On Friday afternoon, four vandals ran through the Kulturen Gallery in Lund, Sweden and destroyed seven 50 x 60″ photographs by New York-based artist Andres Serrano. The reason? The vandals were members of the Nationalist Socialist Front, Sweden’s largest neo-Nazi political party and the exhibit was Serrano’s “History of Sex”, which featured photographs of various sex acts. A video was posted on YouTube and a description was detailed on their website. (more…)

Assignment #9: Draw a constellation from someone’s freckles.

Assignment #18: Re-create a poster you had as a teenager.

Assignment #58: Record the sound that’s keeping you awake.

These are just some of the 65 assignments that artists Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July put up on their website learningtoloveyoumore.com.
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“CREATIVE TIME PRESENTS: MIKE NELSON/A PSYCHIC VACUUM,” the sign so boldly read above the information table. The crumbly-looking alcove of the building served as Creative Time’s makeshift office, where each entrant was required to sign a piece of paper. This paper ended up being a waiver, freeing the city from any lawsuits I may want to file in case something happened to me inside the exhibit or as a result of being there, I started to panic and wonder if it was really worth risking my uninsured body to write this story. My (insured) cousin convinced me it was, and by “convinced” I mean pushed my dragging feet to the Creative Time employee collecting our tickets. (more…)

The New York Times reports that the Altria Group, formerly named Phillip Morris Companies Inc., will be cutting the funding that they provide to various arts organizations in New York City as a result of a decision to move their non-U.S. cigarette production to Europe. For the 200+ organizations in the city, the loss of almost $7 million in support that they receive annually is a hard blow. (more…)

On October 1st, PAWNSHOP, a project organized by artists Julieta Aranda, Liz Linden and Anton Vidokle took over e-Flux’s storefront on Ludlow Street to host a different kind of art exhibition – a literal pawnshop where artworks are submitted by artists for cash, and if not reclaimed after 30 days, placed for sale exclusively by the shop. Questioning both the value of a work of art and the worth of money, PAWNSHOP poses an alternative venue to the traditional gallery setting.

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Damien Hirst‘s diamond-studded skull, “For the Love of God”, which sold to a private investment group earlier this year, will make an appearance at Russia’s State Hermitage Museum as part of a contemporary arts exhibit which will open later this month. According to an article in Bloomberg, this is not part of the planned museum tour, but it is a possibility that they may start in Russia. (more…)

Hole punched in Monet painting at Musee d’Orsay [NYTimes]
Louise Bourgeois’ “Maman” spider in London [NYTimes]
“Basquiat” writer/director Schnabel’s new film opens [ReverseShot]

Wilcox’s solo show at Metro Pictures features large photographs and collages, that are derived from subject matter conveyed in two powerful films, “A Fair Tale” and another that features Jackie Onassis. Wilcox takes specific, often overlooked, moments of historical significance and weaves them into a story. His poignant, poetic narratives are conveyed via subtitles at the bottom of the screen. While each story describes a loss of innocence, they are also connected by their “idea of beauty in a variety of guises confronting adversity and becoming greater for the challenge” (artist’s statement). The films and photographs, are in fact, extremely beautiful in their dreamy representation of forgotten moments in history. (more…)

The 10,000 square foot, two-floor space with an outdoor sculpture terrace will open tomorrow, Thursday October 4th. Their 19th Street Chelsea closed in June of 2006 to prepare for their new location in the Chelsea Arts Tower, on 545 West 25th Street. They’ll be joining PaceWildenstein, Yossi Milo, Cheim & Read, and Moti Hasson, among many, many others.

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Caravaggio priced at $100m, Contemporary is “junk” [PageSix]
Conrad Black can keep one portrait by Warhol, sell others [G&M]
Audio: Rare Richard Prince interview with WNYC [WNYC]
First Shanghai art fair had no mainland buyers [ArtNewspaper]
n+1 angry spinoff Paper Monument hits bookstores [NYO]
Much-publicized Koons finally gets to guest-edit [Wallpaper]

The 30-year retrospective of American artist Richard Prince, Spiritual America, opened this past Thursday to a waning full moon on one of the last hot nights of summer. The show, which is on view until January 9th, 2008 at the Guggenheim New York, includes nearly 160 paintings, photographs, drawings, and sculptures. (more…)

As New York’s MoMA has been under fire the past few years for a program that takes the safe road, an article in the New York Times today announces a new position of Associate Director at the institution that was offered to Kathy Halbreich.  Halbreich announced her retirement from the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in March, and will be working with MoMA beginning in February. (more…)

New York dealer Jeffrey Deitch pulled two Wes Lang pieces from “Mail Order Monsters,” Deitch Projects’ season opener. Deitch told Lang that the work was “superficially incendiary” and received complaints from some of his black friends. (more…)

Jerry Saltz’s scathing article in this week’s New York Magazine pulled out all the stops. With the departure of director Lisa Dennison, the Guggenheim is undeniably looking for a replacement, but Saltz contends that the real problem is Thomas Krens, who is slowly but surely destroying the institution from within. (more…)

Leonard Lauder may have bought a looted Klimt [NYTimes]
Judge dismisses lawsuit against dealer Wildenstein [NYPost]
Christie’s estimates $154m in sales during Frieze week [TheWest]
Banksy prints on eBay scam revealed [ArtNewspaper]
Zhang Huan’s Russian Influences [Telegraph]
New van Gogh letters on display at Morgan Library [TheWest]
Christie’s fall auction promotions in Moscow [Bloomberg]
New Judith Supine pastes appear in NYC [Wooster Collective]
New money from Russia & Asia helping auction sales [NYPost]
Robert Wilson & collection evicted by Aby Rosen [PageSix]
Art market anxieties hanging onto October auctions [WSJ]

Holland Cotter’s guide to the ‘Age of Rembrandt’ exhibit in today’s New York Times includes some helpful tips including a map and a reminder of the power of the wall labels.  The exhibit includes works by Vermeer, Aelbert Cuyp, Jacob van Ruisdaels and Salomon van Ruysdaels.

Blogger Lee Rosenbaum notes that the exhibit is very influenced by donor power and can feel very disjointed.  The Rembrandts themselves are not together chronologically, as they were during a rare exhibit a few years ago, but according to wing and some of the “lesser known works” are elsewhere.

Regardless of the opposing views, the exhibit is worth the visit – but as Rosenbaum suggests, perhaps not the $20 “suggested donation”.  The Met is still pay-what-you-wish if the fee seems daunting.

AO got inside the exclusive 500-invitee motorcycle performance last night at the Park Avenue Armory. The full size arena-like open space was covered with 288 panels, layered seven times with neon paint and a topcoat of rubber. The stunt riders created burnouts on the surfaces with donuts and paths choreographed by artist Aaron Young. The audience was provided with gas masks to avoid the exhaust during the seven-minute performance, and the sound of screeching tires and whirring engines was an overload for the senses. Photos of the event after the jump.
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We announced a few weeks ago that Scott Schuman, the photographer behind hit fashion blog “The Sartorialist,” had joined Danziger Projects in Chelsea, New York City but we didn’t have many details. We caught up with James Danziger himself at the opening of Andy Freeberg’s show on September 6th. (more…)

Saatchi’s New Online Art Salesroom to Launch Next Week [Portfolio]
The Emerging World of Art Finance [WSJ]
Nelson’s Exhibit Opens Essex St. Market for First Time in 13 Years [CreativeTime]
Friezed-London Auctions to Be Strong Despite Bonus Cuts [Bloomberg]
New Banksy Around London [Supertouch]
Murakami & Mr. Designed Skate Decks [HypeBeast]
Russian Billionare Buys Out Sotheby’s Auction Privately [Bloomberg]
Tourists reprimanded at Guggenheim [NYMag]
Gagosian, Saatchi Move up on VF100, Eli Broad down [VanityFair]
Sotheby’s London Auction Cancelled, Collection acquired [Sotheby’s]
Jerry Saltz’s Top Picks for New Guggenheim Director [NYMag]

As a rule openings are casual affairs in San Francisco, dispensing with much of the pomp and circumstance, air kissing and conceptual get-up that defines its New York counterparts. A warm Wednesday evening in September proves no exception as SFMOMA celebrates its new fall exhibit: Your Tempo: Olafur Eliasson. Of course, one can still spot (if inclined to do so) the heavy hitters around town. Richard Kramlich, longtime patron of video and new media, lounges at the doorway of the Architecture and Design galleries on the second floor, pleasantly chatting with a small group of corporate sponsors (none of whom don ties). On the fifth floor, Madeleine Grynsztejn, Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture, gracefully accepts my compliments on her lovely deconstructed suit. “It’s Comme,” she admits demurely and then playfully notes how the shifting light of a large-scale installation perfectly offsets my companion’s violet lipstick. “Stay in this room!” she jokes. (more…)

Bloomberg via Christie’s Images Ltd.

Just in case all the press and speculation created by Damien Hirst’s diamond skull the past few months wasn’t enough for you, Christie’s announced last week that Jeff Koons’ “Diamond (Blue)” would be included in their November 13th contemporary sale. If the sculpture sells for the estimated $12 million, it will set a new high for the artist. (more…)

Ruth Walz for Staatsoper-Berlin

Opera-goers in Berlin viewed a special treat during Hans Werner Henze’s latest production of Phaedra at the Staatsoper. Danish-born artist Olafur Eliasson designed the sets for the two-act production.

Artnet.de’s Gerrit Gohlke said that the artist “seems not to interpret the composer but rather confront the medium of opera itself”. Eliasson’s use of prisms, two-way mirrors and lighting machines turns the stage into an interesting portal that forces the audience to stare into infinite reflections of the actors.

A retrospective of the artist’s work opened last week at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art and will be on view through February 24, 2008.

Eliasson at the Opera [Artnet]
Dazzling music, murky meaning [FT]

According to a piece in Crain’s, New York-based art dealer and gallerist Tony Shafrazi filed a claim on September 7th against auction giant Christie’s for $7 million with the New York Supreme Court. He alleges that the Basquiat he purchased in 1990 for $242,000 is a fake and Christie’s knowingly sold it to him regardless. (more…)

Allan D’Arcangelo’s ‘Smoke Dreams’ via Sotheby’s

Sotheby’s Contemporary Sale today brought in $13,134,050 for the auction house. And as usual, there are those lots who surpassed their high estimates, like above, Allan D’Arcangelo‘s “Smoke Dreams #2”. Estimated between $8,000 – $12,000, the piece sold for $289,000. Other high fetchers after the jump. (more…)