Mexican tequila brand Casa Dragones has partnered with artist Gabriel Orozco to release a series of special edition tequila bottles.  Each bottle bares Orozco’s signature and Black Kites motif, and is available at select retailers in the United States, Mexico and London.  “Our collaboration with Gabriel Orozco marks an extremely exciting moment for Casa Dragones as we celebrate Mexican contemporary art and Mexican craftsmanship with the world.” Says Bertha González Nieves, Co-Founder and CEO of Casa Dragones Tequila. (more…)

In a bid for the attention of the international arts community, the city of Munich has partnered with artists Elmgreen & Dragset for a year-long series of public art installations across the Bavarian capital.  “We hope the art will become a reason for people to come to Munich,” says Michael Elmgreen, one half of the duo. “And that by placing different artworks throughout the city, it will encourage them to explore the whole place. It’s an optimistic, maybe naive hope to get people into the streets again.” (more…)

Continuing its recent policy to hold the Turner Prize presentation ceremony outside of London on alternate years, the Tate Britain has announced that the 2015 awards ceremony will be held for the first time in Glasgow, Scotland at the Tramway Arts Centre.  This will be the fourth time that the Turner Prize will be awarded outside of London, and could in fact be the first Turner Prize awarded outside of the UK, pending the results of the 2014 Scottish Independence referendum.

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David Shrigley, Signs (Installation View), via Anton Kern

Blending the mundane and the morbid with a healthy sense of humor and cultural subversion, David Shrigley has been producing his particular blend of cartoonish satire for over 20 years.  Trained as a sculptor, the artist has also produced a trove of ink drawings, animations and other projects that showcase his brand of wit and empathy, exploring neurosis, mortality, absurdity and even the art world itself. (more…)

An Amedeo Modigliani portrait of the artist’s common-law wife may command up to $35.5 million at auction next month in London.  The 1919 painting of the artist’s common-law wife, titled Jeanne Hebuterne (au Chapeau), is part of a 78-lot auction of Impressionist and Surrealist works by Christie’s International, and also includes works by Henri Matisse and Joan Miró.  The total sale is valued at $237 million, and will take place on February 6th.

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Carroll Dunham (Installation View), via Gladstone Gallery

Walking the line between representational abstraction and pure expressionism, the work of American painter Carroll Dunham works in a language that incorporates his unique viewpoint and artistic background into the classical formats of portraiture and landscape. (more…)

In connection with his two-gallery opening last night in Chelsea, French artist Daniel Buren has returned to the streets of New York, papering various buildings and walls with his trademark vertical stripes.  “Time makes all the difference,” Buren explains. “New York streets have changed in the past 40 years. We are not at all in the same city.”  Twitter users can follow the location of these installations by following the #burenstripes hashtag. The artist’s show opened last night at both Petzel Gallery and Bortolami Gallery. (more…)

Jake and Dinos Chapman, The End of Fun (2010), via White Cube Gallery

Since their graduation from the Royal College of Art in 1990, brothers Jake and Dinos Chapman have continually pushed the envelope with their iconoclastic, ambitious sculptures.  Frequently incorporating what they call “bankrupt” imagery, so frequently used by contemporary that it has lost much of its original meaning, the artists create large-scale sculptural works that have frequently drawn fierce reactions from critics and gallery visitors.

Jake and Dinos Chapman, The End of Fun (2010), via State Hermitage Museum (more…)

Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto has unveiled his new design for the Tokyo office of Christie’s Japan.  Situated in a pre-war stone building in Tokyo’s prestigious Marunouchi District, the new office design emphasizes its gallery space and entranceways, all based on Sugimoto’s adherence to Japanese heritage and literature.  “Mr. Sugimoto, a globally renowned artist, successfully created a space where the East and the West harmonize, and the past and the present blend together seamlessly.”  Says Managing Director Ryutaro Katayama.

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Sotheby’s has reported $1.25 billion in global auction results for Contemporary Art last year, making 2012 its third most successful year in history, and the highest in history for Contemporary Art.  “The marketplace and demand for contemporary art has never been stronger or more international – of the top 20 prices achieved by Sotheby’s last year, more than half were post-war and contemporary masterworks.”  Says Sotheby’s Chairman of Contemporary Art Europe Cheyenne Westphal. (more…)

Founded in 1997 to house the collection of collector Ernst Beyeler, Fondation Beyeler is currently the most attended art museum in Switzerland.  Vernissage TV has just posted an interview with director Sam Keller, recounting the museum’s first 15 years of operation and looking forward to its upcoming projects and goals.  Keller says: “In the beginning I think no-one could have envisioned that in such short term it would get on the map as being one of the most important museums not only in Switzerland, but also having an international reputation as being a house which shows art at the highest quality. So the development has been a quite steady one. ”
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Painter José Parlá unveiled his 70 ft. mural inside Brooklyn’s Barclays Center last night.  The painting, titled Diary of Brooklyn, was inspired by writer James Agee’s novel Brooklyn, and the artist’s impressions of the continued transformation of the borough.  The Barclays center, which opened last fall, has commissioned a number of works by Brooklyn artists, including another mural by Mickalene Thomas. (more…)

Los Angeles based-artist John Baldessari has redesigned 12 LA metro buses in partnership with the “Arts Matter” campaign for the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education.  The buses are redesigned to resembled classic school buses, with the words “Learn to Dream” and its Spanish equivalent “Aprende a soñar,” in support of public arts education.  The project aims to “start a conversation about the role of arts education and give artists a platform to address this issue,” says ForYourArt founder and project producer Bettina Korek. (more…)

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the groundbreaking 1913 Armory Show, the United States Postal Service has announced a series of 12 stamps honoring the early pioneers of modern art.  The Modern Art in America 1913-1931 series includes stamps dedicated to Marcel Duchamp, Georgia O’Keefe, Joseph Stella, and more. (more…)

The Francis Bacon triptych Three Studies for a Self-Portrait is expected to sell for $24 million at auction next month.  The work will join paintings by Gerhard Richter and Jean-Michel Basquiat in a 56-lot auction by Sotheby’s with a minimum valuation of $101 million, based on hammer prices. (more…)

Wade Guyton, Untitled (2010), Courtesy The Whitney Museum.

Through January 13, The Whitney hosts a mid-career solo exhibition of the work of Wade Guyton.  Often aligned with abstract Modernist giant Andy Warhol, Guyton self-identifies as a painter, despite a body of work lacking the processes of hand-to-paper creation.  Through frequent use of his signature X’s and U’s, Guyton explores the symbols of modernity and calls into question the nature of production in the fine arts.

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The first public art installation to utilize the Taxi TV format begins running today.  A collaboration between artist Ryan McGinley and Icelandic musicians Sigur Rós, the 30-second video will air in 3,000 equipped taxicabs across New York City.  “I wanted to bring a childhood innocence to the streets, through a character whose own light and wonder affect the world around her. Iʼm always interested in an atmosphere where dreams and reality mingle on equal terms.”  Says McGinley. (more…)

The repairs and restoration of a Joan Miró painting damaged at the Tate Modern in 2011 has been cited at £203,000.  Painting on White Background for the Cell of a Recluse I was damaged when an unidentified museum visitor leaned against it, placing both hands on the canvas.  The large damage payment by the UK government to the Fundació Joan Miró includes both restoration costs as well as compensation for depreciation of the work’s value. (more…)

A portrait attributed to the Venetian master Titian has been discovered in a remote basement room of the National Gallery in London.  The discovery of the painting, depicting Doctor Girolamo Fracastoro, was acquired by the museum in 1924, and positions the National Gallery as one of the leading collections of Titians in the world. (more…)

Uriel Landeros, the Houston man accused of vandalizing Pablo Picasso’s Woman in a Red Chair, has surrendered to authorities at the United States-Mexico border near McAllen, TX.  Landeros allegedly defaced the painting while it was on view at the Menil Collection in Houston with spray paint.  “I don’t regret anything that I’ve done.”  He said in an interview last fall. (more…)

Ai Weiwei, Rebars-Lucerne (Installation View) via Galerie Urs Meile

Blurring the line between social, political and artistic space, the work of dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei uses his practice to give voice to marginalized facets of the Chinese cultural and political landscape.  His is an art of awareness, presenting the political-social climate of China in his own terms, merging the presentation of his art with that of his own experience. (more…)

David Bowie has just released the video from his new single, “Where Are We Now,” a collaboration with artist Tony Oursler.  The surreal video comes alongside the announcement of Bowie’s first new album in ten years, The Next Day  which will see release on March 12th. (more…)

Bernd Neumann, the Minister of Culture for Germany, stated in an interview this past weekend that a new museum will be constructed in Berlin to house the city’s collection of Old Masters in the next 4 to 6 years.  Concerns over the collection of works by Rembrant, Botticelli, Vermeer, Rubens and others had arisen in the face of major museum renovations and limited funds. (more…)

Anish Kapoor, Shadow IV. Yellow (2011), Courtesy Galería La Caja Negra

Over the past several decades, Indian artist Anish Kapoor has distinguished himself across a variety of media, including granite, limestone, glass and polished steel.  The artist has also, in recent years, expanded his oeuvre to include paper-based works, of which his current show, Shadows at Galería La Caja Negra in Madrid consists. (more…)