo DiCaprio and Richard Gere and François Pinault. (more…)
Richard Tuttle, Aspect XII (2015), via Pace
As the New York art world returns home following the Biennale previews last week, the first days of the Frieze Art Fair are set to get underway.  Opening its doors to VIPs this Wednesday, May 13th, the fair brings a number of events, openings and exhibitions along with it, marking the last major fair week in the U.S. for several months, and penultimate major fair week internationally before the slow summer months. (more…)
Daniel Arsham at Galerie Perrotin, via Art Basel
Following a hectic weekend of events and openings, today caps the final day of Art Basel Hong Kong, bringing strong sales and attendance at the sixth edition of the massive Asian market event. (more…)
Aaron Curry, Vertical Wood Sculpture (2013), via Almine Rech
Just one week after The Armory Show closed its doors in New York, the sixth edition of Art Basel Hong Kong is preparing to open halfway around the world, with many familiar names vying to court collectors from Asia, Oceania and abroad.  The fair, which shuffled its calendar this year in response to the Venice Biennale opening in early May, is presenting something of a scaled-back experience this year, running just three days from Sunday to Tuesday, but should nevertheless prove successful as one of Asia’s largest art fairs. (more…)
Constantin Brancusi, via Art Observed
Set up across town, fittingly enough, in the Park Avenue Armory, the ADAA Art Show offers a yearly counterpoint to the bright lights and dizzying stream of booths that occasionally plagues its cross-town sister on Piers and 94, incorporating a more carefully curated emphasis into the art fair booth format, and encouraging a certain degree of adventurousness among the attendant galleries. (more…)
Mark Flood at Peres Projects, Â via Art Observed
Taking up the full 4 floors of Center 548 in Chelsea, the Independent NY fair returns for another year of its annual exhibition offering a slightly smaller, more cohesive take on the fair experience. (more…)
The Armory Show 2015, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
The doors are open and the 2015 edition of The Armory Show in New York is underway, kicking off the first major fair week in NY this spring.  Collectors and artists wound throughout the booths, perusing the works on sale and chatting with dealers.  Director George Lucas could be seen examining several works, as was Maurizio Cattelan, both of whom seem to be enjoying their respective retirements. (more…)
The Armory Show, via The Armory Show
The first week of March signals another year for Armory Week in New York City, as locations around the city prepare for the annual influx of galleries, artists and collectors that mark the first major art fair events in New York City for 2015.  Building on the Armory Show’s increasingly popular public stature, week offers a wide range of events for both collectors and visitors alike. (more…)
Inside the LA Art Book Fair, via Art Observed
Despite its size and immense popularity, the LA Art Book Fair is only two years old. Originally a New York function based out in MoMA’s PS1 satellite location, the dramatic growth of the fair has led to a second location across the country . Conceived by artist AA Bronson and Printed Matter, the Book Fair is not necessarily art-world exclusive, aiming to continue Printed Matter’s dedication to the “dissemination, understanding and appreciation of artists’s books.” Indeed, respected art world publishers such as Mörel Books and Primary Information were in attendance, but one of the primary concentrations of the LA Book Fair once again focused on the grassroots, DIY zines that gave voice to subculture interests on the fringe of the arts community from the 1970’s until today.
Elizabeth Peyton, Jonas Kaufmann, March 2013, NYC (2013), via Gavin Brown’s Enterprise
Gavin Brown’s west-side gallery is currently playing home to a new set of works by artist Elizabeth Peyton, continuing the artist’s ongoing series of portraiture through a series of works taken from the New York Metropolitan Opera, as well as Peyton’s well-documented self-portraits and depictions of celebrities. Â (more…)
Sean Kelly Gallery, Los Carpinteros, Kosmaj Toy (2012).
All images by A.M. Ekstrand for ArtObserved, on location at Art Basel Miami Beach Fair.
Art Basel returned once again in Miami Beach this past week for the 11th annual Art Basel Miami Beach Fair. Featuring over 300 galleries representing 36 countries around the world, the show has exhibited marked growth from last year’s event, with well over 2,000 artists flocking to exhibit at what has become the internationally-renowned closing party for the world art market each year.  It is of course always an irony that tens of thousands will fly down for the events and parties, with many of them never visiting the vast aggregation of what it said to be roughly $1.5 billion worth of art in one (large) room, a collection that few museums in the world could compete with.  Below is a selection of some of the works we thought to be notable from the fair.
Helly Nahmad Gallery, Mark Rothko No. 1 (1957) and Alexander Calder, installation view
Terry Richardson and Pharrell Williams at OHWOW It Ain’t Fair 2012 photo by Aviva for Art Observed
On December 7th, 2012, at 743 Washington Avenue (on the Miami Beach side and not across the bay in the design district) OHWOW inaugurated the fifth and last edition of It Ain’t Fair (IAF), a venue for avant-garde art across all media. It began in 2008 in Miami, concurrent with the main fair, as another way to view work by emerging artists such as Tauba Auerbach, Ashley Bickerton, Cyprien Gaillard, Clayton Patterson and others.
Atmosphere at OHWOW It Aint Fair Miami 2012, all photos by E. Schwartzberg for ArtObserved unless otherwise noted
New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) Art Fair 2012, all photos by E. Simone for ArtObserved
The NADA fair is home to the some of the youngest, and most surprising artists and gallerists during Art Basel week, and is often described as a respite from the big-named, shiny, high-altitude atmosphere of the main fair. Dealers and collectors come to NADA searching out the new artists they think have the most potential, reveling in the discovery.
Keith Farquhar, Leslie Fritz Gallery (formerly Renwick Gallery) (more…)
Art Basel Miami Beach VIP Preview Entrance, all photos on site for Art Observed by Erica Schwartzberg
On Wednesday, December 5th, 2012, Art Basel Miami Beach hosted its 11th annual VIP Preview at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Organizers claim Art Basel Miami has surpassed its Swiss sister Art Basel in size and popularity, though it has yet to surpass attendance figures (62,500 people in 2010). This year, 680 galleries competed to show at Art Basel Miami and 257 were selected. More than 2,000 artists are represented and attendance is expected to top last year’s 55,000 figure. Though definitive sales reports are difficult to pin down (Art Basel Miami never releases official records), $2.5 billion worth of art was on offer in 2011, and several galleries reported record sales. VIP guests include business magnates Steve Wynn, who purchased a Roy Lichtenstein, and Eli Broad, who purchased a Jeff Koons sculpture. Newsprint mogul Peter Brant gave Owen Wilson a tour, and Will Ferrell ceded the stage to his wife Viveca, who sits on the board of the Los Angeles County Museum. Also spotted: Sean “Puffy” Combs purchasing an Ivan Navarro sculpture, Diane von Furstenberg, comedian/actress Chelsea Handler, and music mogul Russell Simmons. The following is a photoset from the 2012 Art Basel Miami Beach VIP Preview.
All photos on site for Art Observed by Erica Schwartzberg
UNTITLED. art fair is celebrating their first year at Art Basel Miami. Under the art direction of New York-based curator Omar Lopez-Chahoud, a beachfront pavilion was designed by architecture firm K/R (John Keenen and Terence Riley) to house a collection of international works by contemporary artists presented by 50 invited galleries. The space aims to emphasize the viewer’s experience  while creating context for the works. “It is about creating a conversation,” says Lopez-Chahoud, “and thereby offering collectors a sense of discovery, diversity, and quality with an international perspective.” UNTITLED. is open through Sunday, December 9th.
Paco Cao, mid-session of a seance, Eternal Rest at (Art) Amalgamated
