Though nothing official has been decided, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California are in talks to form a possible partnership. The deal could potentially alleviate MOCA’s fiscal instability by linking it to the ambitious university, which has pledged to raise $6 billion by 2018 as part of a fundraising project. However, USC provost Elizabeth Garrett told the Los Angeles Times that talks “are very preliminary at this time,” and MOCA spokesman Lyn Winter shared similar statements.  (more…)

Cleveland’s Museum of Contemporary Art will open to the public tomorrow with exhibitions of the work of David ­Altmejd, David Hammons, Katherina Grosse and Gordon Matta-Clark. The director of the museum is Jill Snyder. The architect, Farshid Moussavi, designed the building to change depending on conditions of light and atmosphere. “MOCA Cleveland isn’t a grand museum with a historical collection; it’s all about temporary exhibitions, which change constantly—so does contemporary art, and so should the architecture.”  (more…)

Disturbances in the MOCA’s upper ranks may have caused the museum to shift the date of its second annual Art+ Film gala from 13 November 2012 to a date in the spring of 2013. An e-mail from the institution revealed the change.  Within the past year, at least seven board members are reputed to have left their posts, former director Paul Schimmel was let go, and opinions are said to be divided about the current leadership.

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Former MOCA Chief Executive Charles E. Young has called for the removal of museum director Jeffrey Deitch following a tumultuous month that included the resignation of long-time curator Paul Schimmel and artists John Baldessari, Catherine Opie, Barbara Kruger and Ed Ruscha. In an email to donor and influential board member Eli Broad, Young concluded that “I will do anything I can to try to right the MOCA ship, but nothing will work, in my mind, without a new Captain/Director.”

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Amidst the resignation of chief curator Paul Schimmel and artist-trustees Catherine Opie, Barbara Kruger, John Baldessari and Ed Ruscha,MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch responds to recent criticisms in an open letter and also an interview in which he rejects the notion of a more “celebrity-driven” exhibition program. “I believe that an art exhibition can be engaging, fun and deeply intellectually satisfying and serious,” Deitch said. “These are not contradictory concepts in art.”

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Ed Ruscha has resigned from the Board of Trustees at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. Following Joh Baldessari, Catherine Opie and Barbara Kruger’s departure over the dismissal of long time curator Paul Schimmel, the board is now with no artist representation. In a letter to museum director Jeffrey Deitch, Ruscha was candid; “My defection may look obvious, but it will be all the better for the museum, which is on a course different than I imagined, but one I hope to support in the future.”

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Barbara Kruger and Catherine Opie resign from MOCA board, following John Baldessari’s leave last Thursday after curator Paul Schimmel’s departure following reported conflicts with new Director  Jeffrey Deitch.  Opie stated that: “I love and respect MOCA. It’s the first place I’ve ever had a solo museum show, and it’s had a profound influence on artists in Los Angeles, but the museum is taking such a different direction now… What concerns me is seeing the museum embracing more celebrity and fashion.”

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In an Op-ed, Eli Broad, founding chairman and trustee of the MOCA board, provides insight on the past and current changes at MOCA, including the departure of top curator, Paul Schimmel, on the museum’s behalf, concluding that: “MOCA will thrive and will avoid the problems that are plaguing other institutions while increasing attendance and membership, continuing to offer world-class exhibitions, and exhibiting its collection.”

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Harmony Korine, Still from Caput (2011). All images courtesy of Megan Hoetger for Art Observed.

Hosted by the Museum of Contemporary Art but housed at an off-site location, James Franco’s current exhibition, Rebel, has garnered a lot of attention in Los Angeles for its play on the artist/actor’s own celebrity status. Bringing together Franco’s contemporary fame with Nicholas Ray’s masterpiece Rebel Without A Cause (1955), the exhibition explores the contours of a life lived in Hollywood.

James Franco, “Rebel” Installation View (2012) featuring Ed Ruscha’s Rebel (2011).

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Jim Drain and Ara Peterson, Pinwheels (2004-2005, 2009, 2011). All images on site for Art Observed by Megan Hoetger.

Curated by Mike Diamond, best known as one of the Beastie Boys, Transmission LA: AV Club is an exhibition/coffee bar/event series which has brought together visual art, design, technology, performance, music, and food to give viewers a complete sensory experience. The spectacular 17-day festival has been host to a busy line-up of DJs and musicians, transforming MOCA into a hip nighttime hangout—into the club atmosphere that Mike D. ambitiously envisioned.

Tom Sachs, Toyon’s (2002)

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Cai Guo-Qiang in front of Desire for Zero Gravity (2012) at MOCA’s Cai Gu0-Qiang: Sky Ladder. Images via MOCA unless otherwise noted.

In the first West Coast solo exhibition of world-renowned New York-based Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) presents four commissioned projects, including the most recent work in the artist’s Projects for Extraterrestrials series, which began in 1989. Trained in stage design at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Cai Guo-Qiang’s projects are spectacular and theatrical gestures, embodying the ethos of action painting and a long history of creation/destruction strategies in terms of today’s complex (pyro)technical mechanisms. Using gunpowder as his medium, Cai creates large-scale drawings in a matter of seconds with the dramatic transformative potentials of this volatile material.

Mystery Circle: Explosion Event for The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2012). Photo on site for Art Observed by Megan Hoetger.

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‪‬James Franco and LA MoCA will screen ‘Rebel’ film at “unusual” venue of JF Chen’s furniture boutique, with work shown also by Douglas Gordon, Harmony Korine, Damon McCarthy, Paul McCarthy, Terry Richardson, Ed Ruscha, and Aaron Young [AO Newslink]

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‪‬Suspected financial turmoil related to illegal endowment raiding begets turnover at MOCA, with the chief operating officer, fundraising director and a trustee chairman leaving the museum within the last three months, each remaining in the posts less than a year. Jeffrey Deitch, MOCA’s director since 2010, is reportedly struggling to fix the endowment issues that ended in 2008. The current fiscal year has a projected deficit until its closing on June 30th. [AO Newslink]

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‪‬MOCA announces 2011 acquisitions, including works by Cindy Sherman and John Baldessari [AO Newslink]

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S.A.C Capital founder and art collector Steve A. Cohen joins Museum of Contemporary Art’s board of trustees, in addition to his current duties at the Painting and Sculpture Committee of the Museum of Modern Art [AO Newslink]

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Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, image from “Shadow Pool: A Natural History of the San San International” slide lecture. Courtesy of the artists.

Last Wednesday evening the Masonic Temple at the well-known Hollywood Forever Cemetery was filled with major Los Angeles art world players, including Jeffrey Deitch, MOCA trustee Jeffrey Soros, MOCA donor Karyn Kohl, curator Shamim Momin, Hammer curator Ali Subotnick, and gallerist Maggie Kayne, as well as artists Mark Hagen, Nate Lowman and Hanna Liden. All had gathered under the night’s full moon for the most recent project by New York-based artist duo Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe, Shadow Pool: A Natural History of the San San International, an event organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Freeman and Lowe are known for their immersive environments, such as Hello Meth Lab in the Sun, Black Acid Co-op, and Bright White Underground—and Shadow Pool proved to push their engagement tactics to the next level.

MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch with the Towel People from Shadow Pool fashion show. Image courtesy of Daniel DiScala.

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‪‬Marina Abramović continues to develop her direction of the LA MoCA 2011 Gala, including controversial human centerpieces [AO Newslink]

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André, Love Graffiti: Annabelle (2011).  All images by S. Zabrodski for Art Observed, unless otherwise stated.

MOCA’s exhibition, ‘Art in the Streets’ has proven to be a hugely popular, if not highly contentious, addition to L.A.’s summer arts scene. Located at MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary in Los Angeles’s Little Tokyo, the massive space includes the work of around 50 artists in a range of media including murals, photography, installations, graffitied vehicles, and re-created cityscapes. The show has come under fire for its glorification of what many perceive as vandalism. Indeed, the area surrounding Geffen Contemporary saw a spike in graffiti following the opening of ‘Art in the Streets’ in mid-April. As with any survey show, there have been many objections relating to both the inclusion and exclusion of certain artists. Even before the opening, MOCA Director, Jeffrey Deitch, drew criticism for the museum’s censorship of Italian street artist Blu’s mural depicting coffins covered with dollar bills. The mural was painted over after Deitch deemed it insensitive given its location near a veteran’s memorial. Both in spite of and because of these debates, the show has sparked a discourse that is significant for both artists and audience- since the show has opened, Banksy, one of the artists included in the exhibit,  has begun sponsoring free admission on Mondays to pull in even more viewers to an already record-breaking show. Bansky is quoted as saying, “I don’t think you should have to pay to look at graffiti. You should only pay if you want to get rid of it.” The exhibition was slated to travel to the Brooklyn Museum in 2012, but was recently cancelled due to financial constraints.

Swoon, Ice Queen (2011)

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Luc Tuymans, Speech, 2010. All images via David Zwirner Gallery.

In a series of new paintings entitled Corporate, Belgian artist Luc Tuymans explores the social implications and troubling consequences of corporations and corporate identities. Tracing the origins of modern industry back to the dissolution of medieval feudalism, Tuymans addresses the mechanisms by which these entities shape contemporary culture. Through the visual vocabulary of corporate life, ranging from workplace lighting conditions to iconographies of trade and marketing, Tuymans distills the essential formal qualities of this phenomenon’s historical impact.

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Luc Tuymans, Fortis, 2010.

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Above: Karen Kilimnik, Me Corner of Haight & Ashbury, 1966, 1998.
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Below: Joseph Cornell, Untitled, c. 1953.
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Image courtesy of the Artists, 303 Gallery New York and Sprueth Magers Gallery Berlin London.

Currently on view at Sprueth Magers London is “Something Beautiful,” a collaborative show by American artists Joseph Cornell and Karen Kilimnik. Curated by Todd Levin, the exhibition features paintings, collages, and mixed-media installations that reflect the influence of the Romantic-era ballet on both artists.

Joseph Cornell (1903-1972) was an American artist known for pioneering the art of assemblage. Created from found objects, Cornell’s boxes often read like three-dimensional Surrealist paintings. He admired the work of Max Ernst and Rene Magritte, but claimed to have found their work to be too dark.  His work was also inspired heavily by his beliefs in Christian Science, which he adopted in his early twenties. He never received formal training as an artist, but was influenced by American Transcendentalist poetry and French Symbolist painters, such as Mallarme and Nerval. Another motif of his work, 19th century European ballet dancers, comes to life in this exhibition.

Similarly, Karen Kilimnik’s work redeploys discreet objects in a quest for the romantic sublime. Theater and stagecraft have figured strongly in her installations, and her use of particular materials suggests the influence of Cornell. Often making direct references to Degas and other Impressionist painters, Kilimnik’s subjects occupy a nineteenth-century world: one of mystery, drama, and romance.

Anthony Byrt, in his review for Art Forum, refers to Levin’s conceptual approach here as a “bold curatorial statement,” suggesting that the premise upon which the two artists are connected is a precarious one. However, “Ballet aside,” says Byrt, “tangible links do emerge, such as theatricality, quiet spectacle, and ideas of feminine beauty, which both artists explore.”

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Karen Kilimnik, Paris Opera Rats, 1993. Image credited as above.

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Team Gallery Booth at Art Basel 2010, Image via Art Basel.

AO is on site at Art Basel, Switzerland, where Wednesday marked the official, public opening of the international show.  On the roster was an inaugural Conversation Series speech by Paul McCarthy, an Art Film at Stadtkino Basel, and an Artist’s Talk with Rodney Graham at Kunstmuseum.  If the congenial and thronged atmosphere hadn’t tipped us off to the anticipation surrounding this year’s exhibitions, Tuesday’s sales would have been a clear indication.   A $15 million Picasso 1960 plaster maquette, Personnage, was snatched up immediately from Krugier Gallery by one of the VIP guests (an American collector) invited to Basel’s early opening, as was a line drawing by the same artist, one by Egon Schiele, and paintings by Max Ernst and Paul Klee. Sara Kay of the Geneva- and New York-based Kugier Gallery was unable to disclose the buyer of yesterday’s Picasso sale, but ten minutes after the purchase’s confirmation noted to Art Info that “[The] piece went to a very important collector with the best modern masters.  This is museum-quality, not trophy-level. It’s a very serious piece.” Skarstedt Gallery also enjoyed a  meritorious patronage yesterday, with sales including a Christopher Wool painting, Untitled, for $800,000, a Barbara Kruger photograph for $700,000, a Cindy Sherman piece for $500,000, and two works by George Condo: The Madman and The Colorful Banker, which fetched $375,000 and $225,000, respectively.  Hufkens Gallery sold a Louise Bourgeois etching, A Baudelaire (#7), which the late artist completed several months before her death in May, for $650,000 to a European collector.  Cheim & Read boasted a lucrative afternoon as well, with sales including a $2 million Joan Mitchell abstraction, a $125,000 Sam Francis drawing, a $100,000 Ghada Amer painting, Paradise, and a 28-strong Bourgeois watercolor series, Les Fleurs.  Lisson Gallery sold two Anish Kapoor‘s for $742,000.  Richard Prince‘s Student Nurse brought Gagosian $4.2 million, and Paul McCarthy’s bronze suites–Sneezy and Dopey–yielded Hauser & Wirth a combined total of $3 million. Blum & Poe sold a dyptich by Takashi Murakami for $1 million. White Cube reportedly sold six of Damien Hirst‘s new paintings, as well as Hirst’s “Memories of Love,” valued at $3.48 million. Lehmann Maupin sold two neon works by Tracey Emin, each for $74,000.

Damien Hirst, ““Memories of Love,” at White Cube’s booth, sold for $3.48 million. Image by Art Observed.

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In 2005, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, held a retrospective of the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat.  In conjunction with that exhibition was a short 20 minute film of an interview by Tamra Davis, a friend of the artist. The footage shows a young Basquiat speaking about his works and his life, and is one of the few instances we have of the artist on film. The rare footage also shows Basquiat at work on a number of paintings, providing insight into his artistic process and highly intuitive means of creation. Because of the rarity of the footage, and at the encouragement of Jeffrey Deitch, Tamra Davis decided to work with Arthouse Films to make a feature length documentary entitled Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, combining the original eighties footage with interviews by various artists, gallery owners, and friends of Basquiat. The film constructs a psychological portrait of the artist tracing his humble beginnings as a street artist to his extreme success.

Afterparty at the Boom Boom Room

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New MOCA Director, Jeffrey Deitch. Via LATimes

More on  MOCA’s new director, Jeffrey Deitch, who brings his more business-oriented background to the Museum in LA: [Bloomberg] Deitch’s contract with the museum has certain safeguards against conflicts of interest that might arise from his foot in the business world– among the new rules, Deitch must notify the museum’s board of anything he adds to or sells from his collection. [LATimes]

Eli Broad and his Broad Art Foundation reveal that they are considering 3 different Westside locations on which to build and endow a museum for his art collection. The third site was recently revealed as being a ten-acre parcel on the campus of West LA College in Culver City.  [LA Times]

Works by Picasso and Henri Rousseau have been stolen from a private villa in the South of France, marking the country’s second major art robbery in that week– (work by impressionist painter Edgar Degas was stolen from the Cantini Museum in Marseilles only days before). [FT]

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The Hirshhorn Museum with proposed “bubble” in Washington, D.C. via Washington City Paper

A high-tech, futuristic design for a meeting hall in the Hirshhorn Museum at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is making headlines this week across the art community. The proposed “bubble” would constitute dimensions of 145 feet and swell out like a balloon from the primary structure, inflating during the months of May and October and collapsing for the duration of the year. Advocating for the design, Hirshhorn Museum Director Richard Koshalek insists that it will not detract from the museum’s most valuable possession: its art [Washington Post].

Fernando Botero via Art Daily

Fernando Botero criticizes the art awarded by the $50K prize bearing his name, and the administrators of the prize decide to cancel it as a result [ArtDaily]

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