Artist Jonathan Yeo’s portrait of Damien Hirst, depicting the artist sitting in one of his own formaldehyde cubes, will go on view this fall at the National Portrait Gallery in London.  The work is part of a show of Yeo’s recent paintings, including portraits of other artists and British political figures.  “Even when we realize it’s a chemical dry suit, which he uses to make his formaldehyde works, it’s not entirely clear if he is making something or whether he is being pickled in one of his own tanks. This power balance is something of which we were both conscious through the creation of the portrait.” Yeo says of the work. (more…)

Hilma af Klint, The Swan, No. 17, Group IX/SUW, The SUW/UW Series (1915), courtesy Hamburger Bahnhof

The first-ever retrospective of the pioneering Swedish abstract artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) is currently on view at Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof museum. The exhibition includes 200 of Klint’s most revered abstract works, as well as several lesser-known paintings and works on paper, some of which have never been publicly displayed.

Hilma af Klint, Buddha’s Standpoint in the Earthly Life, No. 3a, (1920), courtesy Hamburger Bahnhof

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A Ukrainian artist is accusing Nataliia Zabolotna, the exhibition curator and director at Kiev’s Mystetskyi Arsenal, of censoring a work using daubs of black paint.  The mural, Judgement Day, was censored claiming it was not in the spirit of the exhibition’s focus on the “Great and Grand,” and has already led to the resignation of deputy director Alexander Solovyov.  “I think that censorship is unacceptable, even more so by [an] institution which aims to engage in and support art.”  He said. (more…)

The Institute for Contemporary Art in London is preparing to release “Art Rules,” an online platform similar to Twitter, which will allow users to engage in short-form dialogues over contemporary art, using the site’s 100-character limit to voice their opinions on artists, theories and the contemporary art world.  The site, which launches August 21st, has already published a number of “rules,” by artists, writers and curators which users will be welcome to respond to, including Jeremy Deller’s encouragement to “throw away the rulebook.”  (more…)

Graham Beal, the current Director of the Detroit Institute of Arts, has published a letter in the New York Times, asking journalists and analysts to refrain from overt speculation and panic on the future of the city’s museum.  “True, any successful effort to liquidate D.I.A. art would precipitate a series of events likely to lead to its closing, but we are a very long way from actions that would ‘denude its prestigious collection of its most valuable artworks. ‘We believe that a healthy D.I.A. is, in fact, a crucial component in any recovery of the city of Detroit.”  He writes. (more…)

Artist Chris Burden, whose upcoming retrospective at the New Museum this fall will fill all five floors of the institution, will also bring a series of works to the space’s exterior.  Burden will install a pair of 36-foot skyscraper structures (Two Skyscrapers) on the roof of the museum, as well as Ghost Ship, an automated, double bowed boat that will circle the building’s facade.  The exhibition will be the first major retrospective for Burden in New York, and opens on October 2nd. (more…)

The Times Square Alliance has announced the next selection for its Midnight Moment series, which gives over the billboards in Times Square to video work from a variety of artists each night from 11:57pm to midnight.  This August, the series will welcome Jack Goldstein’s The Jump, coinciding with his ongoing retrospective at the Jewish Museum.  “Digitally-remastered for our contemporary screens, this seminal work references the dynamic history of an artist’s role in leading sign technology, once again drawing attention to the cutting-edge technology and innovation showcased nightly on Times Square’s signs,” said TSA director of public art Sherry Dobbin. (more…)

Jane and Louise Wilson, Atomgrad 7 (Nature Abhors A Vacuum) (2010), via 303 Gallery

Over the course of their career, British twins Jane and Louise Wilson have documented the highly complex and haunting architectural ruins of modernity. Their work depicts the near-theatrical decay of industrial and military advances of the twentieth century, or rather, turns the spaces of said decay into a theatrical space. The artists’ current exhibition at 303 Gallery combines the work from two recent projects: the photographs Atomgrad, Nature Abhors A Vacuum I, V, VI, VII and VIII, 2011; and Blind Landing, H-Bomb Test Facility, Lab 1 and Lab 4, 2012.

Jane and Louise Wilson (Installation View) via 303 Gallery

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Robert Wilson, Stargazer Beds (2013), courtesy Matthew Teti for Art Observed

This year’s Watermill Benefit, the annual summer event supporting Robert Wilson’s performance lab in Water Mill, New York, welcomed over 1,200 guests to Wilson’s 8-acre property, presenting over 20 site-specific performances, as well as a silent auction featuring over 100 works. Following this, 700 guests dined under a large outdoor tent to watch the Simon de Pury-led live auction of works by Andy Warhol, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Luc Tuymans, and Tseng Kwong-Chi, among others, with master of ceremonies Alan Cumming, and appearances by Winona Ryder, Marina Abramovic, and Lady Gaga.  Titled Devil’s Heaven, the event showcased a diverse group of performances which differed in content, but effectively came together to produce an ominous and sensual atmosphere as guests followed the prescribed path through the foundation’s grounds, appropriately lit by the setting sun and the fire of tiki torches.

View of Watermill grounds, courtesy Matthew Teti for Art Observed (more…)

French porcelain manufacturer Bernadaud has announced a series of collectible, limited-edition plates, featuring collaborations with a number of contemporary artists, including Jeff Koons, Sophie Calle, Prune Nourry, and JR.  The series of plates, titled L’Art de La Table, are currently available in the company’s Chelsea boutique. (more…)

Donald Judd, Untitled (1965), via David Zwirner

The tight, straight lines of Donald Judd run directly through the entirety of his career, from his early painted works on through to the increasingly large sculptural works and stacks of the 1980’s and 90’s.  Moving to purify notions of space, light, color and depth, Judd’s career wove a strikingly influential path through the landscape of post-war and contemporary art.  It is this tradition that David Zwirner in London seeks to explore, pulling together a small but tightly organized collection of works by Judd for a show exploring the range and depth of the artist’s career, from his early sculptural explorations with iron and plexiglass, on through to his more refined “stacks,” and wall-mounted installations. (more…)

“Picasso Baby,” the final cut of rapper Jay Z’s marathon performance at Pace Gallery earlier this month, will premiere this Friday on HBO.  Directed by music video veteran Mark Romanek, the film will document the 6 hour performance, which included cameos and interactions with Marina Abramovic and Alan Cumming, among many more.  “Concerts are pretty much performance art,” Jay Z says, “but with this smaller venue you can get a bit more intimate.  You can feel the energy of the people.” (more…)

Announced this week, Sony Pictures Classics plans to release Tim’s Vermeer a documentary exploring the approach and technique of 17th century master Jan Vermeer.  Directed by longtime magician and entertainer Raymond Teller, the film will chronicle a Texas-based inventor named Tim  Jenison as he explores how Vermeer accomplished the impressive verisimilitude of the painter’s works.  “Tim is a genius, but I’m a skeptic. I wanted to see him do it. Teller has been the Penn & Teller de facto director since our beginnings, so we made a movie of Tim’s whole monomaniacal trip.”  Says longtime collaborator Penn Jillette. (more…)

Rachel Harrison, Coffee Cart (2013), Courtesy of the Artist and Greene Naftali, New York

Currently on view at Matthew Marks Gallery in the Chelsea district of New York is an exhibition organized by American painter Terry Winters. Titled “Roving Signs,” the group of works made by a variety of artists reflects Winters’ interest in traditional American folktales and the cultural heritage of the United States, as well as the various semiotic interpretations and variations that the use of these symbolic images and stories holds in contemporary art.

The Center for Land Use Interpretation, Autotechnogeoglyphics: Vehicular Test Tracks in America (2006), Courtesy CLUI Archive, Los Angeles

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A pair of installations by sculptor Carol Bove are currently on view in New York, including an appointment-only installation on the High Line, as well as a show of works on the Museum of Modern Art’s fourth floor.  Both recent series of works, the installations showcase an evolution of the artist’s practice, moving towards a more refined, cohesive stylistic approach. (more…)

In support of her ongoing Kickstarter campaign for the Marina Abramovic Institute, artist Marina Abramovic will log into popular website Reddit today, for one of the site’s ongoing “Ask Me Anything” sessions.  The artist will open herself to questions from fans and users from around the world, submitted via the site’s simple message board structure. (more…)

Performance art pioneer Marina Abramovic has taken to crowd-sourced fundraising site Kickstarter in order to help finance the construction of the Marina Ambramovic Institute in Hudson, New York.  The project goal of $600,000 will look to alive a portion of the final construction cost of $20 million, and has already raised over $26,000.  Prizes available in exchange for donation include a webcam chat session with the artist, a special video game version of the Institute by artist Pippin Barr, or a ride in a brainwave controlled go-kart.   (more…)

The Art Production Fund, in conjunction with philanthropist Fabiola Beracasa, has announced the opening of an “outdoor pop-up exhibition” in the Long Island town of Montauk.  The exhibition will be held in a vacant lot at 333 Old Montauk Highway, from Aug. 1 to Sept. 8, and will include site-specific installations by Anya Kielar, Virginia Overton and Olympia Scarry.  “These artists are taking into account nature, which is a force unto itself, and our complicated relationship with it,” Says APF founder Doreen Remen. (more…)

The Wall Street Journal reports on the long, convoluted journey of a 63-year old mural painted by artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser.  Originally created outside of Paris by the well-known Austrian, Paradise: Land of Men, of Trees, of Birds and Ships has since moved from Paris to Switzerland to Long Island, before coming to rest in a Brooklyn warehouse.  The work’s long history and current restoration needs illustrate the challenges facing the preservation of such large-scale works, particularly given its 10 x 16 foot size and its weight of over 3,000 pounds.   The move to its current location “took me two days with six guys and heavy equipment and a tow truck,” Says current owner Chris Muth. “If it fell in the process it would have been destroyed, and if it we had been under it we would have been dead.” (more…)

Jake & Dinos Chapman, The Sum of All Evil (Installation View), courtesy White Cube Hong Kong

Currently at Hong Kong’s White Cube, British artists Jake & Dinos Chapman are exhibited The Sum of All Evil, the artists’ first in China, including a group of lurid, bizarre dioramas alongside their familiar series of “reworked paintings.”

Jake & Dinos Chapman, One Day You Will No Longer Be Loved (that it should come to this…) (2010), via White Cube

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Argentine artist and activist Leon Ferrari has passed away at the age of 92.  Ferrari, whose works often invoked Roman Catholic imagery in conjunction with images of imperialism and military power, frequently drew the scorn and ire of religious leaders, including current Catholic leader Pope Francis.  While serving as archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis, then known by his birthname Jorge Mario Bergoglio, had condemned Ferrari for his blasphemous images of the Holy Mother in an electric blender.  “Leon Ferrari hasn’t left, he’ll stay with us,” said Estela de Carlotto, president of human rights group Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo in an interview. “He’s left so much with us that happily he’ll never be forgotten.” (more…)

Seeking to strengthen its international ties, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has announced the “Global Museum Leaders Colloquium,” a two-week program next April that will bring over a dozen museum heads from institutions in Asia, Africa and Latin America to the table, discussing the shared challenges and issues museums are facing worldwide.. “It’s all about promoting international collaboration,” said Met Director Thomas P. Campbell. (more…)

The impending departure of Jeffrey Deitch from MOCA has cast light on the numerous challenges that the museum faces as it begins its search for a new director.  Debates over curatorial capacity and fundraising were frequent points of contention during Deitch’s tenure, and will likely pose new hurdles when the museum begins to talk to potential candidates.  “Whoever they get to replace Jeffrey Deitch will need to have an absolute guarantee of complete curatorial freedom to do the shows they want, when they want,” says former Museum of Contemporary Art board member Dean Valentine, who currently serves on the advisory board at the Hammer Museum. (more…)

Dan Colen, To Be Titled (2011), via New York Times

Snarky and straightforward, the press release for Zach Feuer and UNTITLED’s joint g roup show Jew York speaks with a hint of exasperation, a feeling of exhaustion over the bumper crop of cultural explorations and increasingly globalized scope of the contemporary art world: “There’s nobody left to survey, and nowhere left to do it.  So we figured our only option was to do a show of Jews, and do it in New York.” (more…)