As part of LACMA’s tribute to Ed Ruscha at their Art+Film gala this year (the artist also has an exhibition on view), filmmaker Lance Acord created a short film entitled “Ed Ruscha, Woody, and the World’s Hottest Pepper”, produced by Park Pictures and LACMA.  Watch the film via LACMA

Museums take part in a panel discussion to show that developments are on schedule for Abu Dhabi, as the museums’ plans have been delayed due to economic and political issues. Frank Gehry, who designed the Guggenheim there, will speak at the Abu Dhabi Art Fair (7-10 November), as will Jean Nouvel and Norman Foster, who designed the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Zayed National Museum, respectively. The fair has western gallery exhibitors such as Lisson, Hauser & Wirth, Thaddeus Ropac and Gagosian. (more…)

Joseph Kosuth, Neon, 1965

All images courtesy MACRO Rome.

MACRO, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome, has filled its expansive Enel Hall with close to 70 illuminated works for its show Neon: the Luminous Matter of Art.  An exhibition dedicated solely to the use of neon, the show brings together 50 artists who have worked with the medium in contemporary practice. The sculptures, installations and textual works lay the art-historical framework for conceptual practice based on semiotics while also (more literally) paying homage to the medium’s origins as material for signage.

Delving into the past 50 years, on view are works by Dan Flavin, Joseph Kosuth, Tracy Emin, and Jason Rhoades, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Maurizio Cattelan, Spencer Finch, Dan Flavin, Claire Fontaine, Piero Golia, Douglas Gordon, Alfredo Jaar, Gyula Kosice, Mario Merz, François Morellet, Bruce Nauman and Keith Sonnier, among many others.

Bruce Nauman, Raw/War, 1970, MACRO Rome.

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Sotheby’s has announced that it will postpone its Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale, previously scheduled for Monday 5 November, until Thursday 8 November at 7 pm. The exhibition will open Thursday, 1 November 2012 at 10 am, as scheduled. The auction house cited anticipated travel delays as the reason for the change.

Christie’s has not announced any changes in its sale dates.
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The Hugo Boss Prize has been awarded to Vietnamese-born conceptual artist Danh Vo, 37, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation announced today. The award, founded in 1996, grants $100,000 to the winning artist. Mr. Vo’s family fled South Vietnam at an early age and he was raised in Denmark. (more…)

Pacific Standard Time, the massive collaboration among Southern California museums, has generated revenue of almost 10 times the Getty’s initial investment of $12 million. Total visitor spending is estimated at $111.5 million and state and local taxes generated an estimated $19.4 million. The Getty stated that they will use this study as a benchmark to measure the economic impact of future shows. (more…)

The Art Newspaper reports that Nicholas Penny, the director of London’s National Gallery, described the temporarily-installed works by Yinka Shonibare and Elmgreen & Dragset in Trafalgar Square as “antagonistic to the architectural character of the square”, making the plinth like “a stage, which can be used ironically, farcically [and] inappropriately”. (more…)

Theaster Gates – Raising Goliath (2012), courtesy White Cube Gallery

The work of Theaster Gates addresses social engagement using shared images of American life as a way to challenge cultural norms and to subvert singular readings of American history.  White Cube Bermondsey is hosting a major installation by the Chicago-based artist, entitled “My Labor is My Protest.”  Blending the cultural, social and personal, the show is a bold statement on the roles of identity and meaning in the construction of history and art history.

Theaster Gates – My Labor Is My Protest (Installation View) (2012), courtesy White Cube Gallery (more…)

Tales of the deluge: Chelsea galleries in shock following the impact of 4-5 feet of water at street level. “I would say that perhaps 2% of my inventory escaped damage.” (more…)

Madeleine Grynsztejn, Pritzker Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago, announced a major gift of $10 million from Helen and Sam Zell on behalf of the Zell Family Foundation to create The Zell Fund for Artistic Excellence. Helen Zell was Chair of the MCA Board from 2004-08. (more…)

Ai Weiwei plans to return $1.3 million he received from supporters to fight his legal battle against Chinese authorities. He raised the money as a bond to contest a $2.4-million fine for tax evasion. He lost his final appeal against the Bejing authorities last month. (more…)

Forbes details a murky case of non-transparency involving art-loan trading by commodities trader Eugenio Leo and his wife Jody Meyer. Leo was sentenced to 5 years in prison and fined $3,431,750 in restitution; Meyer was sentenced to 5 years’ probation and $431,750 in restitution.
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The Hugo Boss Prize dinner at the Guggenheim scheduled for Thursday has been cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy, but the committee will announce the winner tomorrow regardless. The 2012 nominees are Trisha Donnelly, Rashid Johnson, Monika Sosnowska, Qiu Zhijie, Danh Vo and Tris Vonna-Michell. (more…)

Jane Lombard of Lombard Freid Gallery in Chelsea via Businessweek

Several events have been cancelled or postponed due to flooding from Hurricane Sandy, as the city assesses damages. Below is a list of damage reports, cancellations and closures. (more…)

Adel Abdessemed, Coup de tête [based on Zinédine Zidane] 2012, courtesy Centre Pompidou

Adel Abdessemed’s exhibition, Je Suis Innocent,  at the Centre Pompidou in Paris showcases work from 1990-2012, which spans the majority of Abdessemed’s artistic career. Born in born 1971 in Constantine, Algeria, Abdessemed often makes reference to violent histories and the taboos of modern culture with shocking and jarring imagery that he creates through a variety of media.

Adel Abdessemed, Je Suis Innocent, courtesy Centre Pompidou

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Franz West, Untitled, 2011 courtesy Gagosian Gallery

The Gagosian Gallery is currently exhibiting what can only be described as a eulogy of works that embodies the life of the late Franz West, who sadly passed away early this summer in July 2012.

A sea of freestanding, ambiguous, figurines adorn the gallery, doused in multicolored luminescent paint. Light-hearted sculptures interact with viewers, inspiring feelings of elation and freedom. Surreal structures almost wrap around onlookers in a fairytale-like setting.

Franz West, Installation view, 2011 courtesy Gagosian Gallery

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Scott Campbell, Our Secret (2012), courtesy the artist and OHWOW

Scott Campbell, whose Saved Tattoo parlor in Brooklyn is a destination for ink aficionados such as designer Marc Jacobs, has in recent years branched out into the contemporary art world, presenting bodies of work that dynamically comprise the “alternative” aesthetic and draftsman’s expertise of his trade. Using an array of unique materials, such as US currency and ostrich eggshells, employing a highly technical creative process born from the precision of tattooing, Campbell’s work rests comfortably in the space between high and low, art and fashion, gallery and street.

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Arne Glimcher is interviewed by Charlie Rose to discuss his new book, “Agnes Martin: Paintings, Writings, Remembrances”, the only complete monograph on the artist’s career. The chairman of Pace Gallery discusses Martin’s life and work, as well as the gallery’s expansion in China and the nature of artmaking today. (more…)

Art Observed is out of Soho and back online.  Stay safe New York, check in on friends, colleagues and family.

John Baldessari at the Edison Ballroom, all photos by Elene Damenia for Art Observed

This year, SculptureCenter honored Paula Cooper with a presentation by John Baldessari and a performance by Christian Marclay. The program included artist projects by Alisa Baremboym, Ian Cheng, and Martin Soto Climent, and the Karaoke Afterparty. New limited edition artworks by Uri Aran, Adam McEwen, and Hanna Sandin were also introduced.

Christian Marclay’s performance (more…)

Art Fag City is tracking Hurricane Sandy’s path through Chelsea’s prime gallery district, parts of which are within flood zone A. The site reports that as of 3:50 p.m. today, the Chelsea Piers have not flooded, and the streets are generally clear.  Lower Manhattan is bracing for what could be an almost unprecedented storm surge of flood waters. (more…)

David Hockney’s foundation now holds £84 million in assets. The art is expected to eventually be gifted to museums in the two regions where Hockney resides – the Tate and The Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (more…)

Damien Hirst’s “Verity” sculpture of a vivisected pregnant woman has been installed in a seaside town in Devon, UK. The 55,000 pound, 65-foot bronze figure is a “modern-day allegory for truth and justice”, says the artist. The controversial sculpture, with one arm holding a sword and the other holding a set of scales behind her back, continues to receive strong opposition from the community. (more…)

Thomas Houseago,Walking Figure I (City) (2012)

Hauser and Wirth just closed three coinciding shows of Thomas Houseago in order to mark the artist’s representation with the gallery. Two were held in London and one in Switzerland: Saville Row South gallery displayed Special Brew; Saville Row North gallery exhibited I’ll be your Sister;  and Löwenbrau, Switzerland showed The Mess I’m Looking For.

Thomas Houseago was born in 1972 in Great Britain and currently practices in Los Angeles. His 3D constructions have a strong affinity with Cubism, whereby the artist represents an object from a variety of perspectives resulting in a distorted display of greater physical depth. The unrefined beings that are omnipresent in Houseago’s vast portfolio echo Henry Moore’s figures in a more visceral manner. The somewhat intricate, yet unfinished appendages that are detailed in the works pay homage to the Renaissance and old masters such as Da Vinci, yet their cubist take brings them resolutely into the future.  

Thomas Houseago, Portrait Column I, (2012) at I’ll Be Your Sister exhibition

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