The Guardian has published an in-depth look at the early work of Thierry Noir, one of the first graffiti artists to paint on the Berlin Wall during the 1980’s.  In the profile, Noir recounts his taunting of West German guards, his developing style, and his meeting with Keith Haring, who painted over one of Noir’s works.  “I talked to Keith and he was embarrassed and apologized,” Noir writes. “He said: ‘In New York you can get killed for that’. He was invited over and the section of Wall had been pre-prepared for him. The yellow was very transparent so you could see my statues through it. I was angry, but it was not his fault.” (more…)

Robert Longo is profiled in the Wall Street Journal this week, in advance of the artist’s pair of upcoming shows in New York, on view at Petzel and Metro Pictures.  “The shows are interconnected in lots of personal ways—and lots of socially and politically relevant ways,” he says. “They’re more about drawing than anything else. In the past, many of my drawings were displayed behind glass, so a lot of people think they’re just photographs. This time, without the plexiglass, you can see the drawing more.” (more…)

A new lawsuit in the ongoing Knoedler Gallery investigation has drawn Swiss art historian and curator Oliver Wick of the Kunsthaus Zurich into the fray, holding him allegedly responsible for the sale of a $7.2 million forged Rothko to casino owner Frank J. Fertitta III.  Wick was paid a $300,000 consulting fee by the Gallery for his opinion that the work was original, and also showed the piece at the Beyeler Foundation in Basel, Switzerland, where he was working at the time. (more…)

Matthew Barney is in the Spring issue of BOMB Magazine, speaking with Director Gaspar Noé about the pair’s shared love of Kubrick, comparisons between past work and their latest projects, and their interests in realism versus spontaneity.   “The aspect of filmmaking that I’m most interested in has to do with creating a live condition,” Barney says, “where something is actually happening in real time, and then filming in response to that… It’s not a very economical way of making a film—to set those situations up and shoot them in real time and then edit it all down.” (more…)

The plans seem to be moving forward for the Helsinki branch of the Guggenheim Museum, as the institution is reportedly launching an open competition to design the new space, co-organized with the Finnish Association of Architects. (more…)

Bond insurer Syncora, one of the creditors in Detroit’s bankruptcy case, has filed a massive subpoena against the Detroit Intitute of Arts, calling for a selection of documents including ownership records, documents regarding donations, and tax records, among other records.  The move is the latest in an increasingly fraught debate over whether credtiors will push DIA to sell off its works for Detroit’s debts. (more…)

A pair of paintings by Gaugin and Bonnard, stolen from a London collector in 1970, have resurfaced in the home of an Italian autoworker, the Guardian reports.  The pieces were purchased at auction in 1975 for a sum of 45,000 lira (€39 or £32, equal to £300 today), and sat in the kitchen of his home for many years, before the owner’s son noticed a similarity between the works and other Impressionist masterpieces.  “The worker, it seems clear, didn’t know what they were,” says Mariano Mossa, commander of the Italian heritage police. (more…)

Jorge Pardo at Petzel Gallery, via Art Observed

Through April 4^th, the work of artist Jorge Pardo will be on view at the Petzel Gallery, stretching the space into a bizarrely disorienting collection of objects and installations.  This is the Los Angeles-based artist’s eighth exhibition at this gallery, and continues Pardo’s investigation of architectural and non-specific spaces that interrogate the limits of the gallery-space, as well as the way the viewer is conditioned into looking at art.

Jorge Pardo, Spare Bedroom (2014), All images courtesy Friedrich Petzel Gallery (more…)

Artist Xavier Veilhan and dealer Emmanuel Perrotin have lost a court case asserting Veilhan’s work was copied by artist Richard Orlinski, whose installation of several works in the French alps bear a strong similarity to Veilhan’s previous work.   “The court has rightly recognised the originality of Orlinski’s work,” said Orlinski’s lawyer, Julie Jacob. Regardless, Perrotin and Veilhan have stated that they may appeal the decision. (more…)

Rankin, A. Galerie, Paris, all photos by Andrea Nguyen for Art Observed

Launched in 1998, the Art Paris fair has charted a course of its own through the increasingly glutted calendar of sales events internationally, sitting squarely between the behemoth proceedings of New York’s Armory Show and the bustle of Hong Kong’s recent Art Basel edition.  This past weekend saw the 2014 edition of the Art Paris Art Fair come and go, as 140 galleries set up shop in the Grand Palais for several days of strong sales, and an impressive attendance count of 58,387, up 10% from last year.   (more…)

In collaboration with the City of New York, Fabergé is launching a large-scale egg hunt this Easter season, placing 22 artist-designed eggs  around the city, for participants to track down.  The selection of eggs are specially designed by artists Jeff Koons, Julian Schnabel, and Bruce Weber, among others. (more…)

The Financial Times writes on trends towards collectives, collaboration and cooperation in the contemporary art world, examining the practice of the Triangle Network, White Columns and How to Work Together, a recent project which challenges various fine artists to work in collaboration to respond in ways as to how artists may operate collectively.  “We have been very open that this has been a challenging process,” says Polly Staple of Chisenhale Gallery, who helped earn funding for the new project. “It took us six months just to come up with a Memorandum of Understanding.” (more…)

James Turrell, Sensing Thought (2005), via Pace

Following his massive, three-museum retrospective last summer, artist James Turrell returns to the gallery circuit this spring, with a selection of recent works on view at Pace Gallery’s London location in Burlington Gardens.  The show offers a continuation of Turrell’s interest in light as a mediator of space, using LED lights to create shifting, intriguing alterations of depth in a closed room.

James Turrell, Recent Works (Installation View), via Pace (more…)

The Wall Street Journal has published a memorial to sculptor Anthony Caro written by Karen Wilkin, a curator and former assistant who spoke at a memorial service for the artist last year, remembering the artist’s demanding nature and quick intuition.  “While Tony was invariably pleased when you were excited and enthusiastic about particular works, she writes, “he was far more interested in the problematic, recalcitrant ones. And he was always eager to respond to suggestions from fresh eyes—respond immediately, that is, by working on the sculpture.” (more…)

Christie’s New York Impressionist and Modern Auction on May 6th will sell off over $34 million in art from the collection of late collector Edgar Bronfman, Bloomberg reports.  The sale will feature strong works from Picasso, Matisse and Monet, among many others. (more…)

Over the past year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has sold off nearly $5.4 million in art, with another $3 million in paintings expected to sell this year, the New York Post reports, including a series of pieces donated by former Met president George Blumenthal.  “The museum is perpetually engaged in assessing its own collections, refining them, and making room for new acquisitions that merit display,” says spokesman Harold Holzer. “The Met owns more than 1.5 million works of art in all, and even in this vast building, storage space is finite.” (more…)

Bernd Leifeld, who has served as the director of the Documenta art festival since 1996, has announced that he will step down from his post, having organized four successful editions of the event during his tenure.   “I am leaving with two weeping eyes,” Leifeld said in an interview with the German Press Agency. “But I wanted to decide for myself when I leave.”  (more…)

Cornelius Gurlitt, the Munich man at the center of the discovery of hundreds of artworks potentially looted from Jewish collectors during World War II, has announced that he will begin returning the works to their rightful owners.  The return will begein this week, as Seated Woman/Woman Sitting in Armchair, an iconic Matisse, is delivered to the descendants of French collector Paul Rosenberg.  “Mr. Gurlitt has given us free rein to return those pictures that belonged to Jews to their previous owners or their descendants,” says court-appointed lawyer Christoph Edel. (more…)

Maria Lassnig, Lady with Brain (1990), via Art Observed

The work of Maria Lassnig is deceptive in its simplicity.  Bright, seasick colors and sloping, often pathos-inspiring, self-portraits seem to fade in and out of focus, occasionally giving away to the staunch white of the surrounding canvas.  In others, the artist blends cool tones and and an even smoother application to create pieces almost completely vacant in their emotional intensity.  But in each work, a powerful subtext can be detected, a self-awareness both vocally present and consistently self-aware in its definition and re-defining of itself.  (more…)

George Condo, Standing Bather (2013), via Skarstedt

On view at Skarstedt Gallery in London are a series of ink on paper drawings by George Condo, combining styles and techniques from different modes of painting, often subverting, but always focused around the commonly accepted conventions of the portrait.

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Brad Kahlhamer, The Four Hairs (2012), All images courtesy Andréhn-Schiptjenko.

New York-based artist Brad Kahlhamer is currently on view at Stockholm’s Andréhn-Schiptjenko. The artist, who works across mediums ranging from painting and sculpture to video and music the gallery has chosen to invite viewers to access his unique understanding of his surroundings or perhaps, alternative reality, through his painting, assemblage and sculpture.

Brad Kahlhamer, Kill Chiefs, (2010)  (more…)

Georg Baselitz, Untitled (2013), all images courtesy Gagosian Gallery

On view at Gagosian London is an exhibition of recent works by German painter Georg Baselitz, focusing the artist’s distinct style through a series of paintings focused on the self-portrait, while paying direct homage to the gestural figures of Willem de Kooning. The exhibition will remain on view through March 29, 2014.

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Arcangel Surfware, the line of internet inspired clothing and accessories by Cory Arcangel will see release at a one-day pop-up shop at the SoHo Holiday Inn, the artist has announced.  “I’ve always looked to disperse my artwork in as many different arenas as possible. I’ve been surfing the world wide web nearly since its inception, and I just haven’t seen a fully integrated and consistently designed line of products aimed at making the experience more comfortable, more personal, and ultimately more relaxing,” Arcangel says. (more…)

The list of artists participating in this summer’s Manifesta biennial has been released, including Guy Ben-Ner, Maria Lassnig, and Francis Alÿs, among others.  The 10th edition of the event will begin on June 28th in St. Petersburg. (more…)