May 11, 2021

Christian Nyampeta: Sometimes It Was Beautiful and The Hugo Boss Prize 2020: Deana Lawson, Centropy at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Christian Nyampeta: Sometimes It Was Beautiful

“From April 30 through June 21, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents the exhibition Christian Nyampeta: Sometimes It Was Beautiful. Inspired by Senegalese writer and film director Ousmane Sembène’s idea of cinema as a collective learning environment, artist, filmmaker, and writer Christian Nyampeta transforms the Guggenheim’s rotunda into a venue for collective feeling and cooperative thinking. With his 2018 film Sometimes It Was Beautiful as the centerpiece, the immersive installation comprises film, audio, videos and drawings. This project explores proposals for reimagining the earth as a whole and a shelter for all who inhabit it.” — Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Christian Nyampeta: Sometimes It Was Beautiful is organized by Xiaoyu Weng, The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Associate Curator.

Installation views: Christian Nyampeta: Sometimes It Was Beautiful, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, on view April 30–June 21, 2021. Photos: David Heald © Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation.

Christian Nyampeta: Sometimes It Was Beautiful is part of the exhibition program Re/Projections: Video, Film, and Performance for the Rotunda, March 19-September 6, 2021

The Hugo Boss Prize 2020: Deana Lawson, Centropy

“From May 7–October 11, 2021, an exhibition of new and recent works by artist Deana Lawson, winner of the Hugo Boss Prize 2020, is on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Lawson’s presentation includes large-scale photographs and holograms. In addition, the museum is producing a film exploring Lawson’s practice that will be released in the early fall. Selected by a jury of international critics and curators, Lawson is the thirteenth artist to receive the biennial prize, which was established in 1996 to recognize significant achievement in contemporary art. Since the inception of the award, the associated solo exhibitions have offered an open platform for artists to present projects that realize their current creative thinking, and have formed an anchor of the Guggenheim’s contemporary program.” — Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

The Hugo Boss Prize 2020: Deana Lawson, Centropy is organized by Katherine Brinson, Daskalopoulos Curator, Contemporary Art, and Ashley James, Associate Curator, Contemporary Art. 

Deana Lawson, Chief, 2019. Pigment print. © Deana Lawson, courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles.
Deana Lawson, Barrington and Father, 2021. Pigment print, 73 3/4 × 57 7/8 in. (187.3 × 147 cm). © Deana Lawson, courtesy the artist and Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York.
Deana Lawson, Young Grandmother, 2019 © Deana Lawson, courtesy of Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles.

Images courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

May 7, 2021

Nam June Paik at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), May 8 – October 3, 2021

“The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) will present the exclusive U.S. exhibition of Nam June Paik, a major retrospective of Paik’s radical and experimental art. One of the first truly global artists, Paik (1932–2006) foresaw the importance of mass media and new technologies, coining the phrase ‘electronic superhighway’ in 1974 to predict the future of communication in an internet age. The exhibition will celebrate his multidisciplinary and collaborative practice that encompassed art, music, performance and technology, all in dialogue with philosophies and traditions from both Eastern and Western cultures.

Bringing together over 200 works across all media spanning a five-decade career, from early compositions and performances to large-scale video installations and global satellite projects, Nam June Paik offers an in-depth understanding of the artist’s trailblazing practice. Paik’s innovative, irreverent and entertaining works were informed by his musical background and his vision of an interconnected future. Organized by SFMOMA and Tate Modern, London, with additional presentations at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and the National Gallery Singapore, the retrospective will be the first major Paik show in the U.S. in over 20 years and the first ever largescale survey of his work on the West Coast.” — San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

Nam June Paik, Sistine Chapel, 1993 (installation view, Tate); courtesy the Estate of Nam June Paik; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: Andrew Dunkley © Tate
Nam June Paik, TV Garden, 1974–77/2002 (installation view, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam); Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: Peter Tijhuis
Timm Rautert, Nam June Paik lying among televisions, Zürich, 1991; © Timm Rautert
Nam June Paik, Random Access (Record Shishkebab), 1963/1979; Arter, Istanbul; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: Arter Collection, Istanbul; flufoto
Nam June Paik, Magnet TV, 1965; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, purchase with funds from Dieter Rosenkranz; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: courtesy the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Nam June Paik, Magnet TV, 1965; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, purchase with funds from Dieter Rosenkranz; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: courtesy the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Nam June Paik, TV Cello, 1971; collection Walker Art Center, T.B. Walker Acquisition Fund, 1992, Minneapolis, formerly the collection of Otto Piene and Elizabeth Goldring, Massachusetts; © Estate of Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik, Egg Grows, 1984–89; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee Fund: gift of Elaine McKeon, Byron R. Meyer, Madeleine Haas Russell, and Mr. and Mrs. Robert A. Swanson; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: Johnna Arnold
Nam June Paik, Merce / Digital, 1988; collection Roselyne Chroman Swig, San Francisco; © Estate of Nam June Paik
Nam June Paik, One Candle (Candle Projection), 1989 (installation view, Tate); courtesy the Estate of Nam June Paik; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: Jon Huffman
Nam June Paik, Chongro Cross, 1991; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for Major Accessions; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: Katherine Du Tiel
Nam June Paik, Untitled (John Cage), 1996; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of the Hakuta family; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: Don Ross
Nam June Paik, One Candle (also known as Candle TV), 2004; courtesy the Estate of Nam June Paik; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: Jon Huffman
Nam June Paik, Self-Portrait, 2005; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for Major Accessions; © Estate of Nam June Paik; photo: Katherine Du Tiel

“Nam June Paik is famous for being the historic father of video art, but his groundbreaking and contemporary influence is even more based on his crossover between all media,” said Rudolf Frieling, curator of media arts at SFMOMA. “Paik’s radical visual and musical aesthetic has a natural home here on the West Coast as a place for global connectivity.”

Nam June Paik is curated by Rudolf Frieling, Curator of Media Arts, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and Sook-Kyung Lee, Senior Research Curator, Tate, with Andrea Nitsche-Krupp, Assistant Curator, SFMOMA. The exhibition is organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and Tate Modern, London, in collaboration with Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and National Gallery Singapore.

Images courtesy San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

May 1, 2021

Senga Nengudi: Topologies at Philadelphia Museum of Art, May 2 – July 25, 2021

“The Philadelphia Museum of Art will be the only East Coast venue for a major traveling exhibition devoted to Senga Nengudi, a leading figure of the 1970s Black American avant-garde and a pioneering artist of our time. Marked by her innovative use of everyday materials that range from water and sand to pantyhose and air conditioning units, Nengudi’s work bridges the mediums of sculpture and performance, offering a cross-disciplinary investigation into the personal experiences of the Black female body and the collective practices of community and ritual. Senga Nengudi: Topologies will trace the expansive range of the artist’s career and context from the 1970s to today through a combination of more than 70 artworks, including sculptures, environmental installations, and archival documentation. Shown together, they affirm Nengudi’s pivotal role in redefining the possibilities of sculpture and abstraction, and exemplify the continuing vitality and urgency of her practice. The exhibition will be presented in the museum’s Dorrance Special Exhibition Galleries and is accompanied by a major catalogue.” — Philadelphia Museum of Art

 “My art responds to being Black, being a woman, and being of a certain age. The artworks you’ll see on display represent someone who has had children, cared for her mother, and experienced many of the things life has to offer.” — Senga Nengudi

“Water Composition I,” 1970; reconstructed 2020 by Senga Nengudi. © Senga Nengudi.
“Inside/Outside,” 1977 by Senga Nengudi. Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München, Sammlung KiCo. © Senga Nengudi.
“Rubber Maid,” 2011 by Senga Nengudi Collection of Amy Gold and Brett Gorvy. Thomas Erben Gallery, New York; Lévy Gorvy, New York and London. © Senga Nengudi.
“Untitled contact sheet,” 1977 by Senga Nengudi. Senga Nengudi Papers, Amistad Research Center, New Orleans, La. © Senga Nengudi.
“Performance Piece” (detail), 1977 by Senga Nengudi. Activated by Maren Hassinger. Photograph by Harmon Outlaw. Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München, Sammlung KiCo. © Senga Nengudi.
“Performance Piece,” 1977 by Senga Nengudi. Activated by Maren Hassinger. Photographs by Harmon Outlaw. Courtesy of Sprüth Magers, Thomas Erben Gallery, and Lévy Gorvy. © Senga Nengudi.
“Untitled,” 1977 by Senga Nengudi. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Senga Nengudi Papers, 1948–2016. © Senga Nengudi.
“Study for Mesh Mirage,” 1978 by Senga Nengudi. Photograph by Adam Avila. Courtesy of ProWinkoProArt Collection. © Senga Nengudi.
“Ceremony for Freeway Fets” (detail), 1978 by Senga Nengudi. Photograph by Roderick Kwaku Young. Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau München, Sammlung KiCo © Senga Nengudi.
“Masked Taping,” 1978/79 by Senga Nengudi. Photograph by Adam Avila. Denver Art Museum: Purchased with funds from Contemporary Alliance, 2020.565A-C. Courtesy of Sprüth Magers, Thomas Erben Gallery, and Lévy Gorvy. © Senga Nengudi.
“A.C.Q. I,” 2016-2017 by Senga Nengudi. Denver Art Museum: Purchased with funds from the Contemporary Collectors’ Circle with additional support from Vicki and Kent Logan, Catherine Dews Edwards and Philip Edwards, Craig Ponzio, and Ellen and Morris Susman, 2020.566.1-3. © Senga Nengudi.
“Warp Trance” (detail), 2007 by Senga Nengudi, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia. Multi-channel audio/video installation. Sound composition by Butch Morris. Photograph by Aaron Igler. Photo courtesy of the artist and The Fabric Workshop and Museum.
Portrait of Senga Nengudi, 2014. Photo © Ron Pollard, courtesy of Senga Nengudi.

Timothy Rub, The George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, said: “We are delighted to bring this beautiful exhibition to Philadelphia as it culminates a wonderful itinerary that included Germany, Brazil, and Denver. It presents us with a rare opportunity to explore the artist’s extraordinary development in its full depth and breadth, and by placing her achievements into such a rich context we can see clearly just how salient her art continues to be for us today.”

Amanda Sroka, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art and organizer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art exhibition, said: “Marking the grand finale of this international traveling exhibition, the presentation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art stands as a celebration of Senga Nengudi’s place in the history of art and a testimony to the enduring relevance of her work in the present. Generous in spirit and radical in form, Nengudi’s artworks offer an invitation for connection—with ourselves, with one another, and with the world.”

The Organizing Curator is Stephanie Weber, Curator for Contemporary Art, Lenbachhaus Munich. In Philadelphia, the exhibition is curated by Amanda Sroka, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, with support from Alexis Assam, Constance E. Clayton Fellow.

Images courtesy Philadelphia Museum of Art.

April 30, 2021

Lonnie Holley: Tangled Up in De Kooning’s Fence at South Etna Montauk, May 1 – August 29, 2021

“On May 1st, the newly formed non-profit South Etna Montauk Foundation will launch its 2021 exhibition program with Lonnie Holley: Tangled Up in De Kooning’s Fence, an exhibition of new works created by the venerated Alabama-born artist during his recent residency at the Elaine de Kooning House in East Hampton. An astonishingly prolific polymath who is equally accomplished in sculpture, painting, experimental music, poetry, film, video, and performance, Holley used the winter 2020 residency on Long Island – a period of rare solitude for the peripatetic artist during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown – to experiment with and extend his visual language. By drawing inspiration for his breakthroughs from the unique atmosphere of the East End, Holley’s work suggests connections in the narrative of American art between the inventive ‘craft’ traditions of Southern African-American artmaking, and the breakthroughs of the 20th century modernists who lived and painted in the Hamptons.” — South Etna Montauk

Lonnie Holley, Removal of the Shadows, 2020. Enamel and mixed media on canvas; 58 x 103 in (147.3 x 261.6 cm). Courtesy the artist and South Etna Montauk Foundation.
Lonnie Holley, The River of Tears, 2020. Acrylic and mixed media on wood panel; 48 x 48 in (121.9 x 121.9 cm).
Lonnie Holley, She Wore Our Chains, 2020. Framed found photograph with spray paint and mixed media; 19 1/4 x 15 1/4 in (48.9 x 38.7 cm). Courtesy the artist and South Etna Montauk Foundation.
Lonnie Holley, Down in the Country Where the Old Things Remain, 2020. Acrylic and spray paint, quilted fabric stretch over wood panel; 48 x 48 in (121.9 x 121.9 cm). Courtesy the artist and South Etna Montauk Foundation.
Lonnie Holley, From Nothing to Everything, 2020. Acrylic and spray paint, quilted fabric stretch over wood panel; 48 x 48 in (121.9 x 121.9 cm). Courtesy the artist and South Etna Montauk Foundation.
Lonnie Holley, Without Skin, 2020. Acrylic and spray paint, quilted fabric stretch over wood panel; 48 x 48 in (121.9 x 121.9 cm). Courtesy the artist and South Etna Montauk Foundation.
Lonnie Holley, Reaching Towards the Power, 2020. Spray-paint and mixed media; 11 x 15 in (27.9 x 38.1 cm). Courtesy the artist and South Etna Montauk Foundation.
Lonnie Holley, She Was As Wild As Her Garden (Elaine), 2020. Spray-paint and mixed media; 22 x 30 in (55.9 x 76.2 cm). Courtesy the artist and South Etna Montauk Foundation.
Lonnie Holley, The Children of the Plantation (Me, Mary, and Jennie), 2020. Spray-paint and mixed media; 22 1/2 x 30 1/2 in (57.1 x 77.5 cm). Courtesy the artist and South Etna Montauk Foundation.
Portrait of Lonnie Holley in East Hampton. Photo: Katherine McMahon. Courtesy the artist and South Etna Montauk Foundation.

Lonnie Holley: Tangled Up in De Kooning’s Fence is curated by Alison M. Gingeras.

The exhibition coincides with Everything That Wasn’t White, Holley’s solo exhibition at the Parrish Art Museum in Watermill, April 24 – September 6, 2021. Both exhibitions feature a range of paintings, sculptures, and works on paper that Holley made over the course of his residency on the East End.

April 23, 2021

Bruce McCall’s New York at New-York Historical Society, April 23 – August 15, 2021

“Showcasing the vibrant and humorous work of the prolific artist, Bruce McCall’s New York presents colorful visions of a fantastical version of New York City—where pterodactyls fly down Central Park West, King Kongs wait to audition for the role of a lifetime, rooftop farms reach far up into the sky, and ubiquitous orange parking tickets are part of the fall foliage. On view in the Pam and Scott Schafler Gallery at the New-York Historical Society and curated by Associate Curator of Exhibitions Cristian Petru Panaite, Bruce McCall’s New York features more than 40 zany paintings that transport visitors to an often retro-futuristic New York and invite them to ponder what the city is or could be.

Canadian-born author and artist Bruce McCall (b. 1935), who moved to New York City in 1964, has contributed to virtually every prominent magazine in North America, including Esquire and Vanity Fair, and was a member of the original National Lampoon. McCall has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker, where he has created more than 75 covers over four decades, a third of which are on display along with several never-before-seen progress drawings.” — New-York Historical Society

Bruce McCall, Polar Bears on 5th Avenue, 2013. Cover for The New Yorker, January 13, 2014. Gouache on board. Collection of John Freund and Linda Grais. Image courtesy of Bruce McCall.
Bruce McCall, Open Season, 2011. Cover for The New Yorker, November 7, 2011. Gouache on board. Collection of Lisa Ford. Image courtesy of Bruce McCall.
Bruce McCall, Easter Morning, 1999. Cover for The New Yorker, April 5, 1999. Gouache on board. Collection of Barbara and Frank Peters. Image courtesy of Bruce McCall.
Bruce McCall, Zepp-Liner Over Manhattan, 2001. From “New York’s Transportation Future Is Coming Tomorrow,” The New Yorker, February 19, 2001. Gouache on board. Collection of Bruce McCall. Image courtesy of Bruce McCall.
Bruce McCall, King Kong Call, 1994. Cover for The New Yorker, January 23, 1995. Gouache on board. Collection of the Goodman Family. Image courtesy Bruce McCall.
Bruce McCall, Drawing stage for “Times Square Pasture,” 201. Pastel and ink on paper. Collection of Bruce McCall.
Bruce McCall, Opening Day, 2009. Cover for The New Yorker, March 30, 2009. Gouache on board. Collection of Lisa Ford. Image courtesy of Bruce McCall.
New York to the World mural as seen from 8th Avenue, ca. 2005. Image courtesy of Bruce McCall.
Bruce McCall, Moving Day, 2015. Cover for The New Yorker, February 2, 2015. Gouache on board.Collection of Ron Chernow. Image courtesy of Bruce McCall.
Bruce McCall at his drawing board working on Moving Day, 2015. Courtesy of Bruce McCall.

Images courtesy New-York Historical Society.

April 18, 2021

Dawoud Bey at Whitney Museum of American Art, April 17 – October 3, 2021

“Dawoud Bey (b. 1953) is recognized as one of the most innovative and influential photographers of his generation. Since the beginning of his career, Bey has used his camera to visualize communities and histories that have largely remained underrepresented or even unseen. Starting with his earliest body of work, Harlem, USA(1975–79), Bey has worked primarily in portraiture, making direct and psychologically resonant portrayals of socially marginalized subjects. The exhibition includes his early portraits of Harlem residents, large-scale color Polaroids, and a series of collaborative portraits of high school students, among others. Two recent bodies of work, The Birmingham Project (2012) and Night Coming Tenderly, Black (2017), render American history in forms at once lyrical and immediate. He sees making art as not just a kind of personal expression but as an act of social and political engagement, emphasizing the necessary work of artists and art institutions to break down obstacles to access, to convene communities, and to open dialogue.” — Whitney Museum of American Art

Dawoud Bey, A Boy in Front of the Loew’s 125th Street Movie Theater, Harlem, NY, 1976. Gelatin silver print, 14 x 11 in. (35.6 x 27.9 cm). © Dawoud Bey and courtesy of the artist, Sean Kelly Gallery, Stephen Daiter Gallery, and Rena Bransten Gallery.
Dawoud Bey, Three Women at a Parade, Harlem, NY, 1978. Gelatin silver print, 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm). © Dawoud Bey and courtesy of the artist.
Dawoud Bey, A Young Man Resting on an Exercise Bike, Amityville, NY, 1988. Inkjet print, 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm). © Dawoud Bey and courtesy of the artist, Sean Kelly Gallery, Stephen Daiter Gallery, and Rena Bransten Gallery.
Dawoud Bey, Two Girls from a Marching Band, Harlem, NY, 1990. Inkjet print, 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm). © Dawoud Bey and courtesy of the artist, Sean Kelly Gallery, Stephen Daiter Gallery, and Rena Bransten Gallery.
Dawoud Bey, Hilary and Taro, 1992. Two dye diffusion transfer prints (Polaroids), 30 1/8 × 44 in. (76.5 × 111.8 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Photography Committee. © Dawoud Bey.
Dawoud Bey, Martina and Rhonda, 1993. Six dye diffusion transfer prints (Polaroid), 48 × 60 in. (121.9 × 152.4 cm). Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; gift of Eric Ceputis and David W. Williams 2018.82a-f. © Dawoud Bey.
Dawoud Bey, Gerard, Edgewater High School, Orlando, FL (2003). Inkjet print, 40 x 32 in. (101.6 x 81.3 cm). © Dawoud Bey and courtesy of the artist, Sean Kelly Gallery, Stephen Daiter Gallery, and Rena Bransten Gallery.
Dawoud Bey, Usha, Gateway High School, San Francisco, CA, 2006. Inkjet print, 40 x 32 in. (101.6 x 81.3 cm). © Dawoud Bey and courtesy of the artist, Sean Kelly Gallery, Stephen Daiter Gallery, and Rena Bransten Gallery.
Dawoud Bey, Don Sledge and Moses Austin, Birmingham, AL, 2012. Inkjet prints, 40 x 64 in. (101.6 cm x 162.56). Rennie Collection, Vancouver. © Dawoud Bey.
Dawoud Bey, Betty Selvage and Faith Speights, Birmingham, AL, 2012. Inkjet prints, 40 x 64 in. (101.6 cm x 162.56). Rennie Collection, Vancouver. © Dawoud Bey.
Dawoud Bey, Mathis Menefee and Cassandra Griffin, Birmingham, AL, 2012. Inkjet prints, 40 x 64 in. (101.6 cm x 162.56). Rennie Collection, Vancouver. © Dawoud Bey.
Dawoud Bey, Untitled #20 (Farmhouse and Picket Fence I), 2017. Gelatin silver print, 44 x 55 in. (111.8 x 139.7 cm). Collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Accessions Committee Fund purchase. © Dawoud Bey.
Dawoud Bey, Girls, Ornaments, and Vacant Lot, 2016. Inkjet print, 40 3/8 x 48 1/4 x 2 in. (102.6 × 122.6 × 5.1 cm). © Dawoud Bey and courtesy of the artist, Sean Kelly Gallery, Stephen Daiter Gallery, and Rena Bransten Gallery.
Dawoud Bey, Tourists, Abyssinian Baptist Church, 2016. Inkjet print, 40 3/8 x 48 1/4 x 2 in. (102.6 × 122.6 × 5.1 cm). © Dawoud Bey and courtesy of the artist, Sean Kelly Gallery, Stephen Daiter Gallery, and Rena Bransten Gallery.

Dawoud Bey: An American Project is co-organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition is co-curated by Elisabeth Sherman, assistant curator at the Whitney, and Corey Keller, curator of photography at SFMOMA.

Images courtesy Whitney Museum of American Art.

April 14, 2021

Daniel Spoerri at Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien, through June 27, 2021*

“The Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien is dedicating a comprehensive retrospective to Daniel Spoerri. Born in 1930 in Galaţi/Romania as Daniel Feinstein, he emigrated to Zurich in 1942 – after his father had been murdered in during a Romanian pogrom. Today he lives and works in Vienna after stations in Paris, New York, Symi, Toggwil (Ueberstorf), Düsseldorf and more. In the Il Giardino di Daniel Spoerri in Seggiano in Tuscany, since 1997 he has also been addressing the sculptural work of fellow artists, including Eva Aeppli, Meret Oppenheim, Nam June Paik, Niki de Saint Phalle and Jean Tinguely. With his Snare Pictures (French: Tableaux piège), continuously developed since 1960, Spoerri inscribed himself into the history of art. The exhibition in the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien enlarges the perspective on this artist and inspired collector who works in almost all artistic media and whose diverse work has focused for the last sixty years on social interactions and the sensuous perception of everyday things – especially pertaining to people’s sense of taste. Besides his assemblages and collages composed of everyday materials, the exhibition will also present his bronze sculptures produced as of 1970, the works related to script and textiles, and his actions, often performed in collaboration with other artists.” — Bank Austria Kunstforum

#26 Flohmarkt Wien, April 2016 (What remains) 2016. Assemblage of various objects, 110 × 140 × 27 cm. Private collection © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht, Vienna 2021. Photo: © the artist and Galerie Krinzinger
Rat’s Nest, 1977. Assemblage of various objects, 43 × 42,5 × 12,7 cm. Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht, Vienna 2021.
Photo: © Niels Fabaek
Fluxus Pegasus, 1987. Assemblage of rug, electric light, horse head (acrylic paint on plaster), horsehair, shells and metal on wood, 99 × 145 × 35 cm. Courtesy of Conz Archive, Berlin © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht, Vienna, 2021. Photo: Giorgia Palmisano
Santo Grappa, 1971. Bronze cast of chair, cow skull and shoe, 160 × 41 × 64 cm. Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation, Vienna, formerly acquired from the Hahn Collection, Cologne 2003 © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht, Vienna, 2021. Photo: © mumok – Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna, formerly Hahn Collection, Cologne
Tableau piège (Restaurant Spoerri), 1972. Assemblage of tableware and food scraps on blue paper tablecloth, 70 × 70 × 40 cm. Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur, purchase
© Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht, Vienna, 2021. Photo: Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur
Tableau piège (Restaurant Spoerri), 1970/1971. Assemblage of tableware, glasses, cutlery, napkins, remains of candles, food scraps and an ashtray containing cigarette butts, 71 × 71 × 34,5 cm. Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht, Vienna, 2021. Photo: © Kunstpalast – ARTOTHEK
Restaurant de la City-Galerie , 1965. Assemblage of various objects on chipboard, 120 × 120 × 40 cm. Friedrich Christian Flick Collection in Hamburg Train station, Berlin © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht Vienna, 2021. Photo: Stefan Rötheli, Zurich
Object II of the cycle Objets de magie à la noix, 1966/1967. Assemblage of different objects, 43 x 65.2 x 26.8 cm. Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht, Vienna 2021. Photo: © Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen
La Pharmacie Bretonne, 1972–1977. 117 labelled glass bottles filled with holy water, in a triptych with wings each divided into three parts offen | open: 119,7 × 88,5 × 8,4 cm geschlossen | closed: 119,7 × 44,5 × 16,8 cm. Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig, Vienna, formerly Hahn Collection, Cologne © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht, Vienna 2021. Photo: © mumok – Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation Vienna, formerly Hahn Collection, Cologne
Se laisser manger la laine sur le dos, 1965. Assemblage of various objects, 100 × 100 × 29 cm. Bischofberger Collection, Männedorf-Zurich, Switzerland © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht Vienna, 2021
Palette for Grégoire Müller, 1992. Assemblage of paint tubes, empty terpentine bottles, cleaning rags and various objects on wood, 92 × 214 × 20 cm. ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht, Vienna 2021. Photo: © Tilman Daiber
Daniel Spoerri. Room No 13, 1998. Bronze, 2.5 x 3 x 5 m. Fondazione Il Giardino di Daniel Spoerri © Daniel Spoerri and Bildrecht, Vienna 2021. Photo: © Susanne Neumann

Exhibition was curated by Veronika Rudorfer.

Images courtesy Bank Austria Kunstforum.

*Please note that the Bank Austria Kunstforum exhibiton house is currently closed due to lockdown.

April 12, 2021

Marginalia. Inside the Comics Art Collections at Nouveau Musée National de Monaco (NMNM)- Villa Sauber, April 1 – September 5, 2021

“Marginalia. Inside the Comics Art Collections is an exploration of comic book art, a young art born at the same time as film and psychoanalysis, and which has frequently opted for marginality over convention, humour over academicism and counter-culture over received ideas.

Built around rare loans from public and private collections, the exhibition offers a chance to rethink the relationship between comic books and their acceptance by institutions, or how a medium that has always been split between counter-culture and mass culture has entered the museum space without giving up its transgressive vocation or boosting its commoditisation.

Following Freud’s traumarbeit (dream-work) model, Marginalia. Inside the Comics Art Collections invites visitors to discover over 350 works by some of the greatest comic book artists and honours the passion of those who find their work an endless source of fascination.

Marginalia are the small drawings located in the margins of Medieval manuscripts. Often secular, sometimes droll, always fascinating, they form a dialogue with the texts that they illuminate, explain or criticise and can be seen as the origins of comic books, a combination of drawing and writing which blossomed in the 20th century.” — NMNM

Guido Crepax. Marina, ca. 1969/1972. Ink and graphite on paper, 18,5 x 40,5 cm. Private collection, Paris © Archivio Crepax e Guido Crepax
Jochen Gerner. La Main au Collet, 2016. Acrylic on printed backing, 60 x 42 cm. Collection NMNM, n°2016.20.1 © Jochen Gerner © ADAGP, Paris, 2021. Photo credit: NMNM / François Fernandez
George Herriman. Krazy Kat, 1921. Ink on paper, 57 × 50 cm. Private collection, Paris © D.R.
George Herriman, Krazy Kat , ca. 1969/1972. Ink on paper, 42 x 52 cm. Private collection, Paris © D.R.
Milo Manara. Un Eté Indien, 1987 (scénario d’Hugo Pratt). Ink and watercolor on paper, 52,5 x 42 cm. Private collection, Paris © Milo Manara
Mandryka. Concombre masqué, s.d. Ink on paper, 50 x 42,5 cm. Private collection, Paris © Mandryka
Jean-Claude Mézières. Paris sera toujours Paris, 1999 (scénario de Pierre Christin). Ink on paper, 44 x 55 cm. Private collection, Paris © Jean-Claude Mézières
Richard Felton Outcault. The Yellow Kid , 1896. Ink on paper, 31 x 53 cm. Private collection, Paris © DR
Peyo. Les Schtroumpfs, 1939.Ink on paper, 51,5 x 40,5 cm. Private collection, Paris ©Peyo – 2021 – Licensed through I.M.P.S (Brussels) – http://www.smurfs.com
Benjamin Rabier. Le Tango, 1914. Ink on paper, 32 x 42 cm. Private collection, Paris © DR
François Schuiten. Les Cités Obscures. Couverture de l’Intégrale, volume 1 , 2017 (text by Benoît Peeters). Acrylic and graphite on paper, 44 x 57 cm. Private collection, Paris © François Schuiten
François Schuiten. Les Cités Obscures – L’ombre d’un doute, 2000 (text by Benoît Peeters). Acrylic and graphite on paper, 65 x 50 cm. Private collection, Paris © François Schuiten

Sempé. Untitled, s.d. Ink on paper, 34,5 x 31 cm. Private collection, Paris © J.J. Sempé – Courtesy of Galerie Martine Gossieaux

Exhibition Curator: Marie-Claude Beaud, Guest Curator: Damien MacDonald, Associate Curator: Stéphane Vacquier, Scientific Adviser: Didier Pasamonik, Scenography: Berger & Berger (Laurent P. Berger and Cyrille Berger).

Images courtesy Nouveau Musée National de Monaco.

April 10, 2021

KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature at New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), April 10 – October 31, 2021

“The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) opens its expansive 2021 exhibition, KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature, featuring work by internationally celebrated Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Postponed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the exhibition includes four experiences debuting at the Botanical Garden. NYBG is the exclusive venue for KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature. The exhibition is installed across the Garden’s landscape, in and around the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, and in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library Building.

The exhibition, related programs, and accompanying publication reveal Kusama’s lifelong fascination with the natural world and its countless manifestations beginning in her childhood spent in the greenhouses and fields of her family’s seed nursery in Matsumoto, Japan. The exhibition includes works from throughout Kusama’s prolific career and multifaceted practice. By integrating seasonal horticultural displays, KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature further illuminates the power of nature that pervades the artist’s practice and dynamic body of work.” — NYBG

KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature guest curator Mika Yoshitake, Ph.D., said, “For Kusama, cosmic nature is a life force that integrates the terrestrial and celestial orders of the universe from both the micro- and macrocosmic perspectives she investigates in her practice. Her explorations evoke meanings that are both personal and universal. Nature is not only a central source of inspiration, but also integral to the visceral effects of Kusama’s artistic language in which organic growth and the proliferation of life are made ever-present.” 

Dancing Pumpkin, 2020, The New York Botanical Garden, Urethane paint on bronze, 196 7/8 x 116 7/8 x 117 ¼ in. (500 x 296.9 x 297.8 cm), Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts and David Zwirner. Photo by Robert Benson Photography.
I Want to Fly to the Universe, 2020, The New York Botanical Garden, Urethane paint on aluminum, 157 3/8 x 169 3/8 x 140 1/8 in. (400 x 430 x 356 cm), Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts and David Zwirner. Photo by Robert Benson Photography.
Narcissus Garden, 1966/2021, The New York Botanical Garden. 1,400 stainless steel spheres. Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Tokyo/Singapore/ Shanghai; David Zwirner, New York; Victoria Miro, London/Venice. Photo by Robert Benson Photography.
Ascenscion of Polka Dots on the Trees, 2002/2021. The New York Botanical Garden, Printed polyester fabric, and aluminum staples installed on existing trees, Site-specific installation, dimensions variable, Collection of the artist. Photo by Robert Benson Photography
My Soul Blooms Forever, 2019, The New York Botanical Garden, Urethane paint on stainless steel, Installation dimensions variable, Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. Photo by Robert Benson Photography.
Life, 2015, The New York Botanical Garden, Fiberglass-reinforced plastic, tiles, and resin, Installation dimensions variable, Collection of the artist. Courtesy of Ota Fine Arts and David Zwirner. Photo by Robert Benson Photography.
KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature, The New York Botanical Garden, 2021. Photo by Robert Benson Photography.
Kusama in Flower Obsession, Photo by Yuzuke Miyazake © YAYOI KUSAMA 2021.

Images courtesy New York Botanical Garden.

KUSAMA: Cosmic Nature, Part 1, published June 13, 2020: https://wp.me/p4LMQA-bKO.

April 6, 2021

Modern Look: Photography and the American Magazine at The Jewish Museum, April 3 – July 11, 2021

“The Jewish Museum presents Modern Look: Photography and the American Magazine, an exhibition exploring how photography, graphic design, and popular magazines converged to transform American visual culture from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Modern Look: Photography and the American Magazine highlights a time when avant-garde techniques in photography and design reached the United States via European émigrés, including Bauhaus artists forced out of Nazi Germany. Whether in the service of advertising or fashion, image-making began to burgeon as the relationship between photography and text grew more nuanced. As the standard of photojournalism rose, so did the power of the photograph. In magazines like Life or Look, it came to be understood as a potent new language, superseding the written word as a means of kindling the imagination. The unmistakable aesthetic made popular by such magazines as Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue — whose art directors, Alexey Brodovitch and Alexander Liberman, were immigrants and accomplished photographers — emerged from a distinctly American combination of innovation and pragmatism.

Featuring over 150 works including vintage photographs, art book layouts, and magazine cover designs, the exhibition considers the connections and influences of designers and photographers such as Richard Avedon, Lillian Bassman, Lester Beall, Margaret Bourke-White, Louis Faurer, Robert Frank, William Klein, Herbert Matter, Lisette Model, Gordon Parks, Irving Penn, Cipe Pineles, and Paul Rand.” — The Jewish Museum

Ringl + Pit (Grete Stern and Ellen Auerbach). Komol Haircoloring, 1932, printed 1985. Gelatin silver print. The Jewish Museum, NY, Purchase: Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Fund Artwork © ringl+pit, courtesy Robert Mann Gallery, New York
PM Magazine, October-November 1938. Cover art by Paul Rand. Melbert B. Cary, Jr. Graphic Arts Collection, Rochester Institute of Technology Libraries
Direction, Vol. 3 No. 9, December 1940. Cover design: Paul Rand
Joseph Breitenbach. We New Yorkers, 1942. Gelatin silver print and collage. The Jewish Museum, New York. Purchase: Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Fund © Josef and Yaye Breitebach Charitable Foundation, courtesy Gitterman Gallery
Alexey Brodovitch. Choreartium (Three Men Jumping), c. 1930s. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Eric and Lizzie Himmel, New York
Martin Munkácsi. Woman on Electrical Productions Building, New York World’s Fair, New York, 1938. Gelatin silver print. F.C. Gundlach Collection, Hamburg Artwork © Estate of Martin Munkácsi, Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York
Lillian Bassman. A Report to Skeptics, Suzy Parker, April 1952, Harper’s Bazaar. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Eric and Lizzie Himmel, New York © Estate of Lillian Bassman
Lillian Bassman. Blowing Kiss, 1958. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Eric and Lizzie Himmel, New York © Estate of Lillian Bassman
Gordon Parks. Portrait of Helen Frankenthaler, photographed for Life Magazine, May 13, 1957, printed 2018. Archival pigment print. The Jewish Museum, NY, Purchase: Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Fund, 2018-75 Artwork © The Gordon Parks Foundation
Frances McLaughlin-Gill. Nan Martin, Street Scene, First Avenue, 1949. Gelatin silver print. Private collection © Estate of Frances McLaughlin-Gill
Cover, Scope Magazine, November 1941. Designer: Will Burtin. Will Burtin Papers, Cary Graphic Arts Collection, Rochester Institute of Technology
Westvaco Inspiration for Printers, No. 210, 1958. Spread Designer: Bradbury Thompson. Image courtesy of Cary Graphic Arts Collection, Rochester Institute of Technology
William Klein. Kid + Homeless, New York, printed c. 1955. Gelatin silver print. Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York © William Klein
William Klein, American, born in 1928. Atom Bomb Sky, New York, 1955, printed later. Gelatin silver print. Howard Greenberg Gallery © William Klein
Saul Leiter. Dick and Adele, c. 1947, printed 2005. Gelatin silver print. Saul Leiter Foundation, New York © Saul Leiter Foundation, courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery
Saul Leiter. From the Wedding as a Funeral series, c. 1951. Gelatin silver print. Saul Leiter Foundation, New York © Saul Leiter Foundation, courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery

Modern Look: Photography and the American Magazine was organized by Mason Klein, Senior Curator, The Jewish Museum.

Images courtesy Jewish Museum.

April 1, 2021

Off the Record at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, April 2 – September 27, 2021

“The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum presents Off the Record, a group exhibition featuring prints, photographs, and paintings that challenge the authority of mainstream documentation and question its role in constructing history. The 13 artists include Sadie Barnette, Sarah Charlesworth, Sara Cwynar, Leslie Hewitt, Glenn Ligon, Carlos Motta, Lisa Oppenheim, Adrian Piper, Lorna Simpson, Sable E. Smith, Hank Willis Thomas, and Carrie Mae Weems, whose works have been assembled from the museum’s collection. The presentation also includes a painting on loan by Tomashi Jackson.

Historical, documentary, state, and other records became the collectively accepted communicators of ‘truth’ through their perceived objectivity and comprehensiveness. They presumably tell a story from a place of remove, with all relevant details included. Off the Record confronts this pretense, bringing together the work of contemporary artists who interrogate, revise, or otherwise query dominant narratives and the transmission of culture through official ‘records.’

Drawn from the context of journalist reportage, the phrase ‘off the record’ here refers to accounts that have been left out of mainstream narratives. The exhibition’s title can also be understood in its verb form: to undermine or ‘kill’ the record as a gesture of redress. Across various manipulations of ‘records,’ artists in this exhibition seek to call out the power dynamics obscured by official documentation, complicate the idea of objectivity and truth, and surface new narrative possibilities.” — Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Sarah Charlesworth, Herald Tribune: November 1977, 1977 (printed 2008). Twenty-six chromogenic prints, 23 1/2 x 16 1/2 in. (59.7 x 41.9 cm) each, edition 2/3. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Purchased with funds contributed by the Photography Committee 2008.50. © Sarah Charlesworth
Sara Cwynar, Encyclopedia Grid (Bananas), 2014. Chromogenic print, 40 x 32 in. (101.6 x 81.3 cm), A.P. 1/2, edition of 3. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Purchased with funds contributed by the Photography Council 2016.50. © Sara Cwynar
Hank Willis Thomas, Something To Believe In, 1984/2007. Chromogenic print, image: 30 1/8 x 21 1/2 in. (76.5 x 54.6 cm); frame: 36 9/16 x 27 15/16 x 2 in. (92.9 x 71 x 5.1 cm), edition 5/5. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Purchased with funds contributed by the Photography Committee 2011.13. © Hank Willis Thomas
Leslie Hewitt, Riffs on Real Time (3 of 10), 2006–09. Chromogenic print, 30 x 24 inches (76.2 x 61 cm), edition 5/5. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Purchased with funds contributed by the Photography Committee 2010.55. © Leslie Hewitt
Lorna Simpson, Flipside, 1991. Gelatin silver prints and engraved plastic plaque, diptych, 51 1/2 x 70 in. (130.8 x 177.8 cm) overall, edition 2/3. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Purchased with funds contributed by the Photography Committee 2007.32. © Lorna Simpson
Sadie Barnette, My Father’s FBI File; Government Employees Installation, 2017. Five archival pigment prints, 22 x 17 in. (55.9 x 43.2 cm), edition 3/5. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Purchased with funds contributed by the Young Collectors Council, with additional funds contributed by Peter Boyce II 2018.57. © Sadie Barnette. Photo: Courtesy Fort Gansevoort
Sable Elyse Smith, Coloring Book 18, 2018. Silkscreen ink and oil stick on paper, 60 3/16 x 49 15/16 in. (152.9 x 126.8 cm). Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, Purchased with funds contributed by the Young Collectors Council, with additional funds contributed by Astrid Hill and Alexandra Economou 2018.82. © Sable Elyse Smith

Off the Record was organized by Ashley James, Associate Curator, Contemporary Art.

Images courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.

March 24, 2021

Theaster Gates: China Cabinet at Prada Rong Zhai, Shanghai, March 11 – May 23, 2021

“Prada presents ‘China Cabinet’, an exhibition project by artist Theaster Gates, with the support of Fondazione Prada. It is on view at Prada Rong Zhai, a 1918 historic residence in Shanghai restored by Prada and reopened in October 2017.

Invited to reimagine the spaces of Prada Rong Zhai in an unprecedented way, Theaster Gates shows his ceramics body of work and reveals the link that exists between this activity as a ceramist and those as a visual artist, a performer, a professor, a urban planner and a community activist. For ‘China Cabinet’, Gates conceived a three chapter story that unfolds in the rooms on the building’s first floor. Over the course of this narrative, the setting changes and the artist’s role evolves from guest to ghost to host. From being the object of an exhibition that examines the roots of his creative process, he becomes a subject who reveals the economic potential and the production context of his work. He then assumes the role of a possible new host of Prada Rong Zhai.” — Prada Rong Zhai

Exhibition views of “Theaster Gates: China Cabinet” at Prada Rong Zhai, March 11 – May 23, 2021. Photos: Alessandro Wang. Courtesy Prada Rong Zhai.

Theaster Gates. Photo: Delfino Sisto Legnani