Gagosian’s Artist Spotlight to reveal a never-before-seen painting by Albert Oehlen

April 1, 2021

Launching online on 9 April for forty-eight hours only, the painting embodies Oehlen’s contrarian stance in its conscious rejection of compositional harmony and stable meaning. Oehlen’s improvisations on outwardly disparate methods and modes have made him a touchstone for a new generation of artists. Since his early espousal of self-consciously “bad” painting, he has continued to investigate the tensions between aesthetic order and chaos, deliberately sidestepping unified form in favor of a seemingly raw, yet highly considered painterly energy.

The gallery will present Tramonto Spaventoso, an exhibition of recent paintings by Oehlen, including four new paintings from an eight-part work of the same title, in Beverly Hills from 22 April to 5 June 2021. The first four paintings in the cycle were shown at the Serpentine Galleries, London, in 2019–20.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s 1982 masterwork “Versus Medici” to be auctioned for the first time at Sotheby’s New York in May

March 31, 2021

An extraordinary work executed in 1982, when the artist was just 22 years old, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Versus Medici will star in the Contemporary Art Evening Auction in New York on 12 May, where it will be offered with an estimate of $35–50 million. Versus Medici is among Basquiat’s most forceful visual challenges to the Western art establishment, in which the young artist boldly crowns himself successor to the artistic throne as established by the masters of the Italian Renaissance. The artwork has remained in the same distinguished private collection since 1990; it was previously in the collection of Stephane Janssen, an early champion of Basquiat who acquired it from Larry Gagosian on a visit to Basquiat’s studio in 1982.

Versus Medici is an early, prime masterwork from the artist. Basquiat completed the work in 1982, the same year as the record-breaking Untitled, which sold at Sotheby’s in 2018 for $110.5 million, and shortly after his breakthrough inclusions in the Times Square Show in 1980 and New York New Wave at PS1 in 1981.

Dominic Chambers is now represented by Roberts Projects

March 30, 2021

Drawing loosely upon a tradition of contemporary mystical realism, Dominic Chambers creates paintings that immediately reference literary narratives cited in books, various mythologies and Black history, both in its oral tradition and written account. His current practice is invested in exploring Black introspection, the Black body, and the construction of lived Black experiences, as seen through moments of quiet contemplation and meditation, reading, leisure, and the camaraderie between friends. An avid reader since childhood, literature and the dialectics of language continue to play a major role in both his life and work.

In his psychological figurative paintings, Chambers builds a relationship between history, painting, and the imagination to center his respective ideas of where and how to find joy through respite, one that is both real and longed for.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1993, Dominic Chambers currently lives and works in New Haven, Connecticut. A comprehensive survey with the artist is planned for 2022, and a catalogue will be published by Roberts Projects in conjunction with the exhibition. In association with Luce Gallery, Turin, Italy.

galerie frank elbaz now represents Anne Le Troter

March 29, 2021

Through her acoustic and deliberately polyphonic installations, Anne Le Troter explores the mechanisms of language. Nurtured by everyday experiences, and poets such as Christophe Tarkos, Charles Pennequin and Nathalie Quintane, her praxis has developed out of the recording and editing of collected words. The orality and role-playing which she introduces become the vehicles for an observation of the world which is tending more and more to take the form of a total work conveying her fascination for theatrical representation. Somewhere between décor and set, she constructs territories for these bodyless voices which are developed in space.

The gallery will present her first solo exhibition in Fall 2021.

Chloe Waddington named Partner at Timothy Taylor

March 27, 2021

Chloe Waddington, who joined Timothy Taylor in 2019 as a director, has been made a partner in New York, the first in the gallery’s three decade history. In the past eighteen months, Waddington has played a pivotal role in the new representation of artists Honor Titus and Chris Martin, and will continue to develop the gallery’s expanding curatorial program and roster of artists and estates.

Waddington will oversee Hilary Pecis’s first solo exhibition in the U.K. at Timothy Taylor London in spring 2021, in addition to the upcoming group exhibition Reconfigured featuring ten early-career British artists, held at a temporary space at 518 West 19th Street, NY, across the street from Timothy Taylor’s Chelsea townhouse.

Hauser & Wirth announces worldwide representation of artist Gary Simmons

March 26, 2021

Born in New York City in 1964, Gary Simmons has achieved wide acclaim over the past three decades for a profound and energetic practice that explores notions of race, class, social stereotypes, and politics through painting, sculpture, sound, and architectural environments. Simmons’ work considers the influence of the past upon the present, grappling specifically with the unfixed nature of memory and the American penchant for revising or even replacing personal and collective experience. Best known for illustrative paintings in which white outlines of figures and words – 20th century cartoon characters steeped in the racist traditions of minstrelsy, disappeared architectural sites, vintage film title cards, evaporating clouds of smoke, twinkling stars – are painted on chalkboard-like surfaces, then blurred and smeared by hand. Through this signature ‘erasure’ technique, Simmons has uniquely captured the effect of history being altered while its energy continues to shape life in the present day.

Bonhams New York to auction rare and unseen early works by Yayoi Kusama

March 25, 2021

Some of the earliest recognized works by Yayoi Kusama – which have never been exhibited in public – will be offered in a special single-owner collection sale at Bonhams New York on Wednesday 12 May. The auction, Kusama: The Collection of the late Dr Teruo Hirose, comprises three paintings and eight works on paper, gifted by Kusuma herself to Dr Hirose, her lifelong friend and doctor whom she consulted in her early years in New York in the 1960s, when she was a struggling young artist in need of medical aid.

The highlights of the sale include two of Kusama's River paintings – Mississippi River and Hudson River, both created in 1960 – featuring early examples of her iconic Infinity Net motif. These early works are exceptionally rare due to Kusama's use of the colour red - almost all her other works of this period are white. The third painting in the collection, Untitled, is a very early example of Kusama combining vibrant colours and the scale of the work lends an immersive quality, something that foreshadows the artist's later work such as her Infinity Rooms. The eight works on paper, executed by Kusama before she arrived in the United States in 1957, are corner stones of the artist's practice, laying the aesthetic groundwork for her career to follow. Painted when Kusama was in her twenties, the works show the genesis of her Infinity Nets, as well as elements such as polka dots and flower imagery for which she would become known.

Serpentine hosts Portraits for the Future: A Celebration of James Barnor

March 24, 2021

Join the Serpentine on Wednesday 31 March at 7pm BST for Portraits for the Future, a unique virtual event celebrating visionary photographer James Barnor’s practice and his influence on generations of artists, looking forward to his major survey show at the gallery later this year. Hosted by Clara Amfo, the event features James Barnor in conversation with photographer Tyler Mitchell and Hans Ulrich Obrist; music by Ebo Taylor; poetry by Nii Ayikwei Parkes; a look through the archives with Black in the Day; contributions from Sir David Adjaye, Naomi Campbell and British Vogue Editor-In-Chief Edward Enninful; plus instructions, reflections and tips from some of the most exciting photographers working today, including Liz Johnson Artur, Samuel Fosso, Eric Gyamfi, Zohra Opoku, Dayanita Singh, Ming Smith and Tourmaline.

Portraits for the Future brings together artists, photographers, musicians and leading cultural figures inspired by Barnor’s visionary work to explore how his vision is a crucial guide for the future. In conjunction with the event the Serpentine will launch a campaign on Kickstarter to build a community to realise a programme of activity to bring Barnor’s work to the widest possible audiences. Exclusive rewards such as special limited edition prints by James Barnor, curator tours and more launch on Wednesday 24 March.

“Helmut Newton: High Gloss” now available from the GalleriesNow Shop

March 23, 2021

Published by Hamiltons to accompany the gallery’s eponymous exhibition, the limited-edition book features 33 duotone plates and essays by Newton’s personal friend and renowned photography specialist Philippe Garner, and The Irving Penn Foundation’s Vasilios Zatse.

In celebration of what would have been Newton’s 100th birthday on 31 October 2020, Helmut Newton: High Gloss presents many of Newton’s most famous photographs and exceedingly rare ‘ferrotyped’ prints from the 1970s, including Elsa Peretti, Rue Aubriot and Woman Examining Man. The exhibition is on view at Hamiltons until Friday 28 May.

Gazelli Art House announces a programme of online events in conjunction with the gallery’s latest exhibition

Taking place every Thursday from 25 March to 15 April 2021, the gallery will host one of the four artists presented in Curtain Twitching - Adam de Boer, Khaleb Brooks, Max Prus & Niyaz Najafov - with each one discussing the processes and motivations for their works.

On Thursday 25 March, Niyaz Najafov will present a workshop in his Paris studio. The following Thursday, 1 April, Adam de Boer will conduct a Batik workshop delving into his Eurasian ancestry and traditions from the region. On 8 April, Max Prus will screen an exclusive film with a backing track of self-made music where he returns to the seaside areas of Norfolk seen in his 2020-2021 works. Finally, on 15 April, Khaleb Brooks will perform a piece on identity at the Dover Street gallery where guests will be able watch from the outside in. Follow the gallery on Instagram to access the events.

Galerie Barbara Thumm represents Sarah Entwistle

March 22, 2021

Fascinated with the malleable nature of materials, and the architectural historical practice of spolia - the appropriation of materials into new forms - as a potent counter force to inherited personal and cultural determinism, Sarah Entwistle’s broader project is a continued dialogue and dismantling of the archive of her late grandfather and fellow architect, Clive Entwistle [1916-1976], whom she never met.

Entwistle trained as an architect, at The Bartlett, UCL and Architectural Association, London. In 2019 she received the main prize for Mostyn21, Mostyn Gallery and in 2017 was the recipient of the Artists’ International Development Fund, Arts Council England. In 2014 she received the Foundation Le Corbusier Grant for Visual Artists and in 2015 presented a solo exhibition, He was my father and I an atom, destined to grow into him, at the Fondation Le Corbusier, Paris. The exhibition coincided with the publication of her experimental biography, Please send this book to my mother, Sternberg Press, 2015, published with the support of The Graham foundation for the advanced studies in fine art, Chicago.

In 2020 Sarah Entwistle presented a solo-show on the gallery’s online platform New Viewings curated by Alfredo Cramerotti, together with Paul Kumiet.

The artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery, The Knots of Tender Love are Firmly Tied, is planned for June 2021, coinciding with the publication of her new monograph entitled Junk Own, published by Distanz, Berlin.

Chris Martin joins Timothy Taylor

March 19, 2021

Born in 1954, the Brooklyn-based artist Chris Martin makes vibrant works animated by a spirit of radical experimentation, from glittering paintings to delicate watercolors and foil-encrusted collages in rainbows of psychedelic colour. Martin blends elements of Abstract Expressionism and geometric forms freely with references to music, pop culture, astrology, and Eastern and Western forms of spirituality and mysticism. This alchemic approach reflects the artist’s personal outlook on painting: that art can and should reflect the kaleidoscope nature of contemporary life today. As such, his paintings often seem keyed into the synapses of our shared imagination, intuitively reflecting the quirks, obsessions, and fascinations of our time.

In April 2020, Martin curated the online exhibition Painting the Essential: New York, 1980 – Present for Timothy Taylor, featuring works by Martin's friends and peers in the artistic community of downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn in the 1980s, united by their exuberant use of colour, focus on process and intuition, and inventive approach to different forms of media.

The artist’s inaugural exhibition of new paintings with the gallery will take place at Timothy Taylor, London in May 2022.

James Cohan now represents Naudline Pierre

March 18, 2021

Naudline Pierre’s paintings draw from fantasy and iconography to conjure alternate worlds. Swirling with jewel-toned texture, her works center ecstasy, devotion, and tenderness in epic scenes that generate space for rescue and healing. Pierre’s winged figures are enveloped in vast, horizonless landscapes, where they come together in acts of intimacy and salvation: they reach longingly outward toward each other, congregate, and embrace, emoting protection and care.

Pierre’s work situates personal mythology and transcendent intimacy alongside canonical narratives of devotion. Her works continue the art-historical tradition of portraying encounters between the earthly and the otherworldly, extending this lineage of image-making by injecting the conventions of her discipline with ephemerality and ambiguity. Referencing the Renaissance format of the altar triptych, for example, or incorporating flattened space and forced perspective, she reconfigures formal systems from the past to generate new possible futures grounded in the here and now.

The gallery will present a solo exhibition of the Brooklyn-based artist’s work in April 2022.

Turi Simeti, one of the most important representatives of Italy’s ZERO movement, has died at 91

March 17, 2021

Associated with Burri and Fontana at the beginning of his career, Turi Simeti (b. 1929 Alcamo, Italy) developed his own unique research and practice, with exhibitions at Galerie M Bochum, Germany, the Bettina Gallery, Switzerland and, notably in 1965, Lucio Fontana’s Studio alongside the ZERO avant-garde group including Manzoni, Castellani, and Bonalumi.

Simeti’s practice developed from the flat collages of the late 50s and early 60s, to the spatial complexity of his successive works up until the present day. Whilst it may seem mathematically sequential, his art is evocative of notations of a musical composition, his distinctive extroflexed canvases offering a delicate breech of the traditional boundaries of visual art asking light itself to be the agent of meaning.

Yancey Richardson hosts a conversation between David Alekhuogie and Drew Sawyer

March 15, 2021

In conjunction with the exhibition Naïveté, on view at the gallery until April 10, 2021, David Alekhuogie will be in conversation with Drew Sawyer, Phillip Leonian and Edith Rosenbaum Leonian Curator, Photography at the Brooklyn Museum, to discuss Alekhuogie’s practice and the works in the exhibition. Join the gallery on Wednesday 17 March at 6.30pm EST via Zoom.

For Naïveté, Alekhuogie has made photographs using African sculpture and textiles to examine ideas of authorship, the relationship between photography and textiles as mediums of storytelling, and the route through which much of the African diaspora learn about their cultural heritage. Central to the show is the series “A Reprise” which proposes a revision of Perfect Documents, the exhibition catalogue of Walker Evans’s photographs of African sculptures commissioned by MoMA in conjunction with their 1935 exhibition African Negro Art. In the project gallery, a selection of works from To Live and Die in LA, Alekhuogie’s 2018 series which considers the landscape as a vehicle for personal and political identity, is on view.

Whitechapel Gallery celebrates its 120th anniversary

March 12, 2021

To commemorate the occasion, the Gallery is launching a twelve-month interactive campaign online, sharing rarely-seen material from its historic archives and inviting those with memories about the Gallery to get in touch.

For over a century the Whitechapel Gallery has premiered world-class artists from modern masters such as Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Frida Kahlo and Hannah Höch to contemporaries such as Zarina Bhimji, Sophie Calle, William Kentridge, Eduardo Paolozzi and Michael Rakowitz. Its historic campus houses exhibitions, artist commissions, collection displays, historic archives, education resources, inspiring art courses, talks and film screenings, the Townsend dining room and the Koenig Bookshop.

Perle Fine and Khaleb Brooks are now represented by Gazelli Art House

March 11, 2021

Perle Fine’s fifty-year career was led by her aesthetic confidence which enabled her to step beyond the mainstream and establish herself among male counterparts, despite the macho 1940s New York art scene. Fine socialised with key members of the New York School and European painters including Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Ad Reinhardt to Piet Mondrian. Gazelli Art House is the first to represent the artist in the UK.
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Khaleb Brooks is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher and writer exploring blackness, transness and collective memory. Meshing the black queer figure with surreal environments in paintings, using printmaking to question the politics of desire and entering transcendental states in performance they force their audience to confront the literal and social death of black people globally.⁠ Over the last year Khaleb has been an artist in residence at the Tate Modern, where they used the museum’s collection to lead weekly workshops and create work around the Trans Atlantic slave trade.⁠

Cindy Sherman joins Hauser & Wirth

March 10, 2021

Widely recognized as one of the most important and influential American artists of her generation, Cindy Sherman has since the late 1970s made powerful images of an ever evolving panoply of adopted personae in order to explore key issues of identity and its construction, and to question assumptions about artistic representation.

Born in 1954 in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Cindy Sherman lives and works in New York NY. Coming to prominence in the late 1970s with the Pictures Generation group alongside artists such as Sherrie Levine, Richard Prince and Louise Lawler, Sherman studied art at Buffalo State College in 1972 where she turned her attention to photography. In 1977, shortly after moving to New York, Sherman began her critically acclaimed Untitled Film Stills. A suite of 69 black and white portraits, Untitled Film Stills sees Sherman impersonate a myriad of stereotypical female characters and caricatures inspired by Hollywood pictures, film noir, and B movies.

Sherman is joining the Hauser & Wirth roster following the announcement that her longtime representative Metro Pictures is planning to close toward the end of 2021, after 40 years of operation.

Image: Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #21, 1978 © Cindy Sherman

GalleriesNow x Hostler Burrows for Collect 2021

March 9, 2021

Join Juliet Burrows, director of Hostler Burrows, on Thursday 11 March at 6pm GMT for a tour of her New York gallery, followed by a talk about the work on show. Interior designer Natalie Tredgett will join to discuss the use of colour in the work, with Patrick Fetherstonhaugh, director of GalleriesNow, chairing the discussion.

Hostler Burrows was founded in NY in 1998 by Juliet Burrows and Kim Hostler. Initially dedicated to historical Nordic design and studio arts, the gallery has evolved its programme to integrate a full roster of contemporary artists, both established and emerging. While international in scope, the gallery’s primary focus remains in Scandinavia and rooted in the tradition of studio ceramics, particularly work by female artists.

This event is part of the Collect Art Fair VIP programme. We have arranged access for GalleriesNow subscribers to this private event, on Thursday 11 March at 6pm GMT please use the Zoom Event Link with Meeting ID 868 5116 4086 and Passcode 924527.

Lullin + Ferrari inaugurates newly extended space in Zürich