Details are emerging about a major exhibition of work by Damien Hirst, billed as the largest exhibition of work by the artist yet to be assembled, slated to open later this year in Doha, Qatar. The show, titled Relics, will cull work from the full range of the artist’s work, and will include a number of the artist’s diamond-encrusted work. (more…)
A museum show intended to heal relations between the United States and Italy over claims of looted work has encountered turbulence, after Sicilian officials have refused to ship several works over concerns over tourism. When asked about the region’s refusal to cooperate, Sicilian official Mariarita Sgarlata noted: “How would an American tourist react who, trusting his Frommer’s travel guide, has gone out of his way to visit the island of Mozia to admire this work of art in its original setting, only to discover that the statue is in Tokyo or St. Petersburg?” (more…)
Brian Ramnarine, currently out on bail on the charges of forging a work by Jasper Johns, was arraigned on Friday for allegedly attempting a similar fraud with works by Robert Indiana and Saint Clair Cemin. “He knows it’s illegal and he keeps on doing it,” Prosecutor Zachary Feingold said. “He knows what he did was wrong. He knew he couldn’t do it and he did it anyway.” (more…)
Fashion designer L’Wren Scott has announced the completion of her fall line, inspired by painter Gustav Klimt. Speaking at a press conference last week, Scott discussed the artist’s inspiration on her work, and the inspiration he took from the fashion and culture of his era. “He was very avant garde and scandalous, in more ways than the children.” Ms. Scott said. “It was a movement coming from something very strict to loosening up, but as you see, Klimt was a man who missed the waistline. He painted it in everyone of his portraits. He wanted to see the female form.” (more…)
With the Syrian civil war raging around them, a group of artists have smuggled their works out of the country for a survey exhibition in London, risking life and limb to get their works abroad for a show at P21 Gallery in Euston, opening this week. “I travelled to Lebanon and Jordan twice to take work smuggled over the border,” said Fadi Haddad of support group Mosaic Syria. “The artists are worried that they could be traced if the work is stopped at a checkpoint. Some haven’t signed their work. The security police wouldn’t understand their message but they’d still see it as a danger. One artist went to Lebanon to remake her work just to avoid trouble from the authorities.” (more…)
The billionaire Leon Black, who previously made headlines after buying Edvard Munch‘s “The Scream” for $120 million in Sotheby’s New York, has been identified as the mysterious buyer of Raphael’s “Head of a Young Apostle,” sold last December at Sotheby’s London for $47.9 million. Regardless of his winning bid, Mr. Black will have to wait until the Old Master’s drawing is released by the British government, as authorities have issued a export-deferral, in order to facilitate its acquisition by national collectors or institutions. “The waiting game for Mr. Black will end on July 3 if no serious offers are made, but may be extended until January 3, 2014,” reports Mary M. Lane. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
Doug Aitken will be joined by a group of artists in a train ride from New York to Los Angeles, making stops in various cities for site-specific performances. The artist has envisioned the Amtrak train–outfitted with LED lights–as a cultural studio for prominent experimental artists, including Kenneth Anger, Olaf Breuning, Peter Coffin, Urs Fischer, Meschac Gaba, Liz Glynn, Christian Jankowski, Carsten Holler, Aaron Koblin, Ernesto Neto, Jack Pierson, Stephen Shore, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Lawrence Weiner; as well as musicians: Fiery Furnaces, Nite Jewel, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dan Deacon, No Age, Ariel Pink and Beck. Read more at Los Angeles Times.
Paul McCarthy, WS (2013), via Park Avenue Armory
There’s a lot that can be said about Paul McCarthy’s WS installation, which opened this week at the Park Avenue Armory in upper Manhattan. One could note the full spectrum of sexual atrocities committed on-screen during his numerous filmic works, or the bizarre references to Walt Disney and his fantastic empire of entertainment, or even to the prosthetic noses he seems to put on all his characters of late. No matter the line of discussion, McCarthy’s show, presented by curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and Armory artistic director Alex Poots, is a dizzying and difficult immersion into McCarthy’s powerful body of work.
Los Carpinteros, Tomates (2013), via Sean Kelly
Cuban artist collective Los Carpinteros are currently presenting a show of new and recent work at Sean Kelly’s Chelsea art space, pulling together a trio of projects that serve as a strong summary of the artists’ complex and multifaceted practice.
Los Carpinteros, Irreversible (Installation View), via Sean Kelly (more…)
Lucien Smith, A Clean Sweep (Installation View), Photos Courtesy The Suzanne Geiss Company, New York
Suzanne Geiss Company’s New York’s SoHo neighborhood is currently housing A Clean Sweep, Lucien Smith’s nostalgic exhibition inspired by the changing streets of his home city.
Lucien Smith, Untitled (Pizzerias 001), (2013) Photos by Matthu Placek. Courtesy The Suzanne Geiss Company, New York (more…)
Monet Sells at Sotheby’s, via Sotheby’s
With the closing of this week’s Impressionist and Modern Evening Sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s, evidence of a strong art market is not hard to find. Sotheby’s held a slight edge over its recently successful rival, managing an auction total of $165.9 million, with only 13 of the 71 pieces going unsold. Two pieces passed the ten million dollar mark, and 29 were sold for more than one-million dollars. The auction also set auction records for Camille Claudel and FrantiÅ¡k Kupka. In contrast, Christie’s achieved a result of $100.4 million over the course of its 44 lot sale. The result lies in between the total pre-sale estimate for the auction house of $82.8 to $118.8 million. Only seven works remained unsold, and two lots were sold for over ten million dollars.
Wassily Kandinsky, Studie zu Improvisation 3 (1909), via Christie’s (more…)
Scott Campbell, Things Get Better, (Installation View), courtesy OHWOW Los Angeles
A solo exhibition of work by artist Scott Campbell is currently on view at OHWOW Los Angeles, featuring a series of large-scale ink wash paintings on paper, depicting invented objects, particularly makeshift tools, textual subversions, and intriguing figurations found in the world of underground and prison tattoo culture.
South-African born artist Susanne du Toit has been awarded the prestigious BP Portrait Award at a ceremony in the National Portrait Gallery in London. The piece was part of a series of portraits of the artist’s family; where she allowed her son to find his own pose, as long it allowed her to depict his hands, as she considers them an essential element of character. This year’s panel of judges was comprised by the painter and assistant to the late Lucian Freud, David Dawson; Sarah Howgate, an NPG curator; Victoria Pomery, director of Turner Contemporary in Margate; the writer Ali Smith; and Des Violaris, BP’s director of UK arts and culture. (more…)
A James Turrell installation at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas has been declared destroyed by the artist, following the construction of a 40-story luxury condominium tower that obscured the view of the original work. Tending (Blue), part of the artist’s Skyspace series, was subsequently closed, with a sign on the front reading: “Because a clear view of the sky from the interior of Tending (Blue) is now obstructed by Museum Tower, the artist, James Turrell, has declared the work destroyed. Turrell has created a new design for a skyspace on this site, which will eliminate Museum Tower from the viewer’s line of sight.” (more…)
Sotheby’s has placed its York Ave. Headquarters on the Upper East Side of Manhattan up for sale, sources report. The auction house will be looking to potentially lease back the building for the time being, as it looks to readdress its current home. “Given the location of our building, the current real estate market, the unsolicited interest we’ve received in our property and our responsibility to our shareholders, we are exploring our options,” Sotheby’s spokesman Andrew Gully said. (more…)
Art F City’s weekly STUFF column took an interesting twist this week, as artist John Baldessari was invited to contribute a list of his ten most prized possessions. Rather following his cue, the artist submitted a list of 10 incredibly wealthy individuals, including photographs of each billionaire’s personal yacht. True to form, Baldessari’s witty subversion offers a pointed commentary on the fetishization of material objects. (more…)
Taking a cue from its country’s robust banking operations, the Swiss art market is luring more foreign buyers to the country for the purchase of Swiss works. “A lot of collectors see that Swiss art has a very high standard in comparison with international movements, and our most important artists, like Hodler, Cuno Amiet and the Giacometti family, were not only Swiss but European avant-gardists.” Urs Lanter, head of Sotheby’s Switzerland unit says. (more…)
The Wall Street Journal reports on the popularity of mirrored works on sale at the recently-concluded 2013 edition of Art Basel in Switzerland. Reflective works by Anish Kapoor, Doug Aitken, Virginia Overton and others sold well this year, continuing the recent trends toward glass and mirrored works that seem to be appearing across the contemporary landscape. When pressed for comment, dealer Eva Scherr noted: “narcissism often plays a role.” (more…)
Giuseppe Penone, Le Corps D’Un Jardin (Installation View), via Marian Goodman
Leading up to a major installation of sculptures at the Chateau de Versailles in Paris, Giuseppe Penone and Marian Goodman Gallery are presenting a selection of past works by the artist, exhibiting a selection of works playing on themes of nature, flux, space and texture. Consisting of large sculptures and wall-mounted works, Penone explores the interplay of gesture and movement within the relatively static forms of the artistic practice, and the elegant exchange between nature and man’s depictions of it.
Artist Christopher Wool, and his gallery, Luhring Augustine, are being sued by print studio Brand X Editions, over accusations that Wool violated an agreement over a monoprinting technique allegedly “created, developed and perfected” by the studio’s master printer, Robert Blanton. No comment has been issued on the case as of yet. (more…)
Claude Monet, Le Palais Contarini (1908), via Sotheby’s
With the conclusion of the 6-week long series of art fairs and events this spring, including Frieze New York, the first edition of Art Basel Hong Kong, and the 44th edition of Art Basel in Switzerland, the final major series of auctions before the summer lull begin today in London. With impressive records set last month for a number of works on the auction block, this week’s Impressionist and Modern Evening Sales will look to continue these trends.
Pablo Picasso, Le Peintre (1967), via Sotheby’s (more…)
Yoshitomo Nara, Pace Gallery at Art Basel 2013, Courtesy Pace Gallery
Last evening, the conclusion of Art Basel marked the finish line of a 6-week art world marathon, including Frieze New York, the first edition of Art Basel Hong Kong, and finally the Switzerland-based Art Basel, alongside the opening of the Venice Biennale, and record auction sales in New York. While the time period was most certainly overflowing with events and attractions, the so-called “fair-fatigue” did not kick in at Basel, with record numbers of visitors at Art Basel (86,000 in total), and strong sales across the board. Interestingly, as the number of viewers has grown, the gallery booths have evolved, showing a more focused curatorial approach, often planned months in advance.
Donald Judd, David Zwirner at Art Basel 2013, Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London (more…)
Dieter Roth, Snow, (1964-69) courtesy the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Focusing on the period between the late 1950s into the early 1970s, when artist Dieter Roth produced his most innovative works, MoMA is currently presenting wait, later this will be nothing, a show documenting the artist’s unique book works. The show is titled after a phrase Roth used in Snow (1964-1969), an early book project that represented a turning point in Roth’s style, and which was highly influenced by James Joyce’s The Dead.
A 40-foot high neon light sculpture of the iconic Playboy Bunny logo has been erected in Marfa, Texas, creating discussion and debate over its presence. The piece was created by writer and artist Neville Wakefield, who is reportedly Playboy’s creative director of special projects, and who has curated a show this past year at Ballroom Marfa. (more…)
