Ellen Gallagher, Don’t Axe Me (Installation View), Courtesy New Museum, New York. Photo: Benoit Pailley

Currently occupying multiple floors of the New Museum is a series of works by artist Ellen Gallagher, a painter and multimedia artist whose work is layered and deeply informed by contemporary and historical references, not only from modern art historic and literary canons but also politics, popular culture and sub-cultures such as Black Power and Detroit Techno.  Represented by two major galleries, Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth, Gallagher’s intellectually conversant work has tantalized critics and collectors alike for the past 20 years.

Ellen Gallagher, Watery Ecstatic (2001-2005), Courtesy New Museum, New York. Photo: Benoit Pailley (more…)

Part of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, artist Marcel Dzama is preparing to premiere a new film at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art.  The film is part of a series of works exploring the wide-ranging impact of filmmaker David Cronenberg, and his particular school of thought and practice. Dzama’s film, A Jester’s Dance, features a newly awakened awakened Maria Martins (played by Kim Gordon and Hannelore Knuts), and her attempts to rescue her lover, Marcel Duchamp, from a fate reciting chess moves to an unseen game. (more…)

As the trial for the suspects in the 2012 theft from the Kunsthal Rotterdam looks to begin, Romanian director Tudor Giurgiu has begun work on a feature film about the suspected thieves, an action adventure that documents their rise to art world infamy.  “The subject sells itself, it is an excellent pretext for an action movie.”  Giurgiu said. (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

(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…)

The Museum of Modern Art has announced an expansive retrospective for artist Sigmar Polke, set to open on April 19th, 2014.  Pulling from the artist’s broad explorations in painting, film and performance, the exhibition will feature some of Polke’s largest paintings and digitally rendered works, requiring their exhibition on the second floor of the museum, which is generally reserved for special exhibitions.  “Some of the paintings are so big, they can only fit on the second floor,” says MoMA Associate Director Kathy Halbreich. “This is one of the largest shows MoMA has ever done.” (more…)

Filmmaker Jem Cohen’s recently opened Museum Hours has garnished considerable attention, setting a story of friendship and art within Vienna’s Kunsthistoriches Museum.  “The use of the Kunsthistorisches is heartfelt and also very funny,” Says film critic Christoph Huber, “a slice of everyday life that I hardly see covered in my national cinema.” (more…)

James Franco, Psycho Nacirema, (still) (2013), courtesy Pace London

On view at Pace London is an exhibition of works by American actor James Franco, presented by Scottish artist Douglas Gordon entitled Psycho Nacirema. The exhibition, which marks Franco’s first major gallery exhibition in the United Kingdom, continues Franco’s intriguing explorations of celebrity, cultural symbols, and obsession.

(more…)

Volunteers are needed as extras for a film collaboration between artist Matthew Barney and composer Jonathon Bepler, entitled River of Fundamental. The filming will take place on Saturday, June 29^th at the Brooklyn Navy Yards, and volunteers will be needed for a 10-hour period. Requirements for the position include a willingness to get your feet wet, enclosed shoes and vocal participation. In return for involvement, volunteers will receive a box lunch and a limited-edition, signed, and numbered t-shirt. (more…)

Paul McCarthy, WS (2013), via Park Avenue Armory

There’s a lot that can be said about Paul McCarthy’s WS installation, which opened this week at the Park Avenue Armory in upper Manhattan.  One could note the full spectrum of sexual atrocities committed on-screen during his numerous filmic works, or the bizarre references to Walt Disney and his fantastic empire of entertainment, or even to the prosthetic noses he seems to put on all his characters of late.  No matter the line of discussion, McCarthy’s show, presented by curator Hans Ulrich Obrist and Armory artistic director Alex Poots, is a dizzying and difficult immersion into McCarthy’s powerful body of work.

Paul McCarthy, WS (2013), via Park Avenue Armory”

(more…)

Luxury aviation company VistaJet recently commissioned artist Tom Sachs, working in collaboration with former assistant Van Neistat, to create a series of flight safety videos to be shown onboard the company’s fleet of airplanes.  Taking inspiration from Todd Haynes’s 1987 cult classic Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, which was shot with a cast of only Barbie dolls, the duo created a short using stop motion and dolls to reconceptualize the traditional airline safety film. (more…)

Marcel Dzama, The Chessmen (2010), courtesy David Zwirner London

Currently on view at David Zwirner gallery in London is a solo exhibition of new work by Marcel Dzama, spanning a diverse range of media that centers on the aesthetic and thematic elements of Chess. The exhibition, entitled Puppets, Pawns, and Prophets opened on April 5th and will continue through May 11th, 2013.

(more…)

Takashi Murakami, Fate (2013), via Blum and Poe

In conjunction with the world premiere of his first full-length film, Jellyfish Eyes, on April 8th in Los Angeles, Japanese artist Takashi Murakami is presenting a selection of new paintings and sculpture at Blum and Poe Gallery.  Showcasing new techniques and styles that the artist has developed since his major exhibition of new work, Ego, which was on view in Doha, Qatar.

Takashi Murakami, Arhat (Installation View), 2013 Blum & Poe, Los Angeles ©2013 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Image courtesy of the artist and Blum & Poe, Los Angeles (more…)

One of the most anticipated art events of the year, Creative Time’s annual gala took place Tuesday night at the Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg, honoring painter, artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel.  Celebrating the artist’s career and creative output, the event lived up to expectations, hosting nearly 600 guests inside the Sugar Factory’s remarkably maintained space.  Featuring a menu prepared by renowned chef Mario Batali, as well as a performance by Laurie Anderson and a tribute to Schnabel by Dick Cavett, the event once again showcased Creative Time’s reputation as a driver in the New York art world.

May Andersen, Julian Schnabel and Anne Pasternak

(more…)

Artist Takashi Murakami’s first feature-length film, Jellyfish Eyes, is set for its International premiere America this coming Monday at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  Taking place in a small Japanese town, the film follows a young boy who befriends a series of bizarre monsters after moving to a new town.  The screening of the film will also include a a Q-and-A with the director. (more…)

Manet’s current exhibition at The Royal Academy of Arts is about to have its own tour on-film.  Directed by filmmaker Phil Grabsky and premiering on April 11th, the film will take viewers on a high-definition tour of the blockbuster museum exhibition, offering insights and in-depth perspectives on the artist’s practice and approach to painting.  The film is the first of a series of museum films distributed worldwide, and will be followed by a tour of the Oslo exhibition Munch 150, celebrating the 150th birthday of painter Edvard Munch. (more…)

Trance, the newest film by British director Danny Boyle features a selection of three recreations of Goya’s Witches in the Air, done by British artist Charlie Cobb.  The replicas were used to emphasize the densely textured surface of the work, as digital replicas or prints can often appear distorted or unconvincing on film.  The work involved the acquiring of rare paints, as well as hours of study viewing the work.  “Just to stand in front of it, you get a real feel for the painting.” says Cobb.
(more…)

The New York Times has published a profile on art forger Guy Ribes, whose remarkably accurate forgeries of works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir are being used in the biographical film exploring the life of the late artist (Watch Trailer).  Ribes, who served several years in prison for forging works by renowned artists and selling them to a criminal art ring, was brought in to recreate works by Renoir, as well as works the artist may have painted.  “It’s funny, isn’t it,” Says writer Jean-Baptiste Péretié, “that the same thing that led to his conviction is what he’s being paid legally to do?” (more…)

The Tate Modern has announced that it will screen Roy Lichtenstein’s only film work, titled Three Landscapes, as part of the artist’s upcoming retrospective, opening next month.  Filmed at Universal Studios in Los Angeles, the film was part of an ambitious project for Lichtenstein in the early 1970’s, but was quickly abandoned after the completion of one film.  “When he finished the project, in a way he lost interest. What fascinated him was his painting. It was the first time and the last time he used film.”  Says co-curator Iria Candela. (more…)

Filmed in 1968, Andy Warhol’s “San Diego Surf” spent years locked away before finally seeing a screening at 2011’s Art Basel Miami Beach.  The film, shot by Warhol and his manager/assistant Paul Morrissey, had sat unfinished until 1995, when the Warhol Foundation commissioned Paul Morrissey to complete a final cut.  The film will finally see a public release this month at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, on view from January 23 to the 28th. (more…)

Jonas Mekas, Jonas Mekas (Installation View), Via Serpentine Gallery

Lithuanian-American artist Jonas Mekas has worn many hats over his sixty-plus year career. Emigrating to the United States after his imprisonment in labor camps during World War II, Mekas began creating films that embraced a diaristic approach to documenting the events of his own life, but were informed by his active participation in the New York avant-garde film scene of the 1950’s. (more…)

Francis Alÿs, REEL-UNREEL (2011), via David Zwirner

In REEL-UNREEL, the recently completed film by Belgian artist Francis Alÿs, two Afghan boys race through the streets of Kabul, dodging traffic, pedestrians, and other children while military helicopters fly overhead.  Mimicking a game hoop-rolling, they push two large film canisters, a trail of film spilling out behind them as they go.  Winding through the streets and up into the hills of the Afghani capital, the reels of film take their fair share of abuse as they are dragged through dirt, puddles, and even a small fire before being mistakenly rolled straight off a cliff. (more…)