The New York Times has published a short feature by neuroscientist Eric R. Kandel, showing the links between the biological composition of the brain and the viewer’s understanding of art.  Using the turn of the century works of Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka as his example, Dr. Kandel illustrates how these particular works activated certain cells in the brain, causing a powerful emotional reaction.  New studies, such as the bold brain mapping project announced by President Obama this month, would continue to extend studies of the brain and its reactions to creative stimulus. (more…)

Luigi Ghirri, Bastia (1976), via Matthew Marks Gallery

In 1978, photographer Luigi Ghirri first published his manifesto on avant-garde photography, Kodachrome.  Locating the image as both a problem and solution in the increasingly complex interrelations of image, identity and object created through a technologically advancing world, the book sought to use the camera as it was, a machine for generating reproductions, to, in his words “be able finally to distinguish the precise identity of man, things, life, from the image of man, things, and life.” Recognizing the artist’s immense contributions to both photography and conceptual thought, Matthew Marks Gallery is currently hosting a show of 25 of Ghirri’s photographs in New York City, taken from the artist’s landmark book.

Luigi Ghirri, Urbino (1975), via Matthew Marks Gallery

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Helen Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea (1952), Courtesy Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc., on extended loan to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. © 2013 Estate of Helen Frankenthaler/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery.

In 1951, at the age of twenty-two, American painter Helen Frankenthaler appeared in her first solo exhibition in New York.  It was a fitting introduction to the artist, who, over the next ten years, developed a uniquely evocative style that would define her as a major talent of mid-twentieth century New York City.  Sixty years later, Gagosian Gallery is exhibiting some of Frankenthaler’s works from this decade, showcasing the creative practice of the artist’s pivotal early years, and offering perspective on her ever-evolving style.

Helen Frankenthaler, Untitled (1951), © 2013 Estate of Helen Frankenthaler/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Photography by Robert McKeever”. (more…)

The Frieze New York Art Fair has announced the artists exhibiting in this year’s edition of its annual Sculpture Park section.  The 2013 edition of the Sculpture Park will see works by Paul McCarthy, Martha Friedman, and Nick Van Woert, among others.  “Building upon the success of last year, our aim for this new edition is to increase the ambition of the Sculpture Park program both in scope and scale. Placed in an exceptional location, the program will continue expanding visitors’ experience by displaying large outdoor sculptures in dialogue with ephemeral pieces.”  Says curator Tom Eccles. (more…)

ArtInfo has posted a feature profiling the early professions of a number of high-profile artists, offering a look at how they made a living before becoming art world mainstays.  The list includes Mark Rothko (delivery boy), Yves Klein (judo master), Matthew Barney (model), and James Turrell (cattle rancher), who famously said: ““I don’t know if it’s harder to make a living as an artist or a rancher.” (more…)

Beginning April 25th, the Art Production Fund will unveil a series of murals on the steel shutters of local businesses on The Bowery in New York.  Titled “After Hours 2: Murals on the Bowery,” the project has welcomed a number of artists, including Laura Owens, Adam Pendleton, Dana Schutz and many more to create works only seen when the businesses close for the night.  “They’re all site-specific, and they all relate to the neighborhood,” says APF co-founder Yvonne Force Villareal. (more…)

Annabelle Selldorf, the architect behind David Zwirner Gallery’s newest space on 20th Street in Manhattan, was recently interviewed in Architectural Digest about the unique, cast-in-place concrete façade of the building, the challenges created by such a demanding design, and her experience working with Zwirner to conceptualize the design of the building.  “Truthfully, it was David who wanted the building to be cast-in-place concrete.”  She says. “But like any layperson, he didn’t necessarily know what that entailed. He just knew that he wanted a certain look and feel. And I, knowing more about what it takes to actually do a concrete structure, realized this posed a formidable challenge.” (more…)

Ernesto Neto, for ever (2013), Courtesy Max Hetzler

A series of new drawings and sculptures by Brazilian artist Ernesto Neto (1964) are currently on view at Galerie Max Hetzler in a solo exhibition entitled notes, stones and dots.  The exhibition sees Neto exploring the forms and movements generated from the act of dancing: “If we could feel our body in a state of dance,” he says, “we might gain a better balance.”

Ernesto Neto, animal nature (2013), Courtesy Max Hetzler

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The Louvre was forced to close on Wednesday, after 200 guards and surveillance agents went on strike to protest the growing number of often violent pickpockets at the museum.  “For more than a year, pickpockets have come here every day,” Thierry Choquet, a member of the main union at the Louvre, said. “They threaten guards by telling them that they know where they live.” (more…)

Artist Cyprien Gaillard is featured in the New York Times’ T Magazine, talking about his practice, inspiration, and development as an artist, as well as his viewpoints on the cultural processes that inform his work. “For me, decay is a starting point. I don’t just record it or picture it. What I’m interested in is creating a form of equilibrium within the decay.”  He says. (more…)

The former home of the American Folk Art Museum, constructed just 12 years ago, will be demolished to facilitate an expansion by the Museum of Modern Art.  MoMA had purchased the building several years ago as the Folk Art Museum tried to pay off debts from an expansion, and plans to erect a new building to complete its proposed five-building campus expansion.  “We have a lot of art that we own that we would like to show,” said real estate developer and museum chairman Jerry I. Speyer “When we built what exists today we didn’t get as much exhibition space as we really need.” (more…)

Édouard Manet, Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets (1872), via Royal Academy of Arts

London’s Royal Academy of Arts is currently exhibiting an ambitious retrospective of portraiture by iconoclastic French painter Édouard Manet (1832 – 1883), collected from across Europe, Asia and the United States.  This is the first-ever exhibition of work by Manet that focuses on his broad body of portraiture, tracing the artist’s artistic evolution in the format throughout his life, as well as his contributions to modern portraiture in the contemporary era.  While Manet worked across a range of subjects in figurative painting, portraiture makes up about half of his body of work, offering perhaps the strongest evidence of the artist’s creative motivations throughout the course of his life.

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Los Angeles’s Museum of Contemporary Art has appointed three new members to its board of trustees: former KB Homes CEO Bruce Karatz, investor Stanley Gold and collector Orna Amir Wolens.  The announcement comes after MOCA made the decision to remain an independent institution and forego a merger with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  “MOCA is a dynamic part of the cultural identity of Los Angeles,” Said Bruce Karatz. “I am delighted to be part of the board that will help ensure MOCA continues its tradition of impressive, groundbreaking exhibitions.” (more…)

In the wake of the Pratt Institute fire that destroyed several floors of the school’s historic Main Building, along with the work and materials of 35 art students, dealer Larry Gagosian has stepped in to arrange a show of work by affected students.  Hosted at the Seagram’s Building, the selections for the show will be made by Brooklyn Museum curator Eugene Tsai, and will be on view from May 9th to the 14th.  “The students wanted a show in Manhattan, and this is like a dream come true,” said Pratt president Thomas F. Schutte. (more…)

Candida Höfer, Teatro Scientifico Bibiena Mantova I (2010), Courtesy Ben Brown Fine Arts

Ben Brown Fine Arts in London presents work by German photographer Candida Höfer, showcasing the artists masterful control, precision, and detail in capturing the grandiosity of Italian Renaissance architecture.  The exhibition, which features images of brightly lit, cavernous interiors of several ornate Italian buildings, depict these majestic spaces as part of the everyday, highlighting the grandeur of the Italian architectural tradition.

Candida Höfer, A Return to Italy (Installation View), via Ben Brown Fine Arts

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Juan Gris, Figure Seated in a Café (Man at a Table) (1914). via New York Times

Leonard Lauder, the former chairman of Estée Lauder and a noted collector of early 20th century art, has donated a vast collection of Cubist works to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, valued at more than $1 billion. (more…)

Artforum is reporting that dealer and artist Daniel Reich recently passed away, taking his own life on Christmas Day of last year.  He was 39 years old.  Reich began showing art in 2001, and established his own gallery in Chelsea, which closed in 2011.  “Change is hard, but it’s also good,” he said at that time. “It resets you, it returns you to that initial energy, the fire that you had, way back then, when you knew that you wanted to do this.”   (more…)

Christie’s has been granted a license to operate without government oversight in mainland China, becoming the first independent auction house in the country.  The agreement comes in the wake of a reported dip in auction sales for the country last year, and some suspect the move comes as a way to introduce higher standards of authentication to the proceedings of auctions in mainland China.  “In recent years we have seen phenomenal developments take place in the global art market, particularly in China, where the market has grown at an unprecedented rate,” said Christie’s CEO Steven P. Murphy. “Today’s announcement further solidifies Christie’s position and commitment in a market which possesses a strong heritage and deep appreciation of art.” (more…)

Karlheinz Stockhausen and Rikrit Tiravanija, Oktophonie (Installation View), via Park Avenue Armory

German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen’s work explores the constantly shifting nature of both music composition and performance in the 21st century, utilizing recording consoles, synthesizers and mixing boards as devices to explore the human relationship with technology and composition while creating imersive, powerful works.

Karlheinz Stockhausen and Rikrit Tiravanija’s Oktophonie (Installation View), via Park Avenue Armory (more…)

Study for Portrait of P.L.(1962), the Francis Bacon painting of his lover Peter Lacy, will go on the auction block next month as part of Sotheby’s May 14th Contemporary Art Auction in New York.  Expected to sell between $30 and $40 million, the painting could serve as a test of the art market’s current health.  Bacon’s current record at auction is $86.2 million. (more…)

Claes Oldenburg’s iconic Floor Burger (1962) is currently undergoing a restoration project at the Art Gallery of Ontario, in preparation for its upcoming exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  Purchased by the AGO in 1967, the work, which is stuffed with empty ice cream cartoons, has shifted in appearance over the years, and now requires restoration work to help regain its original form and coloration.  “I was more concerned with the effect of the piece as I was making it rather than its future conservation,” says Oldenburg, “I started with the foam, but found it was weighing the sculpture down,” he says, “so we used the empty boxes to make it lighter.” (more…)

Ugo Rondinone, Pure Moonlight (Installation View), via Almine Rech

Almine Rech Gallery Paris is currently hosting its 7th installation of work by the Swiss-born Ugo Rondinone, exploring the interplay of time and creative practice on the artist.  Titled Pure Moonlight, the show consists of a series of Rondinone’s concentric “date paintings,” as well another set of small-scale candle sculptures.

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Painter Eric Fischl has published a memoir of the 1980’s New York art scene, chronicling the excesses and darker side of the high-profile art world of Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Mary Boone.  Titled Bad Boy, My Life On and Off the Canvas, the tell-all book includes a story about an infamous 1983 party thrown by Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf, with “lookout towers, armed guards, and a glamorous crowd . . . some naked,” with waiters offering “glasses of Champagne [and] a choice of cocaine or heroin.” (more…)

A UK tax judgement this week has challenged the taxation of art works in the country, allowing Portrait of Omai by Sir Joshua Reynolds to be taxed as a “wasting asset,” thereby avoiding capital gains tax.  The painting had hung in North Yorkshire’s Castle Howard for over two hundred years, and was recently sold by owned Simon Howard, who claims the work contributed to the appeal of the castle for tourists.  “The case could give vendors savings of 28 per cent on the sale of works of art that fulfil the same criteria,” said art agent Robert Holden. (more…)