A recent article in Vanity Fair reports on the increased competition for visitors between The Met and MoMA, as the former museum begins a new emphasis on modernist and contemporary projects, and ambitious expansion projects at both institutions.  “The Met is upwardly mobile at the moment and it’s doing everything it can to be more modern and more varied in what it has to offer, without vulgarizing things,” says Picasso biographer John Richardson. “And MoMA, an institution that I revere, is in a period of going slightly down in everybody’s estimation.” (more…)

Al Taylor, Full Gospel Neckless (Middelfart) (1997), via Art Observed

Al Taylor’s work sits at a unique intersection of material fascination and object politics.  Combining the familiar materials of modern construction and design, Taylor’s work often investigated the pairings and interrelations of objects formed not only by the human’s aesthetic agenda, but equally by the complementary formal designs of the materials themselves.  These intersections can be seen in quite stark execution currently at David Zwirner, where the gallery’s 20th Street location is currently presenting a body of work created 1989 and 1997. (more…)

The Met has announced its next artist for the museum’s ongoing site-specific rooftop installation series, commissioning French conceptualist Pierre Huyghe to create a new piece looking out on Central Park.  “Pierre loves the fact that the park is full of animals,” says associate curator Ian Alteveer. (more…)

Artist Sebastien Errazuriz has created a new project for Time Square’s ongoing “Midnight Moment” arts series, a digital video showing the artist yawning on the area’s countless digital video displays in an attempt to trigger yawns among viewers.  “I intuitively trust that at times it is the importance of leaving a pause or a blank space that allows us to highlight and be aware of everything else that is in that space.,” Errazuriz says.  “At times the simplest projects are the hardest to do. You cannot hide behind a simple project, the truth is exposed, distilled and present.” (more…)

Frieze London has announced that curator Clara M. Kim will take the helm for Spotlight, the special section of London’s Frieze Masters this fall.  Adriano Pedrosa, who led Spotlight since 2012, will still organize the section at Frieze New York in May. (more…)

The Whitney Museum has embarked on an ambitious expansion of its online database, dramatically growing its selection of images from 700 to 21,000 works.  A sizable portion of the museum’s collection, which has long been out of public view, will occupy a 60,000 square-foot section of the Whitney’s new Meatpacking District space. (more…)

The New York City Ballet has announced its newest artist collaboration, this year partnering with Dustin Yellin to create a large-scale installation featuring a set of “3,000-pound glass sculptures.”  “I was moved thinking about these young, 25-year-old dancers [who are] full of life,” Yellin says, “and that they’re on their toes for all these hours.” (more…)

David Hockney, The Dancers IV. 14 August – 5 September 2014 (2014), via Art Observed

David Hockney’s new exhibition of paintings at Pace Gallery, his first full-size canvases since 2009, are a fitting continuation of the artist’s current interests, combining vaguely abstract environments and poses with a subtly loaded series of juxtapositions. The exhibition, which closes this Saturday, sees Hockney returning from several years focused on landscape studies and experimentations in digital video and photography to portraiture and human subjects. (more…)

The Wall Street Journal embarks on a tour of the MTA’s public arts projects, profiling some of the New York Subway’s most iconic murals, installations and pieces, including Roy Lichtenstein’s classic Times Square piece, and Sol LeWitt’s mural at 59th and Columbus. (more…)

The New York Times notes the increased willingness by auction houses to guarantee sales on their highest price lots, a practice that had fallen out of practice since the financial crisis of 2008.  But some critics note that the growing practice is actually a result of stiff competition and minuscule profit margins.  “They are trying to fix eroding margins by getting more of the upside from the guarantee,” said Michael Plummer, a partner at Artvest.

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Takashi Murakami is featured in Nowness’s ongoing artist profile series this week, discussing his recent show at Gagosian Gallery in New York, and the inspiration behind his new works.  “For me, (the works) look like 25 years ago,” Murakami says, “with the crazy economy and then the crash.”
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Christie’s has named Derek Gillman as its new new Chairman for Impressionist & Modern Art, SVP, The Americas.  “The idea of now moving from public service to Christie’s, where I started my career over 30 years ago, and doing something different, is both stimulating and exciting,” Gillman said. “I very much look forward to this new chapter.”  (more…)

Alberto Mugrabi is selling his Gramercy Park North home, an $8 million, 2,729-square-foot three-bedroom apartment.  The listing, currently posted online, shows Mugrabi’s storied collection of art currently on the walls, including works by Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and Richard Prince. (more…)

Chris Ofili, via Art Observed

There’s a room on the third floor of Chris Ofili’s New Museum retrospective that offers a moment of crystallization for the rest of the exhibition.  In a dimly lit chamber set back from the rest of the show, the artist has hung a set of works from his Blue Rider series, painted in rich blue hues that reveal various aspects based on the viewer’s position.  Sitting in the room for an extended period, recognizable, horrifying images slowly take form, present themselves, and slip back into the shadows: black bodies hanging from trees, unidentified hooded horsemen, and even an image of a black youth beaten by a series of police.   (more…)

Jean Dubuffet, Snack for Two, (1945) via Museum of Modern Art

Currently on view at New York’s Museum of Modern Art is a retrospective focused on the work of French artist and sculptor Jean Dubuffet. Bringing together the museum’s unmatched collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, and illustrated books from Dubuffet’s prolific output, the exhibition focuses predominantly on the key years of his career: from the 1940’s to mid-1960’s.

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Martin Puryear, Big Phrygian (2010-2014)

One of the foremost American sculptors from the second half of the 20th century, Martin Puryear has established himself as one of the canonic names of Modernist sculpture, merging Minimalism with labor intensive craftsmanship throughout his forty-year long career. The artist is currently presenting a new exhibition at Matthew Marks in New York, featuring ten new works reflecting the artist’s interest in political history, while remaining loyal to his abstraction-driven practice and his approach towards materiality, not only as means of production but also as a specific method of artistic expression. (more…)

Christie’s Old Masters Week sale later this month will feature a rare early Caravaggio, titled Boy Peeling a Fruit.  The work is valued at $3 million to $5 million. (more…)

Art News previews the selection of solo shows and specially focused exhibitions that will be on view at March’s ADAA Art Show at the Park Avenue Armory, including Haim Steinbach at Tanya Bonakdar, Michelangelo Pistoletto at Luhring Augustine, and a show of Arte Povera works at Marian Goodman. (more…)

Marcel Duchamp, Comb (1916), via Andrea Rosen

Taking its title from Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, Andrea Rosen Gallery is currently presenting a small exhibition of works incorporating readymade materials, minimalist techniques and surrealist tropes to explore notions of form and execution as only a medium for the transmission of deeper understandings of the work at hand. (more…)

The 2015 Edition of the Armory Show has announced its list of exhibitors for its March opening, with 197 galleries attending.  The fair will run from March 5th through the 8th.  The selection process for the upcoming edition was particularly rigorous and I am thrilled to see a number of notable galleries returning to the fair,” says Executive Director Noah Horowitz, “as well as a strong presence of young, geographically diverse galleries who have chosen to show with us for the first time.” (more…)

Ryan Foerster, Green Day (2012-2014), via C L E A R I N G

For C L E A R I N G’s second exhibition in its new 5,000-square-foot Bushwick space, the Brooklyn and Brussels-based gallery presents a sprawling showcase of multimedia work by Canadian artist Ryan Foerster. Winding fluidly through the venue’s four airy rooms, strewn across the floors and walls in a seemingly impromptu array, the featured works exploit the possibilities of the photographic medium while charting the artist’s latest forays into installation, video, and sculpture. (more…)

The Metropolitan Opera, currently in need of cash, has collateralized two of its Marc Chagall works as part of a line of credit from Bank of America.  The organization has placed The Triumph of Music and The Sources of Music as collateral, both of which hang in its lobby, until it can balance its budget. “Recent changes at the Met – including the implementation of our historic new union agreements, and a program of institution-wide cost controls – are expected to lead to balanced budgets in fiscal year 2015 and fiscal year 2016 while significantly strengthening the long-term financial prospects of the institution,”  says Met spokesman Sam Neuman. (more…)

R. H. Quaytman, O Tópico, Chapter 27 (Installation View)

Currently on view at Gladstone Gallery’s 21st street location is O Tópico, Chapter 27, R. H. Quaytman’s latest chapter in her ambitious, ongoing project of cohesive, site-specific installations.  Quaytman started her serial painting project in 2001 with eighty paintings she made to be exhibited at the Queens Museum, and has now reached the 27th installment of the project, this one inspired by Inhotim, a botanical garden and art park located in the Brazilian region of Minas Gerais. (more…)

The LA Times reviews the departure of both Christie’s and Sotheby’s CEO’s this year, and investigating the motivations behind each’s departure.  “I think it makes dramatic copy to characterize boardroom confrontations,” says William Ruprecht, the soon to depart Sotheby’s head.  “The fact is, the board and I have had extremely civilized conversations. Dan has been respectful to me and only respectful. It has been an orderly and thoughtful process.” (more…)