Global contemporary art events and news observed from New York City. Suggestion? Email us.

AO On-Site – Miami: NADA Miami at Ice Palace Studios Through December 9th, 2018

December 8th, 2018

Myrlande Constant, via Art Observed
Myrlande Constant, via Art Observed

With the proceedings of Art Week Miami winding on, the halls at the Miami Beach Convention Center continue to draw massive crowds of both buyers and visitors, its luxe appointments and impressive stock of established blue chip works commanding big headlines and even bigger price tags. But across Biscayne Bay, the New Art Dealers Alliance had kicked off its annual take on the Miami Fair Week. NADA Miami, set up inside the Ice Palace Film Studios, puts itself forward as showcasing new art and to celebrating the rising talents from around the globe, exploring new or underexposed art that is not typical of the “art establishment,” by their words. NADA Miami is also the one of the only major American art fairs to be produced by a non-profit organization, and is recognized as a much needed alternative assembly of the world’s youngest and strongest art galleries dealing with emerging contemporary art.

Nathan Hylden, via Art Observed
Nathan Hylden, via Art Observed

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AO On-Site – Miami Beach: Art Basel Miami Beach at the Miami Beach Convention Center, December 6-9th, 2018

December 6th, 2018

Daniel Buren at Bortolami, via Art Observed
Daniel Buren at Bortolami, via Art Observed

The doors have opened at the Miami Beach Convention Center yet again for another December sales event at Art Basel Miami Beach, as collectors, dealers and artists flock to its cavernous halls and pack its renovated structure for several days of sales and showings.  The fair’s place as the final major sales event of the year always seems to bring a last flutter of enthusiasm before the last weeks of December give dealers a chance to catch their breath, and this year was no exception, with collectors packing into the queue early in the morning for a first crack at the event’s VIP opening.   Read More »

Charlotte Prodger Wins 2018 Turner Prize

December 5th, 2018

Charlotte Prodger, via Independent
Charlotte Prodger, via Independent

The 2018 Turner Prize winner is artist Charlotte Prodger, taking home the £25,000 prize for her essayistic video work, drawng from her show at Bergen Kunsthalle in Norway. The artist, who shoots entirely on an iPhone, beat out Luke Willis Thompson and the collective Forensic Architecture to win the prize, capping off a prizer run that was marked by outcry and protest over the nominees and their work. Read More »

AO Preview – Miami Beach: Art Basel Miami Beach and Miami Art Week, December 4th – 9th, 2018

December 3rd, 2018

Art Basel Miami Beach, via Miami New Times
Art Basel Miami Beach, via Miami New Times

Another year come and gone, another sojourn for the global art community to the southern tip of Florida for a week of fairs, exhibitions and parties on the streets of Miami and Miami Beach, all centered around the sprawling US hub of the Art Basel fair franchise, and spreading out across the city’s streets and parks, boardwalks and beaches.

Liz Larner, via Regen Projects
Liz Larner, via Regen Projects

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RIP – Robert Morris, Pioneer of American Avant-Garde, Has Passed Away at 87

December 2nd, 2018

Robert Morris, via NYT
Robert Morris, via NYT

Artist Robert Morris, a defining voice of American conceptualism, and a contributing force in the development of an American post-war avant-garde, has passed away at the age of 87. The artist, who embraced a complex and ever-shifting series of investigations into the production, elaboration and understanding of both the art object and its function in both exhibition and broader cultural modes, passed away after a battle with pneumonia.  

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New York – Peter Halley: “Unseen Paintings: 1997 – 2002, From the Collection of Gian Enzo Sperone” at Sperone Westwater Through December 22nd, 2019

November 18th, 2018

Peter Halley, Unseen Paintings (Installation View), via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed
Peter Halley, Unseen Paintings (Installation View), via Sophie Kitching for Art Observed

During the years 1992 to 2002, Peter Halley’s paintings were rarely seen in New York City — during that entire ten-year span there was only one exhibition of his paintings in the city. The artist, whose body of work helped to define a return to abstract, painterly language in the New York avant-garde during the 1980’s, was noticeably absent, a note that often leaves his work somewhat divorced from some of the other artists living and working during that era. Now, an exhibition at Sperone Westwater aims to reintroduce the artist’s work from that era to the city, culling together a body of eight works that emphasize his aesthetic interests during the period, and continuing his exploration of geometric and geographic forms. Read More »

Berlin – Nairy Baghramian at Galerie Buchholz Through November 17, 2018

November 16th, 2018

Baghramian
Installation View. All images via Art Observed.

Nairy Baghramian’s third solo exhibition at Galerie Buchholz in Berlin is on view at the gallery through November 17, 2018. It is accompanied by a publication produced alongside Déformation Professionelle. This exhibition, shown over the last two years at SMAK, Ghent, and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, was originally conceived as a retrospective. However, the artist decided to modify this approach and instead construct a show around new pieces that refer back to earlier ones. At Galerie Buchholz, many of these self-reflexive pieces are on view in the gallery’s first floor exhibition space. Read More »

AO Auction Results – New York: Christie’s Evening Sale of the Collection of Barney Ebsworth, November 13th, 2018

November 13th, 2018

Edward Hopper, Chop Suey (1929), via Christie's
Edward Hopper, Chop Suey (1929), Final Price: $95,937,500, via Christie’s

Following an unsteady outing this past Sunday, Christie’s has turned on a dime with this evening’s special sale of works from the collection of Barney Ebsworth, capping off a 42-lot sale with a strong final result of $317,801,250, leaving only a few works unsold (5 of 42 lots) and a number of major world auction records left broken (at least 10 records in total before the sale reached its conclusion). Read More »

AO Auction Recap – New York: Impressionist and Modern Evening Sales, November 11th – 12th, 2018

November 12th, 2018

Rene Magritte, The Pleasure Principle (1937) final price $26,830,500, via Sotheby's
Rene Magritte, The Pleasure Principle (1937) Final Price: $26,830,500, via Sotheby’s

The first batch of sales for New York’s bustling auction week have come to a close, as Christie’s and Sotheby’s capped their Impressionist and Modern Evening Sales in New York.  Both sales seemed to rock back and forth between major milestones and less impressive results, as buyers seemed tentative to pursue large trophy works or pieces boasting higher estimates.   Read More »

Berlin – Petra Cortright: “Platinum Blonde Black Knight” at Société Through November 17, 2018

November 10th, 2018

cortright 3
Petra Cortright, Platinum Blonde Black Knight (Installation View), all images via Anna Corrigan for Art Observed.

 

On view through November 17, Société presents Petra Cortright’s Platinum Blonde Black Night. The Los Angeles-based artist is known for her early works of webcam self-portrait videos posted to her YouTube account. Recently, Cortright has incorporated works in painting, sculpture, and video into her practice. This is the artist’s third exhibition with the gallery. Read More »