Art in America - Most Recent News and Opinion

Antoni Tàpies, 1923-2012

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0100

One of the giants of the postwar European avant-garde, Antoni Tàpies died at his home in Barcelona on Feb. 6, after a long illness. He was 88. Best known for his richly textured paintings in a muted palette, he frequently used unorthodox materials such as sand and rope and incorporated in his compositions graffitilike markings as well as found objects.

The Academic: Q+A With Greg Parma Smith

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:00:00 +0100

In "Life Drawings, Poseurs, and ‘thirteen oil paintings on canvas,'" the ambitious solo debut by New York-based Greg Parma Smith at Balice Hertling & Lewis, the artist takes on the history of painting and the stratified social structures around it. Comprising oil paintings on canvas and mirror, wall appliqué and an illuminated manuscript of sorts, made of bound canvases covered in a text written in graffiti, the works explore art subcultures—academic figure painting and autobiographic zine comics—that fine art has yet to cannibalize.

Deutsche Guggenheim Will Close This Year, Cites Changing Art World

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:00:00 +0100

The ever-expanding Guggenheim Foundation is, for a change, pruning one of its outposts. The Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin will close at the end of this year.

Ben Kaufmann Closes Berlin Gallery, Plans Career in Football

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0100

The spring art season in Berlin lacks an important component: Galerie Ben Kaufmann. The gallery represented international artists Matthias Dornfeld, Bernd Ribbeck and Florian Morlat, among others. Reached by e-mail, the 39-year-old Kaufmann told A.i.A. that keeping up with the gallery's demands had become too daunting. "Nearly one year ago, I was in Mexico City for business reasons; after that I was installing a show in Paris and was due for an appointment in L.A. It was too much, I needed a change," he said. "Our time at the gallery was great, but I always knew that I would need to get out of the art business one day."

'Turf,' A Super Bowl Pre-Game Art Show

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:15:00 +0100

With the spotlight on Indianapolis in the lead-up to Super Bowl XLVI on Sunday, the city's art community is encouraging football fans to consider art viewing as a pre-game activity in addition to the traditional tailgate parties.

Dorothea Tanning Dies, Age 101

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0100

Dorothea Tanning, artist and poet, died on Jan. 31 at the age of 101. Erudite and prolific for seven decades, Tanning often said she learned how to paint by gazing at paintings on her frequent visits to the Art Institute of Chicago. Her Surrealist figurative work in oil on canvas or watercolor on paper gave way in the 1950s to more atmospheric abstractions. Beginning in the late '50s, she also made biomorphic soft sculptures out of materials like wool, tweed, felt and fur.

Roving Eye: Juan Downey Returns to New York

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0100

Last week, pioneering video artist Juan Downey's work finally arrived at the Bronx Museum from Tempe, where it had been on view at the Arizona State University Art Museum. It's the first museum survey in America of the Chilean-born artist (1940–1993). It took over two years of planning for the 100 works in his exhibition "The Invisible Architect" to make it here [where they are on view through May 20], after Arizona and the MIT List Art Center in Cambridge, Mass.

VIP Online Fair Re-Boots

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:00:00 +0100

Making a bold bid after a troubled first outing, VIP launches its second annual online-only art fair today. The fair will be online through Wednesday Feb 8.

Walker Hires Curator of Public Practice

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:30:00 +0100

Sarah Schultz, of Minneapolis's Walker Art Center, has a new title: director of education and curator of public practice. Formerly the director of education, a position she has held since 2000, Schultz has recently helped run several initiatives designed to facilitate the museum's efforts to engage the city's public.

The Lookout: A Weekly Guide to Shows You Won't Want to Miss

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:00:00 +0100

This week we check out Thomas Heatherwick's slick furniture and architectural designs at Haunch of Venison, On Kawara's career-long dedication to documenting today's date at David Zwirner, and a cheerfully engaging group show at Joe Sheftel's recently opened Lower East Side gallery.

Steven Leiber, 1957-2012

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0100

Steven Leiber, 54, art dealer and collector, died Jan. 28 in San Francisco after a year-long battle with cancer. Leiber occupied a niche, specializing in contemporary artist's books, reference material and ephemera-announcements, flyers, posters-as well as multiples and works on paper.

Artist Mike Kelley Dead at 57

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:30:00 +0100

Artist Mike Kelley has died, age 57. The cause of death has not been announced. The news was reported by the New York Observer's Gallerist blog (which indicated that the cause was said to be suicide), and confirmed by A.i.A.

Massimiliano Gioni Will Curate the 2013 Venice Biennale

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0100

Italian Massimiliano Gioni has been appointed director of the 2013 Venice Biennale. The seemingly omnipresent 39-year-old is associate director of the New Museum in New York and artistic director of the Fondazione Nicola Trussardi in Milan. He will maintain these responsibilities.

Cartoon Studio: Q+A With Joyce Pensato

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0100

Joyce Pensato's current show at Friedrich Petzel is titled "Batman Returns," but it might have been called "The Return of the Repressed." Along with a generous sampling of recent paintings and drawings of Batman and other cartoon character heads and masks in her signature style of aggressive strokes and drips, Pensato includes detritus from the Brooklyn studio she was forced to vacate last spring after 32 years of occupancy, allowing visitors to see the traces of her private creative process.

Conceptual Pioneer David Lamelas Works All the Angles

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0100

When they enter "New York Exists in 8.5 Billion Sq. Ft.," David Lamelas's exhibition at New York's Maccarone gallery, visitors are confronted with a violent stream of white light. Two back-to-back 16-mm projectors without film, which the artist has placed in the gallery foyer, produce the light. One projector shines right at the door onto the street; the other casts a small square of white light onto the gallery's front wall. "I made this piece up in my mind when I was a little child," the 66-year-old Lamelas told A.i.A. at the gallery. "When I was young I loved the cinema, and what impressed me the most was to look back and see this abstract stream of light that would become an image on screen."

Rauschenberg Foundation Announces Inaugural Grant Winners

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 16:00:00 +0100

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation today announced the inaugural recipients of its new Artistic Innovation and Collaboration Grant Program. The Foundation will award grants of between $50,000 and $150,000. From a pool of 65 arts organizations nationwide that were invited to apply in 2011, nine grants, totaling $800,000, are being awarded.

Matthew Marks on His New West Hollywood Outpost

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:45:00 +0100

Matthew Marks opened the fifth location of his gallery (he has 4 in New York) last week on the east side of West Hollywood. Located just south of Santa Monica Boulevard, the building features a permanent architectural intervention by Ellsworth Kelly, who is also featured in the new space's inaugural show,. The 40-feet long rectangular black form, inspired by the artist's Study for Black on White Panels (1954) and Black Over White (1966), hovers in relief along the top of the facade's length, a minimal gesture that is both monumental and understated.

Singapore Art Fair Lacks Major Sales, Takes Baby Steps

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:45:00 +0100

The Art Stage Singapore fair embodies the country's aspiration to be an international hub for Asia and a cultural bridge between East and West. This year in its second edition [Jan. 12-15], and with the theme "We are Asia," Art Stage provided a solid overview of Southeast Asian art, as opposed to its primary rival, Hong Kong's ArtHK, which predominantly presents Chinese artists and global brand names. Ingrid Dudek, vice president and senior specialist of Asian contemporary art at Christie's, told A.i.A. "What is most distinctive about this fair is the obvious diversity of the different regions that make up Asian contemporary art. The focus is not just on China anymore."

MFA Houston's Online Latin Art Archive Launches

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:00:00 +0100

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, a longtime proponent of Latin American Art, recently made a new 10-year commitment to champion the cause. The museum, in collaboration with its research institute, the International Center for Arts of the Americas (ICAA), has earmarked $50 million for the endeavor, which includes a massive online archive assembled by hundreds of researchers in 16 cities in the U.S. and throughout Latin America. The debut installment, which launched last week, features more than 10,000 primary source materials gathered by hundreds of researchers in 16 cities throughout the Western Hemisphere. It is available worldwide and free of charge.

Hip Dealer Spengemann Named Marlborough Chelsea Director

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:45:00 +0100

As part of Marlborough Chelsea's ongoing efforts to shed its staid reputation, the gallery has named Pascal Spengemann as its new director. His previous position was at the downtown gallery Taxter & Spengemann, which he co-founded in 2003 and closed at the end of last year.