Jeff Koons is featured in a lengthy Guardian profile this week, as the artist prepares to open a show of his Easyfun-Ethereal works in New York.   “I know that I make the work that I make, that my own intellectual needs are met and that I can expand my parameters and hopefully I’m able to touch the interior life of the viewers who see my work,” he says. “There are certain individuals that respond to it, and I’m sure there’s some people that don’t. For whatever reason, they close themselves down, or they just won’t open themselves up.” (more…)

Hauser & Wirth has added Zeng Fanzhi to its roster, with the artist continuing his ongoing relationships with Gagosian Gallery and ShanghART Gallery. “I have admired Zeng Fanzhi’s painting for very many years, and I really could not be more thrilled to announce our collaboration. I am excited to have the opportunity to exhibit and promote Zeng to our global network, and to craft a strong legacy for his astounding work. On the eve of Hauser & Wirth’s opening in China, I am pleased that Zeng will be taking this next important step along with us.” (more…)

The Guggenheim is planning to acquire a controversial Xu Bing artwork that was previously pulled from recent survey of Chinese contemporary art over its depiction of tattooed pigs mating. The piece is coming to the museum courtesy of a donor.  (more…)

Hannah Levy, Untitled (2018), via Art Observed

Hannah Levy has exhibited broadly since receiving her Bachelor’s degree from Cornell in 2013, showing at such distinguished venues as MoMA PS1, the Palais de Tokyo, Hannah Hoffman Gallery, James Fuentes, and Marlborough Contemporary. She also appeared on Cultured Mag’s 2018 list of Young Artists. Her work typically contrasts metal, modernist, work-a-day design with fleshy silicone forms, departing most prominently from late Surrealism’s similar juxtaposition of materialities.  For the artist’s most recent show, one view now at C-L-E-A-R-I-N-G in Brooklyn, her practice gets a concise review.   (more…)

Kelly Akashi at Sculpture Center, via Art Observed

For those looking for new insights and fresh perspectives on contemporary art practice, its hard to ignore the call of the NADA New York art fair during Armory Week.  Set up in the sprawling Skylight Clarkson Square complex on downtown Manhattan’s western edge, the show is a dense pathway through the landscape of new art, mixing playful performance pieces, studied painting and anything in between, making the fair one of the more expansive and freewheeling events of the week. (more…)

Terence Koh at Andrew Edlin, via Art Observed

Situated in a beautiful lofted space in the heart of TriBeCa, Independent NY is easily one of the most picturesque of the fairs returning to Armory Week this year.  Looking out at the towering skyline of downtown Manhattan, the viewer’s gaze alternates between works hung close to the floor to ceiling glass paneling and on the erected walls nearby.  The open plan and imaginative projects chosen only adds to the atmosphere, making Independent simultaneously a relaxed, mellow browsing experience and a deep dive into impeccably selected works. (more…)

Young collector and patron Tiffany Zabludowicz of the family of British collectors gets a profile in the NYT this week, as she gives a tour of her collection. “I do it very instinctively,” she says of her collecting style. “It’s not always pretty; it can be aesthetically a bit strange. I also like things that are playful, but in a really smart way.” (more…)

Pablo Picasso, La Dormeuse (1932), via Phillips

With Thursday drawing to a close in London, the final night of Contemporary auctions was in the bag, as Philips capped an impressive outing, bringing a final tally of £97 million that made it the most successful and high-grossing sale in auction house history.  The sale saw some particularly strong results over the course of 50 lots, ultimately hitting several impressive auction tallies on the way to the week’s conclusion.  Marking another major statement for an auction that has increasingly staked out a space for itself in the higher ends of the secondary market, Phillips planted a flag this evening, selling several works at prices that could compete with either Sotheby’s or Christie’s premier pieces.

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The Dia Art Foundation has acquired Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels, an earthwork in Utah’s Great Basin Desert, the New York Times reports.  The work is the first land art piece by a woman in the organization’s collection.  “‘Sun Tunnels’ is a work that reaches back to a Renaissance fascination with astronomy but has a very contemporary physicality,” says director Jessica Morgan. (more…)

Yinka Shonibare is interviewed in The Guardian this week, as the artist unveils a new sculpture near Central Park that speaks to the global plight of immigrants. “It’s a simple equation,” Shonibare says. “You want to be safe, warm and clothed and looked after. Therefore it’s natural you should want that for other people.” (more…)

The case brought by the heirs of Peggy Guggenheim over management of her Venetian estate has been dismissed by France’s highest court, the Art Newspaper reports, with the court finding that there had been no prior stipulations over the exhibition of works or the timing of exhibitions left by the well-known arts patron. “We are pleased that these meritless lawsuits and appeals have now come to an end,” the Guggenheim Foundation said in a statement. “The Foundation is proud to have faithfully carried out the wishes of Peggy Guggenheim for close to 40 years by preserving her collection and exhibiting it in the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, restoring and maintaining the Palazzo as a public museum and contributing to the knowledge of modern and contemporary art in Italy.”  (more…)

Yinka Shonibare at James Cohan, via Art Observed

As Wednesday winds down, this year’s edition of the annual Armory Show has gotten underway, with the doors of Piers 92 and 94 opening on to an expansive array of booths and art objects.  Marking its most recent iteration since first opening in 1994, this year’s edition of the Armory Show also marked its first for new director Nicole Berry, who took over following Benjamin Genocchio’s ouster over reports of sexual harassment.  Berry brings years of experience with EXPO Chicago, and it shows, with a relaxed pacing and well-curated body of main booths and special exhibitions keeping the fair at the top of its game. (more…)

Gerhard Richter, Gelbgrün (1982), via Sotheby’s

The second night of London’s Post-War and Contemporary Evening Sales has wrapped, as Sotheby’s capped a 61-lot auction outing that reached a final tally of £109,292,700.  Achieving a solid price for the sale despite some underperforming lots and a handful of unsold works.  The sale seemed to underscore a market whose highest selling works are still stuck in a state of relative uncertainty, with certain bets and guaranteed prices far less reliable than in recent years.

Peter Doig, The Architect’s Home in the Ravine (1991), via Sotheby’s

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Brooke Nicholas, via Art Observed

As the Armory Week begins to heat up, and turns towards the centerpiece of the week’s proceedings at Piers 92 and 94 tomorrow, the first night of SPRING/BREAK was underway at 4 Times Square.  Holding its seventh edition this year, the fair has grown into one of the more enigmatic and exciting events of the week, with this year being no exception.   (more…)

The Swiss Institute has set its opening date as June 21st, 2018, the organization announced today.  “I am immensely grateful for the continuing support we have been receiving as we create the very first long-term home for SI after more than three decades of existence. We are opening much more than a building it is a new public space in the heart of Downtown, for an ever-growing community to enjoy art, always free of charge. We are committed to continuing a legacy of generative experimentation and to fostering an environment in the East Village in which art can thrive, and be open to all,” says Board Chair Maja Hoffmann.

Read more at Swiss Institute

The Louvre has opened a show in Tehran, showcasing the continued power of cultural diplomacy as the EU and Iran debate new nuclear deals. “In the turbulent ocean of international diplomacy, cultural diplomacy is a beacon we must keep alight,” says French foreign minister Yves Le Drian. (more…)

Painter Celia Paul gets a profile in the New York Times this week, as she prepares to open a show of work at the Tate Britain, and reflects on her long relationship with Lucian Freud, who frequently painted her. “He sensed that I was romantic, and somehow it was the beauty that got me, I think: the beauty of his art and his courtship,” she says of her relationship to the painter. “He was tender, and very, very gentle.” (more…)

The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday has brought criminal charges against 10 defendants, for a laundering scheme involving a late Pablo Picasso, Reuters reports.  “The defendants engaged in an elaborate multi-year scheme to defraud the investing public of millions of dollars through deceit and manipulative stock trading, and then worked to launder the fraudulent proceeds through off-shore bank accounts and the art world,” U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue in Brooklyn said in a statement. (more…)

A strong market season for Pablo Picasso continues this spring in New York, as the painter’s Le Repos, a portrait of Marie-Theres Walter, heads to Sotheby’s this May with a $25 million estimate. “It’s as pure as you’ll get,” says Simon Shaw of the auction house’s Impressionist and Modern department. “Picasso is just utterly infatuated with her.” (more…)

The Shed, a  multidisciplinary performing-arts center set to open next year, has announced its first round of commissions for 2019, including projects with Steve McQueen, Gerhard Richter, and a show on the word of Agnes Denes. “If the range of artists you present represents the range of society, then you have a chance,” said Alex Poots, the Shed’s artistic director and CEO. (more…)

Whitney Curator Barbara Haskell gets a profile in the New York Times this week, as she prepares to open a show on the works of painter Grant Wood. “It’s hard to imagine American art without her,” says museum director, Adam D. Weinberg. “Her métier is these great monograph shows.” (more…)

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Multiflavors (1982), via Christie’s

The art world’s market focus has split between London and New York this week, as Armory Week kicks off in New York, and a trio of major contemporary auctions hit the British capital.  The week’s sales got its first indicator of health for the Contemporary and Post-War Market as Christie’s capped the first night of sales, closing a 65-lot offering with moderately strong results, ultimately achieving a final tally of £137,989,750 with only five lots going unsold. (more…)

The NYT profiles TEFAF’s efforts to continue expanding beyond its fairs in New York and Maastricht, and its next steps as it pushes beyond easy distinctions over its character and interests. “What we really try to achieve is to become a global brand,” says chairman Nanne Dekking. “But it’s a more complex brand because of the huge diversity of participants. We cannot say that we’re going to be a global brand in Impressionism or a global brand in contemporary art. What we have to establish is that we can become a global brand that people can trust.” (more…)

Hannah Van Bart, The Waiting (2017), via Marianne Boesky

As the winter months draw slowly to a close, and the weather shifts into more temperate conditions, New York City will once again step into its role as a central hub of the contemporary art market, and the global art fair circuit, as a string of fairs and exhibitions open up across the city.  Centering around the annual Armory Show Art Fair on the West Side, the scale of the proceedings seem to only get larger each year (so much so that this year mainstay the ADAA Art Show branched out into its own week), yet attention continues to center around a selection of fairs spread across Manhattan.

Nam June Paik, Lion (2005), via Gagosian

Bruce High Quality Foundation, Ways to Die (House of Turds) (2018) via Pippy Houldsworth

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