‬In the midst of a major mid-career retrospective at Tate Modern, Damien Hirst is profiled by Forbes magazine. Considering the boundaries of a contemporary art market, the article suggests “nobody seems to misunderstand his genius more than Damien Hirst himself.”
The MET to open a major exhibition surveying Andy Warhol‘s influence on contemporary art, featuring work by Robert Gober, Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman, and others, in September 2012.
In a potential harbinger of a doomsday convergence between massive fast food chains and artwork held in museums such as the Tate Modern, Damien Hirst has donated one of his spin paintings to be displayed in Leicester Square’s newly remodeled Burger King in London.  The work is titled: ‘Beautiful Psychedelic Gherkin Exploding Tomato Sauce All Over Your Face, Flame Grilled Painting 2003′
Damien Hirst proposes a 67 foot sculpture of a naked pregnant woman wielding a sword for installation in Ilfracombe, Devon, 100 yards from his restaurant. If built, the sculpture would be taller than Antony Gormley’s ‘Angel of the North’.
Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Olympics (1984) which sold for a record-breaking price of £6 million
This evening in London, Phillips de Pury‘s Contemporary Art Evening exceeded pre-sale estimates of £15.1- £21.1 million, with sales totaling £23.4 million. Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat‘s Olympics (1984) at £6 million broke the record for a Warhol-Basquiat collaboration. With three pieces in the auction selling for over a million pounds, the take was over twice the amount received just a year ago for the auction house. Of 30 original lots, 2 were withdrawn (including a Cindy Sherman piece) and 4 were passed on. Although the total sum was not as large as the sales of either Christie’s or Sotheby’s, it was the only auction house to surpass pre-sale estimates for this week.
Shot of the Contemporary Art Evening Auction. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s.
Last night in London, Sotheby’s demonstrated a sound Contemporary Art Evening Sale, with sales totaling £69 million, against an estimate of £57-82 million. They possessed a good sell-through rate at 87.3% by lot and 93.4% by value. In a press release, Cheyenne Westphal, Sotheby’s Chairman of Contemporary Art Europe, was quoted: “The auction this evening was led by blue-chip artists, such as Bacon, Basquiat, Richter and Lichtenstein… With buyers from 15 different countries, the global demand for this area of the market continues to be underlined.†Despite the overall formidable sales of last night, Sotheby’s did not receive quite the same reception as it did in its evening auction in New York in the Spring.
Glenn Brown, The Tragic Conversion of Salvador Dalà (After John Martin) (1998), which sold for £5.2 million with an estimate of £2.2-2.8 million
Dutch artist Bart Jansen transforms his own dead cat into artistic installation.
Artist Damien Hirst designs community of higher-priced eco-homes in North Devon. “Damien is a local developer who truly cares and wants to create an exemplary development,†says architect Mike Rundell.
‪‬A taxidermied bull and cockerel by Damien Hirst—aptly titled ‘Cock and Bull’—is installed four meters above Mark Hix’s new east London restaurant, Tramshed, which serves a simple menu of mainly steak and chicken
Louise Bourgeois, Untitled (2004). All photos on site by Art Observed.
The last of the throng at the first Frieze Art Fair on Randall’s Island in New York City petered out Monday afternoon yet, the most avid collectors simply shifted course to the remainder auction sales at Christie’s and Philips de Pury. Overall, gallerists at the fair appeared to be immensely pleased with the inaugural event, some booths claiming blowout sales, while others were content with merely executing reserve transactions.
John Ahearn casts a fairgoer in plaster as part of Frieze Projects
Gavin Brown and Mark Ruffalo cooking sausages. All photographs by Aubrey Roemer for Art Observed.
The always fresh but now venerable Frieze Art Fair of Regent’s Park, London, has successfully completed its maiden voyage to this side of the Atlantic. The pavilion, designed by Brooklyn-based SO-IL Architects, places Frieze New York on Randall’s Island Park from May 4-7, 2012. The fair is being held in a distinctly snakelike structure that houses 180 leading contemporary galleries presenting works by more than 1,000 artists. There are a number of culinary options as well: Roberta’s, The Fat Radish Café, Frankie’s Spuntino Restaurant, Sant Abroeus Café and the Standard Biergarten.
‪‬Damien Hirst’s ‘Hymn’ sculpture graffitied with simple ‘occupy’ word in blue spray paint outside the Tate Modern in London, The Occupied Times calling Hirst, “the man who has defined the capitalist approach to art more than any otherâ€.
‪‬Magma Group protests Damien Hirst exhibition outside Tate Modern in London wearing clown costumes and holding signs, “Artists against flagrant self-promotion” [AO Newslink]
All photos on site for Art Observed by Caroline Claisse.
Damien Hirst‘s first official retrospective is on now at the Tate Modern in London. The retrospective spans two decades of the artist’s notoriously grand-scale artwork, featuring some 70 pieces. Often dealing with themes of life and death, Hirst’s works are known for their high prices and marketability. The show includes his spot paintings, pharmaceutical cabinets and vitrines, a diamond covered skull, as well as several large preserved animals and a room full of live butterflies.
The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1991)
‪‬Channel 4 in Britain to air TV program ‘Damien Hirst: Thoughts, Work, Life,’ the evening of April 3rd, “an intimate and revealing portrait” [AO Newslink]
‪‬Damien Hirst official website launched, includes live feed of studio assistants [AO Newslink]
‪‬In anticipation of Damien Hirst’s upcoming Tate retrospective next month, writer Hari Krunzu lobs invectives at the artist in an editorial in the Guardian: “This isn’t just art that exists in the market, or is ‘about’ the market. This is art that is the market – a series of gestures that are made wholly or primarily to capture and embody financial value,” “Don’t just make money, be money: weightless, ubiquitous, infinitely circulating, immortal.” [AO Newslink]
‪Damien Hirst will open his own gallery on Newport Street in South London to showcase his collection of 2,000 works, which includes his own paintings, work by street artist Banksy, and Jeff Koons. The gallery plans to open in 2014, following his retrospective at the Tate Modern in London this coming April. [AO Newslink]
‪‬In his first interview in 10 years, White Cube founder and renowned art mogul Jay Jopling addresses his ability to walk the line of ‘privilege and populism.’ He explains to the Financial Times: “I always liked to collide the establishment with the avant-garde.â€
[AO Newslink]
All photos by Art Observed by Aubrey Roemer
The “Third and a half” Brucennial opened last night in New York City, the 2012 edition titled, “Harderer. Betterer. Fasterer. Strongerer.” At 159 Bleecker Street, the high-ceilinged art-filled space reached its capacity of 15,000—with a line around the block—shortly after opening its doors at 6 PM. Organized by the anonymous Bruce High Quality Foundation and Vito Schnabel, a large main room, balcony, and basement, were covered with paintings, sculptures, video-works, and other installations by artists both established and less so. Running the gamut from friends of the Bruces to a Damien Hirst spot painting, exhibiting artists of note include Mike Kelley, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Sigmar Polke, Julian Schnabel, Anselm Reyle, Francesco Clemente, Aurel Schmidt, Dan Colen, David Salle, George Condo, Rashid Johnson, Dash Snow,  Terence Koh,  Richard Prince, Joseph Beuys, Scott Campbell, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Tom Sachs, Andy Warhol (collaboration), and Dustin Yellin.
Next Thursday, Phillips de Pury will auction the Maybach 57 featured in Kanye West and Jay-Z’s Otis video, which was directed by Spike Jonze. The proceeds of the car’s sale (which has been on a genuinely rough ride as depicted in the music video) will go to Save the Children. A charitable donation has been planned since the video’s completion, with the closing caption: “The vehicle used in this video will be offered up for auction. Proceeds will be donated towards the East African drought disaster.†At the time of the video’s release, East Africa was deep in famine, as a result of the worst drought to hit the region in 60 years.
Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale, Attese (1960)
Phillips de Pury & Company held the last of the Contemporary Art Evening Sales for this week in London on Thursday, bringing in a total of £5,695,550, just under their low estimate of £5,985,000. It is quite possible that they would have hit well above their high estimate had Robert Indiana‘s infamous LOVE sculpture not been pulled from the auction before it started, as it was estimated to bring in between £800,000–£1,200,000. The top seller from the auction was Lucio Fontana‘s Concetto Spaziale, Attese, which sold for the hammer price of £900,000—at the low end of the £1–£1.5 million estimate. The work was once owned by Andy Warhol, and is a quintessential example of the Spazialismo movement that Fontana founded, a movement that was among the first to emphasize the importance of performance as art.
‪Devon resident Damien Hirst is building 500 eco-friendly homes at Winsham Farm outside Ilfracombe, Devon, which rely on hidden wind turbines and photovoltaic solar panels. He owns 40 percent of the development’s land, as well his art studio and a local restaurant, and hopes to attract “young, creative people†to the new property. [AO Newslink]
