With the opening of Richard Artschwager! (previously at the Whitney Museum) at the Hammer Museum this month, the institution welcomed Richard Artschwager’s contemporaries, John Baldessari and Ed Ruscha to sit down and discuss his influential practice, output, and creative legacy. “Whether he’s well known or not is not important because he’s seen widely, and if you’re interested in art you’re going to be familiar with his work.” Ruscha said. (more…)

Artist Dustin Yellin is profiled in The New York Times, detailing the artist’s continued practice, his recently reopened Pioneer Works space in Red Hook, and his ongoing fascination with collecting and antiques.  “My father had the bug,” said Mr. Yellin, who grew up in Aspen, Colo. “Ever since I can remember walking, he was waking me up at 5 in the morning to go to flea markets. As a kid, I couldn’t really stand it, but as I grew up, I became that guy, and when I have kids, I am going to be doing the same thing.” (more…)

Financial Times editor Simon Schama recently sat down with artist Grayson Perry for an interview covering the artist’s new exhibition at the Royal Academy in London.  Discussing his influences and practice, the artist goes on to discuss the broader context of British art in the global community. “We are all so desperate to hunt for Englishness, to try and connect to the European renaissance, that we are missing our own brilliant contribution to world culture, which is to say, “Oh come off it!” That’s what we do, hold complex ideas and manage to be ambiguous in a humane way, to celebrate humanity while at the same time satirising it, that’s what makes us English.” (more…)

Artist Ed Ruscha is profiled in the most recent issue of the New Yorker, discussing his life in Los Angeles, his practice, and the inspiration for some of his most iconic works, including his famous painting Oof.  “It had one foot in the world of cartooning,” he says. “You get punched in the stomach, and that’s ‘Oof.’ It was so obvious, and so much a part of my growing up in the U.S.A. I felt like it was almost a patriotic word.” (more…)

During a recent visit to London, David Zwirner spoke with Spear’s about the current state of the art market, offering his perspective and opinion on the current struggle that small and mid-size galleries are currently facing.  ” Those [mid-size] galleries have to be strong. That’s a little bit on the local communities to support them.”  He said.  “When I was a mid-size gallery and a small gallery, I really got my support from New York. It seems that the audience seems to gravitate towards the galleries that have a little glory attached to their name. That’s too bad.” (more…)

The Bruce High Quality Foundation, which opens its first ever museum retrospective tonight at the Brooklyn Museum, is profiled in the most recent issue of the Village Voice.  Speaking with two members of the amorphous collective, the interview covers the group’s history of art world subversions, their efforts towards a more populist art world, and their take on the economic value of art.  “Art’s most radical quality is that it’s useless,” says one member. “People have used art for lots of purposes throughout history, but artists have to protect its uselessness—it serves as a shield against corruption.”  (more…)

The Wall Street Journal has published a thorough profile on MoMA’s recently hired curator of photography, Quentin Bajac.  Recruited last year, Bajac is the first non-American to be named to the post, and brings a diversified view into the art form that often incorporates fields like astronomy.  “Photography has established a fruitful dialogue with other media,” he said. “With film, with architecture, with sculpture. What I’m really interested in is this dialogue with other techniques.” (more…)

In the run-up to this year’s Venice Biennale, curator Massimiliano Gioni spoke with the New York Times, discussing the event, his approach to curating, and his perspective on the event’s long history.  “Klimt showed there in 1905,” he says. “That is mind-blowing to me. Since then there has been Morandi and Picasso, Rauschenberg, Johns and so on. Maybe I’m romanticizing, but the past is still very present.” (more…)

François Pinault, the Christie’s owner and art collector was recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal, highlighting the executive’s passion for contemporary art, and the current show of work by Rudolf Stingel at Pinault’s recently purchased Venetian palace the Palazzo Grassi.  “He is a sponge. He is willing to learn all the time,” says Elena Geuna, the former director of Sotheby’s Europe. (more…)

In anticipation of his new shows at Matthew Marks, Mnuchin Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art, artist Ellsworth Kelly is profiled in the Wall Street Journal, covering his work, his life, and his creative process at 90 years old.  “I think one of the things that is great about being 90, he only feels his body. His sense of wonder, wanting to create more are still there.” Says his partner, Jack Shear. (more…)

In a recent magazine interview with Vanity Fair, YBA veteran Tracey Emin has called out critics for judging her work much more harshly than her male counterparts.  She also discussed Roman Standard, her recent project for Petrosino Square in New York that placed a single bird on top of a 13 foot pole. “What I’m saying through the piece is that strength isn’t always about being big.”  She says. (more…)

Anish Kapoor spoke with The Guardian this week in the run-up to his new show of work, Kapoor in Berlin at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in the German capital, speaking about the countries’ support of the arts, and its stark contrast to Great Britain.  “In Germany, it seems that the intellectual and aesthetic life are to be celebrated and are seen as part of a real and good education, whereas in Britain, traditionally – certainly since the Enlightenment – we’ve been afraid of anything intellectual, aesthetic, visual.” (more…)

On top of his widely recognized work as an artist and political activist, Ai Weiwei is also apparently a skilled barber.  Weiwei was recently documented giving haircuts to several fellow diners at a Chinese restaurant by Beijing Cream.  “I’ve given hundreds,” the artist said. “I could make a book out of it.” (more…)

The Financial Times has published a profile on gallerist Daniella Luxembourg of Luxembourg and Dayan, highlighting her early life in Israel, and her new approaches to exhibition outside of her two successful gallery spaces in New York and London.  Luxembourg’s pop-up gallery, titled Oko, has been gaining attention lately, with a recent show of work by Julian Schnabel, and an upcoming show of work by Dan Colen this week.  “It’s a different intellectual dialogue, another way of engaging people,” Luxembourg said. “When I was working in the auction business, so much money was spent on dinners, marketing, publicity and entertaining … this is another way of working.” (more…)

Artist Gavin Turk spoke with The Guardian this week in advance of his upcoming show this summer at Ben Brown Fine Arts, covering his practice, failing his MA Thesis show, and his views on the tag “conceptual art.”  “People often don’t want to do any work with art – they just want to see something and enjoy it. I can’t see art in those terms. To me, art is always about ideas. Really, it’s all conceptual.”  He says. (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…)

California-based artist Alex Israel recently sat down with AnOther Magazine to talk about his new show in Berlin, his new series of self-portraits (one of which is on view as part of After-Hours 2:: Murals on the Bowery), and the close ties between his work and the film culture of his home city, Los Angeles.  “For me, going to the studio is a phrase that can only refer to going to a movie studio. That is why I made my work at Warner Bros. I am also a fan. I like movies and TV.” (more…)

GQ is currently featuring an interview with painter Kehinde Wiley, profiling the artist on a recent trip to Morocco for his ongoing portraiture series.  Charting the artist’s early life in South Central Los Angeles through his ascension in the art world, the piece offers a studied history of both Wiley’s life and output, including his famous portrait of Michael Jackson.  Initially, “I ignored him, because quite honestly I thought it was a prank,” Wiley says. “Surprisingly, he was really knowledgeable about art and art history.”  (more…)

Gallerist Jérôme de Noirmont, who abruptly shuttered his Paris Gallery on March 23rd, has sat down with ArtInfo to talk about the gallery’s closing, the state of the global art market, and his plans for the future.  “It’s kind of like we’re going from ready-to-wear to haute couture. We’re getting our freedom back. I believe in art, in creativity, and what it can do for society.”
(more…)

The New York Times Magazine has published a profile on German gallery mogul David Zwirner, documenting his growing chain of galleries worldwide, and the dealer’s modest origins.  The profile comes after Zwirner recently opened his new space in Chelsea with a show of work by Dan Flavin and Donald Judd, and responds to scrutiny over the aggressive monetizaton of the art world.  “I don’t mind everyone knocking the money, complaining about how much money there is — that goes with the territory,” Zwirner says. “But what they don’t understand is that work like this has to have space like this to be shown the right way and you have to have money to be able to provide it.” (more…)

For the launch of Lily Cole’s television show Art Matters, on British television channel Sky Arts, the actress and model will interview sculptor Antony Gormley, visiting his studio as well as traveling to the location of some of his most famous public works.  The show will also feature a selection of interviews with curators and critics on Gormley’s practice. (more…)

Artist Catherine Opie recently spoke with ArtInfo about the potential merger of LACMA and MOCA, and her views on the institutions’ futures. Opie left MOCA’s board of directors last year amid criticism of the museum’s administrative direction.  “I know there’s a LACMA offer on the table and personally I think that would amazing,” Opie said. “LACMA has an amazing ability to raise money, Michael Govan has done an incredible job with that campus.  If he feels like he can take that on and turn things around it would be incredible.”  (more…)

The Guardian has posted a video interview with conceptual artist Simon Starling, showing the artist in the midst of production for Phantom Ride, an 8-minute video that explores the ongoing history of the Duveen Galleries of the Tate.  “The idea is to create a sort of historical collapse, so as to tell the story of the space in 8 minutes of film, to take artworks that have been shown here over a very long period of time, and to force them to coexist in the space.” (more…)

With the Art Dealers Association of America celebrating both its 50th anniversary and 25th year of the ADAA Art Show (running March 6th-10th), The Art Newspaper spoke with Director Linda Blumberg about the organization’s history, its response in the wake of hurrican Sandy, and the future of the art market.  “We don’t know where it’s going to go. Are fairs going to replace galleries? I rather doubt it, but it’s our role as an organisation to make sure people understand why galleries are so important. We’re keen on getting that message out.”  She says. (more…)