Hiroshi Sugimoto has been awarded the inaugural Isamu Noguchi prize for his work as an artist. The photographer and architect was awarded the prize in an award ceremony at the Noguchi Museum in New York by Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations Motohide Yoshikawa. (more…)
The New York Times takes a look inside the bi-annual Brant Foundation Art Study Center opening last week, held in honor of the space’s new Dan Colen show, and noting its place as a haven away from the bustle of Frieze week. “Frieze week is a nightmare,” says Nate Lowman. “To have the same limp handshake 400 times? I don’t go to anything except this.” (more…)
Jeff Koons, Popeye (2009-2011), via Sotheby’s
The Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Sale wrapped this evening, with a number of impressive sales that did little to match the fireworks of Christie’s record-setting outing last night, but still managed to bring forth a number of impressive and noteworthy sales, as well as several new world records for artists at auction. The auction capped a final sales tally of $364,379,000 over 81 lots, with 12 of those works remaining unsold. (more…)
Sterling Ruby is interviewed in the New York Times this week, following the opening of the artist’s new show at Hauser and Wirth. “When you look at what I do,” he says, “it’s schizophrenic to the point where it should never have a market. With my work, you can’t be like, “Well, we can plug this into what’s happening in the market because it looks like the last series.” (more…)
Andy Warhol sells at Christie’s, via Art Observed
The results are in on an auction that exceeded any and all expectations tonight at Christie’s, and a new world auction record has been set for auctions overall. Despite early calls that the auction would be marked by excessive guarantors and limited betting, all expectations were broken. Christie’s surged past the previous high it set late last year, arriving at a final sales record of $744 million for the 68 lot auction, with only four works going unsold, bringing down a number of world auction records with it on the way. The sale was also defined by an impressively deep level of wealth over the highest priced works. 63 of the lots managed to sell for over $1 million, and 4 surged past the $50 million mark, eliciting astonishment by many on hand.
Barnett Newman, Black Fire I (1961) which sold for a record $84.165 million, via Christie’s
The Art Newspaper takes a look at Bill de Blasio’s record in the past with the arts, and speculates where on his list of priorities the arts will fall during his time as Mayor, noting his record of support for smaller public institutions. “Under Bloomberg, well-established institutions tended to be favored,” consultant Adrian Ellis says. Now, “those smaller organizations further from Manhattan may see an increase in their funding and their priority.” (more…)
Artist Marina Abramovic is interviewed in The Guardian this week, discussing her upcoming retrospective at The Serpentine, where the artist will freely wander the space of the gallery, and will allow visitors to come in and watch her. “It’s the public and me and nothing else,” she says. “I took the objects away. But the encounter, I’ve never done anything as radical as this. This is as immaterial as you can go.” (more…)
Andy Warhol, Race Riot (1964), via Christie’
With the clamor of Frieze Week subsiding, the last big sales for New York’s spring art calendar are set to take place this week, as the major auction houses gear up for their Contemporary and Post-War Auctions. True to form, the combination of ample buyers and a thriving market has brought forth a series of strong works at all houses, with a number of impressive works on-sale that could challenge some long-held auction records. (more…)
The New York Times takes a look at the lunch habits of various artists in their studios, examining the communal eating time for artists and their assistants, particularly those of Urs Fischer, Cai Guo-Qiang and Marianne Vitale. “What makes me sad,” Fischer says, “is when people have these lunches where they all go out individually, and then have plastic containers of salads, and sit in front of computers.” (more…)
Nada Entrance, all photos via Patrick Jaojoco for Art Observed
Returning to the southern tip of Manhattan, and the fittingly loose confines of the Basketball City sports complex, the NADA New York fair caused quite a stir this year, bringing a high quality fleet of exhibitors and artists to the space for a free fair that did away with much of the high profile glitz of Frieze up the East River, without sacrificing on quality works. Welcoming a number of small regional galleries alongside a strong count of downtown mainstays, the 80-gallery fair presented a compelling alternative to Frieze’s big ticket names and prices, while keeping a strong focus on size and selection. (more…)
Frieze Art Fair, via Art Observed
Following Thursday’s preview event and Friday’s initial day of public entry, Frieze Art Fair is up and running, opening the doors on a revamped fair that has already drawn considerable praise for its strong, diverse selection of galleries and artists, mounting a combination of impressive works alongside more challenging, unique installations that offer a fitting cross-section of the contemporary field.
William Kentridge at Goodman Gallery, via Art Observed (more…)
Robert Longo, Untitled (The Pequod) (2014) all images courtesy Petzel Gallery and Metro Pictures
On view concurrently at Petzel Gallery and Metro Pictures in New York are two exhibitions of works by Brooklyn native painter and sculptor Robert Longo. Gang of Cosmos at Metro Pictures is composed of twelve charcoal drawings of well-known Abstract Expressionist paintings, while Strike the Sun at Petzel Gallery focuses on images of patriotism in America, specifically the U.S. Capitol and the American flag as symbols of both nationalism and protest.
Nate Lowman, This Is Your Brain On Drugs Again, via Art Observed
Nate Lowman’s current solo show is notable in its subtlety. Once a maker of enormous reproductions of vinyl, consumer-grade bullet hole decals and canvases covered with smiley-faces, Lowman’s new work currently on view at Maccarone Gallery takes a different tack entirely. Lightly painted, cut canvases and pixelated cut-outs dot the works, rendering soft, pastel forms that mark a notable break from the often harsh images of urban decay he so often selected as the subject of his past practice.
Nate Lowman, Rave the Painforest (Installation View), via Art Observed (more…)
Pablo Picasso, Le Sauvetage (1932), Via Sotheby’s
The Modern and Impressionist evening sales in New York have closed, following two nights of sales at Sotheby’s and Christie’s that failed to achieve the same exceptional sales figures that have marked previous auctions, while still finding buyers for most of the works on sale. (more…)
Bill Viola, Tristan’s Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall) (2005) all images courtesy Grand Palais
On view at the Grand Palais in Paris is a group of works by celebrated American video artist Bill Viola, ranging in date from 1977 to the present day, making it the largest retrospective the artist has ever shown during his long and productive career.
Joel Kyack, Clever Formal Gestures ≠Something to Say, via Francois Ghebaly
As the month of May begins in earnest, another edition of Frieze Art Fair’s New York edition prepares to open its doors on Randall’s Island this week, bringing its familiar bounty of events, talks, special programs, competing events and a number of high-profile auctions and openings across Manhattan.
Yayoi Kusama, INFINITY-NETS [AOQBZ], via David Zwirner (more…)
The Table Before Dinner, via Art Observed
The Domino Factory was aglow Tuesday evening, as Creative Time took over the space for its annual spring gala, this year held in honor of artist Kara Walker, who is preparing to open her site-specific work A Subtlety at the space later this week. True to form, the gala prominently spotlighted Ms. Walker’s monumental white sculpture, which nearly took up its own place of honor at the end of the dining tables set up in the space. Light streaming in from the long runs of windows on either side of the room gave the statue a pale, golden glow, and served to give a beautiful aura surrounding the guests. (more…)
Oscar Murillo, A Mercantile Novel Candy Bars, via Art Observed
The art world has been good to Oscar Murillo over the past year. Following a series of high auction sales and eager buyers, the 27-year old was quickly signed to David Zwirner, and has continued to command impressive press attention and plaudits for his paintings and installation work.
Oscar Murillo with the Colombina Employees, via Art Observed (more…)
Following Daniel Loeb’s defeat in court last week, Sotheby’s and his company Third Point LLC seem to have reached an agreement, with the auction house agreeing to add his three nominees to an expanded, 15-person board of directors, while allowing him a 15% stake in the company. “This agreement ensures that our focus is on the business and that we will benefit from five fresh voices and viewpoints,” says Sotheby’s head Bill Ruprecht. (more…)
Swoon, Submerged Motherlands (Installation View), via Art Observed
The Brooklyn Museum has just installed a site-specific piece by artist Swoon, entitled Submerged Motherlands. Comprised of a monumental tree and a constructed surrounding environment, the work addresses issues of destruction and renewal in the artist’s signature multimedia approach.
Claude Monet, Nymphéas (1907), via Christie’s
As the art world turns its attention to New York this week during the hustle and bustle of Frieze Week, Sotheby’s and Christie’s will hold their annual spring auctions of Impressionist and Modern Art, boasting an impressive collection of works that speaks to the current strength of the auction market, and the enthusiasm of its buyers. The competition between the two auction houses has remained fierce over the past year, even while Sotheby’s has fought off advances from Daniel Loeb and his Third Point team. Now, with an agreement between the parties reached just this morning, the auction house will turn its full attention to its upcoming sales, and the feverish sales estimates some are predicting for the pair of auctions early this week.
Pablo Picasso, Portrait de femme (Dora Maar) (1942), via Christie’s
A Delaware judge has rejected Daniel Loeb’s lawsuit seeking to overturn Sotheby’s shareholder rights plan, which had prevented activist investors from owning more than 10% of the company. “I find that the plaintiffs have not demonstrated that they have a reasonable probability of success on the merits of their claims,” Judge Donald Parsons wrote in his decision. “Therefore, I deny the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction.” (more…)
The Wall Street Journal profiled Camille Henrot this past week, in the lead-up to the artist’s first U.S. solo museum exhibition at the New Museum, opening this upcoming Wednesday. The show includes her work Grosse Fatigue, which earned her the Silver Lion at Venice last year for most promising young artist, and which features the image of the turtle heavily. “She’s slow because she is carrying this massive round thing–it’s like a figure of Atlas,” Henrot says. (more…)
