Storied art dealer Michael Werner has donated a collection of 130 works to the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris. “[His] gift represents the most significant enrichment…since the bequest made by Dr Maurice Girardin in 1953, which led to the creation of the Institution,” says Fabrice Hergott, gallery director.
Anish Kapoor, Untitled (2012) installation view, Gladstone Gallery, West 21st Street. All photos on site for Art Observed by Perrin Lathrop.
Anish Kapoor’s current solo exhibition at Gladstone Gallery confronts visitors with two opposing sides to the artist’s three decade long investigation into the nature of objectness. A veritable global art star, with a Venice Biennale Pavilion (1990), a Turner Prize (1991) and countless prestigious public art commissions under his belt, Kapoor is known for his perception bending works that verge on spectacle. In the Indian-born, London-based artist’s first show in New York in four years his new works expand across two gallery spaces on West 24th and 21st Streets. As an artist interested in the metaphysical polarities inherent in individual objects, Kapoor invests these two galleries with both organic and highly engineered approaches to the materiality of form.
Anish Kapoor, installation view, Gladstone Gallery, West 24th Street.
The chair-raft. All photos on site for Art Observed by Samuel Sveen.
16 reclaimed boats make up the second summer of the Boggsville Boatel at Marina 59, an artful floating hotel in the Far Rockaways about an hour outside of Manhattan. Constance Hockaday created the project last year with the help of Flux Factory, taking a bit of loose inspiration from the 19th century floating brothel of Nancy Boggs outside of Portland, Oregon. This year Angie Kang and Orien McNeill organized 23 artists to convert an additional fleet of abandoned boats into accommodating art spaces. The artists were able to live on the boats for a two month residency, reconstructing and customizing the boats, building a community on the docks. Encouraged to be ‘adventure ready’—the suggested packing list includes sleeping bags and liquor—Art Observed was on site for the opening night, May 19.
‬Lindsay Lohan stars in Richard Phillips’ new short film “First Point,” premiering at Art Basel next week. “Because of the actor and the popular culture dimensions…it will give people…a real sense of instability…Is it a film? Is it an art video? It refuses to announce itself as either,” says Phillips.
Top collector Dakis Joannou’s DESTE foundation debuts its “destefashioncollection” exhibition in the window displays at Barneys New York. “We have incredible customers who come from the art world…that’s a big part of our customer base. To have that communication…is part of our uniqueness,” says Barneys CEO Mark Lee.
‬The Tate has revealed its 2013 program, which will include exhibitions of LS Lowry at Tate Britain, Marc Chagall in Liverpool, and a major Roy Lichtenstein at retrospective at The Tate Modern as well as shows of Gary Hume and Paul Klee.
A self-portrait by the late Jean-Michel Basquiat is expected to fetch $20 million in the June 27 Christie’s International sale of postwar and contemporary art in London. “The vivid acrylic, oilstick and spray-paint canvas will be offered after another untitled 1981 work sold for an artist-record $16.3 million at Phillips de Pury & Co. in New York, on May 10.”
‬BBC News comments on the nature of “fake paintings”, referencing infamous art forgers like Han van Meergeren and John Myatt. “Forgers have a certain charm because they are seen to be rebelling against the establishment,” says Philip Mould, BBC presenter and art detective.
Getty Research Institute (GRI) launches the Getty Research Portal, a free online search and access tool for art texts. “The mission of GRI is to further the understanding and appreciation of art. Supporting research and access to scholarly resources is the most important part,” says Thomas W. Gaehtgens, Director.
Artist Damien Hirst designs community of higher-priced eco-homes in North Devon. “Damien is a local developer who truly cares and wants to create an exemplary development,” says architect Mike Rundell.
Tauba Auerbach, Installation View (2012). All photos taken by Ryann Donnelly for Art Observed
Tauba Auerbach’s first one-person exhibition, Float is on view at Paula Cooper’s Chelsea gallery in New York City through June 9. Included in the show are Auerbach’s signature fold paintings, new monochromatic weavings, and sculptural objects modeled after prismatic crystals, and marbled onyx. Her work is endowed with a general threat to logic, as she strives consistently and elegantly toward the destruction of our limited visual perceptions.
Read More… (more…)
This summer the recently opened Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in London celebrates its 12th anniversary. Since 2000, this architectural event has featured temporary structures by such designers as Zaha Hadid and Jean Nouvel. This year, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, along with Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (Herzog & de Meuron), known for their design of the Tate Modern and previous collaboration with Ai on Beijing’s Bird Nest National Stadium, has dug down into the Kensington Gardens to create an underground pavilion commemorating its long history.
‬Agata Olek yarn bombs Antony Gormley iron men sculptures, part of his Another Place series on Crosby beach, UK. “By covering them and giving them a new skin, I made them more alive,” says Olek.
‬High-profile artists such as Jeff Koons invited to teach for a day at NYC public schools as part of Visual Arts Appreciation Week, started by the nonprofit Studio in a School.
‬Russian gallerist Dasha Zhukova presented plans yesterday to move her Garage Center for Contemporary Culture to a temporary venue designed by Shigeru Ban and constructed from paper tubes 24 inches in diameter, to be housed in Moscow’s Gorky Park.
‬Parrish Art Museum to re-open in Water Mill on the East End of Long Island, November 10th. The 34,400 sqft building will nearly triple its current exhibition space.
‬The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC has applied for a visa to allow artist Ai Weiwei to attend the opening of his exhibition. “The museum…is “optimistic” that the artist, although still at odds with the authorities, will be allowed to make the trip.”
‬Award winning documentary “Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present” to premier at NYC Film Forum June 13 and show through June 26.
‬The Cy Twombly foundation has paid $27.75 million for a 25-foot-wide Beaux Arts mansion near the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with plans to convert it into a museum dedicated to his work. Twombly was “a towering figure in American art. It is only fitting that there should be a permanent space in New York dedicated to his achievements,” says Nicola Del Roscio, foundation president.
‬The Economist writes on the political and economic factors behind mainland China-based galleries expanding into Hong Kong: “A presence in Hong Kong makes a lot of sense for us. We can show [our artists’] work to a wider and more diverse audience” says Steven Harris, founder of M97 in Shanghai.
Collector sues Chicago gallery for losing signed instructions for Sol LeWitt’s “Wall Drawing #448”, “The unique nature of Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings renders their accompanying certificates of authenticity critical to the works’ value,” reads the complaint.
‬Joan Miró’s “Peinture (Étoile Bleue)” to lead Sotheby’s London auction June 19, estimated to bring £15m-£20m. “[This is] one of Miró’s most important paintings, effortlessly bridging the transition between figurative and abstract art,” says Helena Newman of Sotheby’s Europe.
Anthony McCall, You and I Horizontal, (2006), installation view at Institut d’Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne, (2006). Photo: Blaise Adilon. All images via Hamburger Bahnhof.
Five Minutes of Pure Sculpture, Anthony McCall’s largest museum exhibition to date is on now at Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof. McCall’s solid light films, such as Line Describing a Cone, from the 1970s established the artist’s reputation as being part of the cinematic avant-garde. After a break of twenty years, McCall began making films again in 2003, utilizing new technologies, like digital projection. The current exhibition consists of seven such projections; five single projections and two double projections, and of these three are horizontal while four are vertical.
