The newly opened Tate archives get a spotlight in the Art Newspaper this week, profiling the struggle and logistics behind opening the Tate Britain and Tate Modern as separate branches of the same institution. “I was always worried about appearing isolationist in regard to British art,” the piece quotes former Modern head Nicholas Serota. (more…)
Bloomberg has a piece this week on the market growth for contemporary black artists, including in its piece the news that MoMA has acquired Chris Ofili’s famous Holy Virgin Mary, from collector Steve Cohen. “Collectors are very interested in what artists of color have to say now,” says dealer Jack Shainman. “For many years it didn’t matter.” (more…)
Sean Raspet, Receptor-Binding Variations (Installation View), via Bridget Donahue
Taking over the large main room of Bridget Donahue this month, artist Sean Raspet has assembled a strangely minimalist arrangement of objects along the walls of the space. Small white machines jut out into space, each humming quietly and dispensing a subtle scent. These timed micro-diffusers are each emitting a scent designed by the artist, an experiment in scent reception that plays on his interests in synthetic compounds and their phenomenological capabilities. (more…)
The WSJ spotlights the rise and fall of Tony Podesta, paying particular attention to his lavish spending on art and arts institutions. “When he stepped down from the firm he expressed his ongoing gratitude to all of them and his commitment to continue his advocacy for the issues and ideals he’s always fought for,” says a spokeswoman for the Podesta Group. (more…)
Jeff Koons and Gagosian Gallery are facing a lawsuit over three allegedly undelivered sculptures by the artist, filed by collector and MoMA trustee Steven Tananbaum. “Behind the ostensible façade of Jeff Koons’ art world triumphs and record-breaking auction prices,” a filing by litigator Aaron Richard Golub charges, “lurks a well-oiled machine, more specifically an established, archaic System as old as the hills applied to the art world to exploit art collectors’ desire to own Jeff Koons sculptures.” (more…)
Max Hollein gets a profile in the NYT this week, as he prepares to take the helm at The Met. “Max Hollein set benchmarks in terms of mobilizing citizens for culture and museums,” says Felix Semmelroth, San Francsico’s former cultural affairs director. “He left deep, deep traces in the city.” (more…)
Sarah Crowner, Folded Greens (2018), via Casey Kaplan
Notching her second exhibition with Casey Kaplan Gallery, artist Sarah Crowner has returned to the dealer’s Flower District space for a show of new paintings and a site-specific installation that underscores her continued interest in the language and lineage of the natural world in modern painting. Drawing on any number of figurative and abstract histories of painting the world around us, Crowner’s work is a refreshingly nuanced interpretation, one that draws similar graceful curvatures and natural forms from cut and sewn canvases. (more…)
The New York Times looks at the continued growth of private sales at auction houses, noting Sotheby’s private sales growth by 28 percent last year, up to $744.6 million. “It was something that was kept under wraps at most of the houses for some time,” says David Schrader, who joined Sotheby’s last year as its head of private sales for contemporary art. “Now we’re being very vocal about it and putting more energy into it.” (more…)
A recent report notes that online sales could stagnate if market transparency does not improve, the Art Newspaper says. “In a world where online consumers can easily compare prices for most goods, and where ‘value’ is more universally understood, the online art market has a real challenge… when it comes to educating and creating confidence among new online buyers,” says Anders Petterson, founder of ArtTactic. (more…)
Congratulations to Jerry Saltz, who has won the Pulitzer this year for criticism, recognizing “a robust body of work that conveyed a canny and often daring perspective on visual art in America, encompassing the personal, the political, the pure and the profane.” (more…)
Richard Aldrich, Wizard (2017), via Bortolami
Diving into the language and history of painting, artist Richard Aldrich’s new exhibition at Bortolami Gallery comes up to the surface with a diverse series of finds, spanning a range of practice that underscores his unique and energetic practice. The show, which combines both sculptural interventions and a range of canvases mixing text, drawing and oil painting, offers an impressive look at the artist’s recent work, and leaves the viewer grasping for steady ground. Yet, as the case with many great artists, Aldrich seems to fundamentally understand the joy in a little hard work, and the conceptual twists his pieces carry make their often confounding arrangements particularly rewarding for intrepid viewers ready to crack open a puzzle.
Richard Aldrich, Enter the Mirror (Installation View), via Bortolami
David Hockney is profiled in the New Yorker this week, as the artist opens a show of new work at Pace Gallery, and his recent interest in reverse perspectives. “If you’re going through a tunnel, when you get out, everything opens up. That’s reverse perspective,” he says. “The problem with perspective is this: you’re an immobile point, here, outside the picture. But, with reverse perspective, you can be a moving person—you can see all sides of things from a single point. And we’re always in movement. The eye is always in movement. It’s never still. Cubism, for example, was really an attack on perspective.” (more…)
Amanda Hicks has joined the Museum of Modern Art in New York as director of communications and public affairs, arriving from the Art Institute of Chicago. “It’s an honor to join MoMA and a privilege to help tell the stories of extraordinary art and artists that inspire, provoke, and connect with millions of people inside and outside the museum,” Hicks said in a statement. “This moment at MoMA—with the visionary renovation and expansion underway—sparks new and exciting conversations about its unparalleled collection, exhibitions, and programs.” (more…)
A Marc Chagall painting, Othello and Desdemona, 1911, has been recovered by the FBI almost thirty years after it was reported missing, Artforum reports. “Gallery owners are our first line of defense in identifying pieces of art that do not have the appropriate documentation and should be brought to the attention of law enforcement,” says supervisory special agent Tim Carpenter of the FBI’s Art Crime Team. (more…)
Cosima von Bonin, WHAT IF IT BARKS 1 (WHITE BASS GUITAR VERSION) (2018), via Petzel
Expanding a body of work already recognized for its exceptionally whimsical, imaginative fusions of form, color and context, artist Cosima von Bonin is currently showing a series of new works on view this month at Petzel in New York. The artist’s eighth show with the gallery, What if It Barks is also perhaps her most ambitious for the space, continuing her unique formal interventions on a grand scale with AUTHORITY PURÉE, her first full scale installation at Petzel’s 18th Street location. (more…)
Ellen Salpeter will step down as director of the Institute of Contemporary Art in Miami after joining the institution in late 2015, Art News reports. “With the new building launched, the museum’s program for the coming seasons set, and the institution on stable financial footing, the timing is right for me to pursue new projects,” she said in a statement. (more…)
Former director of the Tate Modern Chris Dercon is leaving his position as director of the Volksbühne Theatre in Berlin after rampant protests and concerns over his leadership. “Both parties have agreed that the concept of Chris Dercon did not work out as hoped, and the Volksbühne needs a fresh start immediately. [Following] the amicable agreement between the culture senator [Klaus] Lederer and Dercon, there is now a chance to initiate this necessary reboot,” a joint statement reads. (more…)
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac now represents the estate of Joseph Beuys, Art News reports. “Joseph Beuys is one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, a groundbreaking radical thinker in contemporary art whose profound influence endures today,” a statement from the gallery said. “It is a great privilege and honor to represent the works of this visionary artist on behalf of his estate and to work closely with his family.” (more…)
Tedd Stamm (Installation View), via Lisson Gallery
Walking from Ted Stamm’s current exhibition at Lisson Gallery to Dan Flavin: in daylight or cool white at David Zwirner, the sharp angles of the two artists’ works seem to echo each other, representing two bodies of minimalist experimentation with a similar interest in form, and riffing on the shape of their canvas, whether that canvas be paper, neon, or stretcher. Stamm’s show is perhaps the more grounded in the traditional language of art-making, yet equally pushes his works to the semantic breaking points of the art object. (more…)
Anri Sala, The Last Resort (2017), all images via Marian Goodman Gallery
For his first show in New York since his solo exhibition at the New Museum in 2016, Anri Sala presents two new major installations at Marian Goodman Gallery that continue his interest in utilizing sound and music to question experience.
Francis Bacon’s Study for Portrait (1977) will hit the block at Christie’s next month in New York, estimated to sell in the region of $30 million. The work is a portrait of Bacon’s lover, George Dyer. “I find this work is so powerful—for me it is probably one of the best paintings of their mystical love affair, and that’s what drew me to it,” says collector Magnus Konow, who is selling the work. (more…)
The Smithsonian Institution has confirmed that it will work with the Victoria and Albert Museum to set up a joint gallery and exhibition site in East London, on the site of the former Olympic games. The site will be the first for the Smithsonian outside the U.S. (more…)
The Economist charts the challenges to the continually expanding art fair circuit, and the possible limits such an economic model may face for dealers. The piece charts challenges included the sheer scale of work needed to show at each event, and the high costs to attend so many showings. (more…)
The Mike Kelley Foundation has announced the 2018 recipients of its Artist Project Grants, including projects by Andrea Fraser at the Hammer Museum and a presentation of work by Rodney McMillian at the Underground Museum. “The grantees this year reflect Los Angeles’s energized and diverse art scene, and underscore the foundation’s commitment to support risk-taking, underseen, and hard-to-fund work,” says Mary Clare Stevens, the foundation’s executive director. (more…)