| The First Art Newspaper on the Net | Established in 1996 | Thursday, January 12, 2012 |
| | Gagosian Gallery holds worldwide exhibition of 25 years of spot paintings by Damien Hirst
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British artist Damien Hirst poses for photographers in front of 1-Methylcutosine during the press preview of Damien Hirst: The Complete Spot Paintings 1986 – 2011 at Gagosian Gallery, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012 in Chelsea neighborhood of New York. Hirst's color spot paintings are being shown simultaneously at the Gagosian gallery's 11 locations around the world. The exhibition opens Thursday and runs through Feb. 10. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer.
NEW YORK, N.Y.- Gagosian Gallery presents “The Complete Spot Paintings 1986–2011” by Damien Hirst. The exhibition will take place at once across all of Gagosian Gallery’s eleven locations in New York, London, Paris, Los Angeles, Rome, Athens, Geneva, and Hong Kong, opening worldwide on January 12, 2012. Most of the paintings are being lent by private individuals and public institutions, more than 150 different lenders from twenty countries. Conceived as a single exhibition in multiple locations, “The Complete Spot Paintings 1986–2011” makes use of this demographic fact to determine the content of each exhibition according to locality. Included in the exhibition are more than 300 paintings, from the first spot on board that Hirst created in 1986; to the smallest spot painting comprising half a spot and measuring 1 x 1/2 inch (1996); to a monumental work comprising only four spots, each 60 in ... More |
| Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum opens new Renzo Piano-designed wing | | Rubens masterwork featured in illuminating focus exhibition at the Israel Museum | | McNay Art Museum in San Antonio presents newly authenticated El Greco painting | 
Evening exterior view of the new Special Exhibition Gallery in the new wing of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
BOSTON, MA.- On January 19, 2012, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will open to the public a new addition to its original building, kicking off an inaugural season of exhibitions, performances, and events that highlight the Museum’s wide range of programming. The new 70,000-square-foot wing was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano to preserve the historic 1902 building and alleviate pressures caused by years of use. Situated behind the original building on its site along the Fenway, the new addition provides purpose-built spaces for concerts, exhibitions, and classes, along with enhanced visitor amenities. Following special advance previews for Museum members on January 15-18, the grand opening celebration will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with City of Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino on January 19, followed by three days of free Bank of America Community Opening Days from January 19-21. ... More | | 
Peter Paul Rubens, The Death of Adonis (with Venus, Cupid, and the Three Graces), ca. 1614 (detail). Oil on canvas. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Gift of Saul and Gayfryd Steinberg, New York, to American Friends of the Israel Museum.
JERUSALEM.- Inaugurating a new series of in-depth exhibitions exploring masterpieces from its encyclopedic collections, the Israel Museum presents an exhibition that sheds new light on The Death of Adonis (ca. 1614) by Flemish Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens. On view from January 10 through May 5, 2012, Rubens, Venus, and Adonis: Anatomy of a Tragedy examines this monumental masterpiece, analyzing its iconographic sources, composition, and place within the development of Rubens’ style. Twenty-five related works—including a preparatory oil sketch by Rubens as well as drawings, paintings, and prints of the same theme by Rubens and other Flemish and Italian masters of his time—are brought together to illuminate aspects of the artist's special ... More | | 
El Greco (Doménikos Theotokópoulos) and workshop, Head of Christ, ca. 1579-86. Oil on canvas. Collection of the McNay Art Museum, Bequest of Marion Koogler McNay.
SAN ANTONIO, TX.- An outlier among Marion Koogler McNay's collection, El Greco's Head of Christ was an unusual purchase for a collector focused on modern art. More than likely, this acquisition reflects Mrs. McNay's awareness of works assembled by Marjorie and Duncan Phillips, which became Washington, DC's famed Phillips Collection. They also acquired an El Greco as their unique old master painting for an otherwise modern collection. Over the years since the McNay opened in 1954, scholarship on the Greek painter Doménikos Theotokópoulos, known as El Greco, progressed steadily. Originally accepted as El Greco's work, the museum's painting in recent decades was presumed a studio version or later copy of another work by the master. When the McNay's director visited the Metropolitan Museum ... More |
| Chinese artist Ai Weiwei to bring work to the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery in Washington | | Thames & Hudson publishes David Hockney: A Bigger Picture to accompany show at Royal Academy | | AGO collaborates with international partners to bring major Kahlo/Rivera exhibition to Toronto | 
A file picture shows Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. EPA/TOBIAS HASE.
WASHINGTON, DC.- Sculptures by an outspoken Chinese artist are going on display at Smithsonian museums in Washington. This exhibition will feature prolific Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s monumental installation, Fragments (2005). Noting the abundance of antique wood on the market, Ai had a number of pieces transported from Guangdong to his studio in Beijing to create a series of objects and installations. Fragments is a culmination of that body of work. Working with a team of skilled carpenters, Ai turned pillars and beams of ironwood (or tieli) salvaged from several dismantled Qing dynasty temples into a large-scale seemingly chaotic work. Yet examined more closely, one discovers that the installation is an elaborate system of masterful joinery and delicate balance relations. Seen from above, the entire complex is anchored by poles marking out the borders of a map of China. Using traditional materials and craftsmanship, Ai effectively transforms fragments from works that ... More | | 
This major study of his work redefines him as an important painter of the English countryside.
LONDON.- David Hockney RA (b. 1937) has always been closely associated with California, where he has lived for much of his life. This major study of his work redefines him as an important painter of the English countryside, presenting his recent landscapes for the first time. A Bigger Picture is published to accompany the major exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London (21 January – 9 April 2012). In the last decade Hockney has returned to painting in the open air, observing with honesty and intensity the scenery remembered from school holidays spent working in East Yorkshire. These works convey the drama and splendour of nature and the pathos of our relationship with it, an ageold subject treated by Hockney with a modern and spirited eye, often informed by his interest in photography and digital media. Spectacular works made using such techniques are also included here. Marco Livingstone explores this bo ... More | | 
Frida Kahlo, Portrait of Diego Rivera, 1937. Oil on masonite, 53 X 39 cm. The Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of Mexican Art.
TORONTO.- This fall, the Art Gallery of Ontario will present a major survey of masterworks by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, two renowned and prolific early 20th-century painters whose work continues to resonate with viewers around the world. Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting features 75 works by the artists, drawn primarily from the collection of Mexico’s Museo Dolores Olmedo. These works highlight Rivera and Kahlo’s lives together and apart, their politics and relationship to society and how their passionate views and activism influenced their work. The exhibition will be at the AGO from Oct. 20, 2012 through Jan. 20, 2013. Frida & Diego: Passion, Politics and Painting is presented in collaboration with the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, which will display the exhibition in February 2013. This relationship signals a continuation of the AGO’s commitment to working with the world’s most este ... More |
| Exhibition of recent work by Minnesota-born artist Bill Jensen at Cheim & Read | | Malcom Morley: Another way to make an image at Sue Scott Gallery in New York | | Variety of rare Oceanic art arrives on the auction block this February in San Francisco | 
Bill Jensen, DUTCH RAIN, 2010. Oil on linen, 26 x 20 inches, 66 x 50.8 centimeters. Photo: Courtesy Cheim & Read.
NEW YORK, NY.- Cheim & Read announce an exhibition of recent work by Bill Jensen. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1945, Bill Jensen has lived and worked in New York since the early 1970s, and was one of the first artists to establish a studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He came into prominence with "the return to painting" of the late 70's and early 80's. Intuitive and visceral, Jensen's abstractions have long been admired for their unconventional compositions and profound sense of color. Saturated, densely worked surfaces, seemingly primordial in origin, transcend any sense of the struggle that Jensen attributes to his painting process. For Jensen, a painting is successful only when the artist's initial impulse and his material's properties harmoniously converge; this can sometimes take several years to achieve. Defined by an amorphous, ever-changing search for resolution, Jensen's results are ultimately determined by th ... More | | 
Malcom Morley, Rushing ti Miami, 2006 (detail). Monotype. Image: 24 x 36 in / 60.9 x 91.4 cm. Paper: 28 1/2 x 41 1/2 in / 72.4 x 105.4 cm. Photo: Courtesy Sue Scott Gallery.
NEW YORK, N.Y.- Since 2006, Malcolm Morley has made over twenty-five monotypes and monoprints with One Eye Pug/Sue Scott Gallery. Despite being an accomplished printmaker who had made numerous other types of prints, this body of work was Morley’s first foray into the monotype medium. Morley uses the monotype medium not as a staid or simplistic process of transference, but rather as an investigation of how the pressure of a press affects imagery. In each monotype, Morley pushed experimentation, never using the exact same technique twice. In Rushing to Miami, 2006, printed with master printer Kathy Caraccio, he used Mylar as the plate on which to paint the exotic and colorful kites floating above a tropical setting. The Mylar caused the watercolor to pool in areas resulting in porcelain like quality that he could not have achieved on the more porous surface of paper. After going through the press, ... More | | 
Extremely Fine and Rare Stilt Step, tapuva'e, Marquesas Islands, height 14 3/4in (37.5cm). Est. $30,000-50,000. Photo credit: Courtesy of Bonhams.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Bonhams looks forward to presenting its inaugural auction solely devoted to Oceanic Art on February 11 in San Francisco, with 150 lots of original, diverse works from the regions of Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, Indonesia and Australia, that will appeal to both seasoned and entry-level collectors. The auction is timed to occur alongside the 26th Annual San Francisco Tribal & Textile Arts Show, non-affiliated with Bonhams, February 10-12 at the Fort Mason Center. Leading the Oceanic Art auction at Bonhams will be a rare and important Rarotonga or Atiu pole-club, 'akatara,' of the Cook Islands (pre-sale est. $75,000-100,000), with provenance from Arthur Sewall (1835-1900) of Bath, Maine; thence by descent. Seawall was candidate for Vice President of the United States with William Bryan in 1896, and was one of the earliest and most prominent shipbuilders of Bath. His son, Harold Marsh Sewall (1860-1924), ... More |
| Tomasso Brothers to exhibit major pieces of sculpture at TEFAF Maastricht | | Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery presents its first exhibition in collaboration with Paula Scher | | Lehmann Maupin Gallery exhibits works by its artists at Singapore Tyler Print Institute | 
Giovanni Francesco Susini (1592-1646), The Farnese Bull (The Punishment of Dirce). Bronze, dark olive patina with traces of transculent lacquer, 46 x 40 x 38 cm.
LEEDS.- A spectacular bronze figure of the Farnese Bull (The Punishment of Dirce) is one of the major pieces of sculpture to be shown by Tomasso Brothers Fine Art at TEFAF Maastricht at the Maastricht Exhibition and Congress Centre (MECC) from 16 to 25 March 2012. This will be the first time that Tomasso Brothers Fine Art, the internationally-renowned dealers in European sculpture, has exhibited at TEFAF which celebrates its Silver Jubilee in 2012. Stand 165 The bronze figure by Giovanni Francesco Susini is a tour-de-force and is priced in the region of €750,000. Susini was a Florentine sculptor who trained in the workshop of Giambologna, one of the most important Mannerist sculptors in Italy , where his uncle Antonio Susini was the principal bronze-caster. Visiting Rome in 1624-26, he gained experience of classical antique statuary including, presumably, the colossal marble group of the Farnese Bull. The la ... More | | 
Paula Scher, NYC Transit, 2007. Acrylic on canvas, 98 x 50.5 inches. Photo: Courtesy Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery.
NEW YORK, N.Y.- For the past twenty years, renowned graphic designer and fine artist Paula Scher has been reinterpreting society’s approach to data and our visual representation of the trafficked environment. Through her large-scale cartographic paintings, she has created a novel way of mapping traditional information, while subjectively twisting and confounding it. Intricate, colorful and obsessively detailed, her paintings have the foundations of accuracy, but are ultimately impressionistic visions of our interconnected world. Scher culls data from informational media such as headlines, commercial maps, and diagrams and renders them in madcap fields of hand-drawn typography. The accumulated textures and patterns provide an exuberant portrait of contemporary information in all its complexity and subjectivity, while questioning our innate ability to synthesize and analyze. Scher has been a principal of the international design consultancy Pentagram since 1991, where she is ... More | | 
Ashley Bickerton, Girl 2, 2011. Acrylic, digital print and plastic laminate on wood, 50 x 50 x 7 inches, 127 x 127 x 17.8 cm. Courtesy the artists and Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York.
SINGAPORE.- Lehmann Maupin Gallery presents Lehmann Maupin Gallery at STPI: Featuring the work of Ashley Bickerton, Lee Bul, Teresita Fernández and Do Ho Suh on view 11 January – 11 February 2012 at the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (STPI). Over the last 10 years, Lehmann Maupin and STPI have partnered to present the work of several Lehmann Maupin artists through STPI's artist residency program. For this collaborative exhibition, Lehmann Maupin and STPI present a selection of works produced during each artist's residency, as well as a selection of new works. STPI (Singapore Tyler Print Institute) is a catalyst and advocate for new ideas, dialogues and developments for contemporary art in print and paper. It collaborates with emerging and recognized artists worldwide to create artworks with its exceptional print, papermaking facilities and expertise. Established in 2002 ... More |
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 The Olympic Torch and the Royal Wedding Dress: The Designs of the Year announced LONDON.- The Design Museum announces the longlist for the fifth annual Designs of the Year Awards. Showcasing a year in design, the 2012 longlist is a celebration of the best in global designs. Industry experts have nominated innovative and engaging designs across seven categories: Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphics, Product and Transport. The longlist covers an eclectic mix of designs including the Olympic Torch 2012 for London, designed by Barber Osgerby, the Duchess of Cambridge’s Wedding Dress, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen and a wind-propelled Landmine Detonator which cost $40 to produce. Nominations also include the Kinect for Xbox 360, the first ever Virtual Tesco Store, the Olympic 2012 Velodrome and a pop-up cinema (Folly for a Flyover) in Hackney, East London. Yves Béhar winner of the inaugural Design of the Year in 2008 for his One ... More Ikkan Art Gallery presents Requiem for the XX century: Self-portraits in motion by Morimura Yasumasa SINGAPORE.- Ikkan Art Gallery announces the first solo show in Singapore for the internationally acclaimed Japanese artist Morimura Yasumasa. This exhibition showcases moving image and photographic works from his Requiem series which recently toured museums in Japan. Morimura (b.1951, Osaka), the “Daughter of Art History”, appropriates universally well-known images derived from art history, mass media and pop culture to create unconventional and bold self-portrait renderings in photography, performance and video. Through the extensive use of props, costumes, make-up and digital manipulation, Morimura masterfully transforms himself into recognizable subjects that punctuate the western cultural canon. His unsettling deconstruction of iconic images challenges the assumptions already placed on such works/images while commenting on Japan's complex and conflicting absorption of Western culture. His ... More Exhibition of new works on paper by Yvonne Estrada at Von Lintel Gallery NEW YORK, N.Y.- Von Lintel Gallery presents an exhibition of new works on paper by Yvonne Estrada. Yvonne Estrada's latest body of work is predominantly rendered in varying intensities of ultramarine and cobalt blue gouache and watercolor. Mainly inspired by architectural blueprints, these works are marked by vivid color and expressionistic gesture. Organic shapes, patterns and structures appear in her work as ubiquitously as they appear in nature. These elements interconnect endlessly by means of abstraction and synthesis. Graphite pencil is used to create silvery accents and ballpoint pen turns ovals and spheres into deep, concentrated blues. The artist works from memory associations, improvising moment to moment. From afar, large gestures, drips, stains and loose lines weave in and out of graphic forms and geometric patterns. Upon closer inspection, the intricacy of the artist's labor-intensive method ... More Art First presents second exhibition with artist Chris Appleby "Towards a Wooden O" LONDON.- Art First presents the second solo exhibition of Chris Appleby’s work. Within his titles lie the underlying themes of his work: The City Staged and Towards a Wooden O encapsulate the imaginary worlds of the City of London and Shakespeare’s Globe (the Wooden O), with many stories, theatrical revelations and magical dramas that have become part of a personal mythology to emerge from the painter’s London studio. A catalogue accompanies this exhibition, published by Churchill College, Cambridge for a preview of some of the work, with an essay by Andrew Brewerton, Principal of Plymouth College of Art and Honorary Professor of Fine Art at Shanghai University. His thoughtful exploration of Appleby’s practice and sources throws light on a thirty-year career which began at the Royal College of Art, when Appleby was a fellow student with Eileen Cooper, who is also represented by Art First, and with whom ... More Green Art Gallery presents a solo show of recent works by Turkish photographer Nazif Topcuoglu DUBAI.- Green Art Gallery opens its 2012 program with a solo exhibition for the acclaimed Turkish photographer Nazif Topcuoglu presenting a new series of works. Marking the artist’s second solo exhibition at the gallery, the show opens on January 11th and will be on view until March 5th 2012. Known for his highly staged theatrical works typically featuring young girls living in lavish period backdrops, Nazif Topcuoglu’s photographs take on a nostalgic view of youth. While in his works, like Proust, he does not glorify a certain-definite- “past” era, he nonetheless implies a yearning for one's own youth or an imagined “golden age”. The way in which we as humans rate our experience as valuable is through moments that are imagined, be they in the past (half-remembered) or in the future (not yet realized). This idealization of youth however, goes hand in hand with an overall sense of sadness and de ... More Exhibition of Bryan Drury's recent paintings opens at Dean Project NEW YORK, NY.- Dean Project presents an exhibition of Bryan Drury's recent paintings. This is the artist's second solo exhibition with the gallery. Stemming from a desire to challenge the conventions of traditional portraiture, Drury has recently created this body of six oil paintings. He carefully selected affluent members of society to sit for him, and rather than acquiescing to expectations of flattery, he exploits the power of oil paint to describe their corporeal flaws as precisely as possible. Finding liberation in this reversal of patronage roles, Drury focuses on the organic quality of the flesh and shows the animalistic side of humans that we so commonly attempt to conceal. The six works feature a single subject, executed with a painstaking degree of realism. The small-scale portraits capture the condescending and supercilious attitudes of the sitters, who gaze at the viewer with an air of disdain. Set against s ... More |
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