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

New York — “Painting: Now and Forever, Part III” at Matthew Marks Gallery and Greene Naftali Through August 17, 2018

July 30th, 2018

Leidy Churchman, Paradise 8 & 9 (2018), via Matthew Marks
Leidy Churchman, Paradise 8 & 9 (2018), via Matthew Marks

Following past iterations in 1998 and 2008 iterations, Painting: Now and Forever, Part III occupies the gallery spaces of Matthew Marks Gallery and Greene Naftali spread across Chelsea. Spanning five spaces in total, the ambitious checklist includes an impressive roster of over forty artists. While loosely grouping the show around style and visual vocabulary in each space, the exhibition more broadly tackles the stylistic and thematic concerns contemporary painting—mostly figurative–over the past decade.

Nicole Eisenman, Luck Lines (2018), via Greene Naftali
Nicole Eisenman, Luck Lines (2018), via Greene Naftali Read More »

London – Carol Bove at David Zwirner Through August 3rd, 2018

July 29th, 2018

Carol Bove, The Romance of Black Money (2018), via David Zwirner
Carol Bove, The Romance of Black Money (2018), via David Zwirner

Currently on view at David Zwirner’s 24 Grafton Street location in London, artist Carol Bove has erected a series of her recent sculptures, exploring the artist’s continued practice combining tightly orchestrated references to the canon on modern sculpture with her own enigmatic interpretations and spatial innovations.  The show, which closes at the end of the week, marks a another chapter in Bove’s impressive vision, as her brightly colored, monolithic works continue to shift and evolve in vision and scope. Read More »

London: “Spiegelgasse (Mirror Alley)” at Hauser & Wirth Through July 28th, 2018

July 28th, 2018

Urs Fischer, One More Carrot Before I Brush My Teeth (2001), via Hauser & Wirth
Urs Fischer, One More Carrot Before I Brush My Teeth (2001), via Hauser & Wirth

In reference to the address of Cabaret Voltaire – the birthplace of Dada in Zurich, Switzerland, Hauser & Wirth’s current exhibition Spiegelgasse (Mirror Alley), takes the landmark avant-garde movement as a starting point, and dives into the history of modern and contemporary Swiss art.  Curated by Gianni Jetzer, Mirror Alley presents a range of works from the 1930s to the present day.   Read More »

Paris – Iván Argote: “Deep Affection”at Galerie Perrotin Through July 28th, 2018

July 27th, 2018

Iván Argote, Deep Affection (Installation View), via Art Observed
Iván Argote, Deep Affection (Installation View), via Art Observed

On view now at Galerie Perrotin in Paris, artist Iván Argote has traced a striking psycho, winding together disparate locales, global actions and fragments of a broader social narrative to understand and explore the world around us. The show, which draws on the artist’s range of actions and pieces investigating political action and history, offers a range of potentials for joining together global populations, often through a combination of art and action.

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New York — Margo Wolowiec: “Still Water, Circling Palms” at Marlborough Contemporary Through August 3rd, 2018

July 23rd, 2018

Margo Wolowiec, 10pm Saturday (view 2) (2018), all images via
Margo Wolowiec, 10pm Saturday (view 2) (2018), all images via Marlborough Contemporary

Detroit-based multimedia artist Margo Wolowiec’s first exhibition, Still Water, Circling Palms, at Marlborough Contemporary is a full-force manifestation on the merger of craft and digital technology. Covering the gallery’s spacious ground floor, the artist’s tapestry paintings are semi-abstract representations of computer screen shots, abundantly-colored plants, densely-blue skies or wave-strewn seascapes. Made from handwoven polymers, linen, dye sublimation ink and acrylic dye, these hallucinatory works convey dream-like collages of her various source materials, inviting the viewer to closely inspect the formation of each thread within the larger frame. Read More »

New York – Fred Wilson: “Afro Kismet” at Pace Gallery Through August 17th, 2018

July 22nd, 2018

Fred Wilson, Afro Kismet (Installation View), via Art Observed
Fred Wilson, Afro Kismet (Installation View), via Art Observed

Currently on view at Pace Gallery’s New York location, artist Fred Wilson has mounted his powerful exhibition Afro Kismet, reprising a work from the Istanbul Biennial that sought shared cultural threads and a refreshed cultural understanding of shared relationships between Africa and the Middle East. Continuing Wilson’s nuanced dialogues with both historical and cultural framing in conjunction with a studied view of both modern and deep history, the show’s trip to New York offers a second chance for viewers to see a challenging and important piece of work by the artist. Read More »

New York – “Voice of America” at Gladstone Gallery Through July 27th, 2018

July 21st, 2018

Voice of America (Installation View), via Gladstone
Voice of America (Installation View), via Gladstone

In 1975, Vito Acconci installed his now classic piece Voice of America at Portland Center for Contemporary Arts.  The piece was a love letter by way of a music lesson, according to the artist, an attempt at getting under the skin of the nation, and to speak to the inner spirit of the nation. “One kind of American music drifts into another: America presented in a music lesson, a geography lesson: from Ozark fiddle to California harmonica to New Orleans piano,” Acconci says. “My voice is the voice of a mythical Mr. America talking to Mrs. America: we’re giving voice to an American dream… There is a voice calling out from the wilderness, jabs of voice…here’s the response from the children of America.” Read More »

Paris – Tacita Dean and Julie Mehretu at Marian Goodman Through July 20th, 2018

July 20th, 2018

 

Julie Mehretu, A Love Supreme (2018), via Art Observed
Julie Mehretu, A Love Supreme (2018), via Art Observed

Long time friends Tacita Dean and Julie Mehretu have teamed up for a unique exhibition concept at Marian Goodman Gallery in Paris month, a show that winds through a broad range of varied techniques in abstraction. Dean and Mehretu are presenting two new works emblematic of their respective practices: Suite of Nine, a series of chalk drawings on slate depicting a solar eclipse and A Love Supreme, a large painting in ink and acrylic on canvas. On the occasion of the exhibition, the two artists decided to create in parallel 45 monotypes each. Composed of 90 works covering the walls of the gallery’s lower level, the installation Monotype Melody (ninety works for Marian Goodman) reflects a unique bond shared by the artists.

Julie Mehretu and Tacita Dean (Installation View), via Art Observed
Julie Mehretu and Tacita Dean (Installation View), via Art Observed

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New York – Adrian Piper: “A Synthesis of Intuitions, 1965–2016” at MoMA Through July 20th, 2018

July 17th, 2018

Adrian Piper, A Synthesis of Intuitions (Installation View), via Art Observed
Adrian Piper, A Synthesis of Intuitions (Installation View), via Art Observed

Considering the canon of the conceptual movement over the course of the 20th Century, the work of artist Adrian Piper figures in a particularly resonant and explosive way.  Working at the forefront of the conceptual project from the late 1960’s onwards, Piper’s work has long confronted and framed questions of race, identity and discrimination in ways that push the viewer into a deep, lasting engagement with concepts and structures of institutionalized racism. This mode of practice, and the artist’s gradual movements towards it over the course of her career sits at the core of her current career retrospective at MoMA, an exhibition that manages to frame the artist’s work historically and socially, while using its conceptual payload to push the viewer into that same sense of identification.

Adrian Piper, A Synthesis of Intuitions (Installation View), via Art Observed
Adrian Piper, A Synthesis of Intuitions (Installation View), via Art Observed

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New York – Math Bass: “My Dear Dear Letter” at Mary Boone Through July 27th, 2018

July 14th, 2018

Math Bass, Newz! (2018), via Mary Boone
Math Bass, Newz! (2018), via Mary Boone

Currently on view at Mary Boone Gallery’s 745 Fifth Ave space, artist Math Bass has brought together a range of new sculptures and paintings that continue her equally meticulous and playful interpretations of the art object, twisting vaguely familiar forms and figures into foreign landscapes and minimalistic constructions. Read More »