Gertrude

Meet Art. http://www.gertrude.co Curation: Astrid de Maismont CEO: Kenneth Schlenker

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Meet ArtList

Thank you for following the Gertrude blog. It’s been a great journey, making it easier to Meet Art all over the world. 

We also want to invite you to check out our new platform: AtList, the world’s premiere market place for art.

You can follow our blog for more of the art news and content that you’ve enjoyed here or check out the art itself at www.artlist.co.

Amicalement,

The ArtList & Gertrude Team

ArtList’s one year anniversary dinner, a few weeks ago. It’s not all online, duh!

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Today we launch a book called Regram in partnership with non-profit arts organization Creative Time. It is a hardcover art book that features Gertrude's selection of 30 outstanding contemporary artists with pictures selected from Instagram. Over the past 3 years, we have seen contemporary art thrive and we think Instagram played an important role. With Regram, we want to help build your taste in contemporary art and own a beautiful object for your home. This is a crazy project, which is why we need your help. You can currently purchase the book at a friends & family price on Kickstarter, and help make Regram a reality. - http://kck.st/1LUVgX7

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3 Must See Shows

Art shows you can’t miss this week in New York. We pick only three. Via the Artlist blog.

  1. Philippe Parreno @ Park Avenue Armory June 11 — August 12

Inside Parreno’s immersive installation (Artnews)

Philippe Parreno creates works of art that redefine an exhibition space, rather than merely filling it. The expansive, operatic venue of the Park Avenue Armory offers Parreno a grand stage to reinvent for Hypnosis, his largest ever US exhibition. The show melds light, sound and film installations to affect a fully immersive sensual experience, including both past works from Parreno’s oeuvre and new installations. More than an exhibition, Hypnosis is a truly unique art event.

On view at 643 Park Ave, New York, NY.

2. De Wain Valentine @ David Zwirner June 25 — August 7

Some of Valentine’s larger polyester resin sculptures (David Zwirner)

David Zwirner’s latest solo exhibition showcases the artistic growth of minimalist sculptor De Wain Valentine through the 1960s and 70s. As a leading member of the Light and Space movement, Valentine is renown for his transformation of industrial, artificial materials into stunning sculptures that investigate the natural effects of light, surface and reflection. The exhibition includes several of Valentin’s large, polyester resin sculptures that present this investigation on a massive scale, complicating it by introducing questions of the structural stability below their placid surfaces.

On view at 525 & 533 West 19th Street, New York, NY.

3. “Love Child” @ Ortega Y Gasset Projects June 12 — July 26

A collaboration between Douglas Gaskell and Anna Gordon (Ortega Y Gasset Projects)

Everyone knows that relationships — whether they be between two spouses, two artists or an artist and his or her work — are complicated. But it is this complication that makes Ortega Y Gasset Projects’ “Love Child,” examining the “intimate collaborations between artists couples,” so fascinating. The exhibition blends the artistic and the highly personal to not only glimpse into the artistic practices of such couples as Anna Gaskell and Douglas Gordon, Nyeema Gordon and Mike Cloud, and Rachel Dubuque andJustin Plakas, but also to discover what these collaborations can reveal about the intersection of love and artistic practice.

On view at 363 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.

This post was written with the help of Alice Mahoney, from www.artlist.co

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5 Art World Updates

Just the things you should know this week.

1. Seattle Art Fair Gaining Buzz

On July 30, the Seattle Art Fair will make its debut but the fair promises to be one of the biggest in the country with Gagosian, Pace and David Zwirner Galleries already joining the list of exhibitors. Such big name galleries do not frequently join smaller, more regional events (none of the three has shown at Art Los Angeles Contemporary nor Dallas Art Fair).

Paul Allen, the fair’s co-producer sites in front of a Rothko painting from his personal collection. Allen represents the wealthy, tech attendees that the fair hopes to draw (Time).

Robert Goff, a director at David Zwirner, explained that Seattle’s summer weather signals the height of its tourist season, a draw for the galleries. However, with companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks also based in Seattle, the city’s new tech money may be a bigger draw than sunny weather. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is even a co-producer of the event.

2. Damien Hirst Repents…With a New Museum

Damien Hirst has seemed rather reflective lately. The artist revealed to The Guardian that when he would go to work, he would feel a sense of guilt at the size of his own studio (which employs hundreds of people) churning out his art : “That’s why I used to lay on these huge parties. I remember feeling guilty for those people. What have I done? I’ve created a monster. Back to the pub.”

But Hirst even repents in typically grand, Hirst fashion. In an attempt to give back something to the art community, he is opening a free-admission museum that will house pieces from his personal collection (which numbers at over 3,000 works). The museum will open in October 2015 at theNewport Street Gallery in Lambeth, south London.

3. Danh Vō Loses in Court to Bert Kreuk

Dutch collector Bert Kreuk has triumphed in his lawsuit against Danish-Vietnamese artist Danh Vō. Kreuk filed his suit last September, seeking $1.2 million from Vō, who Kreuk alleged had promised a large installation piece for an exhibition of Kreuk’s collection.

Artist Danh Vo (Artnet News)

While Vō’s legal representation denies that such a promise was ever made, Vō ultimately submitted a smaller artwork. While Kreuk based the amount of money sought off of the damages that Vō’s broken promise did to his reputation as a collector, he also state that he would be satisfied if Vō simply created the piece he originally promised. A Rotterdam judge has ordered that Vō create the piece as it was allegedly agreed upon wihtin the next year, with steep financial penalties for late delivery.

4. Art Authenticators Protected with New Law

The profession of art authentication has gotten increasingly risky over the past years. Authenticators have faced an increasing amount of backlash from collectors, lawsuits from artwork owners and even, in the case of oneModigliani expert, death threats.

One of the paintings appraised by a threatened Modigliani expert: Jeuen Fille Aux Cheveux Noirs, Modigliani 1919 (Creative Commons)

With such extreme consequences for a faulty authentication (or even a correct one that a collector disagrees with), it is harder than ever to find an authenticator willing to evaluate artwork. To re-incentivize authentication, the New York State Senate has passed a new bill that prevents plantiffs from forcing authenticators to pay their legal fees in the case of a plantiff victory in court. Critics say that the bill does not go far enough, but only time will tell if it can make authentication sexy again.

5. Frieze Projects Announced for London 2015

Frieze Projects, which is a program that commissions artists to create installations for the annual Freize art fairs has announced the artists that will be featured at its London fair in October.

A still from a current work in progress by Rachel Rose (Whitney Museum)

The artists are: artist collective ÅYRBRB (Fabrizio Ballabio, Alessandro Bava, Luis Ortega Govela and Octave Perrault), Lutz Bacher,Castillo/Corrales, Thea Djordjadze, Jeremy Herbert, Asad Raza, andRachel Rose, who was awarded the 2015 Frieze Artist Award, which allows an emerging artist to be included in the commission program. According to a Frieze press release, the group of selected artists “includes practitioners and collectives from disciplines including architecture, publishing and theatre,” and will “transform, subvert, and interact with the social, structural and cultural dynamics of the fair.”

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3 Must See Shows

Art shows you can’t miss this week in New York. We pick only three. Via the ArtList blog

Highligh: Albert Oehlen at New Museum

1. Albert Oehlen @ New Museum June 10 — September 13

(New Museum)

In the first New York museum exhibition of Oehlen’s work, New Museum offers an expansive view of the painter’s multitudinous oeuvre. The survey presents Ohlens works by subject matter — rather than chronologically — so that viewers can fully grasp his ongoing engagement with the contrasts between interior and exterior, nature and fabrication. From his early self-portraits to his later computer paintings and switch paintings, the exhibition showcases the versatility and growth that have characterized Oehlen’s rise to become one of the major names in contemporary art.

On veiw at: 235 Bowery, New York, NY

2. Passing Leap @ Hauser & Wirth 25 June — 31 July

Claudia Wieser, Untitled, 2015 (Hauser & Wirth)

Hauser & Wirth take the name for their latest exhibition from a trapeze trick in which the aerialist flips her body through the air. The maneuver seems to suspend both time and gravity while flipping the acrobat’s personal perspective. The artists featured in this group exhibition seek a similar overturning of perspective through their work, specifically the perspective through which we view artworks and their environments. The works from artists such as Sebastian Black, Dave McDermott, Sara VanDerBeek and Claudia Wieser, prompt the viewer to question the certainty of their own spatial, cultural and worldly perspectives.

On view at 32 East 69th Street, New York, NY

3. RE(a)D @ Nathalie Karg Gallery May 10 — July3

(Nathalie Karg)

As a tribute to curator Bob Nickas and his 1986 RED exhibitions, Nathalie Karg’s newest show examines the role that similarity plays between pieces and as inspiration for curation. With artwork from artists such as Richard Pettibone, Ray Johnson and Kay Rosen, the exhibition presents a show that makes the viewer keenly aware of both the relationships between similar works and how those works differ to create their own, distinguished identities. The show imparts awareness not only of the artworks but also of the process of curation that forms how we interact with art.

On view at: 291 Grand Street, New York, NY

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5 Art World Updates

Just the things you should know this week, via the ArtList blog.

1. New Guggenheim, New Design

The Guggenheim has selected the design for its new museum in Helsinki. The design, which was selected after a two-round competition that included 1,715 submissions, comes from Paris-based firm Morea Kusunoki Architects.

A rendering of the Guggenheim Helsinki Museum (Guggenheim Museum)

The selection is a departure from Guggenheim’s museums in New York, Bilbao and Abu Dhabi, all of which are large, stand alone structures designed by singular, renown architects such as Frank Gehry and Frank Lloyd Wright. Comparatively, the new Helsinki facility is a more sectioned building from a four-year-old architectural firm. The structure’s sprawling layout encourages visitors to interweave between the city’s existing culture and the museum’s new artistic additions.

2. Gavin Brown Opens in Harlem

Soaring Manhattan real estate prices have triggered questions over New York’s art culture for years. (How can you have an artistic scene in neighborhoods where most artists and galleries can’t even afford rent?) Amid such ongoing questions, Gavin Brown has announced a relocation of its West Village location that may hint at a future location for NYC’s art scene: Harlem.

The exterior of Brown’s soon to be Harlem location (Google Street View)

Gavin Brown will open the doors to its new location at 461 W 126th Street in September with a solo show of Ed Atkins’ artwork. The move takes the gallery closer to owner Gavin Brown’s own Harlem apartment (between 121st and 122nd streets), which he has converted into an informal gallery multiple times in the past.

3. Shepard Fairey Faces Arrest in Detroit

The Detroit police department has accused renown street artist Shepard Fairy of $9,000 worth of damage to the city, issuing a warrant for his arrest for two counts of malicious destruction of property.

Fairey’s commissioned mural on the exterior of the 18-story Campus Martius building (Playground Detroit).

While Fairey was commissioned in May to create an outdoor mural for the Campus Martius building in downtown Detroit, his artwork has since also appeared in 14 other locations around the city, without authorization. Unless Fairey turns himself in to the police he faces arrest and a penalty of more than $10,000 and five years in jail.

4. Bloomberg Names Winners of Public-Art Grants

Bloomberg Philanthropies has selected 4 public art projects across the US to receive up to $1 million in funding. The funds will enable the creation of temporary, outdoor art installations in Los Angeles, Gary, Indiana, Spartanburg, South Carolina and a joint project between Albany, Schenetady and Troy, New York.

A rendering of the future New York state project (New York Times)

The cities were selected from 230 city entries and are also required to contribute some funds to the projects, which will be completed in the next two years. In an official statement regarding the grants, Michael Bloomberg said: “Great public art strengthens cities by making them more exciting and attractive places to live, work, and visit. Public art can also help us to see urban challenges in a new light — and imagine new solutions.”

5. Careful Where You Park Your Art

Apparently “art” is not a good excuse to get out of a parking ticket. This week, an outdoor sculpture by artist Erwin Wurm — known for infusing his art with a sense of humor — was issued a ticket in the German city of Karlsruhe for parking in a restricted parking area.

Wurm’s ticketed sculpture (Mixed Grill)

The museum for which Wurm created the work initially confirmed that the thirty euro ticket was very real and will have to be paid by the museum. However, Karlsruhe mayor Dr. Frank Mentrup has since announced that he would appeal the ticket for the museum.

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The Art of the Polaroid

Before selfies, Instagram and digital cameras — there was Polaroid.

Andy Warhol with a Polaroid self portrait (Designboom)

Founded in 1937 by Edwin Land, Polaroid was a revolution of its time: the first, and for a long time the only, way to instantly see an image you had just taken. In fact, it is because of Polaroid’s innovation that Land holds the second largest amounts of patents in US history (after only Thomas Edison).

Christopher Bonanos, editor at New York magazine and author of Instant: The Story of Polaroid, explains that Land wanted to create:

“a camera which you would use not on the occasion of parties only, or of trips only, or when your grandchildren came to see you, but a camera that you would use as often as your pencil or your eyeglasses.”

The incredible speed and ease of use of Polaroid cameras gave artists new freedom to experiment and expand their art.

No longer did photographers have to wait to finish and then develop an entire roll of film before being able to see their efforts. They had easily accessible, instant feedback and the chance to experiment with results.

They also had a small, simple camera with which they could capture quick moments of their daily life without having to adjust a number of settings.

The Polaroid soon became not just an easy to use camera for the masses, but a tool for some of the most renown contemporary artists.

Polaroid’s Great Users

Andy Warhol

Perhaps the fine artist most known for Polaroid use, Andy Warhol used Polaroid to capture quick, casual glimpses into the lives of him and his friends (some of the most famous celebrities of their time). The speed and ease of Polaroid allowed Warhol to capture candid, intimate portraits of these seemingly inapproachable stars; a vulnerable honesty that would undoubtedly be lost in a formal photoshoot setting.

Andy Warhol, Polaroid portraits of (clockwise from top right): Liza MInnelli, Diana Ross, Jerry Hall and Bianca Jagger, 1960s (Pret-a-Reporter)

Though Warhol’s Polaroids were meant as artistic experimentation for his larger silkscreen portraits, rather than artwork for exhibition, they have been shown all over the country, from Los Angeles and Las Vegas to Poughkeepsie, New York, gaining attention after the artist’s death in 1987. They are often exhibited on a more intimate scale than his more notable silkscreens, offering audiences that may not have access to Warhol’s larger oeuvre the chance to peek into the life of the great Pop artist.

Chuck Close

Along with Warhol, Chuck Close was an early proponent of Polaroid, incorporating the film as a staple of his artistic practice. While most people may think of Polaroid on a very small scale, Close preferred much lager images, producing 20 x 24 in. Polaroid portraits.

Chuck Close shoots Oprah Winfrey for Vanity Fair magazine.(Vanity Fair)

And Close still uses the Polaroid format today — explaining to Vanity Fairthat he enjoys the “brutal honesty” of the film, which captures an intimate, exposed truthfulness that would otherwise be concealed in digital post-production processes. He also finds that the instant processing of a Polaroid print allows for a more collaborative photoshoot; both he and the model can see and discuss the results, a luxury when shooting film.

Ansel Adams

As a consultant for Polaroid in 1949 (for $100 per month), Ansel Adams worked with and tested Polaroids various film and camera. His experiments with polaroids revealed a different side of the Western landscapes that he was so famous for capturing.

Ansel Adams, Yosemite Falls, 1979 (Smithsonian)

Adams’ polaroids take the format beyond portraiture, combining landscapes’ grandeur with the soft, other-worldly color palette that characterizes Polaroid images. The result is a landscape both familiar and reinvented, seen through a new lens. Adams even said of his Polaroid: “Many of my most successful photographs from the 1950’s onward have been made on Polaroid film. One look at the tonal quality of the print I have achieved should convince the uninitiated of the truly superior quality of Polaroid film.”

Polaroid Today

Like all film based industries, Polaroid’s business has suffered in the age of digitalization, filing for bankruptcy in 2001 and again in 2008. However, the film still stands as the only instantly processing film — the only way to both shoot in film and quickly see the results.

Chuck Close explains how this instantaneousness is a key part of his artistic practice:

“After every shot, the picture goes up on the wall. I can look at it, and the sitter can look at it. They say, ‘Oh, okay, this is what we’re doing.’”

A Chuck Close portrait of Brad Pitt for Vanity Fair magazine (2013)

However, most camera users have found a replacement for the instant gratification and specified color palette of Polaroid film — Instagram, which includes even more options for altering the color of an image and the chance for instant viewing not only by oneself but by an entire online community.

Moreover, the photo sharing platform combines artistic photography with personal narrative to glimpse into users and artists lives as never before.

Whereas Andy Warhol’s casual snapshots served as rare glimpses into his social life and circle of friends, such personal exposure is the norm of Instagram. Andy Warhol once said that he took so many Polaroids to

“…know where I was every minute. That’s why I take pictures. It’s a visual diary.”

Now artists, museums and galleries are following suit — using Instagram to not only publicize and gain feedback on work but also to open up their artistic practices and lives to the public, all instantly — a more public Polaroid.

Artist Takasi Murakami uses his Instagram account to capture his studio process (left), artwork (center) and social life (right).

This post was written with the help of Alice Mahoney.

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5 Art World Updates

Just the things you should know this week

1. Basel Sells

Although the world’s biggest contemporary art fair only officially opened yesterday, the fair has already racked up big sales in the two days of its VIP preview. New York dealer David Nolan told artnet news that he hand’t “had such a good Day One at Basel in 10 years.”

Dan Flavin, European Couples (1966–71), Unlimited in Basel (Art Basel)

Our very own Head of Curation, Astrid de Maismont, was at Basel talking to collectors about the works of Danh Vo, Harold Ancart and Ugo Rondinone. From the fair’s $3.4 billion worth of art for sale this year, millions of dollars worth of artwork has already been purchased (included a $5.5 million Christopher Wool that was bought from Van de Weghe Gallery within the first 30 minutes of the preview). However, the fair’s priciest piece — a $50 million Mark Rothko work— has yet to be bought from Helly Nahmad, who is back on the fairgrounds after serving jail time for his role in an illegal gambling ring.

2. Boesky Adds Bjorn Braun

There were several changes in gallery representation this week. Notably, Marianne Boesky Gallery added Bjorn Braun to their roster of artists, signaling the establishment of career maturity.

John Altoon, Ocean Park Series #8, 1962 (LACMA)

Braun’s picture, collage and installation works incorporate naturally-sourced materials and faunal inspiration — going so far as to allow the very animals to participate in the creation of the work — as an examination of the artificiality of artistic production. Additionally, New York’s Galerie Lelong now represents self-described “rural modernist” McArthur Binion, whose abstract, highly textured compositions challenge the accepted conventions of abstract art. Los Angeles’ Kohn Gallery also became the representative of the estate of John Altoon, gaining access to the abstract expressionist oeuvre of the late painter who was a predominate figure in the Los Angeles art scene.

3. Broad Museum Spends Big on New Pieces

In preparation for the September 20 opening of their Los Angeles museum,Eli and Edythe Broad have announced new additions to their over 2,000 piece collection. The couple has added a 2014 Takashi Murakami painting, “In the Land of the Dead, Stepping on the Tail of a Rainbow” (joining 10 Murakami works already in the museum’s collection) and a 2014 charcoal drawing by Robert Longo, “Untitled (Ferguson Police, August 13, 2014).”

Untitled (Ferguson Police, August 13, 2014), Robert Longo, 2014 (The Guardian)

This represents a recent trend in the Broads’ art acquisitions, which have focused on very new works by younger artists. However, the couple still seeks out older pieces with less recent additions of works by Ed Ruscha, Jeff Koons, Cy Twombly, Christopher Wool and Damien Hirst.

4. Rainbow Flag Added to MoMA Design Collection

In the midst of both LGBT Pride Month and the Supreme Court’s deliberation on gay marriage’s federal status, MoMA has added the Rainbow Flag — the symbolic icon of gay pride — to its permanent design collection.

The Rainbow Flag (Creative Commons)

The flag, designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978, joins other design innovations such as the Creative Commons logo, the “@” symbol and the Google Maps pin. In a statement on the addition, the museum said “We’re proud the MoMA collection now includes this powerful design milestone, and there’s no more perfect time to share this news than during global celebrations for Gay Pride Month.” The flag’s here, it’s queer and now part of design history.

5. Ai Weiwei‘s Homecoming

Although Ai Weiwei has gained incredible acclaim and attention internationally (Basel-goers can check out some of Ai Weiwei’s work on the fairgrounds), this week marked the opening of Weiwei’s first ever solo exhibition in his home country of China.

Weiwei’s temple recreation (Design Boom)

Prohibited from leaving China since 2011, the Chinese government’s response to his his politically charged artwork, Weiwei has taken a decidedly more subtle approach to his new, eponymous exhibit in Beijing. Rather than referencing China’s political present, his works revisit the country’s historical past, with, among other works, a recreation of a Ming dynasty ancestral temple.

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Basel VIP Preview: 3 Standout Booths

3 booths making a big impression at the world’s best art fair: Art Basel, June 16–21.

(Art Basel)

1. Gavin Brown’s enterprise (Booth S2)

Gavin Brown’s booth boasts work by established artists such as Rob Pruitt,Alex Katz and Joe Bradley, among others. However, the NYC-based gallery takes a characteristically unconventional approach (one of the most unconventional of the fair) to exhibiting its artists, fully utilizing its space with a wallpaper by Karl Holmqvist that provides a backdrop for many of the artworks on display and a floor installation by Martin Creed, who has covered the booth’s floor with a patchwork of rugs and textiles. Thus Brown creates an immersive, interactive experience with their art.

2. Metro Pictures (Booth B5)

New York-based Metro Pictures’ Basel selection includes works by Cindy Sherman, Camillie Henrot — whose drawing below has already sold for $45,000 — and a notable charcoal on paper piece from Robert Longo, who uses an unusual, powerful amount of negative space to offset his iconic flag emblem. The booth also includes multiple pieces from the subject of Metro Pictures’ current NYC exhibition, Olaf Breuning, whose large steel sculptures and photo collages mirror the visual vernacular of our contemporary society.

3. Anton Kern (Booth L10)

From NYC, Anton Kern has brought pieces from 17 different artists to Art Basel. One artist making a particularly big impression is Matthew Monahan, who has multiple sculptures and works on paper in the Kern booth. Monahan’s paintings and sculptures reference ancient relics in their imagery and materials. Thus his works seem to be part of their own archeological revealing, to contain a greater history than their own creation. Kern also has two large scale sculptures from Jim Lambie and David Shrigley in Art Basel Unlimited, Basel’s exhibition platform for works unsuited for a fair booth, such as large-scale sculptures, video projects and performances.

To read more about individual pieces making a big impression at the VIP Preview, check out our post on Basel’s standout artworks.

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Basel VIP Preview: 5 standout artworks

What we saw there, and also found on Instagram (via the ArtList blog)

Aside from the best gallery booths, we noticed a few fantastic, individual works that are definitely highlights of the VIP Preview.

David Kordansky Gallery showed a breathtaking painting by Harold Ancart. The gallery just started representing the artist.

Find corresponding work by Harold Ancart on Artlist.

Kordansky also featured a painting by Mary Weatherford (shown below). Others works in the booth included Jon Pestoni and Jonas Wood.

Find corresponding work by Jon Pestoni on ArtList.

Almine Rech had a great example of Jean-Baptiste Bernadet’s Fugue series.

Find corresponding work by Jean Baptiste Bernadet’s Fugue series on ArtList.

Ugo Rondinone’s (diverse) work was shown at Eva Presenhuber, Esther Schipper, Sadie Coles and Barbara Gladstone Gallery.

Find corresponding work by Ugo Rondinone on ArtList.

Pace Gallery included two Adrian Ghenie paintings in their Basel selection, including The Stigmata for $575,000.

The Stigmata, 2010 (Pace Gallery)

Find a collage by Andrian Ghenie on ArtList.

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Aaron Young

To see more of Young’s work check out his swing on Artlist.co. You can also find more past artist profiles on the ArtList blog. 

“My work is an attack,” Aaron Young has warned viewers.

Tumbleweed, 2009 (Mutual Art)

Whether spray painting “LOCALS ONLY!” onto bronze rocks or crushing and mangling 24 karat gold plated steel fences, Young uses his art to examine American culture, conflating its images of rebellion with an elevated, artistic discourse.

Thus, his works balance aggressivity with a poetic artistry to arrive at a new experience of familiar, urban images.

For example, Young recorded one video series as he kicked a camera along the ground in various locations until the device disintegrated. The video turns the violence of the kicking action into a continuous visual poetry — a new way of experiencing familiar locations.

Disintegration or a the implementation of loss is another common theme in Young’s pieces, poignantly described by filmmaker Matt Black, who has worked with Young, as:

“a pure exploration of America and masculinity — minimalism on steroids.”

This process of removal to ultimately create was exemplified in Young’s well known “Greeting Card” performance piece, in which drivers rode motorcycles over a large, black plywood surface to reveal the layers of fluorescent paint beneath the black facade.

A photo from Young’s “Greeting Card” performance (Park Avenue Armory)

The sound, smell and smoke of Young’s performance purposefully overwhelms his audience’s senses, until there is nothing left but the large, gestural painting which the motorcycles’ tires create.

“I like the aggressiveness but I also like that it has a kind of flowing, seamless poetry to it at the same time. And that kind of grinding up against each other is what I try to pull out from the work,” — Aaron Young

Young lives and works in New York City. He received a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and a MFA from Yale University. He has had solo exhibits at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, Kukje Gallery in Seoul, The Company in Los Angeles, Galerie Amine Rech in Paris, and the Gagosian Galleries in both Beverly Hills and Moscow. His work has also been exhibited at MOCA in Los Angeles, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, Gagosian Gallery in London and Marian Goodman in Paris.

You can now acquire an Aaron Young swing on artlist.co.

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Why it’s OK for Art and Design to fall in love.

What is art? The eternal debate has taken a new turn in recent years with the relationship between functional design & art.

As we are launching this week an exceptional sale of artist-made outdoor functional objects, we asked Chardonnay Pickard to provide some perspective on art and design collaborations and Astrid de Maismont to give some insight into why we decided to feature one.

Aaron Young, Untitled , 2009. Recycled tire and 24 ct. gold chain. Available here.

How artists and designers collaborate

Chardonnay Pickard is a NY based art and design expert. She previously served as Public Relations Director of the famed, Limoges-based porcelain company, Bernardaud. She currently consults with a wide variety of designers, architects, retailers and manufacturers.

ArtList: So, is it OK for artists to make functional objects?

Chardonnay Pickard: I think that when you ask an artist to collaborate in any kind of product development process with a brand or manufacturer you’re going to end up with something fascinating. So much of the way contemporary craft, design and art are segmented seems really silly to me.

My experience has definitely been that artists are designers, designers are artists and so many incredible objects and projects come from the collaboration between the two.

ArtList: What makes a good artist collaboration with a designer?

Chardonnay: Successful artist collaborations are made when the artist and the brand or manufacturer are able to create something wholly different from what either is known for creating without detracting from either of their brands…In many of these partnerships seeing the brand or product through the eyes of the artists helps the brand clarify and enhance its DNA. A lot of european heritage brands are partnering with artists and I think it’s reinventing them and enhancing their relevance.

Brito’s clutch collaborations with (from left) Carlos Rolón/Dzine, Erik Parker and Kenny Scharf (Wall Street Journal).

ArtList: What kind of recent artist-made objects do you like?

Chardonnay: Apart from Bernardaud’s artist-designed porcelain sets, of course, interior designer and art consultant Maria Brito has created some incredible art clutches that I adore with the likes of Trudy Benson, Erika Parker and Kenny Scharf, which are gorgeous.…More than anything, I get excited that art is no longer being seen as something that’s unattainable and only for academics and certain people. Art is really something that everyone should be able to enjoy and own and I think the world is recognizing that.

7x7x7 Outdoor Contemporary, by ArtList

Exploring this combination of art and desig, ArtList is excited to present a 7 day sale that will feature 7 functional objects and 7 textiles created by leading contemporary artists and in collaboration with Nathalie Karg / Cumulus Studios. Astrid de Maismont, Head of Curation at ArtList, explains the motivation behind the sale.

ArtList: What is 7x7x7?

Astrid de Maismont: It is a 7 day sale that will feature 7 functional objects and 7 textiles created by leading contemporary artists, in collaboration with Nathalie Karg / Cumulus Studios. From a ping pong table by Tom Burr, to a fountain byRob Pruitt, we are selling functional outdoor objects by some of our favorite contemporary artists, that will add personality to any collector’s home just in time for summer.

Rob Pruitt, Untitled, 2008. Tires and electrical pump. Available here.

ArtList: Why do a sale featuring functional objects by artists?

Astrid: We felt that the pieces from this sale blur the distinctions between design and artistic creation, proving that the two fields can collaborate to create playful, interactive pieces. At ArtList, we care about presenting high quality fine art for our collectors. Historically, we have been focusing on unique works of art. However, we liked the idea of artists working under a specific constraint which drives further creativity: Outdoor.

ArtList: Why is “outdoor” such an important element of these works?

Astrid: Today, as a collector, it is difficult if you want to expand your art collection outside. There are design objects but nothing that can act as a direct extension of your indoor collection, nothing functional created by contemporary artists — like a bench, a ping pong table or a swing. These objects offer a unique solution to that problem in that they can serve as either indoor or outdoor additions to a collection.

Tom Burr, Bouncing Balls, 2010. Aluminum, rubber, paint. Available here.

ArtList: Can you tell us about the artists?

We feel strongly for the artist selection and production conducted in collaboration with Nathalie Karg / Cumulus Studios. In our commitment to offering quality for our collectors, we love having works by Ugo Rondinone,Aaron Young, Rob Pruitt, Tom Burr, Neil Beloufa, Liam Gillick, Mark Hagen.

ArtList: Where can these works be purchased?

Astrid: The works are available exclusively on ArtList for a period of 7 days. You can find the details on www.artlist.co/7x7x7 . Get yours in time for the summer! .. and fall in love with them.

Neil Beloufa, Sunset Burger, 2012. Metal, plastic, plexiglass, LED lamp, translucent print. Available here.

Objects for Sale:

A birdbath by Ugo Rondinone

A swing by Aaron Young

A fountain by Rob Pruitt

A ping-pong table by Tom Burr

A lamp by Neil Beloufa

A table by Liam Gillick

A sculpture by Mark Hagen

Kenny Scharf, Object des Floatz, 2012, poly twill textile.Available here.

Textiles for Sale:

Jack Pierson

Servane Mary

Rob Pruitt

Billy Sullivan

Kenny Scharf

Julia Chiang

Ellen Berkenblit

More about the sale:

www.artlist.co/7x7x7

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3 Must See Shows

Via the Artlist blog: Art shows you can’t miss this week in New York. We pick only three. 

1. Yayoi Kusama at David Zwirner      May 9 — June 13

As Yayoi Kusama’s Give Me Love exhibition at Zwirner enters its final weeks, it is now perhaps the best time to see the exhibit. Through her work, Kusama offers viewers a playful, fantastical respite from the mundane and ordinary. The highlight of the exhibition that has been gaining incredible attention — Kusama’s “Obliteration Room” in which visitors are free to place a series of colored, circle stickers wherever they please — is now at its most colorful and should not be missed.

On display at 519 West 19th Street, NY, NY. 

(David Zwirner)

2. Mary Weatherford at Brennan & Griffin      May 16 — August 1

The inaugurating exhibition of Brennan & Griffin’s new gallery space, Red Hookoffers Weatherford the chance to expand her examination of American landscapes. With this most recent series of paintings, Weatherford abstractly represents the reality of the American landscape, looking to industrial, urban centers (such as the series’s namesake Red Hook naeighborhood) as sources of inspiration. She is inspired by landscapes as they are, rather than by a pastoral idealization of them.

On display at 62 Delvan Street, Brooklyn, NY.

(Brennan & Griffin)

3. Niele Toroni at Swiss Institute      June 3 — September 6

The the first institutional solo show of Niele Toroni in New York (and the first show of his in the US in over 25 years) at the Swiss Institute includes both an expansive collection of past works spanning over 50 years of the artist’s career and new site-specific pieces, commissioned especially for the exhibition. The show thus offers both a panoramic view of the painter’s ouevre while giving visitors a taste of newer work. However, in contrasting the two, the exhibit highlights the meditative consistency that characterizes Toroni’s painting.

On display at 18 Wooster Street, New York, NY.

(Contemporary Art Daily)

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3 Must See Shows

Art shows you can’t miss this week in New York. We pick only three.

 1. Park Seo-bo at Galerie Perrotin     May 28 — July 3

Park Seo-bo, a seminal figure in modern Korean art, often finds himself in the intersection of Western and Eastern expression. After leaving Korea to study at the Sorbonne in Paris, Seo-bo rose to fame in the 1970s as a leading artist in the Dansaekhwa monochrome movement, itself a combination of traditional Korean aesthetics and Western abstraction. In their exhibition of Seo-Bo’s minimalist paintings, French Galereie Perrotin highlights the Franco-Korean tensions that characterize not only Seo-Bo’s works but Seo-Bo himself.

On display at 909 Madison Avenue, New York, NY.

(Kukje Gallery)

2. Carolyn Salas at Koenig & Clinton     May 28 — July 10

Opening tomorrow, Koenig & Clinton will display a selection of new and past sculptures from Carolyn Salas. The sculptures, both wall-hanging and free standing, illustrate Salas’ ability to manipulate raw materials into seemingly tenuously balanced compositions. Her sculptures suggest a lack of stability or potential collapse in their precarious positioning. This balance is a part of Salas’ aim to examine “our tendency to feel powerless to confront the crises of our existing surroundings…”

On display at 459 West 19th St, New York, NY.

(Koenig & Clinton)

3. Leon Golub at Hauser & Wirth     May 11 — June 20

This retrospective of the late artist’s paintings illustrates Leon Golub’s importance as an artist who was able to join the canon of historical painting while also reinvigorating the genre with a sense of modern, impassioned protest. His works depict the historical and political developments of the 1960s, 70s and 80s with an anger towards the social violence of the eras. This survey of Globu’s work also offers visitors the chance to examine how the artist’s own style evolved through these decades, from his gritty compositions in the 60s to famously aggressive paintings in the 80s.

On display at 511 West 18th St, New York, NY.

(Hauser & Wirth)

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Jean-Baptiste Bernadet

Today’s artist profile focuses on abstract painter, Jean-Baptiste Bernadet. You can read more past profiles on the ArtList blog and browse artwork for sale on ArtList. 

Jean-Baptiste Bernadet’s oeuvre shows an evolving investigation of numerous artistic styles. His paintings shift from minimalistic to impressionistic to monochromatic seamlessly.

For Bernadet this experimentation with differing styles is necessary, if unavoidable. He sees these stylistic shifts as a representation of life’s unescapable uncertainty.

Untitled (Figure XXI), 2014

But while Bernadet does not restrict his art to a particular style, he examines each new style he assumes in depth, frequently creating series of works that investigate a single composition or aesthetic.

“I don’t feel any certainty about life, so I want my work to reflect that uncertainty. I will never be the kind of artist who does one thing.” — Jean-Baptiste Bernadet (W Magazine)

Across styles, his works are further united by their aesthetic totality: Bernadet seeks to create paintings that obscure their own origins. He does not want viewers to discern the origin or seperate elements of the work, but to accept the world wholly, like hearing a burst of music.

Vetiver, 2012 (Karma)

And thus the balanced tension that categorizes Bernadet’s art emerges: it is changing yet steadfastly focused, reinvented yet theoretically connected to preceding works.

But perhaps what characterizes Bernadet’s work most is an inability to settle. He is a painter continually searching, along with his viewers for answers within art.

“I’m not pretending I’m a Master or a visionary. I’m just searching for something, and I think that’s what the viewer and I have in common, in art as in life. That’s how we are fragile, humans, and humanists.”— Jean-Baptiste Bernadet

  Jean-Baptiste Bernadet in front of one of the paintings from his Vetiver series.

Jean-Baptiste Bernadet lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. He has had solo exhibits at American Contemporary in New York City, Red Barton in London, Karma in New York City, Casado Santapau in Madrid and Torri in Paris. He has completed residencies with Triangle Arts in Brooklyn, APT Studios in Brooklyn and the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas.

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3 Must See Shows This Week

Our 3 Must See NYC picks of the week are back on the Artlist blog! You can check out more of our past selections as well as artist profiles on our blog or browse artwork for sale on ArtList. 1. Harold Ancart at Clearing    May 12 — July 12

With his paintings, drawings and sculptures, Harold Ancart creates works that exist not only as independent objects but as conscious examinations of the architectural and social spaces in which they are viewed. Ancart has admitted that he likes, “…to envision exhibits not so much as a succession of objects to be looked at, but as tensions created between the various zones of emptiness. Clearing Gallery’s solo exhibition of the rising artist offers a profound look into this artistic, spatial investigation.

On view at 396 Johnson Avenue, Brooklyn, NY.

Untitled, 2015 (Clearing Gallery) 

2. Lisa Ruyter at Eleven Rivington    May 20 — July 3

Beginning today, both of Eleven Rivington’s Lower East Side locations have devoted their spaces to a singular exhibition of Lisa Ruyter paintings: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. The paintings present recolored and abstracted Depression era photographs, depicting the American Dream at its most desperate. The re-coloration forces a distance between the image — which questions the essence of the American experience — and the viewer — who can therefore examine the American identity within these images while remaining separate from it.

On view at 11 Rivington St & 195 Chrystie St New York NY

Verona, New Jersey. Sewing the edge of an American flag at the Amnin Flag Company, 2011 (Eleven Rivington) 

3. Lee Ufan at Pace Gallery     May 15 — June 27

This new solo exhibition of Lee Ufan’s work, following his solo show at the Guggenheim and his recent installation at the Château de Versailles, showcase the artists “Relatum” works. The series, which Ufan began creating in 1968, illustrates an intensive investigation of spatial relations and the nature of elements in interaction. This spatial examination is defining of the Japanese artistic movement, Mono-ha (or “School of Things) that Ufan helped to found in the 1960s.

On view at 534 West 25th St, NY, NY.

Relatum - Dialogue, 2008 

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Leif Ritchey

The latest subject of our artist profiles is Leif Ritchey, whose paintings combine the texture of fashion with the harmony of music. As always, you can read more past artist profiles on the ArtList blog and browse artwork on ArtList. 

The works of Leif Ritchey walk a fine line between fragility and resilience.

Papaya Place, 2014 (ltd gallery)

With his signature process of white impasto, Ritchey creates textured works of paint and fabric with pastel palettes that give these layered, constructed works a deceptively light, delicate facade.

He uses paint to not only create his works but also as a means of adhering textural elements to his canvases, turning his process of construction into a chance for deeper fusion.

“I don’t use glue, I use paint. It fuses it. It seeps in. The colors meld. Where one thing begins and another thing ends is a blurring process. A blend from one song to another. The mix.”— Leif Ritchey

Ritchy’s work is infused with a sense of musicality.

In addition to viewing the elements of his works as separate “songs,” he is a member of the band Shades, consistently listens to music while painting and sees his painting process as a mixing of elements, similar to the composition of a song or the curation of music on the radio.

Jasmine, 2014 (ltd gallery)

However, fashion plays into his works as much as musicality. He is, along with his designer wife, a co-founder of the Leif and Tooya Clothing Company. Ritchey sees his fashion line, like his artistic works that often incorporate fabric textures, as a chance to bring the exceptional to quotidian life.

“In both [mine and my wife’s] work, we try to tap into the magic of everyday items — to realize magic that’s already there.” — Leif Ritchey (Paper Magazine)

Ritchey lives and works in New York City. He has had solo shows at the the Jounral Gallery in Brookly, ltd los angeles in Los Angeles, Martos Gallery in New York City and ATM Gallery in Brooklyn. His work has also been exhibited at the Journal Gallery in Brooklyn. He has also shown at Venus over Manhattan in New Yorka nd Jeanroch Dard in Paris.