| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Friday, August 4, 2023 |
| | | He spent decades collecting Presidential signatures. Then lost them in an instant. | |
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In an undated image provided by Carl Sferrazza Anthony, the photo that Carl Sferrazza Anthony texted to his siblings just before he lost the card with his collection of presidential signatures. Anthony, a historian, had collected the signatures of eight presidents and eight first ladies on an engraved card he lost it in Washington last week. (Carl Sferrazza Anthony via The New York Times)
by Michael Levenson
NEW YORK, NY.- The last time Carl Sferrazza Anthony saw what he calls the most valuable thing he owns, he was sitting at a corner table at a cafe in Washington, waiting for his udon noodle soup to arrive. Anthony, a historian of presidential families, had just come from the White House Historical Association, where he had picked up an engraved card from an aide to Jill Biden, the first lady, who had signed it last year and had kept it at the White House with a promise to have her husband sign it. Anthony has spent three decades collecting the signatures of presidents and first ladies on the card, which is engraved with an image of the North Portico of the White House. With the addition of President Joe Bidens signature, the card now had the signatures of eight presidents and eight first ladies every one from the Fords to the Bidens, save for the Trumps, whom Anthony had yet to track down. Sitting at a corner table at Teaism, a cafe across from ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Nahmad Contemporary is presenting Ugly Painting, an exhibition organized by Eleanor Cayre and Dean Kissick on view June 26 through August 26, 2023. This exhibition is a celebration of the pleasures of "ugly painting," by which we mean figurative painting that makes deliberate use of grotesque, garish, or abject styles of brushwork, representation, composition, or coloring to form a singular vision. © Tom Powel Imaging.
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| Gagosian Rome presents an exhibition of new works by contemporary artist Alex Israel | | 'Chewing Gum VI' to show how globalization can dispel and dissolve cultural differences at Pace Gallery | | The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza restores Fra Angelico's painting of The Virgin of Humility |
Alex Israel, Fin (Nightswimming), 2023. Plexiglass, 82 3/8 x 78 3/8 x 3 1/8 in. © Alex Israel. Photo: Matteo D'Eletto, M3 Studio.
by ChatGPT
ROME.- Gagosian is presenting Fins, the exhibition of new works by contemporary artist Alex Israel. The exhibition features a collection of giant, plastic, colored surfboard Fin sculptures that are on display at Gagosian Rome. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Israel is known for his exploration of the visual culture of Los Angeles, and this exhibition continues this exploration with an exciting new approach. These brightly colored plastic surfboard Fin sculptures have been crafted with meticulous attention to detail, resulting in a collection of works that are both playful and strikingly beautiful. They exist in dialogue with Light and Space and Finish Fetish artworks that developed in Los Angeles in the 1960s. By transforming the familiar surfboard fin into a work of art, Israel invites the viewer to engage with the culture of surfing in a new and unexpected way. The ... More | |
Mary Corse, Untitled (DNA Series), 2017. Small acrylic squares in glass microspheres in acrylic on canvas, 50 à 33". © Mary Corse, courtesy Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Lisson Gallery, and Pace Gallery.
HONG KONG.- Pace is now presenting 'Chewing Gum VI', the latest presentation in a series of group exhibitions highlighting the gallerys international program, at its Hong Kong location. 'Chewing Gum VI' brings together works by Yto Barrada, Mary Corse, Elmgreen & Dragset, Mao Yan, Robert Rauschenberg, Joel Shapiro, Li Songsong, Lee Ufan, Brent Wadden, Xiao Yu, and Zhang Xiaogang. The Chewing Gum exhibition series, which was first presented at Paces Hong Kong gallery in 2015, explores the ways that globalization can dispel and dissolve cultural differences, proposing new interpretations and connections among various artists practices. The upcoming edition of Chewing Gum, the sixth iteration of the show, presents dialogues among paintings, sculptures, and photographs created between the early 2000s and present day. Among the works included in 'Chewing Gum VI' is Lee Ufans sculptural installation Relatum ... More | |
The restored painting is shown alongside two musical instruments similar to the ones depicted in the composition and an explanatory video on the work carried out by the restoration team.
MADRID.- The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza presents Fra Angelico. Restoration of The Virgin of Humility, a special installation around this masterpiece from the collection that has just been restored. The painting is once again on display in room 11 and shows the results and conclusions of that project. Over the past months the museums restorers have undertaken a complex process of technical study, identifying the materials used in the works creation, taking chemical analyses and obtaining technical images such as X-radiographs and infrared reflectographs, together allowing for a detailed study of the painting. This prior research revealed Fra Angelicos creative procedures and provided the necessary information for embarking on the restoration with the maximum rigour and respect for the work, which is exhibited alongside two musical instruments similar to the ones depicted in the composition and an explanatory ... More |
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| European artist creates architectonic sculpture specifically for Oklahoma Contemporary | | Affordable Art Fair launches new Austin location and welcomes fair director | | Tate Liverpool exhibition showcases radical new approach to collecting art |
Eva Schlegel, ©Udo Titz: Eva Schlegel. Photo: Udo Titz.
OAKLAHOMA CITY, OAK.- Having opened on August 31st in Campbell Art Park, Multiple Voices is the first public artwork in the United States by Eva Schlegel, the Austria-based artist known for engineering steel and mirrors into spectacular, architectonic sculptures. When Schlegel visited Oklahoma City in 2020 for the opening of Bright Golden Haze (which included one of her photographs), she was struck by both Oklahoma Contemporarys architecture and the special quality of Oklahomas light. The interplay between the built environment and the natural world sparked a series of conversations about light, place and perception that led to Multiple Voices. Our building, designed by Rand Elliott Architects, takes its inspiration from the ever-changing nature of the Oklahoma skies, says Oklahoma Contemporary Director Jeremiah Matthew Davis. Comprised of 16,800 aluminum fins, the buildi ... More | |
Affordable Art Fairs second stateside location will be led by newly appointed director Cori Teague, local artist, arts professional, and advocate for the growing Austin art market.
AUSTIN, TX.- Affordable Art Fair sets sights on thriving art scene in Austin, Texas as new fair destination. Affordable Art Fair will set foot in Austin for the first time from Thursday May 16 to Sunday May 19, 2024 at the Palmer Events Center in the heart of downtown Austin. The fair will bring together a curated selection of over 50 local and international galleries to inspire and unify the citywide art scene. Affordable Art Fair is a contemporary art fair that offers extraordinary artwork created by emerging and established talent in a range of media and genres priced up to $10,000. The fair has welcomed over 3.1 million visitors worldwide since its launch in 1999. As one of the worlds leading and most popular art fairs, Affordable Art Fair is dedicated to ... More | |
Edgar Calel, Ru kox kobel jun ojer etemabel (The Echo of an Ancient Form of Knowledge), 2021. Liverpool Biennial 2023 at Tate Liverpool. Courtesy of Liverpool Biennial. Photography by Mark McNulty.
LIVERPOOL.- Tate has officially become custodian of The Echo of an Ancient Form of Knowledge (2021) by Maya-Kaqchikel artist Edgar Calel (b.1987, Guatemala) in a first for the institution. Rather than owning the work outright, the artist and Proyectos Ultravioleta shaped the model of custodianship, enabling Tate to push the boundaries of how museum collections traditionally operate. Tate will instead be its custodian for the next 13 years, with the start of this custodianship being marked by a ritual ceremony performed by the artist during preparations for the works inaugural display as part of this years Liverpool Biennial (uMoya: The Sacred Return of Lost Things). Visitors are able to view The Echo of an Ancient Form of Knowledge (2021) at Tate ... More |
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| Artists from four continents bring together various cultural backgrounds at Elizabeth Xi Bauer | | National Nordic Museum exhibits new sculpture by Jónsi, 'Iridian light vs loom evil' | | Kitenge Banza's exhibition 'Inhabiting the Imaginary' will be on view at the PHI Foundation starting today |
Oswaldo Maciá. Photograph: Matilda Green. Courtesy the Artist.
LONDON.- Elizabeth Xi Bauer presents à a lama, é a lama, an exhibition of four contemporary artists and one artist group whose practices acknowledge our climate emergency. In à a lama, é a lama, each of them turn their gaze to one aspect of our planet, depicting elements such as flora, fauna, water, fire, geological formations and typhoons to address global warming. The artists in this exhibition are from four continents, thus bringing together various cultural backgrounds that share concerns surrounding the health of our ecosystem. They further share an understanding of the earth as a holistic body, where the wellbeing of one part is indissociable from the wellbeing of the whole. The exhibition title, Portuguese for its the mud, its the mud, is borrowed from Tom Jobims eponymous Ãguas de Março (Waters of March), which the musician wrote in both English and Portuguese. By doing so, Jobim signified the rain-s ... More | |
Installation View from the FLOD exhibit: FLÃà was commissioned by the National Nordic Museum and features original music created by Jónsi, which can only be heard in the exhibition.
SEATTLE, WA.- Jónsi (Jón Ãór Birgisson), the lead singer of the world-famous rock band Sigur Rós, is continuing his collaboration with the National Nordic Museum with a scent and sound sculpture, titled Iridian light vs loom evil. FLÃÃ, an original immersive art experience created for the museum by Jónsi, ran for four months and was so well received that the museum extended the exhibition until August 6. Starting this August through October 29, visitors can experience Jónsis Iridian light vs loom evil, a sculpture comprised of speaker horns, the appearance of which have been transformed with the application of the chemical element bismuth. Bismuth transmutes into iridescent hopper crystals, imparting a pink-metallic luster to the sculpture. Jónsi selected this bismuth to allude to the LGBTQ+ experience of coming out, which ultimately ... More | |
Moridja Kitenge Banza. ©Kitenge Banza. Photo Courtesy of PHI Foundation.
MONTREAL.- The PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art is now opening a solo exhibition by Moridja Kitenge Banza: Inhabiting the Imaginary [Habiter limaginaire]. Kitenge Banzas life is a fascinating entanglement of trajectories and turns, comprised of leaving his home country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to study in France, and then migrating to Montréal, Québec, Canada. Through a multidisciplinary practice that includes painting, photography, video, drawing, and installation, Kitenge Banza explores the histories, memories, and identities of the places he has lived in relation to the experiences he has had living there. Drawing from past and present situations, the artist organizes, assembles, and traces figures, as would a land surveyor, reappropriating codes from cultural, political, social, and economic milieux. Intentionally confusing fact and fiction, he problematizes hegemo ... More |
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| Acclaimed British artist Noj Barker launches new art at airports with exhibitions at Heathrow and Gatwick | | The Menil Collection opens "The Iconic Portrait Strand" by Nestor Topchy | | Lawrence Abu Hamdan's first solo presentation in Scotland on view at Talbot Rice Gallery |
World of Dots, London Heathrow (installation view). Multicolour in Black, 150 x 100 cm, hanging in the executive Lounge area.
LONDON.- Albany Arts Communications announced that the acclaimed British artist Noj Barker is launching Plaza Premium Lounge, UKs Art and Lounge initiative. Opening today, World of Dots, this presentation of new works will be shown consecutively at Heathrow Terminal 2 Departure and London Gatwick throughout the summer. Delivered in partnership with curators Amie Conway and Alex Cousens, World of Dots is the third instalment of the Plaza Premium Group, and its Art and Lounge concept series, where guests are invited to discover different art expressions in their dwell time at Plaza Premium Lounge. The launch in Dubai International Airport featuring the distinguished art pieces of local artists was followed by exhibition in Kuala Lumpur International Airport, where Plaza Premium Lounge guests enjoyed the opportunity to explore a collaborative art collection of up-and-coming Malaysian artists. ... More | |
Iconic Portrait Strand (Forrest Prince), 2008-23; Egg tempera and gold leaf on gesso over cloth on plywood. Courtesy of the artist. © Nestor Topchy. Photo: Caroline Philippone.
HOUSTON, TX.- The Iconic Portrait Strand by Nestor Topchythe first museum exhibition of Houston-based artist Nestor Topchys (b.1963) contemporary portraitsopens today at the Menil Collection. The show will include a selection of some one hundred paintings using techniques and materials associated with religious icons for more than 800 years. He considers these contemporary portraits as a single and ongoing work of art, a corpus, that for Topchy, not only depicts his circle of friends and colleagues, but also represents and honors his community. Topchys work has connections to the Menils important holdings of religious icons that span fourteen centuries and include significant examples of devotional objects from the Byzantine Empire and Christian Orthodox traditions. Topchys luminescent contemporary versions share a complex array of layered materials (red clay, hot ... More | |
Lawrence Abu Hamdan, still from 45th Parallel, 2022. Courtesy the artist.
EDINBURGH.- Talbot Rice Gallery is presenting the first solo presentation of Turner prize winning artist Lawrence Abu Hamdan in Scotland. Sited in TRGs iconic neo-classical Georgian Gallery, Abu Hamdans most recent film installation 45th Parallel examining political grey areas in international legislature - is located above the University of Edinburghs Law School Library. Shot on location in the only cross-border theatre in the world, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House, is a geopolitical grey zone that bisects the border of Canada and the United States. As borders across the world are increasingly surveilled, policed, and militarised, this municipal building is something of an anomaly. Built in 1904 by local philanthropist Martha Haskell, the Haskell Free Library and Opera House was to provide education and cultural enrichment to the rural border communities located on the 45th parallel in Quebec (CA) and Vermon ... More |
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A Life Less Ordinary: Freddie Mercury
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With 'Talk to Me,' directors leap from phone screens to the big screen
NEW YORK, NY.- Ronald McDonald on a killing spree in a chicken joint. Harry Potter and Luke Skywalker going head-to-head with wands and light sabers. Cookie Monster eviscerating the Power Rangers. These pop culture video battles, where slapstick and gallows humor meet raw carnage, have helped twin brothers Danny and Michael Philippou amass more than 6.7 million subscribers on their YouTube channel, RackaRacka, which has more than 1 billion video views. Now the Australian duo has taken their dark imagination and facility for shock and awe to the big screen, with the supernatural horror film Talk to Me (in theaters). Our audience wants explosive, energetic stuff, Danny said, during a video interview, about their YouTube efforts. The Philippous kinetic style mashes genre cinema with beloved intellectual property, douses the combination with accelerant ... More
'Closer' by Magda Kirk now open at the GR gallery offers a fresh twist on her traditional vision
NEW YORK, NY.- GR gallery opened the first solo exhibition of Magda Kirk with the gallery and in the U.S. after various collaborations in the past years. Titled CLOSER, this show will present a series with an intense focus on the artists characters self discovering - experimenting with layers of visual obstruction she manages to go deeper into her protagonists psyche - and understanding how their body as a vessel moves through the world. This presentation will introduce to the public ten large size artworks on canvas and a wall painting; the exhibition design and installation will include several wall decorations, executed by the artist, that will frame and elevate the works to a higher degree. This new body of work, exemplarily executed with the artist airbrush signature technique, offers a fresh twist on Magdas traditional vision, showing ... More
Loughran Gallery is currently exhibiting 'Extinct' based on the childhood obsession of Dave White
PRESTON.- A decade in the making, Extinct, now on view at Loughran Gallery, is the childhood obsession contemporary artist Dave White always wanted to turn into a collection. Unfortunately, lockdown meant the body of work has never been displayed in full until now. Produced in secrecy over 18 months, Extinct is the series White has spent all his life researching. In order to create it, he went back to the drawing board, filling dozens of sketchbooks working from skeletons and specimens. Underneath each painting lies the under sketch which forms the crux of these works, built up over many sessions these layers form the painting, giving it life and movement where there is none. Like many youngsters, White has never lost his sense of wonder for dinosaurs and the scale of these works, some of which are over 7ft tall, and his use of rich expressive oils helps to create t ... More
Experience the stunning story quilts of artist Tina Williams Brewer
COLUMBIA, SC.- The Columbia Museum of Art opened its featured summer exhibition Tina Williams Brewer: Stories of Grace, on view through Sunday, September 3, 2023, only at the CMA. Organized by the CMA, Stories of Grace showcases the work of Pittsburgh-based fiber artist Tina Williams Brewer, who creates densely layered, highly symbolic story quilts that explore African diasporic history and ancestral heritage. The first major museum survey of the artists work in the Southeast, this career-spanning exhibition features roughly 45 works drawn from both public and private collections as well as brand-new work that will debut in Stories of Grace, fully divulging the scope and richness of Brewers multilayered practice. Its been a privilege to work with Brewer in the leadup to this exhibition, says CMA Curator Michael Neumeister. The ... More
5 minutes that will make you love Miles Davis' electric period
NEW YORK, NY.- For the past year, The New York Times has been asking musicians, writers and scholars to share the music theyd play for a friend to get them into jazz one artist, instrument and subgenre at a time. Weve covered Duke Ellington, Mary Lou Williams, New Orleans music, jazz vocalists and much more. Now, were turning to the man known as the Prince of Darkness, who gave us the Birth of the Cool and never stopped redefining it: Miles Davis. Since the trumpeters shape-shifting career encompassed so many phases and styles, weve decided to focus on just one: the era known as Electric Miles, starting in 1968 and continuing for more than 20 years, when he embraced electric instruments and stubborn, snaky grooves, in the process basically drawing up a blueprint for the genre now known as jazz-rock fusion. I have to change, ... More
Roger Sprung, banjo virtuoso of NYC folk scene, dies at 92
NEW YORK, NY.- Roger Sprung, a banjo virtuoso and key figure in New Yorks midcentury folk music revival, whose innovative picking and genre-mashing audacity earned him the unofficial title of the godfather of progressive bluegrass, died July 22 at his home in Newtown, Connecticut. He was 92. His death was confirmed by his wife, Nancy Sprung. A New York City native who honed his skills early on by playing mountain music festivals in Virginia and the Carolinas, Sprung began his career in the parks and folk clubs in and around Greenwich Village and went on to become an inspiration for the modern bluegrass known as newgrass. In the late 1950s, he played with a folk trio, the Shanty Boys, who recorded for Elektra Records. He later performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center and made appearances on television in the 1960s backing popular country ... More
Hollywood writers and studios to restart talks after 3-month standoff
LOS ANGELES, CA.- When the Writers Guild of America told its members on Tuesday night that movie and television studios had asked for a meeting this Friday to discuss negotiations, it was the first sign of movement in a stalemate that had begun in early May. It also signaled a shift in strategy for Hollywood executives working behind the scenes to resolve dual union strikes that have ground the vast entertainment industry to a halt. The 11,500 screenwriters represented by the Writers Guild went on strike in May after contract negotiations with the studios broke down. Last month, they were joined on the picket lines by tens of thousands of actors after their union, SAG-AFTRA, called a strike. Both unions are worried about not receiving a fair share of the spoils of a streaming-dominated future, among other issues. Faced with navigating a two- ... More
Paris bookstalls are told to relocate during next year's Olympics
PARIS.- The open-air bookstalls that line the River Seine are as symbolic of Paris as the Louvre or the Arc de Triomphe. But most of the boxy, dark green stalls must be dismantled and temporarily removed before the 2024 Summer Olympics for what officials say are security reasons. The booksellers, known as les bouquinistes, have said they will not budge, calling the order issued by the Paris police chief last week an affront to the French capitals history and soul. Paris without the bouquinistes is like Venice without the gondolas, said Jean-Pierre Mathias, 76, who has had a stall along the Seine for about four decades. Mathias, a former philosophy teacher who sells works including an essay on Brigitte Bardot and a reprint of a 1781 book by a French barrister, said that he and other bouquinistes were signing petitions against the proposal. If that fails, ... More
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PhotoGalleries
Gabriele Münter
TARWUK
Awol Erizku
Leo Villareal
Flashback On a day like today, French designer Louis Vuitton was born August 04, 1821. Louis Vuitton (4 August 1821 - 27 February 1892), was the founder of the world-famous Louis Vuitton brand of leather goods now owned by LVMH. Prior to this, he had been appointed as trunk-maker to Empress Eugénie de Montijo, wife of Napoleon. In this image: In the courtyard of the Asnières workshops, around 1888, Louis, Georges and Gaston L. Vuitton (sitting on a Bed trunk) © LOUIS VUITTON ARCHIVES.
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