Robert Longo, Untitled (The Pequod) (2014) all images courtesy Petzel Gallery and Metro Pictures

On view concurrently at Petzel Gallery and Metro Pictures in New York are two exhibitions of works by Brooklyn native painter and sculptor Robert Longo. Gang of Cosmos at Metro Pictures is composed of twelve charcoal drawings of well-known Abstract Expressionist paintings, while Strike the Sun at Petzel Gallery focuses on images of patriotism in America, specifically the U.S. Capitol and the American flag as symbols of both nationalism and protest.

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Nate Lowman, This Is Your Brain On Drugs Again, via Art Observed

Nate Lowman’s current solo show is notable in its subtlety.  Once a maker of enormous reproductions of vinyl, consumer-grade bullet hole decals and canvases covered with smiley-faces, Lowman’s new work currently on view at Maccarone Gallery takes a different tack entirely.  Lightly painted, cut canvases and pixelated cut-outs dot the works, rendering soft, pastel forms that mark a notable break from the often harsh images of urban decay he so often selected as the subject of his past practice.

Nate Lowman, Rave the Painforest (Installation View), via Art Observed (more…)

Hammer Projects: Andra Ursuta (Installation View), all images courtesy Hammer Museum

On view currently at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles is an exhibition of the latest body of work from Andra Ursuta, inspired by the artist’s fear and obsession with death. The show is Ursuta’s first solo exhibition in a United States museum, and will remain on view through May 25th.

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Sturtevant, the appropriation artist who worked at making manual repetitions and recreations of iconic artists and young upstarts alike, has died.  Reports claim that the artist, who won the Golden Lion at the 54th annual Venice Biennale, was 84 years old, but as much information about the artist remains unknown, this is not certain.  Sturtevant will be the subject of an upcoming career retrospective this November at MoMA.  “Her various catalytic conversions prove that art can be (at its best?) an impetus for action—aesthetic, cerebral, insurrectionary ,” said writer Bruce Hainley. (more…)

Pablo Picasso, Le Sauvetage (1932), Via Sotheby’s

The Modern and Impressionist evening sales in New York have closed, following two nights of sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s that failed to achieve the same exceptional sales figures that have marked previous auctions, while still finding buyers for most of the works on sale. (more…)

The Table Before Dinner, via Art Observed

The Domino Factory was aglow Tuesday evening, as Creative Time took over the space for its annual spring gala, this year held in honor of artist Kara Walker, who is preparing to open her site-specific work A Subtlety at the space later this week.  True to form, the gala prominently spotlighted Ms. Walker’s monumental white sculpture, which nearly took up its own place of honor at the end of the dining tables set up in the space.  Light streaming in from the long runs of windows on either side of the room gave the statue a pale, golden glow, and served to give a beautiful aura surrounding the guests. (more…)

Portrait of Dirck van Os, a 1658 painting long discredited as a Rembrandt copy, has been returned to public view at the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha as an officially authenticated portrait by the Dutch master.  “People here sensed the underlying quality,” says Joslyn executive director, Jack Becker, “but you need the scholarly community to rehabilitate a picture like this.” (more…)

The 2014 Turner Prize shortlist has been announced, including the artists Duncan Campbell, Ciara Phillips, James Richards and Tris Vonna-Michell, all of whom are noted as working in “non-traditional media.”  “The four shortlisted artists share a strong international presence and an ability to adapt, restage and reinterpret their own and others’ works, very often working in a collaborative social contexts,” says Tate Britain director Penelope Curtis. (more…)

Oscar Murillo, A Mercantile Novel Candy Bars, via Art Observed

The art world has been good to Oscar Murillo over the past year.  Following a series of high auction sales and eager buyers, the 27-year old was quickly signed to David Zwirner, and has continued to command impressive press attention and plaudits for his paintings and installation work.

Oscar Murillo with the Colombina Employees, via Art Observed (more…)

The New York Times takes another look this week at new arrests in the Knoedler Gallery forgery case, and notes the number of participants, complicit or not, to perpetuate a major art fraud.  “If you asked me what the biggest factors were behind this thing succeeding so long,” says art historian Jack Flam, “first is that everybody was afraid to be sued. People give credibility to works unwittingly by keeping quiet.” (more…)

The Financial Times looks at the “tightening screws” on smaller galleries in the current market, noting the vastly disparate growth rates of different gallery income brackets, and the increasing emphasis on brand-name galleries and artists.   “Today you can go to a super-gallery and for £3,000-£3,5000 get an artwork. And maybe for buyers what is important is the brand,” says dealer Paola Weiss. (more…)

Marc Quinn is interviewed in The Guardian this week, answering a quick round of questions on his fears, hopes and secret passions, including an interesting answer to the question of what era he would visit in time: “To the beginning of the 20th century with knowledge of all the artworks to come,” he says. “If I then made them all myself, would it have the same effect on culture?” (more…)

Jeremy Deller has announced that he will be releasing a free, downloadable version of his work from the 2012 British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.  The adaptation of English Magic will be released on July 7th as part of a commission by Own Art, a nonprofit aimed at encouraging new contemporary art collectors to buy their first works. (more…)

The Wall Street Journal profiled Camille Henrot this past week, in the lead-up to the artist’s first U.S. solo museum exhibition at the New Museum, opening this upcoming Wednesday.  The show includes her work Grosse Fatigue, which earned her the Silver Lion at Venice last year for most promising young artist, and which features the image of the turtle heavily.  “She’s slow because she is carrying this massive round thing–it’s like a figure of Atlas,” Henrot says. (more…)

Vik Muniz, Beach (Postcards From Nowhere) (2014) Courtesy of the artist and Sikkema & Jenkins Co., New York

Sikkema Jenkins Co. is currently presenting Album, an exhibition of recent works by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz. Known for his bold and attention-grabbing works which he creates by incorporating an array of materials such as garbage, chocolate and diamonds, Muniz uses familiar images from art history as well as the collective memory of contemporary culture to create powerful large-scale assemblages that pay direct tribute to the history of painting and sculpture in equal measure.    In this exhibition, the artist focuses on memory, both collective and personal, using photography itself as a production tool. Separated into two series, Postcards from Nowhere and the eponymous Album, the work allows Muniz to investigate how memory is an endless notion that is in constant flux.

Vik Muniz, Wedding (Album) (2013), Courtesy of the artist and Sikkema & Jenkins Co., New York (more…)

Sigmar Polke, Untitled (Heron) (1966), via Michael Werner

Presented for the first time in almost twenty years, Sigmar Polke’s works on paper are currently installed at Michael Werner Gallery. Including a number  drawings that have never been exhibited before, Sigmar Polke: Early Works on Paper suggests a distinctive look at the German master’s less known drawings, ink compositions and sketched out ideas, through a collection of nearly a hundred works created by the artist in the 1960’s. (more…)

Frieze New York has announced that it will restate artist Allen Ruppersberg’s work Al’s Grand Hotel, a 1971 installation that saw the artist turning a Los Angeles house into a gallery, performance space and functioning hotel.  “My hope is that the hotel at Frieze will function as a space where people can physically and mentally take a break from the bombardment of the other galleries at the fair and walk into a time capsule where you can almost jump back to 1971,” says curator Cecilia Alemani. (more…)

Helly Nahmad was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison for his role in an illegal gambling ring, the New York Post reports.  “The record here before me reveals that the defendant has contempt for the law — and that he believes the rules apply to everyone else,” Judge Jesse Furman said. (more…)

Martin Creed, Work No. 1092, Mothers (2011), Courtesy Hayward Gallery.

A sheet of A4 paper crumbled into a tight ball, an image of several pots of variously colored and shaped cactuses and a large rotating steel beam bearing the word “MOTHERS”  – these are just some of the eclectic works currently on show at London’s Hayward Gallery for What’s the point of it?, a survey of British artist Martin Creed’s equally playful and thought-provoking works.

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Frances Stark (Installation View), via Art Observed

Currently on view at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in New York is an exhibition featuring new work from Jennifer Bornstein, Judith Bernstein and Frances Stark.  While the work presented by each of these three artists is diverse in their concerns, they all possess a monumentality fitting to the large-scale environs of GBE.

Judith Bernstein via Art Observed (more…)

Ai Weiwei’s name and works have been removed from a show of Chinese contemporary art in Shanghai, following government pressure over his inclusion.  “We were not really a party to this,” says Uli Sigg, the Swiss collector and organizer of the show. “In the end it was the Power Station and the cultural bureau. In the end we said we must accept. We don’t understand but we must accept that his works will not be in there.” (more…)

Online art sales surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time in history last year, The Art Newspaper reports.  The market is also expected to double in less than ten years, according to special insurance group Hiscox.  The news was accompanied by a survey that noted some drawbacks to buying online, including an inability to see the work in person, but also noted a high number of customers to be aged under 30. (more…)

Marianne Boesky Gallery has announced that it will open a new exhibition space in downtown New York, titled Boesky East.  Located at 20 Clinton Street, the space will open its doors May 4th with an installation by Pier Paolo Calzolari.  “I’m looking forward to expanding our reach into such an exciting neighborhood for art,” Boesky told Art Observed.  “Clinton street will be a wonderful complement to our Chelsea and Uptown locations.”

Proxy Adviser Glass, Lewis and Co. has backed Sotheby’s Board Nominations in the wake of Daniel Loeb’s continued pressure on the company.  “In this case, we believe the Dissident has identified certain areas of concern,” the company says in a statement, “but ultimately has fallen short of making a compelling case that additional changes in the boardroom are warranted at this time beyond those already implemented by the Company.” (more…)