May 13th, 2015
Golden Lion for Best Pavilion amongst Rene Gabri and Ayreen Anastas, When counting loses its sense (2015), via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
In 1915, during the clashes of WWI, the Ottoman Empire set out on a path of systemic destruction of its Armenian subjects, massacring male Armenians or forcing them into conscripted labor, while leading women, children and the infirm on arduous death marches off into the Syrian desert. The brutal and politically contentious genocide killed, on estimate, up to 1.5 million citizens, and stands as one of the Twentieth Century’s most horrific episodes of war. Even so, the political body of Turkey still refuses to acknowledge the term genocide in relation to these war crimes, and the historical scars of the killings run through the distributed population of the Armenian diaspora worldwide. Read More »
| Comments Off on Venice – ‘Armenity’ at the Armenian Pavilion for the Venice Biennale, Through November 22nd, 2015 | | 
May 13th, 2015
Lucian Freud, Benefits Supervisor Resting (1994), via Art Observed
Christie’s has concluded the first days of Frieze week in style tonight, continuing its impressive performance over the course of the Contemporary Auction week with a strong sale tallying $658,532,000. Selling 72 of the 85 lots offered, the sale saw several major records fall during the course of the evening, signaling the intense enthusiasm for the contemporary market both in the U.S. and abroad. Read More »
| Comments Off on AO Auction Recap – New York: Christie’s Contemporary and Post-War Auction, May 13th, 2015 | |
May 13th, 2015
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot, Rêvolutions (2015), French Pavilion, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Running concurrently with the Central Pavilion’s curated exhibition, the respective National Pavilions on view at the Giardini and Arsenale are one of Venice’s defining aspects. Featuring important solo exhibitions for both emerging and career artists, carefully-curated group shows and special projects, each pavilion’s focus allows the international perspective of the Biennale to truly take shape. Read More »
| Comments Off on Venice – The National Pavilions at the Venice Biennale Through November 22nd, 2015 | |
May 12th, 2015
Christopher Wool, Riot (1990), via Sotheby’s
Another night come and gone in New York, and another impressive evening auction in the books as Sotheby’s concludes its Contemporary and Post-War Evening Sale this Tuesday night with a final tally of $379,676,000, failing to top Christie’s impressive auction from one night prior despite some impressive sales records of its own. The 65-lot sale saw 8 of the works go unsold, for a final sell-through rate of 87.7%, a hard figure considering last evening’s single unsold lot out of 35. Read More »
| Comments Off on AO Auction Recap – New York: Sotheby’s Contemporary and Post-War Evening Sale, May 12th, 2015 | |
May 12th, 2015
Richard Tuttle, Aspect XII (2015), via Pace
As the New York art world returns home following the Biennale previews last week, the first days of the Frieze Art Fair are set to get underway. Opening its doors to VIPs this Wednesday, May 13th, the fair brings a number of events, openings and exhibitions along with it, marking the last major fair week in the U.S. for several months, and penultimate major fair week internationally before the slow summer months. Read More »
| Comments Off on AO Preview – New York: Frieze Week, May 13th-17th, 2015 | |
May 12th, 2015
Pablo Picasso, Les Femmes D’Alger (1955), via Art Observed
The crown for the most expensive artwork at auction has returned to the master, as Pablo Picasso’s Les Femmes D’Alger lived up to its lofty expectations at auction this evening, as Christie’s “Looking Forward to the Past” exhibition kicked off Frieze Week (and a week of Contemporary Sales in New York) in grand style, tallying a massive $705,858,000 for a 35-lot offering that saw numerous records fall by the wayside, and only one lot going unsold, on the way to Picasso’s triumphant evening. Read More »
| Comments Off on AO Auction Recap – Christie’s ‘Looking Forward to the Past’ Sale, Setting a New World Auction Record of $179 Million for Pablo Picasso’s ‘Les Femmes D’Alger,’ May 11th, 2015 | |
May 11th, 2015
Chris Burden, via NY Times
Chris Burden, the Californian performance art pioneer and sculptor, who consistently pushed the envelope of physical endurance and human capacities, passed away at home this weekend from a malignant melanoma. He was 69. Read More »
| Comments Off on Chris Burden, Landmark Performance Artist and Sculptor, Passes Away at 69 | |
May 9th, 2015
At the entrance to the Biennale’s Central Pavilion, via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
The Central Pavilion in Venice’s Giardini is the second site for All the World’s Futures, the main curatorial project around which the Biennale centers itself. Featuring another series of artists spread out inside the exhibition space’s remarkable white facade, the exhibition continues its investigation of debris and late capitalism through a more playful, yet equally critical set of works from its counterpart at the Arsenale. Read More »
| Comments Off on AO On-Site – Venice: “All the World’s Futures” at the Giardini in Venice Through November 22nd, 2015 | |
May 9th, 2015
Peter Doig, Rain in the Port of Spain (White Oak) (2015), all photos by Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Venetian Ettore Tito was one of the first stars of the Venice Biennale at its inception, presenting his work in almost every one of the early exhibitions through at 1920. The artist’s colorful compositions often tinged with a slightly surreal, impressionist edge, were a prize of the Italian state in the early decades of the twentieth century, and often filled rooms during the first exhibitions in the city.
It’s a fitting parallel then, that the Scottish-born Peter Doig would be tapped for an exhibit at the former home of the artist, and current location of the Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa. Presenting a body of new works, including fourteen paintings and an additional six large-scale canvases, the exhibition’s intimate locale and rich history offers a strong parallel for Doig’s own interpretive and illusory meditations on modernity, memory and fantasy.
Read More »
| Comments Off on Venice – Peter Doig at Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa Through October 4th, 2015 | |
May 7th, 2015
Cy Twombly, Paesaggio (1986), via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Undeniably one the greatest artists of 20th century, Cy Twombly‘s work is currently on display at the Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery in Venice, offering an in-depth look at the American artist, and his long residence in Italy. Combining work from Twombly’s last series produced in 2011, an early painting on wood from 1951, and sculptural work from late in his career, this show delivers on its promise of a look at the artist’s career, while avoiding the demands of an exhaustive survey of his practice. Read More »
| Comments Off on Venice – Cy Twombly: “Paradise” at Ca’ Pesaro International Gallery of Modern Art Through September 16th, 2015 | |
