June 29th, 2019
Piero Manzoni, Achrome (1961-62), via Hauser & Wirth
In 1960, at the height of his artistic maturity and of his awareness on the gradual path and progression of his work, artist Piero Manzoni would branch out into a series of material experimentations and evolutions that would mark one of the most prolific stages in his career, and also one of the most conceptually fruitful. The artist, utilizing diverse natural and synthetic materials, such as cotton wool, canvas, polystyrene, phosphorescent paint, and even bread, stones, and straw, would ultimately create a broad range of his Achromes, arrangements of material that both draw on their compositional elements and on their sheer mass to create a new awareness of the object and the space around it, a new manner of seeing branching directly out from the piece itself. Simultaneously, the artist would explore a range of other practices and performative works, focusing in particular on the realization and execution of extensive “lines,†traced across papers, photos, and even across the gallery space. Delving into this important period in the artist’s career, Hauser & Wirth New York has brought together two concurrent exhibitions devoted to the artist’s work, unfolding over two floors and focusing on Manzoni’s most significant bodies of work.
Piero Manzoni, Linea lunga 7200 metri (1960), via Hauser & Wirth
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June 28th, 2019
Roy Lichtenstein, The Conductor (1975), Final Price: £4,977,000 via Phillips
With minimal fanfare and a steady hand, Phillips Auctions rounded out a well-managed evening sale of Contemporary and 20th Century works yesterday evening, closing a 36 lot sale to a final sales total of £35.9 million with 5 lots going unsold. The evening marks another strong and reliable outing for the auction house, making itself felt in the blue-chip market with increasingly strong results. Read More »
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June 27th, 2019
Julia Scher, Glückshaube (2006), via Ortuzar Projects
For over three decades, artist Julia Scher has explored the relationship between surveillance, authority, and exhibitionism, orchestrating complex and intimate explorations of the way human and non-human parts of the modern technological apparatus function, both in the creation of and the limitations of personal expression and individual freedom in the modern world. Delving into how technology creates new and divergent relationships to the existing structures of power, Scher investigates just how these relationships bound and inform our place in the world. Read More »
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June 26th, 2019
Francis Bacon, Self-Portrait (1975), Final Price: £16,542,650 via Sotheby’s
Following up on a steady, reliable auction last night at Christie’s, Sotheby’s came out swinging this evening, marking a £69,720,050 sale in London that showcased a relatively strong market and ample interest for works at the highest levels of the blue-chip market. The evening’s sale, which saw 4 of the 43 lots on offer go unsold, marked a strong closing for the first half of the year at Sotheby’s, and brings the season one step closer to conclusion. Read More »
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June 26th, 2019
Joan Mitchell, La Seine (1967), via David Zwirner
Currently on view at David Zwirner’s 537 West 20th Street location in New York, the gallery is presenting a selection of multi-paneled paintings by American master Joan Mitchell, the first exhibition to look specifically at Mitchell’s work in this format, and the possibilities for her work brought forth through the use of expansive amounts of space. Read More »
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June 25th, 2019
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sabado por la Noche (Saturday Night) (1984), via Christie’s
Marking the first of the week’s trio of Contemporary and Post-War Auctions in London this week, Christie’s has capped a 35-lot offering to a final of $45,346,950, a strong figure that saw only three works go unsold with ample interest from buyers to keep the evening moving quickly and relatively smoothly. The sale marks something of a snap back into form for the auction house following a dire struggle last week during its Impressionist/Modern offering, and seemed to signal emerging blue-chip markets for several younger artists. Read More »
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June 24th, 2019
Adam Pendleton, Ishmael in the Garden: A Portrait of Ishmael Houston-Jones (still) (2018), via Max Hetzler
On view at Berlin’s Galerie Max Hetzler, artist Adam Pendleton is presenting a body of new works under the title Who We Are, spread between both locations in the German capital: Bleibtreustraße 45 and Goethestraße 2/3, and marking Pendleton’s first show with the gallery. The show, drawing on a range of cultural and aesthetic touchstones, presents itself as a sort multi-layered cultural history, intersecting music and film, dance and personal narrative through a series of video and wall-mounted works. Read More »
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June 21st, 2019
Yuji Agematsu, zip: 10.01.03 … 10.31.03 (2003), via Miguel Abreu
Currently on view at Miguel Abreu, Japanese-born, Brooklyn-based artist Yuji Agematsu has brought forth a diverse and expressive body of works to the galleries’ 88 Eldridge space, a selection of works delving into notions of urban space and the dense material fusions that it is capable of producing. Connecting the various processes and movements of the New York City streets into a productive engine of its own, the Agematsu’s work chains together disparate spaces and perceptions of reality. Read More »
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June 19th, 2019
Robert Therrien (Installation View), via Art Observed
Robert Therrien, an artist whose impressively-scaled sculptures of banal objects and everyday scenes was capable of twisting a viewer’s sense of time and space, has passed away at the age of 71 . The news was broken by Gagosian, which represents him.  Read More »
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June 19th, 2019
Amedeo Modigliani, Jeune homme assis, les mains croiseÌes sur les geno (1918), Final Price: £18,422,000 via Sotheby’s
The first batch of Summer auctions are in the books in London tonight, as Sotheby’s capped off its Impressionist and Modern Evening Sale with results that seemed to emphasize a steadied ship following the announcement of the auction house’s sale to Patrick Drahi earlier this week. The auction house, capitalizing on a strong offering of works, moved methodically through the evening, selling 23 of the 25 works on offer for a final tally of £98,875,924. Read More »
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