Vik Muniz, Pictures of Magazine 2 (Installation View), via Galeria Elba Benítez

Currently on view at Galeria Elba Benítez in Madrid, Pictures of Magazine 2 is a solo show for Brazilian artist Vik Muniz.  The works in this exhibition are created using Muniz’s unique collage process, combining magazine images to recreate the works of famous artists, all while incorporating his own artistic bent. He then takes photographs of his finished collages, enlarges them, and prints them to create the finished piece. (more…)

Enoc Pérez, “The Good Days” (Installation View)

Enoc Pérez’s second solo exhibition at Acquavella Galleries marks the artist’s first foray into sculpture. Having developed a refined hand-printing technique on canvas (involving a laborious process of transferring pigment onto paper using a series of impressions), Pérez now delves into three-dimensionality.  Titled “The Good Days,” this exhibition marries the artist’s choice medium of brushless painting with sculpture, showing a strong progression for his oeuvre.

(more…)

Former curator for the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Sir Roy Strong has called British art galleries and museums to task for presenting exhibitions avoiding criticism of British policy.  The harsh words come as the V&A gears up for an exhibition on David Bowie.  He says: “I always saw the role of director as primarily to lift people to paradise and to give them information and delight – and then, at another moment, claw them, so they were absolutely shocked and they were made to think about what was going on around them.”

(more…)

The construction of a new corporate campus for corporate giant LG Electronics is raising concerns from The Metropolitan Museum of Art for its potential to intrude on the scenic view of northern Manhattan’s Cloisters Museum.  The site, which was donated by John D. Rockefeller, is renowned for its pristine views of the Hudson River Palisades, and LG’s proposed construction would obscure a portion of the famous scenery.  “I don’t think they’d been aware of the larger context, the historic context, the geographic context,” said Rockefeller’s grandson, Larry. “I think LG really wants to do the right thing, and I’m hopeful that will lead them to redesign it.”   (more…)

Black Cake, Installation view at 83 Grand Street, Courtesy of Team Gallery, New York

Black Cake at Team Gallery is a multi-generational group exhibition curated by Alex Gartenfeld, the young critic and curator whose former West Street Gallery project space was a notable new addition to the downtown art scene before it closed last summer. The exhibition takes its point of departure from the Gaelic spring ritual of Beltane (by way of scholar Roberto Calasso’s account in his 1994 book The Ruin of Kasch), during which a cake would be prepared and divided among members of a tribe. One piece would be covered in ash (hence the name “black cake”), and whomever chose this piece would be pushed into the Beltane bonfire, becoming a sacrificial casualty of the fertility holiday. The exhibition presents the diverse aesthetic iterations of “sweetness” and social identity in contemporary art, notions addressed dynamically across a variety of media through the works on view.

(more…)

New York magazine builds a portrait, with quotes from those such as Richard Serra, of the enigmatic yet indisputably influential top art dealer Larry Gagosian.  The article focuses on Gagosian’s role in the Warhol market in relation to the Mugrabi family; the recent artist defections Gagosian’s gallery has incurred, among them Damien Hirst and Yayoi Kusama; and the recent Perelman and Cowles lawsuits, respectively. “Gagosian’s rise over the past 25 years, concurrent with the development of modern Wall Street, certainly shares a strand of its philosophical double-helix with the hedge-fund approach to investing. The idea is to leave as little to chance—or, in his case, taste—as possible in order to put a value of his own choosing on his assets.”
(more…)

Francesco Clemente, Mandala for Crusoe (Installation View), via Blain|Southern Gallery

For the first time in seven years, painter Francesco Clemente is having a show in London, titled “Mandala for Crusoe,” at Blain|Southern’s recently opened Hanover Square location. Born in Italy, Clemente divides his time between New York and Varanasi, a city on the banks of the Ganges River in northern India, and the works in this exhibition reflect this diverse international influence.

(more…)

Filmed in 1968, Andy Warhol’s “San Diego Surf” spent years locked away before finally seeing a screening at 2011’s Art Basel Miami Beach.  The film, shot by Warhol and his manager/assistant Paul Morrissey, had sat unfinished until 1995, when the Warhol Foundation commissioned Paul Morrissey to complete a final cut.  The film will finally see a public release this month at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, on view from January 23 to the 28th. (more…)

Dealer Christopher D’Amelio, formerly of Paula Cooper Gallery and his own space in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, has announced that he will be closing his gallery to join the expanding gallery network of David Zwirner.  Mr. D’Amelio will be positioned at the gallery’s 20th Street space in New York City.  “Chris brings a lot of experience and knowledge, especially when it comes to Minimalism.” Said Zwirner in an interview with the New York Times. (more…)

On February 5th, Sotheby’s will offer Salvador Dali’s portrait of international socialite Mona Bismarck as part of their Modern Art auction.  The painting will look to follow the recent spike in auction prices for Dali’s work, and is forecasted to sell at $2.41 to $3.21 million.  Samuel Valette, a specialist at Sotheby’s, calls the estimate for “Portrait of Mrs. Harrison Williams” “a fair estimate that leaves room for excitement.” (more…)

Wolfgang Tillmans, Exhibition View, via Moderna Museet Stockholm

20 years of photographic works by Wolfgang Tillmans, the first photographer ever to win the Turner Prize, are currently on view at Moderna Museet, comprising his first major show in Sweden.

(more…)

Jonas Mekas, Jonas Mekas (Installation View), Via Serpentine Gallery

Lithuanian-American artist Jonas Mekas has worn many hats over his sixty-plus year career. Emigrating to the United States after his imprisonment in labor camps during World War II, Mekas began creating films that embraced a diaristic approach to documenting the events of his own life, but were informed by his active participation in the New York avant-garde film scene of the 1950’s. (more…)

Andrea Mary Marshall, Gia Condo (Installation View) – All photos by Elene Damenia for Art Observed unless otherwise noted.

Blending fashion photography, performance, video and painting, the second solo exhibition by artist Andrea Mary Marshall explores the artist’s alter ego – the drag-embracing, Mona Lisa-fixated painter Gia Condo.  Across 13 canvases and a series of photographs, the artist explores issues of gender and identity that surround the famous painting of the smiling woman, re-imagining them in the style of predominantly male contemporary artists like Keith Haring, Francis Bacon, and Marcel Duchamp.

Andrea Mary Marshall, Gia Condo (Installation View)

Art Observed spoke with Marshall at the opening of her exhibition at Allegra LaViola Gallery about the character of Gia Condo, and her motivations for the exhibition.

(more…)

Larry Gagosian responded yesterday to a lawsuit by client Ronald O Perelman over money lost in the exchange of 11 works valued at over $45 million, including an unfinished Jeff Koons sculpture, a Cy Twombly painting, and a sculpture by Richard Serra. In a series of papers filed this week in New York State Supreme Court, Gagosian claims that he had lost money in the transactions, and that Perelman’s claims were “frivolous.” (more…)

Olafur Eliasson, The volcano series, (2012), via neugerriemschneider

Olafur Eliasson, in his sixth solo show at neugerriemschneider Berlin, exhibits new work portraying Iceland, his familial homeland. His new photographic series captures the country’s infamous natural features, and through these stunning images transports the viewer into the scale and physicality of the Icelandic landscape. (more…)

Musician, artist and writer Nick Cave will bring 30 of his signature Soundsuits, intricately designed to resemble horses, to Grand Central Station this March.  The horses, which are operated by two actors, will “graze” in the main hall of the station, and will occasionally break into dance when accompanied by two harpists.  The project, titled “Heard•NY” is co-produced by Creative Time and MTA Arts for Transit. (more…)

Scandinavian artists Elmgreen and Dragset have announced their partnership with the Victoria and Albert Museum for an installation project that will open this fall.  Titled “Tomorrow,” the piece will imagine the residence of a fictional architect, exploring the disconnect between the character’s architectural vision and actual living arrangements.  “We really wonder what goes on inside architects’ heads,” said Elmgreen. “They have all sorts of ideas about creating places for people to live, and yet they are often completely detached from these people’s everyday lives. What does it mean for posh people to be designing social housing?” (more…)

Alex Hubbard, Bent Paintings (Installation View), Courtesy of Galerie Eva Presenhuber

Bent (Why Horses Paint), is a selection  of new works by multimedia artist Alex Hubbard, and his first solo show with Galerie Eva Presenhuber in the gallery’s Löwenbräu complex exhibition space. Hubbard’s paintings move beyond the medium’s traditional two dimensional form, bending into shapes and structures which often seek complete autonomy from the wall.

(more…)

Frieze has announced the gallery list for its second annual Frieze New York art fair.  The fair will see 53 galleries from New York join a strong contingent of exhibitions from around the globe.  Running from May 10th to the 13th, the fair will return to its location overlooking the East River on Randall’s Island between Manhattan and Brooklyn, and will again feature a full lineup of commissions, panel discussions and featured exhibitions. (more…)

The New Art Dealers Alliance will return to New York City this year for its second art fair in the city, and will look to the Basketball City sports complex in the Lower East Side to accommodate its stable of artists and exhibitors.  The event will showcase new and emerging contemporary artists and galleries, complementing the concurrent events of Frieze New York on Randall’s Island that weekend. (more…)

Peter Burr, Special Effect (2012), Courtesy of Peter Burr

Over the course of his career, video artist Peter Burr has worn many hats; founding avant-garde animation label Cartune Xprez, playing and animating for the performance art duo Hooliganship, and working on a variety of video projects and installations around the globe.  His newest work, titled Special Effect, will hold its U.S. premiere at the Museum of Moving Image on Friday, January 18th.  Taking the eerie, haunting film Stalker by Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky as its jumping off point, the show is a multifaceted media presentation, incorporating music, live performance, projection, body mapping, and a selection of videos from contributors across the new media landscape.

Art Observed had the opportunity to speak with Burr about the show, his take on Stalker, and his approach to creating this ambitious work.

(more…)

The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 have announced the winner of the 14th annual Young Architects Program.  Titled “Party Wall,” the design features an enormous set of walls incorporating repurposed skateboard wood, detachable benches, and an intricately designed water system to provide shade, seating and hydration for PS1’s Warm-Up series this summer.   The structure was designed by Ithaca, NY-based architecture firm, CODA.  “CODA’s proposal was selected because of its clever identification and use of locally available resources—the waste products of skateboard-making—to make an impactful and poetic architectural statement within MoMA PS1′s courtyard,” said Pedro Gadanho, Curator in MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design. (more…)

Art dealer Larry Gagosian’s lawsuit against former client Charles Cowles incurred a setback by a U.S. District Court judge.  The 44-page court finding, issued last week, has illustrated issues with the nature of the sales relationship between Cowles and Gagosian which may call into question whether or not Gagosian officially represented Cowles in the sale of Mark Tansey’s “The Innocent Eye Test.”  “(We) believe that the potential strength of Mr. Cowles’s legal defenses outweighs the relatively moderate level of fault,” wrote judge Michael Dolinger.

(more…)

Despite contracting markets in Asia and the Middle East, Christie’s International has announced a 10% increase in sales for 2012.  This growth over the previous year was led by the increased interest in post-war art and living artists, as illustrated by Mark Rothko’s “Orange, Red, Yellow” selling for $86.9 million last year.   According to Steven Murphy, Christie’s chief executive: “Existing clients are spending more, and many of our new bidders have previously bought from dealers and art fairs. They like the transparency of auctions.” (more…)