MoMA PS1 has announced that it will host an exhibition focusing on the current state of the environment, alongside notions of political and social change.  Titled EXPO 1: New York, the exhibition will include a selection of video, art and photo installations at PS1, as well as a component at the new VW dome in the Rockaways.  EXPO 1 “focuses on some of the most pressing issues of the day set against a backdrop of economic and socio-political concerns that have made a dramatic impact on daily life.”  Says Director Klaus Biesenbach. (more…)

Following up on the success of last year’s special series of sound art installations at the Frieze New York Art Fair, the organization has announced the program for 2013’s Sounds Program.  Premiering in the VIP cars and available for listening at stations throughout the fair, the roster of artists includes Trisha Baga, Charles Atlas and New Humans, and Haroon Mirza.  Says curator Cecelia Alemani: “Last year Frieze Sounds captured visitors’ imaginations beyond my expectations. This year I wanted to commission artists who could use both the medium of sound and the journey to Randall’s Island as inspiration to metaphorically transport visitors up the East River.” (more…)

980 Madison, the block long building currently home to Gagosian Uptown alongside several other art galleries and exhibition spaces on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, is currently up for sale.  Sources report that the building owners are looking to take advantage of a hot New York sales market, and some are reporting that the building could be worth over $400 Million.   (more…)

Zhang Xiaogang, Beijing Voice (Installation View), Courtesy of PACE Beijing

PACE Beijing is currently exhibiting a selection new works by Chinese painter Zhang Xiaogang, showcasing the artist’s interpretations of Chinese identity, memory and relation.  The exhibition, part of PACE’s annual Beijing Voice’s event, is the first stop on the artist’s work in a global tour which will also include PACE exhibitions at their locations in New York and London. (more…)

Financier and art collector Richard Hollander has donated a large block of photographs by the prominent photographer Edward Steichen to a trio of U.S. museums, ensuring that the artist’s work will be available to the public across the United States.  The photographs were purchased at directly from Steichen’s estate, and will be given to the Whitney Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Block Museum in Chicago.  “I’ve gotten the bug,” Hollander said. “Now I want to share my vision.” (more…)

Paul Klee, Comedians’ Handbill (1938), via Metropolitan Museum of Art

On view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art through February 24, “Late Klee” presents a concentrated survey of the last fifteen years of Paul Klee’s life and career. The one-room exhibition consists largely of small-sized works on paper and cardboard, each representing a facet of the artist’s prolific oeuvre and wide-ranging interests. (more…)

The Christie’s-owned Haunch of Venison Gallery has announced that it will close both its Chelsea and London galleries, and will focus exclusively on the secondary market.  While Christie’s owner Francois Pinault has not commented, some speculate that the galleries were never intended to be permanent in the first place.   (more…)

Luc Tuymans, The Summer Is Over (Installation View), via David Zwirner

With a consistency that can almost be regarded as mechanical, 2013 marks another show by Belgian painter Luc Tuymans at David Zwirner in New York.  Since joining the gallery in 1994, the Belgian painter has held solo exhibitions in the gallery every two years, and is currently presenting a new series of thematically interwoven works that expound on his sparsely colored, figurative approach, titled The Summer is Over.

Luc Tuymans, Zoo (2011), via David Zwirner

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Phillips, formerly known as Phillips de Pury & Co., having announced the departure of chairman Simon de Pury, and the subsequent reversion to its original name prepares to expand its London and New York operations.  “We’ll be making some dramatic changes that will increase our visibility.” Said chief executive officer Michael McGinnis. (more…)

In connection with his two-gallery opening last night in Chelsea, French artist Daniel Buren has returned to the streets of New York, papering various buildings and walls with his trademark vertical stripes.  “Time makes all the difference,” Buren explains. “New York streets have changed in the past 40 years. We are not at all in the same city.”  Twitter users can follow the location of these installations by following the #burenstripes hashtag. The artist’s show opened last night at both Petzel Gallery and Bortolami Gallery. (more…)

The New York City Ballet has announced the inaugural year of Art Series, a collaborative program that commissions contemporary artists to create works inspired by the company’s repertoire.  For its first year, NYCB has partnered with Brooklyn street-art collective FAILE, who will produce a series of limited-edition works for Art Series performances this spring. (more…)

Gabriel Orozco, Astroturf Constellation (2012), courtesy The Guggenheim Museum

Having just ended its opening run at the Guggenheim Deutsche in Berlin earlier this year, Gabriel Orozco‘s two-part set of taxonomic installations, collectively titled “Asterisms,” is now on view at The Guggenheim in New York City.  The eighteenth and final project in the Guggenheim’s commission series, the piece continues Orozco’s ongoing exploration into the nature of environments, and the interactions of humans with these spaces, as well as with each other. (more…)

Carte Blanche (Installation View), courtesy Galerie Seguin and Paula Cooper Gallery

Each year, Galerie Patrick Seguin in Paris opens its doors to international galleries of note from the United States, Europe, and the rest of the world.  With no limits or constraints placed upon the guest curators, “Carte Blanche” allows a broad international audience exposure not only to great works from around the world, but also a taste of the various curatorial approaches and personal idioms of each invited gallery.

Bruce Conner – CROSSROADS (1976), courtesy Galerie Seguin and Paula Cooper Gallery

This year, the invitation was extended to Paula Cooper Gallery in New York City, who chose a selection of artists from their early years as the first art gallery in the Soho neighborhood of Manhattan.  First opened in 1968, the gallery has continued to grow with its hometown, now recognized as one of the premier art spaces in the city.

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Teresita Fernández – Night Writing (Installation View), Lehmann Maupin Gallery

Teresita Fernández has often explored the natural elements as a framework of perception in her installations, allowing natural phenomena to act as a method of transformation and translation.  For Night Writing, her fifth solo exhibition at Lehmann Maupin, the artist has continued in this vein, creating a number of works that examine our imposition of meaning on the night sky.

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Metropolitan Museum director Thomas P. Campbell is reportedly opening a discussion that may allow the public to access the Met on Mondays. The institution decided to close on Mondays in 1971, supposedly to lower costs, and remains closed on the first day of the week, except for holiday Mondays and when hosting previews for members. The increase in tourism to New York City and to the Met itself may be possible reasons for Campbell’s proposal; Met statistics reveal that a “record-breaking” 6.3 million people visited The Met over the past fiscal year, from June 2011 through June 2012.

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The “Andy Monument,” formerly located in New York City’s Union Square, began its journey on Tuesday to its next stop, the Houston Contemporary Arts Museum. The artwork, made by Rob Pruitt and commissioned by the Public Arts Fund had been positioned in front of a former Warhol studio location.

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Frank Stella, New Work  (Gallery View)

Open since May, Freedman Art is in New York is currently showing a collection of new work by acclaimed painter, sculptor and printmaker Frank Stella that explores the artist’s long-standing interest in the work of composer Dominico Scarlatti and his approach to musical composition.

Frank Stella, k.162 (2011)

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Christian Marclay‘s ‘The Clock’ has returned to New York for viewing at the David Rubenstein Atrium in Lincoln Center. The 24-hour art video is a compilation of thousands of clips from all periods of cinema. With no beginning or end, the film incorporates short clips that correspond precisely to the time when the visitor is viewing the film. Every shot features either an image of a timepiece or a discussion about the time of the day.

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All photographs taken by Lisa Marsova for Art Observed

For the past two months, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has housed a sizeable abstract installation by Argentinian artist Tomás Saraceno on its rooftop terrace.  The structure, titled “Cloud City”, is Saraceno’s first site-specific commission in the United States.  With a production spanning only the past decade, Saraceno is a relative newcomer to the art world, but his interdisciplinary investigations in environment have already generated wide attention.  As a complex fusion of architecture, geometry, and the cosmos, “Cloud City” is a continuation in Saraceno’s study of the overlay of art and science.

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Katie Koti, The Pull (2011). All photos taken on site for Art Observed by Ryann Donnelly

Yale’s Photography MFA thesis show, presented by Wirth Art Advisory is on view at Ana Tzarev gallery in New York City through July 21. Curated by Sabrina Wirth, the show entitled Group Portrait features 9 emerging photographers: Peter Baker, Richard Choi, Felix R. Cid, Thomas Gardiner, Pao Houa Her, Katie Koti, Kate A. T. Merrill, Sarah Muehlbauer, and Maayan Strauss.

Opening of Group Portrait Yale Photography MFA Thesis Show

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‬Herb Vogel, the postman who, along with his librarian wife, amassed a collection of over 5,000 important minimalist artworks, has died at age 89 in New York.

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Nowness highlights Paris based photographer Alessandra d’Urso’s latest shift from profiling musicians to leading artists like Kiki Smith, Terence Koh and Tom Sachs. “It began while I was in New York for a month. I made a portrait of my old friend Francesco Clemente and he liked it so much that he encouraged me to begin a series. I didn’t know very many artists so he made the introductions,” explains d’Urso.

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For the coming summer and fall months, Public Art Fund has organized “Common Ground’, an outdoor exhibition of sculptural and performance artworks.  Ten international artists were asked to present installations currently dotted around the historic center of City Hall Park in downtown New York.  The exhibit debuted May 24, and will remain on site for visitors until the end of November.

“Now, Speak!” (2011) by Amalia Pica before  Paul McCarthy’s inflatable ketchup bottle (more…)

‬Judd Foundation to open Donald Judd‘s historic New York residence and studio for public view in June 2013. “Growing up in the building in the early ‘70s, it was always filled with artists discussing culture, history, and politics…We plan to open the building to the public next spring with that spirit in mind,” says daughter and foundation co-president, Rainer Judd.

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