Yoshitomo Nara, Pace Gallery at Art Basel 2013, Courtesy Pace Gallery

Last evening, the conclusion of Art Basel marked the finish line of a 6-week art world marathon, including Frieze New York, the first edition of Art Basel Hong Kong, and finally the Switzerland-based Art Basel, alongside the opening of the Venice Biennale, and record auction sales in New York. While the time period was most certainly overflowing with events and attractions, the so-called “fair-fatigue” did not kick in at Basel, with record numbers of visitors at Art Basel (86,000 in total), and strong sales across the board.  Interestingly, as the number of viewers has grown, the gallery booths have evolved, showing a more focused curatorial approach, often planned months in advance.

Donald Judd, David Zwirner at Art Basel 2013, Courtesy David Zwirner, New York/London (more…)

Jeff Koons (Installation view), © Jeff Koons. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Photography by Robert McKeever

This past week, Jeff Koons opened a show of recent work at Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea, continuing the artist’s exploration of new forms in printed works, sculpture and assemblage.  Facing off against David Zwirner’s show of new Koons pieces several blocks away, the show was seemed to make its show-stopping intentions explicit, showcasing a number of Koons’ stainless steel balloon animals, and a series of hyper-kinetic prints alongside recent inflatable sculptures and takes on classical art works. (more…)

New York Magazine has published an in-depth interview with Jeff Koons, in advance of the artist’s two shows opening this week at galleries Gagosian and David Zwirner.  Examining Koons’s successful career, the interview charts his creative history, and his often complex relation with the upper echelons of the art world, noting that he has never had a retrospective in New York City.  “I really think that the journey that art takes you on as an artist is that you first learn self-acceptance.”   He says. (more…)

Rachel Whiteread, Detached (Installation View) © Rachel Whiteread. Courtesy Gagosian Gallery, Photo Mike Bruce

Gagosian London is currently exhibiting Detached, a self-reflexive exhibition by Rachel Whiteread that calls to attention the artistic process itself, abstracting and casting everyday objects into large scale sculptures meant to symbolize the detachment from reality that an artist experiences during his or her process.

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Art mogul Larry Gagosian has announced plans to open his 3rd London gallery in the city’s Mayfair neighborhood, and his 13th gallery worldwide.  The new space is set to open this fall.  “We’ve been looking for a bigger place in Mayfair, one that would resemble a Chelsea gallery,” Gagosian says. “And this has great space with over 15-foot-high ceilings.” (more…)

In the wake of the Pratt Institute fire that destroyed several floors of the school’s historic Main Building, along with the work and materials of 35 art students, dealer Larry Gagosian has stepped in to arrange a show of work by affected students.  Hosted at the Seagram’s Building, the selections for the show will be made by Brooklyn Museum curator Eugene Tsai, and will be on view from May 9th to the 14th.  “The students wanted a show in Manhattan, and this is like a dream come true,” said Pratt president Thomas F. Schutte. (more…)

Hong Kong’s Peddler building is home to several galleries, effectively having elevated the cities standing as an international arts center. The structure, a historic building in the center of the city was never demolished in order to develop a glass skyscraper, houses Gagosian Gallery, Ben Brown and others, and will soon be the home to Lehmann Maupin as well.  (more…)

Museums take part in a panel discussion to show that developments are on schedule for Abu Dhabi, as the museums’ plans have been delayed due to economic and political issues. Frank Gehry, who designed the Guggenheim there, will speak at the Abu Dhabi Art Fair (7-10 November), as will Jean Nouvel and Norman Foster, who designed the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Zayed National Museum, respectively. The fair has western gallery exhibitors such as Lisson, Hauser & Wirth, Thaddeus Ropac and Gagosian. (more…)

The New York Times reports on how artists are increasingly making large scale work, galvanizing a trend in commercial galleries in London, Los Angeles and New York to provide massive spaces in which to show it, formerly the role of the museum.  With the increase in not only monumental sculpture and installation, video pieces also require large amounts of space, often incorporating multi-channel projections. (more…)

FIAC crowds, photo by Tiphaine Popesco for Art Observed

FIAC closed today, Sunday October 21st, with dealers reporting strong sales and a collective sigh of relief that the proposed inclusion of artwork over €50,000 to France’s wealth tax had not passed.  The fair was, by all accounts, well-organized and exhibited an impressive program of young galleries alongside work by established blue-chip artists. This year the fair added exhibition space in the Salon d’Honneur, the newly-renovated upper floor of the historic Grand Palais.  In past years the fair has seen more European collectors, but this year dealers reported sales to many collectors from Asia, Russia and the Middle East as well. The fair was directed by Jennifer Flay.

Marc Quinn, The Origin of the World, 2012, photo by Tiphaine Popesco for Art Observed

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Image: Richard Phillips, Black Water, 2012 via Gagosian

Currently on view at Gagosian’s 24th Street location is a solo show of the work of Richard Phillips.  The imagery mostly revolves around three internationally-renowned female celebrities: Lindsay Lohan, Sasha Grey and Adriana Lima, with the inclusion of one painting of the ocean at night. Through three videos and ten large-scale paintings, Phillips examines the superstar beauties and posits our fascination with them against one simple yet punctuating image.

Image: Richard Phillips, Installation View, via Gagosian

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The second annual ArtRio fair closes in Brazil today, with blue-chip exhibitors seeing strong sales of work by international and Brazilian artists. Gagosian and White Cube reported millions of dollars in total sales. 120 galleries participated, around half of them international.

Go to ArtRio’s site

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Bruce Nauman, One Hundred Fish Fountain, via Gagosian

Bruce Nauman’s body of work has long incorporated elements of identity, the potentials of art and the artist, and an interplay between himself and the viewer. These aspects converge in his One Hundred Fish Fountain (2005), on view at Gagosian’s Madison Avenue headquarters.

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All photographs taken by Zoe Zabor for Art Observed

Coinciding with the recent unveiling of her newly designed Louis Vuitton displays and last week’s opening of her Retrospective at the Whitney, Yayoi Kusama has spread her signature red and white dots to the lawn of Hudson River Park. Presented by the Gagosian Gallery and the Hudson River Park Trust,  “Guidepost to the New Space” (2004) features unique, amoeba-shaped forms at Pier 45 on West 10th Street, close to the Whitney’s future location in the Meatpacking District.

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Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, Olympic Rings (1985)

During the 1980’s, the personnages of both Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat loomed large in the New York art world.  Warhol as one of its most visible older guard, and Basquiat as one of its prominent, up-and-coming stars.  But the two were also friends, and it was in this context that Basquiat and Warhol collaborated on a number of paintings that would end up being some of the last of their lives.  Blending Basquiat’s striking, often visceral approach with Warhol’s measured explorations of pop culture iconography, these pieces offered a marked commentary on both the style and subjects exhibited.

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Chris Burden‘s Curved Bridge (2003) from Galerie Krinzinger at Art Unlimited; All photos on site for Art Observed by Caroline Claisse

Art 43 Basel continues today with the 2nd VIP Preview day, although the fair’s Art Unlimited and Art Statements sections were unveiled two days prior on the evening of Monday, June 11.  Art Unlimited is exhibiting 62 projects this year, all traditionally large in scale, surpassing the conventional gallery confines.  The value of the works shown is equally as sizeable and many have already been sold by the nearly 100 internationally represented galleries participating. Art Statements, another of Basel’s parallel events, features solo shows by promising new artists and rising galleries in the art world.

This year, Art Unlimited is curated by Gianni Jetzer, the director of the Swiss Institute in New York.  An interview with him featuring commentary on the exhibit’s selection process and the projects that made it in can be found here.

Franz West’s contorted, neon pink installation resembling human innards drew crowds to Gagosian’s stand at Art Unlimited.  The sculpture, titled Gekröse (2011), which translates as “bowel,” is the largest of West’s repertoire and sold on the first day of its showing, according to Reuters.

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Daniel Buren, Photo-souvenir From Three Windows, 5 Colours for 252 Places, Work in Situ at Lisson Gallery. Via Wall Street Journal.

In its fifth year, the Hong Kong International Art Fair drew a record 67,205 visitors, up 6% from last year according to Artlyst, with galleries and collectors from across the globe—over 700 booth applications narrowed down to 266, about half Asian, half European and American. The work on view was generally geared toward the more conservative, traditional local collectors, ebbing into today’s contemporary market; many of the works sold were by Asian artists to Asian collectors, though Western galleries were successful as well, including White Cube, Hauser & Wirth, Sprüth Magers, and David Zwirner. The MCH Group—owners of Art Basel—have bought a majority stake in the fair and will officially take the reigns in 2013, renaming the fair Art Basel Hong Kong as they hope to capitalize on the current growth of Asian wealth.

Tatsuo Miyajima’s mirror piece ‘Hoto.’ Via New York Times (more…)

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

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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)

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Urs Fischer, Problem Painting (2011). All images via Gagosian Gallery.

In his first exhibition with Gagosian Gallery Swiss-born, New York-based artist Urs Fischer presents a group of large-scale paintings and sculptures in the exhibition Beds and Problem Paintings. The installation at Gagosian is comprised of three parts: a series of paintings, a duo of fabricated beds, and a grouping of boxes reminiscent of the artist’s 2009 Service à la Française.

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‪‬Former MoMA painting and sculpture chief curator John Elderfield to join Gagosian Gallery in April as “a consultant to organize selected special exhibitions and projects with artists.” [AO Newslink]

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All photos on site for Art Observed by Rachel Willis.

Gagosian Gallery recently debuted a new body of work by German born artist Georg Baselitz. The show is comprised of ten pieces—nine oil paintings and one bronze sculpture—all standing at least nine feet in height and displaying images of abstracted human figures. Baselitz’s work has long been known for its aesthetic expression and the paintings in this show are no exception with their vibrant colors and painterly brushstrokes.

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Moto (1963). All photos on site for Art Observed by Elene Damenia.

John Chamberlain: Choices opened at the Guggenheim on February 24th, and will remain on view through May 13th, after which it will travel to Bilbao, Spain. Chamberlain was preparing for the current Guggenheim retrospective from his studio in Shelter Island when he passed away this December, aged 84. Although the exhibition officially began to coordinate in 2010, Senior Curator Susan Davidson told the press conference that the idea had been brewing for over a decade. The museum currently showcases almost 100 works from a lifetime of aesthetic development, garnered from private collections in America and Europe, as well as more recent works by the artist before his death.

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Mike Kelley, via Interview

Los Angeles-based artist Mike Kelley (born Detroit 1954) passed away from apparent suicide in a state of depression, according to Helene Winer of Metro Pictures Gallery in New York. Kelley was represented by Metro Pictures for twenty years before showing with Gagosian since the early 2000s. His work often dealt with found objects and abjection, from sculptures and collages to performance and video, coined “clusterfuck aesthetics” by Jerry Saltz after his 2005 show, Day is Done. Kelley was also a proponent of punk, having been in bands throughout college, ‘Destroy All Monsters’ at the University of Michigan, and ‘Poetics’ at the California Institute of the Arts. Having held major solo exhibitions at the Whitney, LACMA, Tate, and Louvre, Kelley’s work is slated to be shown at the Whitney Biennial for the eighth time this year.

Mike Kelley, Arena #7 (Bears). Via the Skarstedt Gallery.

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