Archive for February, 2010
Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Erik Parker in Copenhagen
(All Images: Anders Sune Berg, courtesy Faurschou CPH)
Faurschou Copenhagen is currently exhibiting new works by New York based painter, Erik Parker. Along with his previous exhibit at Paul Kasmin (NY), Parker’s tightly rendered, candy-colored psychedelia are easily his most accomplished works to date. As the show’s title suggests, Adapt signals an artist who, after more than a decade of patient development and experimentation, has reemerged with a bold and compelling style that no doubt can catapult him to increased notoriety.
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Thursday, February 18th, 2010
KAWS debuts in Madrid
KAWS’ debut exhibit in Spain with Javier Lopez (sister gallery to New York’s Gering-Lopez, where the artist is also represented) debuted last night in Madrid, coinciding with the opening day of the ARCOmadrid contemporary art fair, where the gallery is also showcasing a new multi-panel painting by the artist. Comprised of three large monochromatic canvases (as well as a bronze sculpture), the show is reminiscent of some of the artist’s earlier black matte and gloss paintings (circa 2000). In recent works from the last year, KAWS has drifted deeper into abstraction and away from the figurative forms he is so well known for. Here, the artist combines his signature characters with these new geometric elements, continuing his claim on popular iconography by reworking them into his own lexicon. What is so compelling is that KAWS has managed to take such recognizable cultural images – the Michelin Man and more recent Sponge Bob character – and so effectively recast them as his own. Given his trademark treatment, with their morbid X’d out eyes the Chum and Kawsbob have quickly become instantly recognizable as part of the KAWS brand.
KAWS
Feb 18 – April 7
Galeria Javier Lopez
José Marañón, 4
E-28010 Madrid, Spain
ARCOmadrid
Feb. 17 – 21
Feria de Madrid (Halls 6,8,10)
28042 Madrid, Spain
(ARCO images via Glltn, Gallery images via Javier Lopez)
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
Quentin Tarantino’s Basterds Benefit For Haiti
THE LOST ART OF THE FILM “INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS”
BENEFIT ART PROGRAM TO HELP RAISE MONEY FOR THE VICTIMS OF THE HAITI EARTHQUAKE
SA Studios Global’s Film Marketing Division has teamed up with Quentin Tarantino, Upper Playground and The Weinstein Company to present, THE LOST ART OF INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.
On February 18th, 2010 from 6p – 9p the world will get to preview and purchase the “Lost Art of Inglourious Basterds” at The Upper Playground Art Gallery in Downtown Los Angeles. All proceeds from this program will be donated to The American Red Cross to help the victims of the Haiti Earthquake.
This creative team has assembled the following select group of accomplished artists, David Choe, Sam Flores, Estevan Oriol, Grotesk, Jeremy Fish, Patrick Martinez, Alex Pardee, Dora Drimalas, Munk One, N8 Van Dyke, Rene Alamanza, Morning Breath and Skinner Davis, to create their own poster art based off their interpretation of the Oscar Nominated film, “Inglourious Basterds” artwork.
Each print will be numbered and signed by Quentin Tarantino. Only six (6) of each amount will be made.
The gallery will open will be open to the general public from 6p – 9p on Thursday February 18th, 2010 at Upper Playground Los Angeles located at 125 East 6th Street in Downtown LA. Attendees will have the opportunity to purchase the limited edition prints for $300. The prints are giclée archival and are only available for purchase at Upper Playground, Los Angeles. Phone orders and web orders will not be accepted. Prints will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. The purchase of prints will be limited to one per buyer. For a view at all the pieces…
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Monday, February 15th, 2010
Mark Ryden Coming to New York
Paul Kasmin Gallery will unveil a much anticipated show of new paintings by Mark Ryden on April 29, 2010. Pictured above, is Incarnation (#100), one of Ryden’s most recent works. The 6 ft. x 4 ft. painting was on display at this past December’s Art Basel Miami and sold for a reported $900,000.
Monday, February 15th, 2010
John Matos Crashes Down in Paris
CRASH (John Matos), Tin Machine 3, 2009 (All Image: © Addict Galerie/John Matos)
Born in the Bronx in 1961, John CRASH Matos is widely know as a pioneer of NY subway graffiti, and one of the first of his kind to transition into fine art. By 1980, Matos had abandoned streets and trains in favor of gallery walls, and gained fast recognition with his first solo show at the famed Sidney Janis Gallery in 1983, and exhibiting alongside Basquiat and Keith Haring. His works are held in countless prominent collections including the Museum of Modern Art NY, Keith Haring Foundation, Stedelijk Museum, Neumann Family Collection, Rubell Family Collection, and the Collection of Dakis Joannou.
For Tin Machines, his current exhibition at Addict Galerie (Paris), Matos’ conjures up early inspirations with canvases that evoke the subway cars of his youth. Presented alongside these new works are enlarged photos documenting his legendary graffiti, offering a time capsule and link to his ephemeral roots. While most others attempts are questionable, here is one of the rare instances of a graffiti writer whose movement into fine art is warranted, and whose accomplishments in both worlds have been rightfully heralded for their historical significance.
CRASH – Tin Machines
Jan 30 – March 3
Extension from March 16 – 23
Addict Galerie
14/16 rue de Thorigny
75003, Paris
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Phillips de Pury London Contemporary Art Sale Results
Selling for $993,112 (before premium), Donald Judd’s Untitled (87-29 Studer), 1987 was the highest selling lot at Phillips de Pury’s Contemporary Art Day and Evening Sales in London this past weekend (Image © Phillips de Pury)
With this past weekend’s sales at Phillips de Pury, London, the last of the big three winter contemporary art auctions has winded to a close. Both day and evening sales failing to reach their low end estimates, with 37 (23%) out of 163 lots offered remaining unsold/withdrawn. The total sale across both auctions raised $10,096,428 (before buyer’s premiums), $738,427 (6.8%) below the combined low end estimate of $10,834,855.
Read on for our full analysis – Click Lot Numbers for Images and Details Read the rest of this entry »
Monday, February 15th, 2010
Christie’s London Post-War and Contemporary Art Auctions
A Christie's employee inspects Yves Klein's Relief éponge (RE 47 II). Selling for $8,329,329 (before buyer's premium), the gold coated sponge relief was the highest grossing lot a the auction house's Post-War and Contemporary Auctions late last week (Image © AP Photo/Sang Tan, via Boston Globe).
Overall, Christie’s fared well during their latest round of Post-War and Contemporary Art Auctions. With a combined sale of $69,346,950, both evening and day auctions sold within their projected estimates. 158 (63%) of the 249 lots offered sold within or above their estimated range. 49 lots (19.7%) sold below low estimates, and 42 (16.9%) were unsold/withdrawn. While these results fare better than last year’s combined result of $14,486,820 – $12,980,727 (47%) below the low estimate of $27,467,547, the 2009 sales consisted of only 123 total lots.
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Friday, February 12th, 2010
Brainwashing Machine: Icons Opens in NY
(All Images © Jeff Newman/TheArtCollectors)
“I see this in music all the time,” remarked a close friend upon entering the private preview of Mr. Brainwash’s 15,00 square foot spectacle in New York’s trendy Meat Packing District. No, he wasn’t referring to the portraits of musicians constructed from record shards, comprising nearly half of the duplex warehouse space rented out by Opera Gallery (surprise, surprise). Rather, with Icons there is another broken record to behold, and it is stuck in the glossy groove of glitz, irreverent showmanship, and cheap thrills of the now-defunct art bubble.
The manufacture of an art star is what is really on display here. And, like the Monkeys or the Sex Pistols, such artifice isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Unfortunately what we are served is more the stuff of Simon Cowell than it is Malcom McLaren, leaving very little to remember, aside from the high-heeled socialites who were snatching these “works” up.
(All Images © Jeff Newman/TheArtCollectors)
Mr. Brainwash – Icons
Opening Reception: Feb 14, 3pm
415 W. 13th Street
NY, NY 10014
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Friday, February 12th, 2010
More Love from ESPO
More in from Steve ‘ESPO’ Powers. Just as he gears up to inaugurate the completion of his ambitious Love Letter to Philadelphia project this weekend, Pictures on Walls announces the release of a new print. Following last year’s Everything Is Shit, Except You Love, the new six color screen print is Powers’ second Valentine’s themed release with POW. At £99, expect the signed and numbered edition to go fast.
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
Interview Mag sits down with Whitney Biennial Curators
2010 Whitney Biennial artist, Tauba Auerbach, in her studio (Image © Stefan Ruiz/Interview Magazine)
With the 75th Whitney Biennial two weeks from opening, Interview Magazine has published an insightful conversation between the exhibit’s co-curator, Francesco Bonami (who also curated the 2003 Venice Biennale) and New Museum director, Lisa Phillips, who has curated six Whitney Biennials herself. As the magazine notes, most of the questions Phillips asks Bonami are the very same ones he had posed to her in 1997 for Flash Art, when she last curated the event.
Accompanying the interview is a fashion photo spread of several contributing artists in their studios, including Tauba Auerbach, Aki Sasamoto, Sosephine Meckseper, George Condo, and others.
LISA PHILLIPS: The 75th anniversary of the Whitney Biennial is quite a milestone. So what was your starting point in making selections for this exhibition?
FRANCESCO BONAMI: When I was asked [to curate the Biennial], they also asked who I wanted to work with, and I chose to work with this young curator, Gary Carrion-Murayari. I started as the head curator—I wanted to make it clear that I was the head, and he was the associate curator. To be safe, I wanted to have refusal and limits. But then the combination worked so well that we actually co-curated the Biennial together. I mean, it was a process of working together—not one where there was a head or a tail curator. But the starting point maybe was the museum itself, the building, and then the collection, because for the first time we are going to use the collection as part of the Biennial. The fifth floor will be devoted to a rehanging of the collection with artists who have been in the Biennial before, and with work that was acquired from past Biennials. So it will show that the Biennial is a kind of bridge toward something else and not just something that is outrageous at the moment that it appears. Edward Hopper was in many Biennials—he was in one in 1963. At the time, Hopper looked conservative compared with what was going on in 1963.
Continue on to the full interview here