Arthur Jafa, Love is the Message, The Message is Death (2016), via Art Observed

Arthur Jafa’s current video installation, on view at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in west Harlem, is at once joyous and tragic, celebratory and rebellious.  Bearing the title Love is the Message, the Message is Death, it makes reference not only to Philadelphia act MFSB’s classic disco tune “Love Is The Message,” but also to “Love is the Plan and the Plan is Death,” a short story by Alice Sheldon, better known by her pen name of James Tiptree Jr., or Raccoona Sheldon.  The work, played alongside Kanye West’s caustic and meditative “Ultralight Beam,” from his latest album, presents a fusion of images, music, and theory, ultimately presenting a striking vision of the black experience in the 21st Century. Read More »

Julia Wachtel, Acceleration of Similarity (1983), via Art Observed

Revisiting Anne Livet’s original 1980’s exhibition Infotainment, Every Future has a Price: 30 Years after Infotainment at Elizabeth Dee opens a dialogue into the ongoing relevance of the themes and subjects first explored over thirty years ago.  The exhibition, which re-exhibits 11 of the works originally on view from the first show of predominantly East Village artists, dwells on social and philosophical interests that echo much of 1960’s Conceptualism, placing emphasis on the conveyance of ideas over aesthetic interests.

Every Future Has a Price (Installation View), via Art Observed

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Carol Bove, Daphne and Apollo (2016), via Art Observed

Marking her first exhibition with David Zwirner in New York since joining the gallery, Carol Bove has brought a body of new works to the gallery’s 19th Street location, marking a continuation and expansion of her unique sculptural language refined through a series of references and touchstones pulled from the language of modern sculpture.   Read More »

Helen Marten, Brood and Bitter Pass (2016), via Art Observed

Helen Marten, the Macclesfield-born, London-based sculptor known for her disjointed, endlessly inventive configurations of materials, has taken home the 2016 Turner Prize, the second major award that the artist has won in the past month.  Marten, who takes home a£25,000 purse for the award, was selected from a pool of artists including Anthea Hamilton, Michael Dean, and Josephine Pryde.

Helen Marten, via W Magazine

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Denise Kupferschmidt at Halsey McKay, via Art Observed

Walking through the doors of the Deauville Hotel and Resort, a sense of familiarity is in the air, with NADA Miami Beach returning to its old stomping grounds in North Beach.  Maintaining the same familial atmosphere and adventurous spirit that keeps the fair among the more popular of the week, this year’s edition (its 14th total) is particularly strong, with a renewed focus on painting alongside a series of more striking projects and pieces. Read More »

Thomas Bayrle at ICA Miami (Installation View), via Art Observed

As dealers, artists and insiders continue to arrive en masse to South Florida, the first days of Miami Art Week have kicked into full gear, with a first round of openings and events setting the pace for the week before Art Basel Miami Beach opens to the public tomorrow. With both first looks at several fairs and a number of premiere openings, Tuesday night’s proceedings were a first look at the hectic week ahead.

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Josef Albers, Homage to the Square: Zwischen Zwei Blau (Between Two Blues) (1955), via David Zwirner

As 2016 winds into its final weeks, the art world will once again head south for the annual fairs and festivities of Miami Art Week, headed by Art Basel Miami Beach, its satellite fairs, and other openings, events, parties and performances spread across the Biscayne Bay.  Taking up almost a full week this December, the increasingly diverse offerings should offer a packed last week of major sales and shows before the art world closes out the fall season.

Gao Ludi, Untitled (2015-2016), via White Space

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Pipilotti Rist, Pixel Forest (2016), via Art Observed

Pixel Forest, the first New York City museum survey dedicated to the work of Swiss artist Pipilotti Rist, has opened this month at the New Museum, turning three floors of the museum into a swirling progression of images and senses, colors and lights.  Twisting and moving through a series of works from the full breadth of Rist’s career, the show melds classic pieces with new commissions, well-regarded installations with new information and conversations across the expanse of her practice. Read More »