Oldenburg and van Bruggen, Study, Soft Shuttlecock (1994). All Images Courtesy The Pace Gallery.

Now through February 22, Pace Gallery‘s 534 W. 25^th Street location is hosting “Grounded”, an exhibition featuring floor-based sculpture by major figures in contemporary art. The show contains work produced from 1967 to 2013 that invite the viewers to experience a new perspective on sculptural forms. The artists that contribute to this show include works by Carl Andre, John Chamberlain, Tara Donovan, Tom Friedman, Tim Hawkinson, Maya Lin and others, focusing on the spatial interactions between art, the ground, and the viewer’s perception. (more…)

Sue Williams, Philip Zelikow, Historian (2013) All photos courtesy of 303 Gallery

303 Gallery presents Sue Williams WTC, WWIII, Couch Size, on view through February 22nd, 2014. Williams’ ninth solo exhibition with the gallery, this show features six new large-scale paintings, of ‘couch-sized’ proportion.  This titular reference to the commercial appraisal of artworks marks the comic butt of a seemingly sinister thematic program, which proclaims the World Trade Center and World War III as its subject. Williams’ nominal list introduces the ironic tone that colors her paintings, their dark subject matter bursting with chromatic brilliance and her signature comic levity.

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The German government has announced plans to search its public museums through an independent center, the Wall Street Journal reports.  The news follows the ongoing outcry over the seized collection of Cornelius Gurlitt, and the attempted claims laid by families from whom the art was looted during WWII.  “These are delicate matters to articulate,” says German Culture Minister Monika Grütters. “It’s a matter of earning back trust.” (more…)

Fashion line and retailer Opening Ceremony has announced that it will present a collection of ready to wear clothing inspired by Magritte next week at London’s fashion week, including a capsule footwear collection in collaboration with Manolo Blahnik, Birkenstocks, and Vans.  “We really wanted to think about this triptych of footwear, and think about different types of people,” said creative director Humberto Leon. “Everyone in the office wants it.” (more…)

Artist Eric Fischl is profiled in the Financial Times, and speaks about his current retrospective at the Albertina, his life and career, and the reception of his work by both collectors and museums.  “I very naively thought as a young artist that the work I was doing was not suited for individuals to live with because it had such harsh content, Fischl says, “but I thought museums would want it because it is about the truth of life. Turned out to be the opposite. Museums are afraid of sexual content.” (more…)

In another example of celebrities attempting the conceptual in a gallery setting, actor Shia Labouf has installed himself at Stephen Cohen Gallery in Los Angeles, welcoming attendees to sit across from him as he cries.  The piece bears resemblance to Marina Abramovic’s The Artist is Present, but centers around LaBouf’s ongoing apologies and accusations of plagiarism. (more…)

Former Harper’s Bazaar and V Magazine Editor Derek Blasberg has reportedly joined on with Gagosian Gallery in an unspecified position.  “Derek brings a new perspective to the gallery, and as one of the leading media voices in fashion and the creative arts, I think he will make a valuable contribution,” Larry Gagosian said in a statement. “Our aim is to create a diverse program, to inspire our audience and promote our artists. I look forward to working with Derek to broaden our reach.” (more…)

Francis Bacon, Portrait of George Dyer Talking (1966), via Christie’s

Another week of contemporary art auctions have come and gone, with a number of high-profile works changing hands in London this week, and a number of new records being for artists across the board.  All auction houses boasted strong sales results, with Christie’s once again taking the lead.

Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild 776-1 (1992), via Phillips (more…)

Looking Back / The 8th White Columns Annual (Installation View)

The White Columns Annual is open again this year, presenting a series of works centered around the title Looking Back.  This year, curator Pati Hertling has been invited to select works based on her “personal experience of looking at art in New York” over the past year.

Lucy Dodd and Sergei Tcherepnin at The White Columns Annual, All Images via White Columns

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Vasily Kandinsky, Circles within a Circle (1923), Philadelphia Museum of Art: The Louise and Walter Arensberg Collection, 1950
Photo Credit: The Philadelphia Museum of Art / Art Resource, NY © 2013 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Compiling one of the more ambitious exhibitions of work recently shown on the Russian avant-garde, the recently closed exhibition on the work of Vasily Kandinsky offered perhaps one of the best perspectives on the developing voice of one of the 20th century’s most vital painters.  Charting his move from early impressionist works to the conceptually rigorous formalism that he developed as a consequence of his broader exposure to the European art world after his move to Germany, From Blaue Reiter to the Bauhaus, 1910-1925 is a fitting origins story for this influential artist.

Vasily Kandinsky (Installation View), via Art Observed (more…)

In partnership with Creative Time Reports, Trevor Paglen and The Intercept have embarked on a project to illustrate and visualize the various surveillance structures and institutions currently active in the United States.  Providing images of the headquarters for the largest organizations in the U.S. surveillance network, Paglen is seeking to provide a tangible visual signature for these often abstracted institutions.  “I hope these images first of all will be helpful for people to wrap their heads around what some of these agencies are, to point to them and acknowledge that they exist, that they’re doing work,” Paglen says.  “Beyond that I hope that they can contribute to a wider cultural vocabulary that we can use to try and see these institutions, to understand them and the effect they have on the society around them.” (more…)

A cache of 60 artworks have been removed from the Salzburg home of Cornelius Gurlitt, the elderly son of a Nazi-era dealer whose trove of over 1,000 works was seized late last year from his Munich flat.  The new set of works features paintings by Renoir and Picasso, among many others.  “Cornelius Gurlitt has ordered experts to examine these works on suspicion of having been looted,” says spokesman, Stephan Holzinger. (more…)

A new venture by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is looking to launch a new examination of conservation in technology, part of a Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded project called The Artist’s Initative.  Examining technological leaps in design, tech and the work of various artists that drive these media forward, the project will embrace a broad series of concerns facing the modern museum.  (more…)

Andisheh Avini, Untitled (2013), Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York © Andisheh Avini, photo credit: Jason Wyche

For his first solo exhibition at Marianne Boesky Gallery since joining in 2012, artist Andisheh Avini presents a refined selection of recent works, informed by the artist’s own personal experience of his Iranian heritage, a subjective approach that he ultimately uses to explore broader and more collective notions regarding the relevance of both memory and imagery.

Andisheh Avini (Installation View), Courtesy of Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York © Andisheh Avini, photo credit: Jason Wyche (more…)

The Musée Marmottan-Monet, the private museum holding the largest collection ofClaude Monet paintings in the world, will look to relaunch itself this week alongside its more well-recognized Parisian contemporaries.  “Many of our paintings are well known but the museum is less well known,” says museum director Patrick de Carolis. “We have to change that. We are private and entirely funded by the money we earn for ourselves. We hope that the exhibition, which starts this week will encourage people to come to the Marmottan.” (more…)

Delays have caused the Broad Museum (currently under-construction in Los Angeles) to push back its scheduled opening date from late this year to early 2015, the New York Times reports.  A honeycomb-style “veil” wrapping around the museum has caused some complications in construction, but also enables the museum to continue working on its downtown campus.  “We expect to announce the opening date later this year,” said Broad Foundation Spokesperson Karen Denne. (more…)

German photographer Wolfgang Tillmans is reportedly breaking ties with Andrea Rosen Gallery, confirmed by the gallerist this morning.  “Not only do I respect an artist’s right to make choices, but I also deeply respect Wolfgang’s work,” Rosen wrote in an email. “Wolfgang and I continue to have a meaningful and personal dialogue, and in the spirit of our twenty year relationship, it will continue both professionally and personally.”  Sources indicate that Tillmans will be signing on with David Zwirner. (more…)

A new historical study is providing evidence that Michelangelo’s abilities as an artist may have been paralleled by equally exceptional skills as an art forger.  Historian Thierry Lenain of the Institut Français in London has just published a book tracing the history of forgeries in art, and notes the Italian master’s reputation as a skilled forger, often exposing paintings to smoke or dirt to make them look considerably aged.  “He admired these originals for the excellence of their art and sought to surpass them,”  Lenain says. (more…)

The opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics last week prominently featured the touchstones of the Russian avant-garde, The Art Newspaper notes.  References and tributes to Malevich, Tatlin and Rodchenko could be seen throughout the ceremony, but some critics noted that the inclusion of these artists was a bid by Vladimir Putin to culturally tie the country closer to Europe.   “He needs to feel that attempts to become European are immediately appreciated and not rejected,” says Marat Guelman, the curator and former museum director forced from his post at the Perm Museum over political critiques. “Otherwise if he sees that whatever he does he is trashed, he’ll spit on it all and start building an Orthodox Iran.”  (more…)

A New York Judge has placed a hold on the removal of a delicate Picasso tapestry from the wall of the Four Seasons Restaurant at the Seagrams Building.  The work was scheduled for removal to make repairs to the wall behind it, but will stand until a more cautious plan can be developed.  “I don’t want to be the judge who has a Picasso destroyed,” said Justice Matthew F. Cooper.  “If some damage were to occur, no amount of money could make up for the loss of any Picasso.” (more…)

Francis Bacon, Portrait of George Dyer Talking (1966), via Christie’s

Following the first two weeks of the annual set of early-year auctions in New York and London this year, the market will focus its attention this week on contemporary works, with a trio of auctions taking place this week in London.  This year, the proceedings will kick off at Phillips in London on February 10th, and will see a day day break between auctions, with Sotheby’s joining the auction fray on the 12th, and Christie’s wrapping up the week on the 13th.

Roy Lichtenstein, Interior with Painting of Trees (1997), via Sotheby’s (more…)

The Museum of Modern Art has hired Fiona Romeo as the head of the museum’s Digital Content and Strategy, a new position that will place her at the head of the museum’s digital media department.  “Fiona’s appointment builds upon the Museum’s pioneering work in the digital realm, and is a reflection of the dynamic and vital role that digital content plays in the way people can participate in the life of the Museum,” said MoMA director Glenn Lowry in a release. (more…)

The New York Times Magazine publishes an interview with Matthew Barney, leading up to the premiere of the artist’s River of Fundament at BAM this week, discussing the artist’s inspiration, and his time with writer Norman Mailer, on whose death much of the film is based.  “When Mailer said to me that I should really read “Ancient Evenings,” I thought, Wow, this is so much like the beginning of “Cremaster 3.” I’ve already done this.” (more…)

Inside the LA Art Book Fair, via Art Observed

Despite its size and immense popularity, the LA Art Book Fair is only two years old. Originally a New York function based out in MoMA’s PS1 satellite location, the dramatic growth of the fair has led to a second location across the country . Conceived by artist AA Bronson and Printed Matter, the Book Fair is not necessarily art-world exclusive, aiming to continue Printed Matter’s dedication to the “dissemination, understanding and appreciation of artists’s books.” Indeed, respected art world publishers such as Mörel Books and Primary Information were in attendance, but one of the primary concentrations of the LA Book Fair once again focused on the grassroots, DIY zines that gave voice to subculture interests on the fringe of the arts community from the 1970’s until today.

LA Art Book Fair, via Art Observed

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