Pierre Huyghe, Zoodram 5 (2011)

Following a year of strong solo exhibitions and special projects in the United States and abroad, Pierre Huyghe has opened a the first major retrospective devoted to his work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, pulling together a combination of his most ambitious videos, sculptures and installation environments, allowing a broad few of the artist’s continued interests in fluctuations of time, space and matter as expressed within the gallery environment.  Huyghe’s retrospective, which first opened in Paris, early last year, finally makes it to U.S. soil, bringing with it a group of 50 projects culled from the artist’s 20 year career. (more…)

Rineke Dijkstra, Selected Works (Installation View), all images courtesy Marian Goodman Gallery Paris

On view at Marian Goodman’s Paris exhibition space is the third exhibition from Dutch photographer and filmmaker Rineke Dijkstra, composed of of two new videos filmed in Russia.  Dijkstra became internationally known for her beach portraits of teenagers on the beaches of South Carolina, Poland, and Ukraine during the 1990’s, but she has also been producing lesser-known video portraits since 1996. The videos on display here, focusing on young ballerinas, were commissioned by Manifesta (European Biennial of Contemporary Art) for its most recent edition in 2014.

(more…)

The New York Times notes the growing trends at major museums towards including experimental and contemporary choreography among its programming, noting both the cultural and practical benefits for an institution.  “Live performance encourages audiences to be more frequent visitors to your building,” says Sam Miller, president of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. “In terms of being responsive to what artists are doing today and bringing in a more diverse audience, it makes sense.” (more…)

Artist Loris Gréaud, who is represented by Pace Gallery and Yvon Lambert opened an exhibition at Dallas Contemporary this weekend, which was attacked by a group of vandals some speculate were sent by the artist himself.  “About 90 minutes in, it was stormed by 25 individuals who proceeded to destroy the exhibition,” one witness told the New York Post. (more…)

Marina Abramovic brought her performance work in collaboration with Costume National to the Art of Elysium Benefit Gala last night in Los Angeles, inviting guests to enjoy dinner in individually numbered beds.  “Usually these parties are always boring, always the same,”Abramović said.  “There are so many ways of entertaining, [but] I am proposing in my way as an artist the possibility of entertaining that’s never been used before.” (more…)

Pipilotti Rist, Worry Will Vanish Horizon (video still)  (2014), All images Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth and Luhring Augustine New York.

One of the most seminal names in video art, Pipilotti Rist is presenting a new body of work at Hauser & Wirth’s two Britain locations. The Swiss born artist, who emerged in the rapidly developing field of video art during the 80’s with her infamous video I’m Not The Girl Who Misses Much, has presented an ambitious oeuvre throughout the years, reflecting on issues related to the body, gender and technology. In doing so, she has blended various mediums and structures that are challenging to consider under one practice, each one holding onto a distinct atmosphere set in what could be considered an alternate reality. (more…)

Artist Tania Bruguera has been detained in Cuba, following the performance of an art piece designed to test the U.S.’s resolve to renew diplomatic ties with a country known for censoring free speech.  Bruguera was arrested as she walked towards Havana’s Revolution Square, and is currently being held by the government. (more…)

Artist Ryan McNamara is interviewed in the New York Times this past week, following the opening of the artist’s performance ballet ME3M 4 MIAMI at Art Basel Miami Beach.  “I’ve obviously done a lot of things here, but for me it’s just another context,” McNamara says. “It’s super-specific and super-bizarre. I feel most at home at galleries and museums, but I would get bored if I were only performing there. It’s a different kind of excitement.” (more…)

The Park Avenue Armory has announced the list of events and exhibitions for its 2015 season, which will include a new work from Laurie Anderson’s “Language of the Future” series, a multimedia installation by Philippe Parreno, and a collaboration Marina Abramovic and the pianist Igor Levit. (more…)

The Guardian reports that Marina Abramovic is currently working on a major installation in Sydney for July of 2015.  The artist was courted by arts philanthropist John Kaldor, who previously brought Abramovic’s work to the country in his 2013 exhibition 13 Rooms. (more…)

Ragnar Kjartansson, A Lot of Sorrow (2014), via Art Observed

Last year, Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson was invited to perform at MoMA PS1 for the museum’s ongoing Sunday performance series.  He answered with a six hour long performance piece in which Brooklyn rock act The National repeatedly played the same song, Sorrow, over and over again.  Fighting off exhaustion, boredom, and the occasional flubbed note, the piece ran throughout the day, with the band never pausing to take a break.  The result is a single-channel video work by the artist, currently on view at Luhring Augustine’s Bushwick location.

(more…)

Yoko Ono is profiled in the Wall Street Journal this week, as the artist reflects on her career, and offers advice for young artists following in her footsteps.  “Artists should adhere to what we are, instead of being sidetracked by other desires,” she says.  “We’re supposed to have that independence. But many artists today are, you know, going with this gallery, with that museum, and thinking too much about monetary success, which means they can’t be free. A life of not being challenged and only hearing what you want to hear is being dead.” (more…)

Artist Ryan McNamara will bring his 2013 Performa Commission to Miami Beach this year for Art Basel’s U.S. fair.  The piece, MEÆŽM 4 Miami: A Story Ballet About the Internet, explores notions of information conveyance and data clutter.  “I saw Ryan’s stunning performance at the Performa Biennale in New York last November and was astounded by the way in which MEÆŽM redefines the audience experience,” says Director Marc Spiegler, “making physical the virtual experience of link-clicking, and simultaneously incorporating many decades and styles of dance.”  (more…)

Marina Abramović, Tree (1972), all images courtesy Lisson Gallery

On view at Lisson Gallery in London is a exhibition entitled White Space from Yugoslavian artist Marina Abramović, featuring many works which have never been exhibited before, including two important sound pieces and unseen video documentation of seminal performances. The exhibition will remain on view through November 1st.

(more…)

Pierre Huyghe, IN. BORDER. DEEP. (2014), video still © Pierre Huyghe Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth, London and Anna Lena Films

Boldly distorting otherwise rigid phenomena, Pierre Huyghe has ambitiously orchestrated and staged alternative recreations of the daily and the mundane. For his current show at Hauser & Wirth’s London location, the Paris-born artist is covering the gallery space with his unfamiliar narratives, which emerge from more familiar territory. IN. BORDER. DEEP. invites the viewers into a hub of various experiments and observations, merging various mediums with science and art history itself.

Pierre Huyghe, IN. BORDER. DEEP. (Installation View) Hauser & Wirth London, 2014, © Pierre Huyghe Courtesy of the artist, Hauser & Wirth, London Photo: Hugo Glendinning (more…)

Marina Abramovic is the subject of another profile this week, this time in Wall Street Journal, where the performance artist discusses her life’s work, her thoughts on retirement, and her piece Generator.  “It’s quite radical,” she says. “It could totally fail, but the real failure would be if I stop believing in myself, that I can do it.” (more…)

Artist Marina Abramovic is interviewed in the New York Observer this week, offering additional insight into her new exhibition Generator at Sean Kelly.  “If you deprive two senses, you achieve this kind of experience of the world,” she says. “If you don’t see and don’t hear but you can feel and touch, you achieve this consciousness. We have to develop this—I know that every human being has the potential to develop it. If you change the consciousness, you can change the world.” (more…)

Richard Prince, Untitled (Portrait) (2014), Courtesy Gagosian Gallery. Photograph By Robert Mckeever.

Currently on view at Gagosian Gallery’s smaller galleries at 976 Madison, Richard Prince’s new set of Instagram-culled pieces are nearly as potent in exposition as they are in person, a series of images pulled directly from the social media app’s user accounts, and blown up to immense scales, full-sized canvases that command the attention of viewers passing by on the street outside. (more…)

W Magazine has published a profile on artist Marina Abramovic, as the artist prepares to open her newest exhibition Generator at Sean Kelly in New York, focused on depriving visitors of any sensory input.  “Ten years ago, this kind of project is not possible,” Abramović says. “Now it is, because human beings need so much to be with themselves, especially in New York, where everything is so much about audio and visual consumption.” (more…)

Outside the Frieze Fair, via Art Observed

As Wednesday winds down, the 2014 edition of Frieze London is well underway, starting another fair off with strong sales and impressive attendance.  As the VIP preview opened, a number of prominent celebrities could be seen browsing the aisles.  Famed German footballer Michael Ballack was seen wandering the aisles, as was writer Salman Rushdie, joining MOCA’s new director Philip Vergne and his DIA successor Jessica Morgan.

Erwin Wurm, via Andrea Nguyen for Art (more…)

Hermann Nitsch,Kreuzwegstation (Station of the Cross) (1961) at Hauser and Wirth, via Art Observed

The Viennese Actionist movement was one of the more visceral post-war collectives that sprung up from the war-torn landscape of mid-20th Century Europe.  The group of Austrian artists (while claiming they were never affiliated officially), among them Otto Mühl, Günter Brus, and Rudolph Schwarzkogler, combined disturbing and often surreal imagery with a ritualistic approach to art making, creating elaborate pieces that often involved flayed animal carcasses, body parts, and bucket upon bucket of blood.

(more…)

In anticipation of its new show focusing on the life and work of the Marquis de Sade, The Musée d’Orsay in Paris has reportedly commissioned a promotional video by David Freymond and Florent Michel in which models simulate an orgiastic gathering spelling out “SADE” on the floor of the space.   (more…)

Sean Kelly Gallery has announced a new participatory work by Marina Abramovic, titled Generator, which is set to open in New York later this month.  “She will transform the main gallery into a space of sensory deprivation, an opportunity for forced introspection,” the press release says.  “Dealing with both the meditative and the communal, Generator will be a unique environment for visitors to push the boundaries of their self-awareness and inner-consciousness, as they are confronted with nothing but themselves and the palpable energy in the room.” (more…)

Marina Abramovic publicly reached out to director Lars Von Trier this week, telling the director that she wishes to work with him on an upcoming project.  “You really bring the actors on the edge of complete nervous breakdowns,” she says. “Because I am a performance artist, I understand very well what you are doing.”  (more…)