the art collectors

Archive for the 'Exhibition' Category

Monday, October 5th, 2009

The LA case @ Carmichael Gallery

Carmichael Gallery is exhibiting The L.A. case with new works on canvas by German artist case. This is case’s first US solo exhibition and the second time he has exhibited at Carmichael Gallery. Opens this Thursday October 8 2009 / 7.00pm – 10.00pm.

case’s new body of work references imagery from elaborate, self-staged photo shoots using spray paint on canvas. Combining exacting technical expertise with an innovative hint of liberation and irony, he investigates the parallels that exist between the conflicting states of convention and controversy, manipulating beauty in a dark, thrilling and provocative manner.

case is widely recognized as one of the best photorealistic spray paint artists in the world. His groundbreaking technique, detailed in the book Ma’Claim: Photorealistic Graffiti, Falk Lehmann and Steffen Petermann, Publikat Verlags und Handels GmbH and Co. KG, Germany, 2006, has set new standards and established a strong international collector base and fan network.

case prepares for LA:

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Renewed :: MOCA Celebrates 30 Years with Massive Permanent Collection Exhibition

Franz Kline – Buttress, 1956, oil on canvas, 46 ½ x 55 ½ in., collection of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, The Panza Collection, © 2009 The Franz Kline Estate/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

We’ve got to hand it to the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. After surviving near financial disaster and significant restructuring, MOCA is set to celebrate its 30 year anniversary with a new exhibition from its permanent holdings.

Opening November 15, 2009 at both of two of MOCA’s Los Angeles locations, Collection: MOCA’s First Thirty Years will be the most comprehensive exhibition of the museum’s renowned post-war collection to date, highlighting over 500 works by more than 200 artists, including Diane Arbus, Chris Burden, Willem de Kooning, Alberto Giacometti, Nan Goldin, Robert Irwin, Donald Judd, On Kawara, Mike Kelley, Paul McCarthy, Piet Mondrian, Bruce Nauman, Chris Ofilli, Claes Oldenburg, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, and Mark Rothko.

The exhibition is a bold and appropriate reassertion of the recently troubled institution’s vital contribution to the field of public arts. Paul Schimmel, MOCA’s Chief Curator noted that the museum “is approaching this exhibition of works from its collection with the same level of ambition and depth that has characterized the museum’s most celebrated thematic exhibitions. MOCA is assembling its major holdings into an unprecedented installation that will occupy 50,000 square feet in two museum buildings. The scope and scale of Collection: MOCA’s First Thirty Years will enable the community to build relationships with individual works of art and develop a sense of long-term engagement with the collection and the museum.”

To commemorate the event, the museum has launched a clever email campaign. Every week for 30 consecutive weeks members and mailing list subscribers will receive an image of a featured work from the museum’s permanent collection. Sign up here

Collection: MOCA’s First Thirty Years
Nov. 16, 2009 – May 3, 2010
MOCA Grand Avenue, 250 S. Grand Ave., L.A., 90012
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, N. Central Ave., L.A. 90013

Monday, September 28th, 2009

A NY Minute in Rome

(Image: Francesco Demichelis/MACRO Future)

Photos from NY Minute have finally surfaced. The inaugural museum exhibition at the newly renovated MACRO Future museum in Rome was organized by DEPART Foundation and curated by Deitch Projects’ Director, Kathy Grayson. Grayson selected a group of sixty artists connected to the young New York art scene, including Aaron Bondaroff, Asume Vivid Astro Focus, Aurel Schmidt, Ben Jones, Barry McGee, Chris Johanson, Dan Colen, Dash Snow, Matt Leines, Ryan McGinley, Taylor McKimens, Scott Campbell, Steve Powers, Tauba Auerbach, Terence Koh, and Tim Barber. The exhibit is on view through Nov. 1. Read on for more images. Read the rest of this entry »

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Ari Marcopoulos :: A Survey of 30 Years at Berkeley Art Museum

In 1979 Dutch born photographer Ari Marcopoulos migrated to New York City, quickly submerging himself in the downtown art scene. Sill in his twenties, Marcopolous found work printing photographs for Andy Warhol, and then as a studio assistant to photographer Irving Penn. He credits these early experiences with teaching him that anything is worth taking a picture of, as well as the importance of technical skill and a simple approach. These dual virtues are clearly evident throughout the body of work on view in Within Arm’s Reach, Marcopoulos’ first U.S. mid-career museum survey, which opened this week at The Berkeley Art Museum. The exhibition spans three decades of the artist’s photography, including his documentation of 80s street and music culture in New York, emersion into the early 90s skate and and later snowboard scenes, and recent autobiographical depictions of his family, often reflecting back on his own youth through images of his children.

The museum has published an exhibition catalog, designed by Marcopolous and available in their online store. Ari Marcopolous – Within Arm’s Reach in on view till Feb. 7. See below for details.

Read on for our extensive set of photos from the exhibit and visit Interview Magazine for a new interview with the artist. Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

Twentieth Century Boy :: A new exhibit by Sashie Masakatsu celebrates T.Rex, supports arts school in Sierra Leone.

Masakatsu Sashie – Born to Boogie, oil on canvas. (Image courtesy of the artist)

It’s been nearly 40 years since Marc Bolan and his band released their first album under the T.Rex moniker. Next week, a new one-night exhibition will celebrate the late pioneer of glam-rock’s 62nd birthday, while raising funds to continue his legacy with a new school of arts in Sierra Leone, South Africa.

Taking place Sept. 30th, Twentieth Century Boy will unveil new T.Rex inspired paintings, created by Japanese artist Sashie Masakatsu . As a long-time fan, he has incorporated images of Marc Bolan into his signature culture-dense hovering orbs. A portion of sales will support Light of Love Foundation’s (founded by Bolan’s son Rolan and his mother, Gloria Jones) mission to build the Marc Bolan School of Music and Film in Sierra Leone.

The event is curated by Darren “Dr.” Romanelli and Giant Robot founder, Eric Nakamura, who presented Sashie’s first U.S. exhibit in 2006. Sashie won a Scout Award at the tenth annual edition of Kaikai Kiki/Murakami’s GEISAI fair, and is represented by Mizuma Art Gallery in Tokyo. The gallery quickly sold out all available paintings by the artist during last year’s PULSE Miami Art Fair.

We interviewed Rolan Bolan to find out more about  Light of Love Foundation and the upcoming event. Read on for more. Read the rest of this entry »

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Sacred Monsters at Tufts University, MA

Just in from our friend Tomokazu Matsuyama, are these images from Tufts University Art Gallery’s current exhibition, Sacred Monsters: Everyday Animism in Contemporary Japanese Art and Anime. Matzu appears in the eight-artist exhibit along with Chiho Aoshima, Nobuhiro Ishihara, Kenjiro Kitade, Mahomi Kunikata, Mr., Oscar Oiwa, and TOKYO KAMEN. For more info, see our previous report.

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

McGee x3

Barry McGee prepares his installation for NY Minute at Macro Future in Rome (Image: © Francesco Demichelis/ Depart Foundation)

With virtually no warning, Barry Mcgee opens a new solo exhibit at Galleria Alessandra Bonomo in Rome tomorrow. McGee has also been in the capital city preparing his installation for NY Minute (pictured here), a group exhibition curated by Deitch Projects’ Kathy Grayson, set to open this weekend at the new Macro Future museum.

Aside from his presence in Italy, McGee is also participating in the 10th annual Lyon Biennale, on view in the French city now through January 2010. Images from opening night can be seen with our friends at Guillotine and video of his installation can be seen in this euronews report.

McGee pieces for the artit’s NY Minute installation. (Image: © Kathy Grayson)

Barry McGee – Mr. Brown
Sept. 17 – Oct. 19
Galleria Alessandra Bonomo
Via del Gesu, 62
Rome, Italy 00186

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Modern Tradition :: Tony Curanaj at John Pence Gallery

For the past decade Tony Curanaj, better know in graffiti cirlces as SUB, has been diligently dedicating himself to a mastery of realist painting that has more in common with Renaissance humanism than popular street aesthetics. After earning his BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 1995, Curanaj honed his craft at the prestigious Water Street Atelier, a highly selective four year studio program steeped in the tradition of realism.  From there, Curanaj became a founding member and core teacher at the Grand Central Academy, which evolved from the original the WSA.  Curanaj’s paintings reflect the disciplined hand of a classical painter thrust into a modern world, and are on view now through Oct. 10 in a new solo exhibit at John Pence Gallery (San Francisco). Not to be missed.

Tony Curanaj – Recent Paintings
Sept. 11 – Oct. 10
John Pence Gallery
750 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94109

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Pop-Up Art :: Street Cool, Turned Economic Tool

This September marks three years since Banksy captured the art world’s attention with Barely Legal, the now legendary three-day Los Angeles warehouse show, whose location was not disclosed until opening day. Looking back, its as if the exhibit’s mammoth success spawned the beginning of pop-up art show mania. What was once regarded as a guerilla marketing move used by street-hip artists and dealers a few years ago is quickly catching on. In the past few years, companies like Nike, Scion and Campari have been particularly adept at promoting their brands to young audiences and tastemakers by using such art-events.

Yet, while pop-up galleries – temporary art shows held in vacant commercial spaces – are now a mainstream marketing tactic, they may quickly become a financial necessity in a shaken economy, where both the real estate and art markets have been dramatically impacted.

Earlier this summer, Ad Hoc Art partnered with community development organization, Metrotech BID, to transform a vacant Brooklyn, NY block into a storefront gallery of street art, inviting 15 artists including Chris Stain,Greg Lamarche, Lady Pink and Logan Hicks to create site specific installations in the windows of former businesses. (Its worth noting Ad Hoc has since announced its closing, joining a growing list of galleries who have been unable to fight off the recession)

This week, the New York Times reported on the recent proliferation of temporary galleries in London, noting “the British government, worried about the economic, psychological and criminal hazards of retail vacancies, announced a $5 million “revival fund” for local governments in hard-hit areas to transform empty shops into something useful, like showrooms for local artists, and another $800,000 to help artists and arts organizations turn vacant high street shops into artistic spaces.” The story was also picked up by Artinfo.

London based Watch This Space has taken advantage of this new space, going beyond the curatorial and acting as facilitator between up and coming artists, who are finding it increasingly difficult to secure galleries willing to take on any new risk, and landlords who find themselves with empty space. The organization launched in June with a group exhibit in a three-story former restaurant that had been empty for two years, and is currently playing host to DIY London Scene (previously reported) in a vacant storefront in London’s Covent Garden shopping district.

Moving outside of the traditional gallery setting also offers opportunities for more varied and ambitious undertakings. Take Higher Ground for example, a one-day multimedia collaboration between reggae pioneer Lee Scratch Perry, legendary dub producer Adrian Sherwood, and artist Peter Harris. The interactive art and music event will take place September 10 at the historic Tabernacle Theater in London’s Notting Hill. Perry will perform songs that relate to themes from Harris’ film Higher Powers, while  a ‘VJ’ will respond with live visual interpretations of Perry’s songs. Collaborative works between Perry and Harris will be on display, and the two artists will be complete a live painting on stage, with Sherwood conducting a live mix. Tickets to the event are available here

While many galleries struggle to stay afloat, with some closing their doors for good, perhaps there is hope in a wave of more innovative, cooperative events and exhibits, where synergies between creative and business communities can nurture both the arts and wallets.

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Todd James @ Colette, Paris

Todd James (REAS) opens his first solo exhibition in Paris at Colette, today, Tuesday, Sept. 1. A true talent that has a lot of people fooled – we love this guy. Don’t stop get it get it runs till Oct. 3

All images/media © Todd James