Franz West, Untitled, 2011 courtesy Gagosian Gallery

The Gagosian Gallery is currently exhibiting what can only be described as a eulogy of works that embodies the life of the late Franz West, who sadly passed away early this summer in July 2012.

A sea of freestanding, ambiguous, figurines adorn the gallery, doused in multicolored luminescent paint. Light-hearted sculptures interact with viewers, inspiring feelings of elation and freedom. Surreal structures almost wrap around onlookers in a fairytale-like setting.

Franz West, Installation view, 2011 courtesy Gagosian Gallery

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Scott Campbell, Our Secret (2012), courtesy the artist and OHWOW

Scott Campbell, whose Saved Tattoo parlor in Brooklyn is a destination for ink aficionados such as designer Marc Jacobs, has in recent years branched out into the contemporary art world, presenting bodies of work that dynamically comprise the “alternative” aesthetic and draftsman’s expertise of his trade. Using an array of unique materials, such as US currency and ostrich eggshells, employing a highly technical creative process born from the precision of tattooing, Campbell’s work rests comfortably in the space between high and low, art and fashion, gallery and street.

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Arne Glimcher is interviewed by Charlie Rose to discuss his new book, “Agnes Martin: Paintings, Writings, Remembrances”, the only complete monograph on the artist’s career. The chairman of Pace Gallery discusses Martin’s life and work, as well as the gallery’s expansion in China and the nature of artmaking today. (more…)

Art Observed is out of Soho and back online.  Stay safe New York, check in on friends, colleagues and family.

John Baldessari at the Edison Ballroom, all photos by Elene Damenia for Art Observed

This year, SculptureCenter honored Paula Cooper with a presentation by John Baldessari and a performance by Christian Marclay. The program included artist projects by Alisa Baremboym, Ian Cheng, and Martin Soto Climent, and the Karaoke Afterparty. New limited edition artworks by Uri Aran, Adam McEwen, and Hanna Sandin were also introduced.

Christian Marclay’s performance (more…)

Art Fag City is tracking Hurricane Sandy’s path through Chelsea’s prime gallery district, parts of which are within flood zone A. The site reports that as of 3:50 p.m. today, the Chelsea Piers have not flooded, and the streets are generally clear.  Lower Manhattan is bracing for what could be an almost unprecedented storm surge of flood waters. (more…)

David Hockney’s foundation now holds £84 million in assets. The art is expected to eventually be gifted to museums in the two regions where Hockney resides – the Tate and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (more…)

Damien Hirst’s “Verity” sculpture of a vivisected pregnant woman has been installed in a seaside town in Devon, UK. The 55,000 pound, 65-foot bronze figure is a “modern-day allegory for truth and justice”, says the artist. The controversial sculpture, with one arm holding a sword and the other holding a set of scales behind her back, continues to receive strong opposition from the community. (more…)

Thomas Houseago,Walking Figure I (City) (2012)

Hauser and Wirth just closed three coinciding shows of Thomas Houseago in order to mark the artist’s representation with the gallery. Two were held in London and one in Switzerland: Saville Row South gallery displayed Special Brew; Saville Row North gallery exhibited I’ll be your Sister;  and Löwenbrau, Switzerland showed The Mess I’m Looking For.

Thomas Houseago was born in 1972 in Great Britain and currently practices in Los Angeles. His 3D constructions have a strong affinity with Cubism, whereby the artist represents an object from a variety of perspectives resulting in a distorted display of greater physical depth. The unrefined beings that are omnipresent in Houseago’s vast portfolio echo Henry Moore’s figures in a more visceral manner. The somewhat intricate, yet unfinished appendages that are detailed in the works pay homage to the Renaissance and old masters such as Da Vinci, yet their cubist take brings them resolutely into the future.  

Thomas Houseago, Portrait Column I, (2012) at I’ll Be Your Sister exhibition

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Image: Christian Jankowski, Monument to the Bourgeois Working Class, 2012

All images courtesy Klosterfelde Gallery

Now on view at Berlin’s Klosterfelde Gallery is German contemporary multimedia artist Christian Jankowski‘s  Monument to the Bourgeois Working Class: a video projection, photo series, and large-scale sculpture, which explore tensions between social classes and the use of mass media as a political instrument. Though, while political on the surface, the works are also said to represent the struggles of the individual artist.

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Matthew Barney‘s nearly four story replica of Norman Mailer’s home  is floating down the East River for a project called “River of Fundament”.  The artist is working on a film that takes Mailer’s 1983 novel “Ancient Evenings,” as its departure on a floating monument.  The cast includes Paul Giamatti, Maggie Gyllenhaal and scenes include gold-streaked zombies, Mailer’s son slicing open a cow carcass to find a surprise fetus, and a gold 1979 Trans Am disinterred from Newton Creek. (more…)

Michelangelo Pistoletto, Exhibition view, 2012 courtesy Linnea West

Michelangelo Pistoletto invites us to complete his latest artworks in the Simon Lee Gallery with images of ourselves. This is his second exhibition in the gallery (entitled Lavoro), of his ‘mirror works’, which are constructed of reflected stainless steel so the final product is forced to change every time someone enters into close proximity of the work.

Lavoro is Italian for ‘work’ ; the mirror medium is superimposed with silk screened prints of construction materials and elements of a building site. The entire gallery floor is interspersed with thematic elements such as erratically placed ladders and stacks of crates which, in turn, interact with the mirrored images exhibited around the room, changing what can be viewed while the spectator is in motion.

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American critic Dave Hickey announces that he “quits” the art world, citing too much emphasis on money and lack of seriousness.  Hickey says the straw that broke the camel’s back was when he was required to sign a 10 page contract before sitting on a panel discussion at the Guggenheim. “What can I tell you? It’s nasty and it’s stupid. I’m an intellectual and I don’t care if I’m not invited to the party. I quit.” (more…)

The New York Times reports on how artists are increasingly making large scale work, galvanizing a trend in commercial galleries in London, Los Angeles and New York to provide massive spaces in which to show it, formerly the role of the museum.  With the increase in not only monumental sculpture and installation, video pieces also require large amounts of space, often incorporating multi-channel projections. (more…)

Marc Spiegler will now head the four-person Art Basel team under a restructuring of management. The fair has grown immensely since 2007, when one person, Sam Keller, (now head of The Beyeler Foundation), was responsible for the management of the fair.  Annette Schönholzer, Magnus Renfrew and a new director of resources and finance (to be appointed next year), will serve under Spiegler as chairman. (more…)

The WSJ Magazine profiles Theaster Gates, a sculptor, performance artist and urban planner from Grand Crossing, a mostly-black neighborhood south of downtown Chicago, and his work, which goes further than social commentary.  Gates focuses on rebuilding and re-contextualizing spaces, not only as part of his artistic practice- but also in a real and effective way that transforms lower income communities. (more…)

Luc Tuymans, Allo!-Technicolor (2012), Courtesy David Zwirner

A show of Luc Tuymans featuring his latest series entitled Allo!, inaugurated the new David Zwirner Gallery in Mayfair on October 4th. To further heighten the significance of such an occasion, this is Tuymans’ first London show since 2004 at the Tate Modern.

Luc Tuymans, Allo!, peaches– (2012)  Courtesy David Zwirner

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Sean Kelly, who just inaugurated his new space at 10th avenue and 36th Street, posits that galleries may migrate north from Chelsea as the Hudson Yards development is completed. The neighborhood formerly known as Hell’s Kitchen, from 28th to 43rd Street and west of Eighth Avenue will have access to the No. 7 subway in 2014, as well as the the High Line extension and new residential investment. Rents are less expensive than in Chelsea and offer large warehouse-style exhibition spaces. (more…)

Image: Doug Aitken, Tilda Swinton in The Source, 2012, via Sky Arts Ignition

American artist Doug Aitken has his first public installation in the UK entitled The Source, which asks a variety of leading arts practitioners questions about where their creative ideas come from. Viewers can watch video conversations with artists such as Tilda Swinton, Jack Pierson, Jack White, and Mike Kelley, projected inside a temporary structure on Liverpool’s historic Albert Dock built in collaboration with renowned British architect David Adjaye.

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The Art Newspaper reports on rumors that publisher Louise Blouin (Art+Auction, Modern Painters, Gallery Guide) is in talks with Merchandise Mart Properties (MMPI) to acquire its art fairs, including the Armory Show, Art Platform Los Angeles and Volta. Another buyer, Next Editions Partners, an art media company based in Vienna, is ready to negotiate but has said that MMPI has designed the deal around their first bidder. A spokeswoman for Blouin said, “Louise Blouin Media is a privately-held company, and we do not comment on speculation in the media about the company’s business activities.” MMPI also declined to comment. (more…)

Performance artist Joey Arias with 60th gala cake

Tuesday night marked Aperture Foundation’s Sixtieth Anniversary Gala Dinner & Photography Auction. The live auction featured an incredible selection of 60+ works up for grabs by such notables as: Diane Arbus, Chuck Close, Dorothea Lange, Sally Mann, Vik Muniz, Hank Willis Thomas and William Wegman. (more…)

Tino Sehgal, Installation view, 2012, courtesy Tate Modern

The Turbine hall has been home to the Unilever series and currently welcomes its thirteenth commission in the form of These Associations by Tino Sehgal. Despite Sehgal being the thirteenth artist to exhibit as part of the series, he far from blends into the crowd of his predecessors. Sehgal gives the inaugural ‘Live Art’ performance of Unilever coinciding with the Olympics as part of London 2012.

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Walead Beshty, Installation View, 2012, courtesy Roldophe Janssen

Walead Beshty’s second solo show with Gaelerie Roldophe Janssen is entitled Diapositives, after the medium he used to construct his images.  Since 2006 Beshty’s work has been comprised of experimental photography whereby he explores different effects on underdeveloped film.

Diapositives is an installation that takes the form of what appears to be a futuristic office space. Desks and other seemingly aesthetic furnishings are replaced with copper surrogates that have had the developed film experiments printed on them; their purpose however is not to serve as a visual element, but to be a fully-functioning room component within the space (i.e. a table that is fit for purpose). The interaction with the visitors and the works within the exhibit is implicit to the work itself – in fact Beshty does not acknowledge his works as art forms until this interaction takes place.

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Edvard Munch’s The Scream goes on view today at MoMA with extra security measures. Ann Temkin, the chief curator of painting and sculpture, is expecting huge crowds. “The Scream is really a household word, a household image, and from the time it was made, that was true,” Temkin said. “It’s somehow so startling and so odd that it caught people’s imagination”. Of the four versions made, two have been stolen and recovered. (more…)