Global contemporary art events and news observed from New York City. Suggestion? Email us.

New York – Ariana Papademetropoulos: “Baby Alone in Babylone” at Vito Schnabel Gallery Through January 7th, 2023

December 16th, 2022

Ariana Papademetropoulos, Phases of Venus (2022), via Vito Schnabel Gallery
Ariana Papademetropoulos, Phases of Venus (2022), via Vito Schnabel Gallery

This month, Vito Schnabel Gallery presents Ariana Papademetropoulos: Baby Alone in Babylone, an exhibition of new paintings that find the Los Angeles-based artist drawing upon 15th century lore of the mythical unicorn. In her exploration of this theme, Papademetropoulos considers iconography from two celebrated tapestry series of the late Middle Ages: The Lady and the Unicorn (Musée National du Moyen Âge, Paris), an allegorical fable of the five senses, and The Hunt of the Unicorn (The Cloisters, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), a narrative unfolding of the swift, wild horned creature who could only be tamed by a virgin maiden. Constructing her own enigmatical tale in the present day, Papademetropoulos invites viewers to journey between collapsing realities and converging realms, through a sequence of hyperreal, dream-like episodes that coalesce in a story of awakening and transformation.  Read More »

London – Hernan Bas: “The Conceptualists” at Victoria Miro Through January 21st, 2023

December 14th, 2022

Hernan Bas, Conceptual Artist #11 (Performance based, his work centres on discomfort) (2022), via Victoria Miro
Hernan Bas, Conceptual Artist #11 (Performance based, his work centres on discomfort) (2022), via Victoria Miro

Artist Hernan Bas is celebrated for works that, permeated by an aura of eroticism and decadence, and loaded with codes and double-meanings, point to the intricacies of self-identity while celebrating moments of transformation – the ordinary becoming extraordinary. This mode of practice returns in the artist’s most recent exhibition, The Conceptualists, on view this winter at Victoria Miro’s London exhibition space. Once again returning to the male figure in this series of works, Bas equally draws his lens on to the art world, resulting in a series of works that mix a careful eye for line and form with a playful engagement with the language of conceptual art. Read More »

New York – Alicja Kwade: “Petrichor” at 303 Gallery Through December 17th, 2022

December 13th, 2022

Alicja Kwade, The Glass House (2022), via 303
Alicja Kwade, The Glass House (2022), via 303

This month in New York, 303 Gallery has tapped artist Alicja Kwade for its final show of 2023, and the artist”s third exhibition with the gallery. This latest exhibition of new works features a large-scale, immersive installation, sculptures, and wall works, as well as a series of suspended and standing mobiles that are being presented outside of Europe for the first time. This will also be the artist’s first exhibition in New York since her celebrated 2019 commission for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Roof Garden. The exhibition’s title, Petrichor, refers to the distinctive earthy scent that briefly lingers after rainfall on parched soil, an ethereal implication of a past event. Read More »

New York – David Lynch: “Big Bongo Night” at Pace Gallery Through December 17th, 2022

December 12th, 2022

David Lynch, Ladder Lamp (2022), all images via Pace
David Lynch, Ladder Lamp (2022), all images via Pace

Renowned director and artist David Lynch has opened his first exhibition at Pace Gallery this month, titled Big Bongo Night. The show, featuring mixed media sculptures, paintings, and a work on paper that shed light on Lynch’s distinctive visual arts practice, mark a major step forward in the artist’s long-running art practice. Read More »

New York – Philip Taaffe at Luhring Augustine Through December 22nd, 2022

December 9th, 2022

Phliip Taaffe, Plowshare (2022), via Luhring Augustine
Phliip Taaffe, Plowshare (2022), via Luhring Augustine

This month, Luhring Augustine presents an exhibition of recent paintings by Philip Taaffe, on view in the gallery’s Tribeca location. Featuring intimate kaleidoscopic panels realized in monotype and collage, and rooted in a process recently developed by the artist, the show expands on Taaffe’s celebrated ability to build complex compositions, and cull from a wide variety of sources, from illuminated manuscripts to historical natural science materials. Read More »

New York – Wyatt Kahn: “Knots & Figures” at Eva Presenhuber Through December 22nd, 2022

December 8th, 2022

Wyatt Kahn, A Bar (2022), via Eva Presenhuber
Wyatt Kahn, A Bar (2022), via Eva Presenhuber

On view this month at Eva Presenhuber in New York, a body of new works by artist Wyatt Kahn continues the artist’s engagement with shaped canvases and complex forms, here turning his compositions towards a series of geometric and serpentine forms.  Read More »

London – Anne Imhof: “Avatar II” at Sprüth Magers Through December 23rd, 2022

December 7th, 2022

Anne Imhof, Avatar II (Installation View), via Sprüth Magers
Anne Imhof, Avatar II (Installation View), via Sprüth Magers

On view this month at Sprüth Magers, artist Anne Imhof has brought forward a new selection of works united under the title Avatar II. Continuing and expanding upon the narrative arc of Anne Imhof’s recent exhibitions, the works in Avatar II interweave notions of reality and artifice, presence and absence, exposure and concealment. Read More »

New York – William Eggleston: “The Outlands” at David Zwirner Through December 17th, 2022

December 6th, 2022

William Eggleston Untitled, (c. 1970-1973), via David Zwinrer
William Eggleston Untitled, (c. 1970-1973), via David Zwinrer

The Outlands, on view this month at David Zwirner, provides a new perspective and emphasis on the work of photographer William Eggleston, an American artist known for his pioneering use of color photography in the 1970s. The exhibition, held at David Zwirner gallery in New York, features a selection of Eggleston’s photographs taken between 1970 and 1973. Read More »

New York – Sterling Ruby: “TURBINES” at Gagosian Through December 23rd, 2022

December 5th, 2022

Sterling Ruby, TURBINE. CICADA KILLER (2022), via Gagosian
Sterling Ruby, TURBINE. CICADA KILLER. (2022), via Art Observed

On view this month at Gagosian Gallery’s 21st Street exhibition space in New York, artist Sterling Ruby has returned wits a new body of abstract paintings that continue the artist’s challenging and expressive exploration of the limits of painting. Marking a point of convergence between several varied thematic and material interests in the artist’s work, TURBINES brings together many of Ruby’s conceptual hallmarks into a commanding new mode.  Read More »

AO On-Site – Miami: NADA Miami at Ice Palace Studios, November 30th – December 3rd, 2022

December 2nd, 2022

Roger Herman and Milo Matthieu at Sorry We're Closed, All Images via Art Observed
Roger Herman and Milo Matthieu at Sorry We’re Closed, All Images via Art Observed

As the proceedings of Art Week Miami marches on, and the Miami Beach Convention Center remains packed with art lovers, artists and gallerists, NADA Miami has also opened its doors for its 20th Edition in the Floridian metropolis, returning to its haunt at the Ice Palace Film Studios, and continuing its mission showcasing new art and to celebrating the rising talents from around the globe, exploring new or underexposed art that is not typical of the “art establishment,” by their words. NADA Miami is also the one of the only major American art fairs to be produced by a non-profit organization, and is recognized as a much needed alternative assembly of the world’s youngest and strongest art galleries dealing with emerging contemporary art. Read More »