Armory 2009, Photo credit: David Willems
As February ends with Fashion week and trade shows, March begins with international artists, dealers, collectors, and appreciators flying back to the island for the multitude of art fairs this week. With 12 art fairs raining into New York, and over 1,000 galleries representing a flood of emerging artists, it is still an exciting time to be caught in the contemporary art world. Fairs are becoming more innovative and less traditional, even for the Armory Show taking on the more contemporary sister fair, Volta New York, under its wing . Other fairs such as Fountain, Scope, Pulse and Independent remain loyal to the freedoms of new art while keeping the traditions of business at an arms distance. As fairs can be overwhelming, each show has opened it’s doors to public programing that extends through out the city, sponsored by influential galleries. Armory has claimed this week as Armory Arts Week, allowing them to promote the fair through their local heavy hitting galleries public events. For a quick list of fairs and event information visit www.armoryartsweek.com
No Title (While he lives), 2006, pen and ink on paper, 23.25 x 39.75 inches (59.1 x 101 cm)
Regen Projects announced that Los Angeles represented artist, Raymond Pettibon, will be the 2010 recipient of the Oskar Kokoschka Prize. The official ceremony will take place at the University for Applied Arts in Vienna, on March 1st. The Oskar Kokoschka Prize, Austria’s highest-endowed prize for visual art, is awarded to an outstanding contemporary artist every two years by the Austrian government since 1981 after the passing of Kokoshka. As this year’s winner of the biannual prize, Pettibon will be awarded €20,000. (more…)
Untitled, 2009, Found photographs, Left: 4 x 6 inches, Right: 4 x 6 inches, Stamped on verso
The profound influence of vernacular images on photography and print-media cannot be denied; Whether in the fine arts, fashion, or pornography, the signs and status of the “amateur” are constantly invoked, providing for images with both an economy of means and a certain special allure.
In this two-volume photographic monograph, Wintergarten Ltd—a Los Angeles based art collective— have sought to refine such allure to something of a science, assembling together a collection of images salvaged from the waste-bins of contemporary erotic life. Gathered from disparate sites, the series offers the viewer not only an erotic display of bodies, but also the juxtaposition of images into almost film-like montages.
Aurel Schmidt, The Fall, 2010. Pencil, colored pencil, acrylic, beer, dirt, and blood on paper, 84 × 48 in. (213.4 × 121.9 cm).
Aside the Winter Olympics games in Vancouver, international art festivities begin in New York with the Whitney Biennial opening today. The Biennial is celebrating the seventy fifth exhibit titled “2010″ presenting a platform of a world wide range of well known to unknown artists that are making work comprehensive to the times. The fifty five artists exhibiting comment on the history of contemporary art production or the moment living in the new decade, providing an experimental collective of social, spiritual, and political movements. For more images click the link below or for visiting the Whitney Museum go to www.whitney.org . More to come next week in New York, The Armory Show, Volta, Scope Art Fair and Fountain Exhibit. (more…)
The unveiling of the new video art project featured at Los Angeles International Airport is a collaboration of videos made by 17 different artists and art groups. A partial sneak peak of the video installation is displayed in the Tom Bradley International Terminal, the remainder of the exhibition will open this summer. Featuring videos based on LAX and Los Angeles scenes that generate a moving visual environment. The Los Angeles Times reports, “The video wall at LAX will consist of 25 46-inch LCD screens in a rectangular matrix, while the ceiling arrangement will feature 58 screens placed end to end…
We previously reported that LAUSD’s $470-million budget shortfall was going to cut directly into our elementary children’s art education. Today, Los Angles Times reporter David Ng told us that arts hero Eli Broad has been named an honorary chair of Arts for LA, an advocacy group that organizes community support for arts education in the school district. Charles Segars, chief executive of Ovation TV, has assumed the title of chair of the Campaign to Save Arts Education in LAUSD. (more…)
Sake Bomb, Acrylic, oil and china marker, 107″ x 73″
Los Angeles based artist, Lisa Solberg, premiered at our “For The Love of Haiti” art auction this past Saturday. Check out her new paitings, Cobra, Sake Bomb, and 13 Monkeys. Lisa is currently represented by Kinsey/DesForges Gallery, Culver City.
Closing this weekend is the In Situ exhibtion on the third floor at MOMA, NY. The exhibition examines the concept of landscape as architecture and how the changing of urban and rural architecture has defined landscape. Now a days, the juxtaposition of architecture and landscape is now united as a whole through environmental design. The evolution of landscape design is no longer the understanding of having a green thumb, but the concept of providing and accenting composition in a space. So check out MOMA’s collection and contribution in discussing landscape and architecture.
Carmen Iniesta and Arantxa Romero Garcia, Outskirts of Sevilla, Spain, 2007
Fahey/Klein gallery opened last week with the Columbian born photographer, Ruven Afanador, presenting voluptuous flamenco Spanish dancers divided by glorified and delicate bullfighters. Afanador bold contrasted compositions and exposed highlights imply an audacious and passionate culture of Latin America. His photographs set a multitude of emotional triumphs, being able to sense the agonizing cries of the dancers to the sound of silence in the bullfighter’s solitude. Both series provide a meticulous exploration that is distinguished in traditional costume and style, while maintaining contemporary abstract theatrics. Afanador currently lives and works in New York. The exhibition at Fahey/Klein gallery is open through March 27th, 2010.
David Trautrimas, a 30-year-old Canadian artist, takes apart old kitchen mixers, hole punchers, waffle irons, staplers, and other household objects; photographs the pieces; and then ‘reassembles’ them digitally, into what he calls ‘Habitat Machines’.
Photo-Eye has recently published a limited edition book by Trautrimas, entitled Habitat Machines. The book is beautifully made by hand and is laid out nicely. The limited edition book comes with a one of Trautrimas’ prints and sells for $1500.00 + shipping and handling.
In Habitat Machines, Trautrimas uses photo-based architecture to explore the constructs of buildings. He has made a series of residential buildings born of everyday objects from art deco coffee pots to the constructivist grid pattern on an old bathroom scale. Trautrimas searches for source materials which allude to a greater architectural doctrine usually unnoticed in these machines. Then, by dramatic distortion of scale and context, elements of these objects are meticulously re-assembled into strikingly original structures that are paradoxically familiar by virtue of their origins.
Click on the link to see more of David’s work. And if you want to purchase the book there’s a link for that too(more…)
Today we celebrate the accomplishments and cultural achievements of the famous artist, Keith Haring. February 16th marks the 20th anniversary of Haring’s death from HIV. The Keith Haring Foundation was founded in 1989 in support of AIDS related charities and children’s programs. Haring is recognized for his bold lines and graphic characters that promote peace and unity, many of those found in New York public arts projects and spaces. Murals from coast to coast and sculptures formed around international borders, Haring’s pop identity generated a movement in the 80’s about social messages through public works. Haring’s ideals on art and community transcend not only the education of art, but the ideals of art solidifying community. New York art dealer, Tony Shafrazi, is currently exhibiting a tribute to Haring open through April 3rd. (more…)
The world of fashion paid tribute to top designer Alexander McQueen Thursday after he was found dead in his London home. The designer, born Lee McQueen, had a reputation for controversy that earned him the titles “enfant terrible” and “the hooligan of English fashion.”
February 13, 2010: 7pm
The Art Reserve in collaboration with Studio Morke present a night of Art, Music, People and Love to continue awareness for the healing of Haiti.
For the Love of Haiti promises to be a unique and compassionate event complete with a silent auction with complimentary beverages including beer and wine as well as an exclusive musical performance by ORGONE. Renowned artists such as Tony Duran, Clayton Brothers, Patrick Hoelck, Mark Lebowitz, Lisa Solberg, Salomon Huerta, Roni Feldman and others have donated various pieces of art in conjunction with The Art Reserve to produce a rare and never-before seen art collective with 100% of proceeds to benefit Doctors Without Borders.
The LA Times announces the Board members of the L.A. Unified School District met Tuesday afternoon to discuss proposed budgetary cuts that call for, among other things, a dramatic reduction in arts education programs in elementary schools. While no decisions regarding the cuts were made, board members took the opportunity to speak with local arts educators about possible scenarios and ways to mitigate the impact of the proposed reductions. (more…)
The LA Times reported the famed Los Angeles’ Ferus Gallery helped to nurture the talents of such artists as Ed Ruscha, Billy Al Bengston, Robert Irwin, Ed Moses, Wallace Berman and Ed Kienholz. From 1957 to 1966, the gallery, which was located on La Cienega Boulevard, served as a hub for the city’s nascent postwar art scene.
More than 40 years later, the Ferus Gallery is set for a comeback — sort of. Starting Feb. 9, the Samuel Freeman gallery in Santa Monica will create a replica of the Ferus within its own walls. The exhibition will feature the original door that stood at the entrance of the Ferus plus a full-scale re-creation of the gallery’s 1960 solo Bengston exhibition.
The New Museum announces the appointment of Eungie Joo, Keith Haring Director and Curator of Education and Public Programs, as the next curator of “The Generational,” which will open in the spring of 2012. “The Generational,” the New Museum’s signature Triennial, is an important showcase for emerging artists from around the world. The first edition of the Triennial “Younger than Jesus”opened in the spring of 2009, and included work by fifty artists from twenty-five countries all under the age of thirty-three.
Currently on view at the New Museum is Urs Fischer: Marguerite de Ponty. For his first large-scale solo presentation in an American museum, Urs Fischer has taken over all three of the New Museum’s gallery floors to create a series of immersive installations and hallucinatory environments.
Los Angeles—Following a worldwide search, the Board of Trustees of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), announced today it has voted unanimously to appoint Jeffrey Deitch as the museum’s new director, effective June 1.
Opening Night Reception Benefitting the Wallis Annenberg Photography
Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
January, 14th 6 – 9 pm
Hosted By David La Chapelle
& Christopher Lowell
Returning to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, photo l.a. 2010, the 19th Annual International Los Angeles Photographic Art Exposition moves back to it’s former home at 1855 Main Street, Santa Monica, California. Conveniently located, just off of the 10 Freeway and two blocks from the beach.
The opening night reception will benefit the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department at LACMA and is hosted by noted photographer David LaChapelle and actor/photographer Chris Lowell. To order tickets visit: www.lacma.org/art/photola.aspx or email photola@lacma.org Please check their website for LACMA’s curated lecture program programming schedule. (more…)
The LA Times announces the Board members of the L.A. Unified School District met Tuesday afternoon to discuss proposed budgetary cuts that call for, among other things, a dramatic reduction in arts education programs in elementary schools. While no decisions regarding the cuts were made, board members took the opportunity to speak with local arts educators about possible scenarios and ways to mitigate the impact of the proposed reductions.
