–>
Eva Hesse, No Title, 1969

Currently on show at Hauser & Wirth, through April 24, is a series of small sculptures by Eva Hesse that are essentially fragments rescued from her studio. They are fragile and diaphanous in substance, almost anti-sculptures. A year before her death, in 1969, Hesse wrote of her desire “to get to non-art, non-connotive, non-anthropomorphic, non-geometric, non-nothing; everything…It’s not the new, it is what is yet not known, thought, seen, touched; but really what is not and that is.” Though not quite there, or not quite anything, the works, nonetheless, feel significant and demanding. As Leslie Camhi wrote for the New York Times blog, though the work in the exhibition seem closer to prototypes to autonomous works of art, they are compelling in revealing those familiarly Hesse-ian themes: “plasticity, an engagement with ephemeral materials, the elusive and incomplete nature of memory, and a redolent corporeality.”

More text and images after the jump…
–>
(more…)

Paul McCarthy “[Shit Pie (White Snow)]” (2009), at Hauser & Wirth.

Hauser & Wirth’s New York gallery is showing an entirely new collection of works by Paul McCarthy. “White Snow” presents two sets of drawings, created through and commenting on the classic fairy tale “Snow White.”  It brings together one of the original versions of the story, the 19th century German “Schneewittchen [Snow White],” and Disney’s 1937 re-imagining of the beloved folk tale.  The show closes on December 24.

Paul McCarthy, “[White Snow] Inside the Dwarfs House” (2009), at Hauser & Wirth.

more images and story after the jump…
(more…)

Installation view of Subodh Gupta’s ‘Common Man’ via Hauser & Wirth

Called both the “Damien Hirst of Delhi” and the “Marcel Duchamp of Asia,” Subodh Gupta currently has an exhibition on view at Hauser & Wirth in London.  Known for creating iconic works that reference both his Indian background and Western art, this exhibition, ‘Common Man,’ includes a number of large works that playfully use famous works as well as pieces that reference the artist’s own oeuvre. Gupta, who has called himself “the idol thief,”  took Marcel Duchamp’s infamous ‘L.H.O.O.Q.,’ a postcard of the Mona Lisa upon which Duchamp drew a mustache, and turned it into a bronze bust. Many of the works appear to composed of ready made commodities, but are actually newly fabricated out of traditional materials like bronze in a nod to the weight such materials carry in an artistic context.

Subodh Gupta’s ‘Et tu, Duchamp?’ via Hauser & Wirth

(more…)

YARD (to harrow), William Pope L. Via ArtNet

Dramatic reinventions of Allan Kaprow’s ‘YARD‘ are currently on show at various locations in New York City; the primary site, showcasing the sprawling reinvention realized by the famed performance artist William Pope L., is the Manhattan townhouse at 32 East 69th Street where Kaprow first exhibited his Environment YARD in 1961. The townhouse was then home to the legendary Martha Jackson Gallery and has just now opened as Hauser &Wirth’s first American Gallery.  Hauser & Wirth has extended the show to include reinventions of YARD in public spaces in Queens and downtown Manhattan by the two noted artists Josiah McElheny and Sharon Hayes.

Allan Kaprow installing YARD in New York City in 1961. Via Hauser & Wirth

Related Links:
Hauser & Wirth Homepage
Allan Kaprow Homepage
Queens Museum of Art Homepage
Changing Un-Arts Tires [NYTimes]
Video of YARD (to harrow) at Hauser & Wirth [ArtObserved via Twitvid]
Triple blowout for Hauser & Wirth debut [Artnet]
Reinventing the Wheel [Artinfo]
Yard (To Harrow), 1961/2009 [The New York Times]
Wall to Wall: Homage to Allan Kaprow [The Wall Street Journal]

More text and images after the jump….

(more…)

–>
Martin Eder, Stagnancy via Hauser & Wirth

Works of Berlin-based artist Martin Eder are currently showing at Hauser & Wirth. This is the first UK exhibition of the artist. Displaying the dialogue between culture and kitsch, a suite of Martin Eder’s new paintings may be perceived initially as bordering on perverse; yet a closer and collective examination of his work reveals a somewhat surrealistic world, where the vocabulary established is translated into the themes of fear and desire. Coinciding with the exhibition occupying two floors of the Old Bond Street gallery in London, was a concert performed by Martin Eder’s alter-ego Richard Ruin at Hoxton Hall on September 11, 2009. The show runs through September 26, 2009.

Related Links
–>
Martin Eder (Press Release) [Hauser & Wirth]
–>
Exhibition Preview: Martin Eder, London [Guardian UK]
–>
Hauser & Wirth announces the first UK exhibition of the Berlin-based Artist Martin Eder [Art Knowledge News]
–>
The Figure and Dr Freud Group show at Haunch of Venison [ArtObserved]

–>
Martin Eder, Night via Hauser & Wirth

More text and images after the jump… (more…)

Judith Supine, Above the City in a Summer Night Dream via Wooster Collective

Judith Supine installs his “Above the City in a Summer Night Dream” on top of the Williamsburg Bridge in New York [Wooster Collective]
Ryan McGinley writes on Dash Snow in Vice Magazine [Vice via Art Fag City]
India’s contemporary art “superstar,” Subodh Gupta, before his first UK solo show at Hauser & Wirth, speaks of his Western influences [Financial Times]
In related, The Economist discusses the state of Indian Contemporary art with a summary of the International Art Fair in Delhi [Economist]

Julien Fronsacq (Palais de Tokyo, Paris), Olivier Sailliard (Musée de la Mode et du Textile, Paris),and Hans Ulrich Obrist (Serpentine Gallery, London) model for Yohji Yamamoto’s Y, via ArtJetSet

The spring lookbook for Yohji Yamamoto’s Y features curators as models [ArtJetSet]
Gagosian Gallery sues Lufthansa and Art Crate Inc. over the destruction of a 1969 Brice Marden painting worth $3 million [NY Times]
Russian artist, Presniakov, to sue Hilton heiress for failing to pay $10 million for his artwork [Reuters]
Meanwhile a Moscow dealer sues Luhring Augustine over George Condo paintings [Bloomberg]
Graffiti charges against Yoshitomo Nara dropped after 6 months of proper behavior [Artforum]
The Norton Simon Museum’s ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ become the center of a legal battle after an heir to the work claims the paintings were looted by the Nazis [LA Times]

Gavin Turk’s ‘Brillo 5’ a bronze sculpture of a cardboard box for sale via Christie’s

Christie’s announces its First Open Sale of Post-War and Contemporary Art, scheduled for September 23rd [Artdaily]
LA art gallery Blum and Poe expands its gallery into a new space launching October 2 in related both Sotheby’s and Christie’s downsize their LA operations [Lindsay Pollock]
Christie’s converts an icon Brooklyn warehouse into a rigorously guarded storage space [The New York Times]
With 372,000 visitors, the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit was the most attended show in the Guggenheim Museum’s history [NY Times]
In related, Banksy’s guerilla Bristol Museum show reaches over 300,000 visitors [Guardian]

Posters for the New York Minute exhibition at Macro in Rome via OHWOW

An interview with Charles Saatchi, who is releasing a book on September 8th detailing his experiences as an art collector [Guardian]
Daniel Richter leads a protest against the demolition of artist studio and gallery space in Hamburg [Artinfo]
Moscow International Biennale for Young Art- an ambitious art initiative announces call for applications [Art Daily]
AMR- a new index by analysts for tracking prices aimed solely on post-war art is created [Financial Times]
The Scotsman Steps built in 1899 will become a panel for famous contemporary artist- Martin Creed’s installation [News Scotsman via ArtInfo]
A painting uncovered in Iraq is picked up by the media as a Picasso but is likely inauthentic [ArtMarketMonitor]

Pipilotti Rist via Panache

The Gucci Group award, previously awarded to artists including Steve McQueen and Julian Schnabel, has announced its 4 nominees, among which is artist Pipilotti Rist [Vogue]
This year’s Frieze Music Presentation will be a performance choreographed by artist Martin Creed [Frieze]
In response to LACMA’s decision to end its long standing weekend film program, two outside organizations step in with $150,000 pledge in an attempt to save it [Los Angeles Times]

Skewville wooden sneakers via C-Monster

The ubiquitous Skewville wooden sneakers have online documentation [Skewville via C-Monster]
The latest V magazine profiles 6 projects presented at the 53d Venice Biennale, including those by Tauba Auerbach, Aurel Schmidt, Dan Colen and the late Dash Snow [V magazine]
Art exhibitions to see this fall as suggested by New York art critic Jerry Saltz [Artnet]
The values of art related financial indexes increase as the market is possibly recovering [ArtInfo]
Townhouses restored and owned by photographer Annie Leibovitz could potentially cure her $24 million loan obligations to Art Capital Market [Bloomberg]

Nils Folke installation via Phillips De Pury

Phillips De Pury & Co installs sculptures by Nils Folke in its windows to be viewed from High Line park in New York [Phillips De Pury]
Newly created Arts Editor role at the BBC News is being assumed by Will Gompertz who is the current Director of Tate Media at the Tate [BBC]
This year’s Vanity Fair 100 includes art world figures Bernard Arnault (#10), François-Henri Pinault (#20), Miuccia Prada (#40) and Jean Pigozzi (#74) [Vanity Fair]
Ed Ruscha will receive the Artistic Excellence Award from the National Arts Awards on October 5, 2009 [Americans For The Arts]
The Guardian investigates the art scene in Moscow complete with the listing new exhibition spaces [Guardian]

–>
Pipilotti Rist, Film Still, via Hauser & Wirth

Pipilotti Rist’s ingenuity has materialized into her perfect living space at Hauser & Wirth.  Inside you’ll find a collaboration of elements that marry the domestic to music, lights, still images and lightboxes.  All are artfully finished with a sprinkling of video installations from her upcoming feature film Pepperminta.

Related links:
–>
Pipilotti Rist Show [Hauser and Wirth]
–>
Pepperminta Official Site
–>
Pipilotti Rist’s Site
–>
Pour Your Body Out [MoMA]

–>
Pipilotti Rist, Film Still, via Hauser and Wirth

More text and pictures after the jump…
–>
(more…)

Detail from Isa Genzken’s “Kinder filmen III” (2005), part of “Sesam, öffne dich!” currently showing at Museum Ludwig.

Isa Genzken’s “Sesam, öffne dich!” moves to Museum Ludwig from a show at Whitechapel Gallery which drew over 50,000 visitors. The exhibition features Genzken’s mixed media pieces from as early as 1970, spanning thirty years of her unique fusion of paint, photography, found art, and architectural installation. Co-curated by Kasper König and Nina Gülicher, “Sesam, öffne dich!” closes at Museum Ludwig on November 15.

Further detail from Isa Genzken’s “Kinder filmen III” (2005), at Museum Ludwig.

Related links:
Museum Ludwig – Exhibitions
Isa Genzken – Open Sesame! [Whitechapel Gallery]
Isa Genzken [Re-title]

more images and story after the jump…
(more…)

Paul McCarthy,  M, at Hauser & Wirth.

A collection of works by Paul McCarthy is showing at Hauser & Wirth Zürich. The exhibition looks to showcase the “raucous, exuberant mayhem” that, for McCarthy, is art and society. In some pieces, this agenda is overt, with sculptures featuring George Bush together with pigs.  McCarthy comments on America, here, and the audience; “I’ve always been interested in the audience being a prop,” he has said.

Related links:
Paul McCarthy [Hauser & Wirth]
Paul McCarthy Interview [BOMB magazine]

(more…)

David Zwirner booth at the Armory, showing Yan Pei-Ming, John McCracken, and Rachel Khedoori.

New York Armory Week 2009 is in full swing, with attendance higher than expected moving into the weekend.  Despite the absence of several blue chip galleries – including Matthew Marks and Lehmann Maupin – the gallerists’ collective mood seems hesitant but optimistic.  177 contemporary galleries are exhibiting in the Armory’s 11th year, along with the addition of a Modern wing at Pier 92 selling more established, less edgy work.

The Armory Show 2009 and the Armory Modern
Piers 92 and 94
12th Avenue at 54th Street
March 4-8, 2009

Armory Opening Party at MoMA.

RELATED LINKS
Sales still down, but spirits are buoyant [Art Newspaper]
On the Piers, Testing the Waters in a Down Art Market [New York Times]
Has the Recession Sparked a New Renaissance? [Guardian UK]
On the Scene at the Armory Preview Party [Style File Blog]
MoMA’s Armory Show Opening Benefit Party [Patrick McMullan]
Armory MoMA After Party [Guest of a Guest]
Now Dealing | The Armory Show [TheMoment]
Window-shoppers Descend on Armory Art Show [NYMag]
What’s Selling (or Not) at the New York Armory Show [NYMag]
‘Creepy’ Bernie Madoff Watercolor Fails to Sell at Armory Show [NYMag]
Dealers Sold on Armory Modern, Collectors Less So [ArtInfo]
The Herd Is Out, but Holding Back [ArtInfo]

more stories and photos after the jump…

(more…)

Akt (Nude) (1952) by Joseph Beuys, via Hauser & Wirth

Joseph Beuys’s early works on paper from the collection of Helga and Walter Lauffs are currently on display at Hauser & Wirth in London. The works date from the 1950s, a period of crisis and introspection yet necessary for Beuys’s growth as an artist he later said.  Beuys produced the drawings in solitude drawing continuously in order to create a new language for art with both human and spiritual qualities.  Made with various mediums, the drawings are at once delicate and strong.  The works explore a new form of organic depiction that would serve as a basis for future sculptural creations.

Exhibition Page: Joseph Beuys’ Early Works on Paper
Joseph Beuys [Artnews.org]
Joseph Beuys Early Works on Paper [Artnet]
Joseph Beuys at Hauser & Wirth [Timeout London]

(more…)

Grayson Perry; Entrance To The Forest; 2002; Victoria Miro Gallery; London -Photos by ArtObserved

“The surprise is the business we are doing. Frankly, people are expressing more confidence in the art market than the government or Wall Street right now,” said Sean Kelly of Sean Kelly Gallery. The night of December 2nd, Vernissage attendees glittered and Piper Heidsieck champagne flowed.  More importantly, buyers were in attendance, asking questions and indeed, according to most of the galleries interviewed for this article, buying.  On Thursday afternoon, Douglas Baxter, President of Pace Wildenstein professed “We’ve met expectations.” Also on Thursday, when asked his feelings on sales from the night before, a representative at Cheim & Read insisted his artists have been selling well, pointing to Jack Pierson sculpture and a pile of William Eggleston’s photos.  Margherita Belaief of Peres Projects had the same confidence, “It’s hard to say so early but in general, Dash Snow’s pieces are selling strong.”  While hesitant to disclose precise numbers, the overall sentiment of the top galleries was optimistic.

However, it’s important to note while the larger known artists have been selling strong, some galleries have reported some difficulty selling lesser known artist pieces.  Alfons Klosterfelde at Klosterfelde was most direct: “People are asking more questions and really want to know the details,” but he said pointedly as of Thursday, “there have been less sales” and Klosterfelde remarked the pieces sold were from the gallery’s more known artists.

Photos and Writing by Faith-Ann Young

more pictures and story after the jump…

(more…)

Lee Bontecou, Composition (1965) via Hauser & Wirth Gallery

The collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs, one of Europe’s most important private collections of 20th century post war art, will be on exhibit at the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in Zürich through July 26. The focus of the Lauff’s collection was new and ground breaking contemporary art.  Their collection contains key American and European artistic currents in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Selections from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs [ArtNet]
Selections from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs [re-title.com]
VIDEO: Selections from the Collection of Helga and Walther Lauffs/Hauser&Wirth, Zurich [Vernissage]

(more…)

La Rivière Gentille, 2007 via Hauser & Wirth

Hauser & Wirth, Zürich, is currently displaying a new series of works on paper, La Rivière Gentille (2007), by Louise Bourgeois. The exhibit, featuring 42 mixed-media works by the contemporary master mostly known for sculpture, evokes the dual nature of water and memory through imagery and text. The installation wraps around the gallery, reinforcing Bourgeois’ long-held emphasis on architectural and psychological spaces. This show coincides with the traveling, full-career Bourgeois retrospective that visits New York this summer.

Bourgeois Retrospective at Centre Pompidou [moreintelligentlife.com]
La Rivière Gentille in Zurich [Hauser & Wirth]
Louise Bourgeois at Guggenheim [Guggenheim Museum]
Bourgeois Spider Sells for Record $4.5 Million [Bloomberg]
Louise Bourgeois: A Retrospective [Art:21 Blog]

(more…)