A laser cut Powell Peralta (skateboard company) reference – All photos by Ava Rollins of Art Observed
New York based artist Scott Campbell made his West Coast debut last night at Los Angeles’ OHWOW Gallery. The show’s title, Noblesse Oblige, implies that whoever claims to be noble must conduct their life accordingly. Campbell harnessed thousands of bills of cut currency to transform tattoo subculture iconography into delicate and tempered work. In exhibiting a chronicle of imagery, Campbell suggests a fine art context for the genre.
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Bill Viola, The Quintet of the Unseen, 2000 (production still) All photos: Kira Perov courtesy of Blain Southern
Currently on view in London is Bill Viola’s evocative installation, Quintet of the Unseen. As a founding practitioner in the field of New Media, Bill Viola is perhaps most famous for his large scale, multi-projection installations. The artist interests himself primarily with fundamental notions of lived human experience, often with the inclusion of religious subtexts and references to art history. Death, birth, rebirth, purification, and penitence are common themes.
For art purists, Terence Koh’s Big White Cock neon sculpture can be scooped up at the Saatchi Gallery. For the rest of us, Exhibition A’s Monochrome Set at the Ace Hotel on Tuesday night provided an egalitarian entry into the contemporary art world. Selected prints from prized contemporary artists including Koh, Hanna Liden, Nate Lowman, Josephine Meckseper, Aleksandra Mir, Olympia Scarry, Peter Sutherland, Leo Fitzpatrick, and Purple Magazine Editor in Chief Olivier Zahm were made available.
If you feel a pang of loss every time you exit the 14th Street/8th Avenue subway stop for having left behind the trove of Tom Otterness‘ deceptively adorable bronzes installed throughout the station, then you should head to Marlborough Gallery for a display of about two dozen of the artist’s sculptures in an exhibition titled Animal Spirits. The exhibit features work that draws upon the same ideas that have inspired Otterness’ entire oeurve, namely money, class, and the struggle between the have and have-nots.
Circle of Animals/ Zodiac Heads by Ai Weiwei at the Sao Paulo Biennale, via Artdaily
One of China’s most controversial and celebrated artists, Ai Weiwei will exhibit Circle of Animals/ Zodiac Heads, his first major public art installation in Central Park from May 2nd- July 15th confirmed Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday. The sculptural works are comprised of 12 monumental bronze animal heads inspired by the fountain clock at the 18th century Chinese imperial retreat of Yuanming Yuan just outside of Beijing. The heads will be placed at the historic Pulitzer Fountain in Grand Army Plaza in front of the Plaza Hotel on 59th Street and 5th Avenue.
AO Interviews with curators Meg O’Rourke, Caris Reid and artists Tony Oursler and Rachel Garrard.
A large-scale group show opened last Friday night in Greenpoint at Allan Nederpelt, showcasing 17 new artists such as Tony Oursler, N. Dash, Rachel Garrard, and Matthew Stone in the colossal space on Freeman Street on the very north-east tip of Greenpoint. The recently opened Allan Nederpelt exhibition space housed a large number of works all concerned with the idea of “Art addressing Metaphysics” and the artist’s relationship to the external world, the exhibit titled “All That is Unseen.” Curators Meg O’Rourke and Caris Reid believe that this interest in the ethereal and otherworldly is partly a reaction to the mounting scientific complexity of our time, and marks the beginning of a transition in creative attitude. O’Rourke states in the press release, “Just as delving into spiritualism (along with shifts in science and technology) led to the birth of abstract art at the beginning of the last century, we feel we are currently at the edge of a collective shift.” Works ranged in a variety of mediums, from wooden sculpture to new media to electrical design.
Tony Oursler, Occult (untitled) for Cage (2011). Photo by Daniel Terna, Art Observed.
Posted in Art News | Comments Off on AO On Site – “All That is Unseen” Group Show with performance by Mirror, Mirror at Allan Nederpelt, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York, Friday February 18th, 2011 (Update: Video)
Zerek Kempf, Weight of Fall (Waltz) (2011) at 2-UP Gallery.
All images Nicolas Linnert for Art Observed.
Friday evening’s Dependent Art Fair opened its doors for a one-night-only event showcasing the works of various galleries and artist groups. The newest addition to 2011’s growing roster of fairs, the Dependent was held on the 12th and 14th floors of Chelsea’s Sheraton Hotel. Fifteen exhibitors filled their respective hotel rooms with works for sale. Some revealed highly curated installations while others presented a collected showcase of individual works. The fifteen groups were given 60 minutes to install, with the fair beginning its preview hour at 4pm and closing altogether at 9 that evening. What began as a scattered number of curious collectors and onlookers grew quickly to a sizable throng of attendees navigating from room to room through the hotel’s packed hallways.
A sculpture by Barkev Gulesserian at CANADA (bathroom gallery).
The Armory Show opened Wednesday for professional previews and began with an 11:30 AM press conference detailing the cultural and economic importance of the event. “This is going to be a spectacular week of art. Our conservative estimates predict that the events this week will draw more than 60,000 attendees and generate more than 40 million dollars in economic activity,” stated Mayor Mike Bloomberg during the opening ceremony. Later in the evening, swarms of art-enthusiasts flocked to the Armory in order to witness the newest works of established artists from across the globe. Pier 94 was host to a vibrant crowd last night, with various art-world celebrities strolling down the aisles filled with artwork.
This week the Armory Show is being held once again on the west side at piers 92 and 94. In just 12 years, the Armory Show has developed into one of the most important and determining shows for the global art market, offering an array of the world’s foremost galleries and a program of art events and exhibitions only to be found during this dynamic week in the city. In recent years however, more and more satellite fairs have emerged near the Armory Show and even farther afield in the Lower East Side or Brooklyn. Many of these fairs seek to claim the status as the alternative art fair to the Armory Show and many of the migration of certain galleries from the main fair to these new upstarts substantiates their impact and relevance. In the end, though the dispersion of the center of gravity for Armory Week can be daunting, or as the Financial Times recently wrote of the week, “Manhattan feels fragmented as a fair destination.” However, if one has the time, the offerings of the week overall are impressive. Below is a summary of some of the goings on, along with certain highlights from art openings and events of the week.
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Romulo Celdran, Reality Bites (left) and Zoom 12 (right) at Raquel Ponce gallery stand at Ifema Fair, ARCOmadrid. Via ArtDaily.com
ARCOmadrid, Spain’s biggest and oldest art fair, took place this weekend February 16th through the 20th in Madrid, Spain. ARCOmadrid celebrated its 30th Anniversary this year with 197 galleries from 21 countries. This year’s fair was perhaps a smaller and more centralized event than previous years and had a special focus on Russian contemporary art. Carlos Urroz, the new director of ARCOmadrid, stated in an interview with Vernissage TV, “I think this year people will find a smaller fair, with less galleries and only two pavilions [and] with all of the projects surrounding ARCO trying to focus the attention on the participating galleries and the works exhibited.” “I think what’s special about ARCO is the relationship between Latin American and European galleries,” Urroz continued.
Fernando Botero’s The Beach, (2006) was featured at the booth of Marlborough Gallery, the highest priced painting at the fair at 946,000 euros (3.1 million dollars). Via ArtKnowledgeNews.com
Andy Warhol, Self Portrait, 1967 (est. £3-5 million, realized £10.8 million ), via Christies.com
Wednesday evening’s sale of Post-War and Contemporary art at Christie’s London brought in £61.4 million against a high estimate of £52 million for fifty-eight of sixty-three lots sold (a Tom Wesselmann painting was withdrawn). The auction had a sell through rate of 92% by lot and 98% by value, and, as was the case with Sotheby’s, the evening’s total was the highest realized for a Contemporary sale at Christie’s London since the market’s peak in June 2008. The auction house reported that they had over 160 registered telephone bidders with twenty-one countries represented. The top lot was Andy Warhol‘s red and white self portrait that sold for more than double its high presale estimate of £5 million after a bidding war between Jose Mugrabi and Larry Gagosian. Mr. Gagosian took the canvas home for £10.8 million (with fees).
The Warhol self portrait installed in the sale’s room at Christie’s London, via Art Observed
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Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild, 1990 (est. £5-7 million, realized £7.2 million ), via Sothebys.com
February’s Contemporary Art auctions began Tuesday night at Sotheby’s London. The auction house offered fifty-nine lots (a work by Anslem Kiefer was withdrawn) with a presale estimate of £30-43 million. The sale just beat its high estimate, raising £44.4 million with a 91.5% sell-through rate by lot and 95% by value. Sotheby’s noted that this is the strongest sell-through rate they’ve had in several seasons and that combined with the Contemporary offerings at the “Looking Closely” sale last week, the auction house has sold £88.2 million worth of Contemporary art in 2011 thusfar, making it the most successful Contemporary sales season at Sotheby’s London since July 2008.
Tobias Meyer standing in front of Andy Warhol‘s Marilyns at Sotheby’s London, via Art Observed
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–> Gerhard Richter, Abstraktes Bild, 1990 (est. £5-7 million), via Sothebys.com
The February auctions continue this week in London with Contemporary Art sales at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips de Pury. The day after Valentine’s Day buyers can cozy up to sixty lots at the Sotheby’s Contemporary art evening sale that are estimated to bring upwards of £30 million. The following night Christie’s will offer sixty-four lots that are expected to fetch £36-52 million. Phillips de Pury closes the week’s auctions with a twenty-nine lot sale that carries an estimate of £5.8-8.5 million. Christie’s is the only house to have officially released their 2010 global sales figures, and the numbers are impressive. The company sold £3.3 billion (or $5 billion) worth of art last year, more than any previous year in their 245-year history. Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s Chairman of Contemporary Art London, revealed that the firm sold $845 million worth of Contemporary art in 2010 and that this is the third-highest total at the company in the field. At November’s Contemporary art auctions Phillips de Pury debuted a sparkling new gallery space on Park Avenue in New York and had the biggest sale of the week when Andy Warhol’s Men in Her Life sold for $63.4 million. It was a good year for Contemporary art, and the results of this week’s sales are expected to indicate whether the market will continue to recover in 2011 as it did in 2010.
–> Andy Warhol, Nine Multicoloured Marilyns (Reversal Series), 1979-1986 (est. £2-3 million), via Sothebys.com
Francis Bacon, Three Studies for Portrait of Lucian Freud, 1964 (est. £7–9 million, realized £23 million), via Sothebys.com
This evening’s Sotheby’s 60-lot auction of works from the collection of Geneva-based collector George Kostalitz brought in an astounding £93.5 million against a high presale estimate of £54 million. All sixty works were sold, and lot after lot exceeded expectations during the most exciting of this week’s auctions. Fetching £23 million against a high estimate of £9 million, Francis Bacon’s Three Studies for Portrait of Lucian Freud was the top lot andis believed to have been bought by Cologne-based dealer Alex Lachmann.
Tobias Meyer conducting the “Looking Closely” auction at Sotheby’s London on Thursday evening, photo by Art Observed
Antony Gormley, famed English sculptor and creator of the well known public installations featuring manifestations of the human form “Angel of the North” (Gateshead, England) as well as “Event Horizon“(New York/London) and “One and Other” (London) recently unveiled his newest creation in an uncanny location – a crypt within Canterbury Cathedral dating back to the 12th century. The 2 meter-long piece, entitled “Transport”, hovers suspended from the vaulted ceilings in permanent limbo. Shaped in the form of the human body, the work is entirely constructed from hand-made nails re-purposed from a recent restoration. Though seemingly gruesome, Gormley is in fact attempting to explore a higher level of meaning above the physical realm. The specific form calls attention to the idea of our own mortality, as Gormley seemingly is pointing at the transient nature of the human body.
Pierre Bonnard, Terrasse à Vernon, 1923 (est. £3–4 million, realized £7.2 million ), via Christies.com
Christie’s London hosted two back-to-back sales on Wednesday evening that brought in a combined total of £84.9 million. The forty-five lot Impressionist and Modern sale realized £61.9 million for thirty-five lots sold. The estimate of £54-80 million for that auction included a Franz Marc painting that was withdrawn from the sale (it carried an estimate of £900,000-1.4 million). Thirty-one lots at the “Art of the Surreal” sale that immediately followed realized £23 million for twenty-five lots sold. Including a withdrawn De Chirico, the Surreal sale carried a presale estimate of £19-28 million. Bidding stopped at £5.8 million for a featured Gauguin painting (est. £7-10 million) that carried the highest presale estimate of any work offered at both sales. Instead, the evening’s top lot was a fresh-to-market Bonnard painting that broke the auction record for the artist when it sold for £7.2 million against a high presale estimate of £4 million. At the press conference the auction house revealed that the seller of the painting intended to use the proceeds to purchase land in France in order to “save horses.”
The sale room at Christie’s London on Wednesday evening, via Art Observed
Alberto Giacometti, Grand Buste de Diego Avec Bras, executed 1957, cast 1958 (est. £3.5–5 million, bought in), via Sothebys.com
Tuesday evening’s forty-two lot sale of Impressionist and Modern Art at Sotheby’s London brought in £68.8 million (or $111 million) for thirty-two lots sold. The auction house reports being “very pleased” with the total, which is the fourth highest ever in the department at the London location. The featured lot, Picasso’sLa Lecture, exceeded its presale estimate after slow, thoughtful bidding by at least seven interested parties that increased in increments of £500,000. It sold to a telephone bidder for £25.2 million against a presale estimate of £12-18 million (estimates do not include the buyers premium, prices realized do). The real surprise, though, came when both Giacometti lots which carried the second and third highest presale estimates failed to sell. Bidding for an oil on canvas portrait of the artist’s brother ended at £2.7 million and a bronze sculpture of the same subject passed at £3.2 million.
The sale room at Sotheby’s London on Tuesday, via Art Observed
Palestinian-British artist Mona Hatoum has just been announced the 2011 winner of the Joan Miró Prize. This prestigious €70,000 award is granted biennially, with the ceremony taking place at the Fundació Joan Miró auditorium in Barcelona on April 7 this year, with the artist’s following exhibition taking place there in June 2012. The jury made the decision unanimously, stating that Hatoum “has pioneered in opening up art practices to non-Western realities while showing the connections between Western high culture and transnational political and cultural events. After Hatoum, the art world has become a far more open and less self-centred arena, a process that is still in expansion and consolidation. Hatoum’s commitment to human values of concern to all cultures and societies is similar to Miró’s view of mankind after his experience of three devastating wars,” according to Art Daily.
–> Pablo Picasso, La Lecture, 1932 (est. £12–18 million), via Sothebys.com
February’s round of major art auctions begins in London next week with Impressionist & Modern sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s. On Tuesday evening Sotheby’s will offer forty-two lots estimated to bring between £55-79 million. Sotheby’s will also hold a 60-lot sale of Impressionist, Modern, and Contemporary works titled “Looking Closely: A Private Collection” on Thursday, February 10th that is expected to fetch up to £54 million. All the works in that sale are from the collection of George Kostalitz, a Geneva-based collector who died last year. Christie’s forty-six lot evening sale on Wednesday is estimated to bring £54-80 million and, as was the case last year, will be immediately followed by a thirty-one lot auction of Surrealist works estimated to fetch an additional £19-28 million. While it is uncertain whether these auctions will produce a buzz-worthy sale on par with last year’s £65 million paid for Giacometti’s L’Homme Qui Marche I, both houses are offering a number of strong works led by canvases by Picasso and Gauguin.
–> Alberto Giacometti, Diego, 1958 (est. £3–5 million), via Sothebys.com
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–> Ai Weiwei So Sorry Exhibition Poster. Via Aiweiweifilm.
AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY, a documentary to be released in spring of 2011, portrays a close-up of the internationally renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei. Alison Klayman, Beijing based journalist and filmmaker, provides viewers an insight of contemporary China by focusing on the artist’s artistic process and constant public confrontations with the Chinese government.
more images and a link to the trailer after the jump…
Steve Powers, the Philadelphian street artist—a.k.a. ESPO—has released a trailer for his upcoming documentary on a 50 mural public art project, A Love Letter For You.Art Observed interviewed the artist in August, when the action took place.
Over 1,000 works from 17 museums are now available to view online in high-resolution, thanks to today’s launch of Google Art Project. Founded and headed by Amit Sood, the new site combines several Google applications to provide virtual tours similar to Google Street View, with a zoom-in feature and information on each work. Most noted is the the project’s use of gigapixel resolution—7 billion pixels—rendering a virtual view magnified greater than the naked eye could achieve; at this stage the extra gigapixel technology has only been employed on one work per musuem.
Screen shot, max zoom of Hans Holbein the Younger’s The Ambassadors (1533), via Google Art Project
Egyptian special forces on Monday secured the main floor inside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Via NY Times
The National Egyptian Museum is currently guarded by tanks, having been looted Friday night. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities—and a member of the current administration—claims over 1,000 protesters stole from the gift shop, with ten making it into the galleries and smashing glass vitrines and antique statues, including one of King Tutankhamen, as well as beheading two mummies. Wafaa El-Saddik, former director of the Egyptian Museum (until just a month ago), believes the museum’s own guards did the looting, who are hugely underpaid despite El-Saddik’s previous efforts.
Next door, buildings of the National Democratic Party and the Press Club were in flames over the weekend; efforts lacked to save the structures, though the museum was kept safe. In Tahrir Square—Arabic for Liberation—protesters scorn current leader Hosni Mubarak with chants and clever graffiti and signs, speaking English in an appeal to the West.
Protestor, with National Egyptian Museum in the background, via Economist
Christian Marclay, The Clock (still), 2010. Via River00000
Debuting at White Cube this past October (and already covered by AO), Christian Marclay‘s The Clock has been warmly accepted in New York at the Paula Cooper Gallery, with several 24-hour screenings throughout the exhibition, through February 19th. Splicing together a day’s worth of found film, the artist and six assistants spent two years on the project, drawing from classics like “Great Expectations” and “Mary Poppins,” to more recent films like “Tomb Raider.” Every single clip makes reference to the time—moving in realtime—with clocks synced to the actual time of New York (or wherever it’s showing). The highly acclaimed work is to be included in the British Art Show 7, a group exhibition ran only every five years, touring to the Hayward Gallery, Tramway-Glasgow, and Plymouth Art Centre later this year.
