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From Film Stills to Centerfolds, Take a Virtual Tour of Cindy Sherman’s Bewitching MoMA Retrospective

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From Film Stills to Centerfolds, Take a Virtual Tour of Cindy Sherman’s Bewitching MoMA Retrospective
Undefined

WHAT: "Cindy Sherman"

WHEN: February 26 through June 11

WHERE: Museum of Modern Art, New York

WHY THIS SHOW MATTERS: “Cindy Sherman is already a household name, so how can we make her work fresh and surprising?” asked Eva Respini, the curator of the artist’s MoMA retrospective, at the exhibition’s press preview. Though it was Sherman’s 2008 show of new work at Metro Pictures that convinced Respini it was time for a career-spanning show, a MoMA retrospective is only the next logical step for Sherman, who is without a doubt one of the most important living artists in the world. With the help of an endless variety of costuming, makeup, and props, she has relentlessly questioned the politics of identity and the instability of the image through her staged self-portraits in which the self is conspicuously absent.

Even though art-world audiences will already be familiar with the hallmarks of Sherman’s oeuvre, the exhibition is still filled with fireworks. Its first knock-out moment comes in a gallery dedicated to the iconic “Untitled Film Stills” series, presented salon-style in a long row. The way the photos fill the space, echoing and re-echoing, a relentless barrage of recycled tropes, is overwhelming, and might be the highlight of the retrospective. In a dramatic, gray-walled space, Sherman’s “Centerfolds” series is installed, comprised of larger photographs that play on the cinematic qualities of the earlier “film stills” but heighten the drama with vertiginous angles and super-saturated color.

Two enormous prints occupy the entirety of one wall. In their grotesque aesthetic and over-the-top subject matter, they exemplify Sherman’s ‘80s work, which saw the artist turn away from photographing herself in favor of using dolls and prosthetics, a move that curator Respini says was both caused by the photographer feeling “sick of using herself,” and was a reaction to the AIDS crisis. In “Untitled #190” (1989), a face frozen in a glaring rictus, tongue lolling, licks its way out of a muddy pile of chocolate and sweets reminiscent of Marilyn Minter’s painted concoctions. In “Untitled #191” (1989), a lumpy, bruised doll face stares out of the frame, her(?) hair strewn violently over engorged breasts. The pairing is pretty disturbing.

Beyond marshaling the sheer power of Sherman’s visual whirlwind (which surpasses in impact even of the museum’s recent De Kooning retrospective), Respini mixes it up between periods of the artist’s work to keep the juxtapositions intriguing. Sherman’s “Society” portraits, representations of wealthy wives, matrons, and art patrons, crop up often, providing an underlying bed of class anxiety, as if the retrospective were anxious to critique its own privileged place in the art world. Another self-conscious gesture is the single, red-walled gallery devoted to Sherman’s “History” portraits, photos in which the artist appropriates her way through the Western canon of art history. The room provides a brief pause and seems less frenetic and more thoughtful than other parts of the Sherman cavalcade. 

This artist's power, Respini and MoMA director Glenn Lowry both noted, is to be ironic and empathetic at the same time. She identifies with each of her characters, inserting a heavy dose of pathos into all of the best work. But Sherman’s defining quality in this retrospective is her mania, the headlong momentum she throws into becoming one character. And then the next. And the next after that. Her work functions like a self-propagating virus that has enduringly undermined the integrity of the photographed portrait and our trust of the human form represented in art. The show makes you think that anything we look at could be Sherman in disguise.

For a virtual tour of Cindy Sherman’s MoMA retrospective, click on the slide show

 
by Kyle Chayka,Contemporary Arts, Museums

Gagosian's Next Picasso Blockbuster, Kansas Artist Plans Chicken Sacrifice, and More Must-Read Art News

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Gagosian's Next Picasso Blockbuster, Kansas Artist Plans Chicken Sacrifice, and More Must-Read Art News
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More Amazing Picasso at Gagosian: Fresh off his much-hated Damien Hirst spot spectacular, Larry Gagosian is returning to the kind of "museum-quality" shows that have brought him acolades (and big crowds) in recent years. The fourth in the super-gallery's series of scholarly Picasso exhibitions opens on April 30 in New York, this time focusing on art made by the Cubist master while he was living in southern France with lover Francoise Gilot. Three-quarters of the pieces in the exhibition were either loaned by or consigned from Picasso's family. "Having the opportunity to work closely with [Picasso biographer] John Richardson and the Picasso family...has been professionally, and on a personal level, one of the most exciting chapters in the gallery's history," Gagosian said. [Bloomberg]

– Dead Chicken Art Ruffles Feathers: If you thought the woman who rolled around naked with pigs at Art Basel Miami Beach was bad, try this on for size: Kansas artist Amber Hansen plans to publicly display five chickens before slaughtering and serving them at a community potluck.  She hopes the Warhol Foundation-funded project, "The Story of Chickens: A Revolution" will establish a connection between residents and the food they eat. Some, however, are clucking their tongues:  “When people in other states think of Kansas, they will think that we don’t teach evolution in our schools and we do those gruesome, public slaughters of chickens and call it art,” said one local. "This is just backward." [Kansas City Star]

 Fake Antiquities Ring Raided by Police: Seven people, including renowned archaeologist Edoardo David, have been arrested in Italy on suspicion of participating in a two-and-a-half-year-long archeological fraud that forged thousands of Greek and Etruscan artifacts. [TAN]

– Grayson Perry Snubs da Vinci: The potter and artist, whose own exhibition at the British Museum has been extended to meet the demand for last-minute tickets, admitted he "couldn't be bothered" to visit the National Gallery's landmark exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci. "It's too familiar, really," Perry said, referring to the Renaissance master's paintings as "fuzzy portraits by that famous bloke." [Telegraph]

– Can Street Art Rid a City of Pollution?: That's the question paint producer Boysen is asking after commissioning a group of artists to paint murals along the main highway in Manila, Philippines with special smog-eating paint. When exposed to sunlight, modified titanium dioxide molecules in the paint neutralize noxious gases. [HuffPo

– Ai Weiwei Doc Gets Release Date: Alison Klayman's documentary "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry" will hit theaters in the United States this summer. The film, which chronicles the life of the dissident Chinese artist as he is targeted by the government, won a Special Jury Prize for Spirit of Defiance at this year's Sundance Film Festival. [NYT

"Mona Lisa" Copy Will Show Alongside Original: A recently discovered copy of Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" that is believed to have been painted alongside the original is drawing huge crowds at Madrid's Prado museum. In March, the restored copy — painted with more detail than the original — will go on show at the Lourve alongside the genuine Da Vinci version. [BBC]  

– Marina Makes Even German Men Cry: In an interview with Canada's Globe and Mail, performance artist Marina Abramovic reveals one of the greatest challenges in her 40-year career: "To make German men cry is not an easy task," she said. [Globe and Mail

– Watch the Throne: A new exhibition at London's Cartoon Museum on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne examines the British press's changing attitude towards the royal family. UK cartoonists became more cutting as the Royals' lives became more public. [WSJ

– Murakami Goes Back to His Roots?: Though it might be a hard sell for a show that opens with a six-meter inflatable portrait of the artist, the Ecomomist argues that Takashi Murakami's exhibition, "Murakami-Ego," at the Museum of Islamic Art in Doha, is "as much about the Buddhist suppression of ego and the road to enlightenment as it is about the artist's overheated obsession." [Economist

– Jurassic Park, Opening Soon: Researchers at Drexel University in Philadelphia are developing a new use for 3D scanning and printing technologies that will allow them to test out long-held hypotheses with robotic dinosaur bone replicas. “Technology in paleontology hasn't changed in about 150 years,” said professor Kenneth Lacovara. “It hasn't changed — until right now.” [Press Release

– From Herding Celebs to Herding Goats: The week before his exhibition of still life photos opens at Fred Torres Collaborations, David LaChapelle is at home in Hawaii tending to his goats. The photographer, famous for shooting celebrities surrounded by lavish sets, says he spends most of his down time at his house in the appropriately lush Hawaiian rainforest. [HuffPo

VIDEO OF THE DAY

MoMA gives a peek behind the scenes of the just-opened "Cindy Sherman":

ALSO ON ARTINFO:

From Film Stills to Centerfolds, Take a Virtual Tour of Cindy Sherman’s Bewitching MoMA Retrospective

Olafur Eliasson Plots to Save the Third World Via a Line of Stylish Solar-Powered Lamps

In Crisis-Wracked Greece, A Crime Wave Grips the Nation's Museums and Cultural Sites

New Low? Auction House Announces Sale of Whitney Houston Memorabilia as Singer Is Buried

Elmgreen & Dragset on Their "Almost Embarrassing" Rocking Horse for Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth

Dubious $4.3-Million Michelangelo Becomes an Icon of Government Waste in Italy

 

Element Hotels: Eco-Friendly Lodging Has a Wallet-Friendly Deal

Greenwich Village Townhouse

Slideshow: Complex Watches at Antiquorum Hong Kong and Other International Sales

Sale of the Week, February 26-March 3: Wondrous Watches at Antiquorum Hong Kong

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Sale of the Week, February 26-March 3: Wondrous Watches at Antiquorum Hong Kong
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Jaeger LeCoultre

SALE: Important Modern and Vintage Timepieces at Antiquorum

DATE: February 26

LOCATION: Hong Kong

ABOUT: Next week's Hong Kong Antiquorum watch sale will be dominated by two of the most sought-after timepiece makers in the world: Jaeger LeCoultre and Patek Philippe pieces proliferate at the top end of the catalogue, with several wristwatches expected to fetch over HK$1 million ($129,000).

The highest estimated item is a Patek Philippe 3939 minute-repeating wristwatch in 18k pink gold with a one minute tourbillon regulator, which could fetch HK$2.7-3.8 million ($355,000-415,000). Another top Patek Philippe model on offer is a 1518 first series dating from 1946. It's an 18k gold wristwatch with perpetual calendar, moon phases, square button chronograph, register, tachometer, and 18k gold buckle (est. HK$ 1.9-2.3 million).

The Jaeger LeCoultre pieces include a trio of watches that were once a set, called "Hybris Mecanique," but will be sold at the auction at three separate lots. The white gold "Gyrotourbillon One" has large, water-resistant face includes a lightweight two-cage multi-axis spherical tourbillon and two barrels with sapphire covers, "merchante" equation of time, and power reserve indication, and is estimated to be worth HK$1.9-2.3 million. There is also a similar, square-faced model, the white gold "Gyrotourbillon Two," which could bring HK$1.4-1.7 million. A white gold Reversion "Triptyque" Grand Complication with a perpetual calendar retrograde date, and triple-dial reversible tourbillon rounds out the valuable set (est. HK$2.3-3 million).

At a (relatively) more affordable price point, auction goers may be interested in the Vacheron Constantin 18k yellow gold wristwatch (est. HK$380,000-480,000) or a Tiffany & Co. pocket watch made in 1890 (est. HK$350,000-425,000).

OTHER INTERNATIONAL SALES:

Sale: Watches
Location: Bonhams London
Date: February 28, 11:30 a.m.

Sale: Vienna Design
Location: Dortheum Vienna
Date: February 29, 4 p.m.

Sale: American Paintings Including Property from the Collection of Mark and Irene Kauffman
Location: Christie's New York
Date: March 1, 10 a.m.

Sale: Works by African American Artists
Location: Leslie Hindman Chicago
Date: March 1, 6 p.m.

 

 

 

5 Strange-But-True Facts We Learned About the Knoedler Forgery Scandal From the Latest Exposé

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5 Strange-But-True Facts We Learned About the Knoedler Forgery Scandal From the Latest Exposé
English

A controversy surrounding a trove of allegedly fake Modernist paintings by the likes of Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and Willem de Kooning is currently rattling the art world. The scandal has all the makings of a Hollywood drama: millionaire businessmen, bitter lawsuits, high society New Yorkers, and, of course, an FBI investigation. Today, the New York Times published the most complete account of the scandal yet, which centers around a Long Island art dealer named Glafira Rosales, who allegedly supplied a group of paintings to the now-defunct Upper East Side Knoedler Gallery

The article charts how Rosales, who once owned a small gallery on West 19th Street in Chelsea, brought a cache of Modernist canvases to the market whose authenticity is now in doubt. Most of the paintings reached high-rolling collectors through the respected dealer Ann Freedman, who for over 30 years served as president of the blue-chip Knoedler. She sold individual works for as much as $17 million — and some of the collectors are looking to get their money back. Though Knoedler is now closed, Rosales, Freedman, and several other dealers are caught up in a tangle of lawsuits. A federal investigation is also underway, probing the authenticity of the paintings as well as their original source, which Rosales refuses to disclose. The Times raised a few new facts about the case, as well as some gossipy tidbits. Below, ARTINFO analyzes and expands on the five most interesting revelations about the Knoedler forgery scandal.

1. Private Detectives Join the Game

You know a controversy is brewing when a modest artist foundation hires a private detective. According the Times report, that's exactly what the Dedalus Foundation did. The Foundation, which was founded shortly after Robert Motherwell's death to preserve his artistic legacy and promote Modernist art, employed private eyes to investigate Rosales and her husband after it began to suspect the authenticity of a group of Motherwell paintings it encountered doing research for the artist's forthcoming catalogue raisonné. "Because the dealers didn't seem to have investigated the background of the people they were buying from, Dedalus decided to do so," Jack Flam, the president of the Dedalus Foundation, told ARTINFO when asked about the story. "We found that they had had legal problems and that her husband had been accused at one point in trafficking in forged art in Spain, although that was never proven." Dedalus was later sued by a collector of one of the Motherwell paintings after the foundation reversed its opinion on the painting's authenticity. In October, the foundation was vindicated in the settlement, and the canvas was stamped as a forgery as part of the agreement. But the fact that Dedalus brought in detectives so early on — even before the lawsuit — shows just how high the stakes were for some of these players — and how damaging it is to be associated with a forged painting. 

2. Frank Stella Served as an Impromptu Art Authenticator

Art dealers and collectors weren't the only ones who believed the disputed paintings were genuine. It turns out the legendary artist Frank Stella, a contemporary of the Abstract Expressionists, was also brought in to inspect several of the paintings Rosales had passed on to Knoedler, and even he was impressed. "Each one is too good to be true, but seeing them in context, as a group, makes one realize they are true," Stella reportedly told Freedman in 2006, according to court documents. (It's also worth noting that when Freedman left Knoedler amid accusations that some of the Robert Motherwell works she sold were forgeries, Frank Stella followed her to her new gallery, Freedman Art.)

3. A Collector Is Named — Sort of

Rosales has remained tight-lipped about the source of her supposed Modernist masterpieces, describing the source only as a Mexican collector with a connection to the late dealer David Herbert. The New York Times now reports that Rosales did identify the collector of at least one of the pieces, a Motherwell canvas that was the subject of multiple lawsuits and was conclusively labeled a forgery in October as part of a settlement agreement. But the man Rosales identified, John Gerzso, told the Times he never owned the painting. "There was never a sale of anything like these paintings," he said.

4. Complicating the Paint Debate

The Times highlights a debate that promises to become more central to the controversy as the lawsuits and federal investigation progress. Is it damning that some of the artworks contain pigments that were not invented at the supposed time of their creation? While at first the answer seems like a no-brainer — yes, duh — experts are divided on the issue. The Times notes that while pigment dating is generally viewed as reliable, it cannot make or break a case. Painters like Pollock often used experimental pigments that had not yet been released publicly. (The Times neglects to mention that many artists — Robert Motherwell in particular — would often return to canvases years after the date of completion to tweak or adjust them.)

5. Are Your Eyes Crossing Yet?

Perhaps the most interesting part of the Times's report comes at the end, when reporter Patricia Cohen lays out just how difficult it will be to litigate both the forgery case and the criminal case. The stakes might be sky high, but the possibilities for real resolution, Cohen suggests, are paltry. Authenticity debates come down to the opinions of experts, which, at the moment, are divided. Even more difficult is to convict Rosales in a criminal case: prosecutors would not only have to prove conclusively that the works are fakes, but also that Rosales knew they were fakes all along. Expect lots more headaches before this debacle is laid to rest. In the meantime, the art world will continue to hold its breath.

Canvasses On The Catwalk: Art-Inspired Looks At London Fashion Week


White Collar Gripes: New WikiLeaks for Architecture Airs Firms' Dirty Laundry

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White Collar Gripes: New WikiLeaks for Architecture Airs Firms' Dirty Laundry
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At last, a London architect has provided what the world has always lacked: a website of scrutiny, transparency, and truth — about working at a major architectural firm, that is. Under the clever moniker ArchLeaks (and the perplexing subhead "Reveals the Hidden Beneath the Studios"), the anonymous Julian Assange-to-be behind the site reveals... not that much. The whole thing reads more like Rate My Professor than WikiLeaks, which is great, since the general consensus these days is that architecture school is the new English major (not even Diller Scofidio+Renfro recommend going).

The anonymous commenters on this site, seemingly recruited via Twitter, report that they endure long, thankless hours and tyrannical bosses for little pay (as journalists, we cannot possibly relate). That said, a few comments are worthwhile — did you know, for example, that the average starting salary rivals what one would making working at McDonalds? Or that Rogers Stirk is a “very enjoyable gent”? For your benefit, we round-up the most interesting details, offering our own analysis. [sic throughout — if only they really were English majors... ]

FOSTER + PARTNERS

working for Fosters is like working for the nazis, I got into architecture to make a better living environment for humanity instead I am witnessing corruption on a daily basis.

An average salary of £34K after working there more than 5 years, so your income is actually lower than people working in McDonald’s if you average out your salary with the actual working hours […] Factory working environment and extremely political place to work in.

Lesson learned: Nazi guy: what you lack in grammar and punctuation, you severely overcompensate for in hyperbole. Have you considered pursuing poetry, or better yet, a career in fast food?

ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS

Zaha loves communication via Tannoy [a public address system — not a city in Vietnam] at the office. Just so everyone knows what mistake you’ve made in that drawing and when you were five minutes late.

Not inspiring because Zaha herself doesn’t take part in anymore.

I think she is a sculptor. All of her designs are so different from the context – no relation with the city.

Lesson learned: The architects are feeling genuinely let down from the big boss's lack of enthusiasm. Also, Zaha's internationally known, and she will totally rock you on the microphone. 

DAVID CHIPPERFIELD ARCHITECTS

A school winning the Stirling Prize would be “like cleaning ladies getting MBEs”. Sir David Chipperfield

Lesson learned: This is a zing on Zaha Hadid getting the Stirling Prize this year for London's Evelyn Grace Academy — and on cleaning ladies! In this case, anonymous commenter, we're with you. Your boss is a total prick. 

OFFICE OF METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE

... he was so underpaid that he had to rent an apartment in a block full of heroin addicts, but he later found out it was not such a bad choice…he had to sleep at the office even during weekends, so he rarely staid in his flat.

Lesson learned: Yikes! Think of all the money he saved on cabs, though. And heroin.

EMERGENT

Usual shitty/diva attitude towards employees. Not a friendly or cool working environment either. I guess that’s what happens when you put ten underpaid, overworked young architects in an office and wait for a miracle to happen.

Working here ruined my career. I work as a social worker now. Make of that what you will

Lesson learned: We're not sure what to make of that, Social Worker, but we hope that somewhere, you're working with young at-risk architects.

PENOYRE & PRASAD LLP

Morale is at an all-time low. Staff are being cut and even the communal fruit bowl has been cancelled. Mean.

Lesson learned: Bring your own banana. And your binky, you big baby.

INTERCON

it is physically impossible to fit any more people into the office!

Lesson learned: Sounds like a design problem. But you'd probably free up some more space if you shut your yap. 

ROGERS STIRK HARBOURS + PARTNERS

I work for a practice who plays RSHP in Softball every summer, he comes along to play in his multi-coloured outfits and stays for a beer afterwards. Very enjoyable gent.

Lesson learned: We're not sure which RSHP partner you're referring to, but we're going to assume the clown. 

 

 

Scrutinizing the Sexy New Art-Tech Industry: It's Not a Bubble, It's Barely a Blip

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Scrutinizing the Sexy New Art-Tech Industry: It's Not a Bubble, It's Barely a Blip
English

The Internet is a great place: It has revolutionized the way that we communicate, shop, and consume information. But certain things have a certain je ne sais quoi to them that transitions awkwardly to the Web, and thus far, art is one of them. While there are seemingly innumerable Web sites popping up and claiming to cater to the art world — which we as the art media, at least, embrace immediately because we like things that are young, cool, and aesthetically pleasing (as most of these sites are) — few of these new ventures have actually established a real business. What, if anything, will come of art's current love affair with e-commerce remains to be seen.

Montage Finance, a New York City-based art finance outfit, recently came out with a report detailing the Web-art intersection, "The Art Market's Presence Online: A Curated Survey," which looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the most prominent art commerce sites. To get a sense of the prospects of the new breed of art businesses, ARTINFO sat down with Montage's president, James Hedges, who told us that he became curious about art on the Internet after being recruited to be the CEO of two different Web-based art companies. There is, however, a reason he turned both jobs down.

Though online sales are currently only an infinitesimal piece of the estimated $80-billion art industry, you could be forgiven for thinking we might be in a full-on art tech bubble given all the recent hype and the sheer novelty of reports about venture capitalists pouring money into art-related start-ups. Paddle8 just scored a $4-million infusion of venture capital, Artspace just raised $2.5 million, and somehow the not-yet-launched Art.sy keeps popping up in e-art-commerce discussions because the name Dasha Zhukova is newsworthy (see what I did there?). So far, according to the Montage Finance report, there are a dozen or so serious art commerce websites out there — but few of these make any money at all. They are all betting on some big future shift in the art world or in society that hasn't happened yet.

Given the omnipresence of the Web, and all the stock-market speculation in companies like Groupon and Pandora (neither of which is yet profitable) investor interest in tech companies that provide services related to the booming art industry — which has been notably resiliant in the face of the recent financial crisis — seems logical. What, then, are the barriers to success? One of the problems with art on the Internet is that it is hard to scale an industry that prides itself on its elitism. Companies that do best on the Web — like AmazonApple's iTunes, and Google — take advantage of economies of scale. They make their money by offering products or content at low prices — meaning low profit margins — and selling high volume (books for Amazon, songs for iTunes, and ads for Google). Other well-known sites — the nonprofits Craigslist and Wikipedia, and the very-much for-profit Facebook — provide a service (a platform for sales, socializing, or knowledge sharing). Few art sites can hope to do the former, and some of the ones that do the latter don't even realize it, and so aren't capitalizing on it.

"Most of these businesses have been built just to be sold or raise money at a certain price," Hedges noted, refering to the recent crop of art start-ups. "They don't really have, in my mind, a lot of long-term viability." 

The strongest player in the field (for purposes of this article we've excluded auction houses) is 1stdibs — a sort of luxury brand Craigslist, for those who don't know it — which has been around for 11 years and has continuously been profitable, Hedges says. But it is not just an art sales site, it provides a valuable service bringing together dealers and consumers on a large scale. Notably, it has a number of different verticals in addition to visual art — fashion, jewelry, watches, furniture, and real estate — making it a global luxury platform, with a broad potential audience. The site allows prospective buyers to browse a long list of wares (with far less overhead than would be necessary for the huge commercial warehouse it would need to show everything physically), and either make an offer or contact the dealer directly to make a purchase.

VIP Art Fair, one of the most talked-about recent Web-art ventures, is supposed to be a platform that approximates the art fair experience, facilitating sales (though no sales are made directly through VIP, which makes its money off of selling online "booths"). But because it operates on such a short timeframe, quite a few dealers over the last two years have said it isn't succeeding in its mission. However, it does work well as a networking platform. Through VIP, international collectors and galleries have a specified date and time to come together and browse over the Internet ("for the price of an ad in Artforum," according to one dealer). But that is only the beginning of the conversation, not the end of a sale. VIP's problem, according to Hedges, is not recognizing that its actual use has strayed from its stated one. "If they miss the mark on communicating what they are supposed to be doing, then it doesn't matter if there is still a tangential benefit, it will seem unintended and therefore people will not ascribe value to it."

What about the rest — all of those sites that try to sell prints or low-cost originals or even high-cost originals with gallery partnership? They are certainly appealing to visit, but they don't actually sell enough to make money, in Hedges's estimation. There is 1stdibs, which is profitable, and Paddle8, which Hedges described as "pretty" but so far unproven, but otherwise, "the other players I view as nothing more than glorified poster art companies."

Still, quite a few people see an opening for art on the Internet, and sooner or later someone might get it right. As of now, the thought is stalled in hype mode, and no one is making (or losing) their fortunes on it. And even Hedges cautions not to be too negative. "Just because it is a good idea and a lot of people are throwing money at it doesn't mean it is a bubble," he says.  

 

Odd Future and the Former Mos Def Compete for Your Outrage

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Odd Future and the Former Mos Def Compete for Your Outrage
English
Odd Future's "Rella"

 

Let’s be clear: There’s no improving on the video for Jay-Z and Kanye’s “Niggas in Paris.” It comes with a warning for epileptics, for heaven’s sake. And we’re willing to admit feeling skeptical about Yasiin Bey — the name recently adopted by rapper-actor Mos Def — making a “conscious” version of the song, calling it “Niggas in Poorest,” and setting it to subtitled clips of Malcolm X and Occupy protesters. Why take a delirious celebration and attempt to make a lesson out of it? In places, though, the spoof’s actually funny (“Who the fuck is Margiela?”), and it’s tough to argue with the parts that are dead serious — child soldiers are indeed bad. But tacking Obama on a gallery of throne-warmers like Bernie Madoff and Saddam Hussein? Pointlessly provocative is about the nicest way we could describe that.

Provocation is clearly the point of Odd Future’s amazing video for “Rella.” There’s not much to make sense of here, though of course you could debate the appropriateness of showing a woman being slapped across the face — or her transforming from a black woman to a light-skinned Asian, for that matter. (For what it’s worth — not much, really — men get slapped, too. At least the redheaded boy doesn’t get shot.) We’re willing to bet, though, that Odd Future wish they’d thought to include child soldiers.

“Niggas in Poorest”

“Rella”

 

"It Reflects Her Obsession": OMA's Shohei Shigematsu on Building Marina Abramovic's Performance Palace

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"It Reflects Her Obsession": OMA's Shohei Shigematsu on Building Marina Abramovic's Performance Palace
English

NEW YORK — Marina Abramovic, the reigning champion of high-endurance performance art, announced last week that she would be gutting a former cinema-turned-tennis club in Hudson, New York, and converting it into her very own performance palace. With the help of Rem Koolhaas's Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), Abramovic's planned Center for the Preservation of Performance Art could well act as that catalyst that truly transforms the upstate New York town into a first-rank art destination. High up on 13th floor of OMA’s New York office, ARTINFO got a first look at the firm's plans for the forthcoming institution, which features a sparse central space that puts the audience level with the performer, making performances (which will supposedly last a minimum of six hours) visible from throughout the building.

Sitting next to the first draft of the center's scale model, we talked to lead architect Shohei Shigematsu, the man at the helm of the Hudson project, about the various aspects of the high-profile initiative, from thinking through the right kind of furniture to help guests endure endurance pieces to trying to work with Abramovic's sweeping ambition and the mysterious OMA-Abramovic collaboration still to come in Serbia.

Tell us a little bit about the current design, or at least how it exists in your mind.

It’s basically an insertion of a monastic box within the existing former theater. Around this monastic box there are supporting programs like a library, meditation room, gym, something to do with body and mind, and a basic back of the house, including offices, meting rooms, storage, and classrooms. It’s really a kind of institution as well as a performance venue.

Abramovic has said the performances are going to last a minimum of six hours. What kinds of needs does that impose on the design?

We’re trying to redefine the relationship between the performer and the audience. Typically in a theater space there’s the performer and the audience, but we’re trying to make it almost side by side so that wherever you are, you can always look into the performance. You choose your level of involvement, but wherever you are, you are always connected to the performer.

Because it’s a long-duration performance venue, we try to design and develop the chairs together with Marina — some kind of a chair that allows people to sleep but also move around. We want to develop something with her that would allow people to sleep and also roll over. We would really like to start in three months or so — the real design process, not just the schematic design. It depends on how quickly she rasies money. We’re thinking of separating the design into different phases so that she can make the most important part, or the most public part, really fast, and then subsequently make other areas in the building so that we’re not going to wait for the entire budget to be raised. 

I don’t imagine she’d have trouble finding donor interest.

That’s what she thought too, but she knows how those things can go. Of course, if there’s a single big donor then it’s fine, but she doesn’t want to do that because then the donor will have too much say in what she does. She wants to separate it out. She thinks we have a long way to go — but we’ll see. We’re not speculating on having $20 million immediately.

I read that the budget is $8 million.

That’s her mistake to say. That’s her target. It could change. If she has good luck with fundraising it could go to $15 million. I don’t know. It all depends on how difficult the fundraising could be. It could go down to $4 million. I don’t think, in any case, that the budget will compromise her ambition.

You foresee a pretty wide range. How does money affect what you’re able to do with the space?

More money would allow for more theatrical flexibility, for example, putting in moving platforms or a retractable ceiling and seating, a better sound system, those sorts of things. If you don’t have the budget, it’s going to be more raw. It’s too premature to talk about money right now. Everybody wants to know the budget, but that’s not really the point.

What impact will this venue have on the surrounding city?

We were thinking about redeveloping Hudson into an art destination. That’s also part of her ambition — not just this venue, but Hudson, as a city, to become a place where many performances and events can happen.  

Can you tell us more about her proposed hotel?

We are conceptualizing where the hotel would be. There’s a vision in the main scheme which includes a main square where the hotel would sit and have synergy with the venue. The performance venue will look into this square. It’s a similar thing, almost like a reflection of what’s happening in our building itself: Many activities happen around the main stage.

Is OMA taking on the design of the hotel, too?

Design, no — this is an existing building. She’s talking to many hotel developers, including Andre Balazs, but we don’t know anything yet. The idea is to make a more focused presentation to potential donors and potential artists and developers — whoever wants to contribute.

How involved is Abramovic with the design itself?

We have a great, healthy relationship. She has a very clear ambition of what she wants to do, but she doesn’t regulate our design too much. It’s a true collaboration. We met in a very intense way. Her office is around the corner on King Street. She’s very happy and very approachable. She has many ideas herself, so I have confidence that this building will be a very unique and personal reflection of her many ambitions. A single artist who’s trying to contribute to the industry of performance art and create an art community, as well as a public space — that's a very worthwhile ambition. And beyond her obsession, the project has a public benefit to it.

It’s an interesting trend: Some of the star artists — Ai Weiwei, Damien Hirst — have started to have their own financial power, going beyond typical institutional ambition. I’m sure BAM couldn’t do this or MoMA couldn’t do this. But because of Marina's own vision, it creates a unique mission for the architecture.

Is she expressing her own identity through the architecture? Will we be able to look at the building and see Abramovic in the design?

It’s more about the relationship between the audience and the performer. Yes, we try to reflect it architecturally, but it’s really about translating her commitment to long-duration performance into architecture. We interpret it as being a matter of you deciding on your level of engagement with the performer, but you’re always staying connected. The monastic box is surrounded by many different functions, but wherever you are, even reading books in the library, you can look down into the performance. Inevitably it reflects her own obsession, but, again, I don’t think she wants to make this venue her mansion either. She’s very aware that even after she retires, it will act as an independent institution for durational performance. It’s not like it's her house or her gallery. It’s really more a public theater where a lot of things could happen.

What will the exterior look like?

Not too much of a visible intervention. We’re inserting a kind of open entrance with glass. Some areas we are cutting into and putting in big windows, but it the transformation will be discrete. There are these windows sealed by concrete, but we’re reopening them.

Are there more artist collaborations to come for OMA?

We're also working with Marina on other projects in Europe. She’s from Montenegro, and we’re doing a cultural destination in Montenegro where she’s also a figurehead, commissioned by the government to rethink how that could happen. It hasn’t started yet. It’s a former industrial space that was left after [the former dictator] Tito that’s just going to be reconverted to a cultural destination. I can’t say that much, but it's huge. It’s bigger than the Venice Biennale site. I think the government is now finally approving the budget. Of course, there are more details, but I can’t disclose them yet. She’s really creating a kind of legacy.

All the headlines talk about Marina and Rem, but his involvement is quite minimal, isn’t it?

He’s involved, but I’m running the New York office. You know the media always has to say Rem just to catch people’s attention, but I appreciate if you don’t repeat that laziness. Of course Rem is involved, but as you can see he’s not here.

Looking for the Dark Side of Doug Wheeler's Luminous "Infinity Environment"

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Looking for the Dark Side of Doug Wheeler's Luminous "Infinity Environment"
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Doug Wheeler’s current installation at David Zwirner gallery is amazingly good. Almost too amazing and too good for this world.

Wheeler is one of the original cadre of artists who fomented California’s now-classic Light and Space movement, alongside better-known figures like Robert Irwin and James Turrell. The Zwirner project, cryptically titled “SA MI 75 DZ NY 12” (2012), is one of his rare and absorbing “infinity environments.” It is both reportedly the most expensive project ever realized by the gallery and almost certainly one of the most popular. The interest from the press and public has been incredible, with people lining up to get a peek. Yet this installation also manages to live up to the hype, presenting the viewer with an experience that is at once rejuvenating and revelatory.

The idea is simple, even if the attention to detail required to realize it is breathtaking. You enter a chamber that has been painted all white. The room's walls, floor, and ceiling have been curved together so that your eyes are denied the obvious reference points of their joints. An ingenious lighting rig produces an all-around ambient light, preventing obvious shadows that might orient you. As a consequence, within the atmosphere of Wheeler's “infinity environment,” your eyes are unable to determine how far or how near you are to the edge of the space. You see only a placeless white mist, both intimate and vast. Perceptually, it is like floating in space.

Over the course of a half hour in Wheeler’s room, the lights gradually shift, becoming more intense and then fading back again into a kind of twilight, before starting the cycle again. In the twilight period, there are moments when space seems to take on a pinkish hue, or the air seems to become a crepuscular violet as you pass through the threshold between light and shade. Staring into the nothingness, your eyes eventually begin to play tricks on you as they strain for a reference point. I began, at a certain point, to see something like dandelion seeds pulsing through my field of vision, and had to rest my eyes on something solid to dispel them.

If Wheeler is less famous than Turrell or Irwin, this is in part because he has been so exacting and consequently so difficult to work with. He is reputed to have turned down museum shows because he thought they couldn't meet his standards. This temperment is in fact not a mere tic, but inseparable from the nature of the work itself. Wheeler couldn't help but be almost impossibly difficult, since he demands something almost impossible from his materials, which is that they be not there. Truly achieving the placeless effect that Wheeler desired would require some alien cosmic substance, star stuff that was unsullied by earthly physical limitations (and indeed, within “SA MI 75 DZ NY 12” it is always a relief to spot some small scuff or imperfection on the wall that reminds you that you are in real space.)

As with some of Turrell's walk-in installations, you enter “SA MI 75 DZ NY 12” only after putting on hospital-style white booties over your feet, so that you will leave no mark. To me this is symbolic of the fact that you are meant to be completely present in the "infinity environment" and also somehow not there. When Wheeler speaks of what he hopes to achieve, it is about more than experiencing the light or space of an actual place. He's reaching for something both more intimate and more abstract: He wants you to experience yourself experiencing light and space. (Ken Johnson is quite right, I think, to relate the Wheeler experience to the "transcendental aesthetic" of Immanuel Kant, for whom space and time were actually mental categories.)

And yet it has to be said that the whole thing does not totally break free of the earth. A concrete terrestrial reference point creeps back into the mix. The light raises and lowers on the half-hour cycle, and is clearly meant to echo the experience of watching the light change in the atmosphere. Wheeler himself relates the experience of his work to living in the Arizona desert. Its attempt to void its own material support is of a piece with a kind of voiding of civilization, thrusting you into the position of someone alone with their experiences in the wilderness.

That's the long way around to say that despite the Zwirner installation's quite sumptuous sensory pleasure and preternatural accessibility, what it demands is also almost anti-social in the way that it places you at the frontier of human experience. Indeed, a funny side effect of seeing an “infinity environment” in crowded New York is that it unexpectedly makes you sympathize with Wheeler's misanthropy, since every time another person wanders into your field of vision it brings you back to physical reality and out of the experience. "Get out of my way," you want to say, "and leave me alone with the light!"

Doug Wheeler's “SA MI 75 DZ NY 12” is on view at David Zwirner Gallery on 519 West 19th Street through February 25, 2012.

 

 

by Ben Davis,Reviews,Reviews

Art World Doyenne Pearl Lam Brings It All Back Home

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Art World Doyenne Pearl Lam Brings It All Back Home
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WHAT: Zheng Chongbin’s "Black Wall/ White Space"

WHEN: Through Feb 26th

WHERE: Pao Galleries, 4F, Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong 

WHY THIS SHOW MATTERS:

Pearl Lam, daughter of the late Hong Kong tycoon Lim Por-yen, was a promoter of Chinese art long before the country’s contemporary artists began breaking auction records and collectors and dealers came flocking. Her Shanghai base — originally named Contrasts Gallery but recently re-badged Pearl Lam Fine Art — has been distinguished by its serious curatorial approach, pioneering Chinese abstract art and contemporary ink painting and promoting international artistic exchange.

Long the doyenne of the Shanghai art scene Lam has nonetheless all the time kept an eye on her home town of Hong Kong. Confident that the harbor city is now rising to the cultural opportunity provided by its position as Asia’s art market hub, she has decided to open a space here this year.

On May 15, the eve of Art HK, Lam will open an eponymous space in Hong Kong’s historic Pedder Building, the central city landmark that is already home to Gagosian, Ben Brown Fine Arts and Hanart TZ. Details of the opening exhibition are still under wraps, but by way of a soft opening, and to give the city a taste of the kind of work she is planning to show, Lam is now presenting an exhibition of abstract ink work by Shanghai-born US-based artist Zheng Chongbin at the Pao Galleries in the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

Zheng’s large panels of ink soaked paper on wood engage vividly with the open, double-leveled gallery space where they hang. Standing out amongst the works is “Folded Triangle,” its unusual shape embodying the architectural and sculptural qualities of the artist’s aesthetic. There is plasticity to the work that gives it strength and belies its previous incarnation as delicate ink, water, and paper. 

The triptych “Trace” embraces the same linear strength but in the vertical. With it Zheng has created a cinematic image of vast walls of water falling and eventually pooling in the white of the gallery walls that become, by extension, a continuation of the work. The continuity in palette and medium allows the show to hold a narrative. While each being unique Zheng's works share a singular  individual voice.

Zheng makes good use of the abstract expressionist artist’s privilege of using layers of pigment to release landscapes of depth and texture, but he also displays a clear connection with traditional Chinese ink painting. His simple combination of ink, white acrylic and a fixing agent, however, challenges tradition and how we understand the logic of ink and its characteristics as a modern medium.

At the heart of the exhibition lies “Four Defined Squared by Me,”  four massive panels that lie flush against the largest wall on the lower level of the gallery. The huge Rothko-esque squares of white sit like four mammoth ice cubes dropped in a bucket of blackened soot. They capture the moment when water meets dust.

The surface of the paper itself is soft and ethereal, folding and creasing under the weight of the ink, contrasting in strength with its monochromatic pallet. The ink evolves, growing and mutating in a symbiosis with the paper. It is a partnership. Rather than sitting on the surface of the paper the ink soaks through to both sides, forever uniting the two, creating something new.  A painting in the round.

Pearl Lam Gallery will open in Hong Kong’s Pedder Building in Central on May 15, 2012. She is also planning to open a gallery in Singapore in the Spring of 2013.

by Mary Agnew, ARTINFO China,Reviews,Reviews

Kraftwerk's MoMA Gig Sparks Web Frenzy, Christo's Hands Tied in Arkansas, and More Must-Read Art News

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Kraftwerk's MoMA Gig Sparks Web Frenzy, Christo's Hands Tied in Arkansas, and More Must-Read Art News
English

Desperate Kraftwerk Fans Go Begging on Craigslist: Weren't able to score tickets to the iconic and amazing electro-pop group's week of performances at MoMA? Perhaps Craigslist can be of help. After the tickets sold out in a flash yesterday, the Web site was abuzz with posts of this nature: "Will Pay Top $ for 1 Kraftwerk Ticket." Now we just need those scalpers to step up. [Awl]

Christo's Arkansas Project Delayed: Fans of Christo will have to wait a bit longer for his next masterpiece of gigantism. The controversial "Over the River" project — in which the artist will cover portions of the Arkansas River with reflective fabric — has been postponed until at least 2015, a year later than the most recent schedule. The decision was a result of uncertainties involving construction and permits as well as an unending backlash from the public. The main opposition group, aptly named Rags Over the Arkansas River (ROAR), said the delay will allow it more time to build opposition. [NYT]

 Movie Museum Scores Ruby Slippers: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has purchased a pair of the famous "Wizard of Oz" ruby slippers for the film museum it is developing with LACMA. The shoes, one of four known pairs from the 1939 film, were purchased with donations provided by Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg, among others. [LAT]

Grand Egyptian Museum to be Built in Giza: The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has announced the construction of an $810-million museum between the modern city and the pyramids of Giza. Designed by Irish architects Heneghan Peng, it will host the Tutankhamen collection and more than 5,000 objects moved from the Cairo Egyptian Museum. [AMA

– Hamptons Art Fair Competition Heats Up: After the successful debut of its new Florida fair Art Wynwood, the company Art Miami has decided to enter the Hamptons art fair market. Art Southampton is slated to launch July 26 through 30 with approximately 70 international contemporary and modern art galleries. (Though, lest we forget, Scope Hamptons, tried and failed to build a market in this space.) [Press Release]

– Richard Phillips Paints China Chow: The painter Richard Phillips's photorealistic painting of "Work of Art" host China Chow for the cover of Chinese Vogue resembles a real human more closely than many of the more traditional photoshopped covers we've seen. [NYM

 Greener Pastures for Art and Agriculture Project: A groundbreaking initiative pairing artists and farmers in northern California's Yolo County, the Art & Ag Project, is gaining national attention this week with a visit from Nation Endowment for the Arts chairman Rocco Landesman. The project marks a new strategy for the NEA of partnering with other organizations to help grow local initiatives. [SacBee

– New York's Next High Line Lays Low: A plan to build a park in an abandoned trolley station underneath a street on Manhattan's bustling Lower East Side — a project dubbed, in homage to Chelsea's High Line, "The Low Line" — has taken to artist-favored fundraising platform Kickstarter to help the subterranean green space see the light of day. [WSJ

– New Museum for National Mall Breaks Ground: Yesterday, Barack and Michelle Obama attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, due to open in 2015. Attendees at the ceremony for the $500 million project also included Colin Powell, Al Sharpton and Laura Bush. [WaPo]

– Art Celebs to Decorate Water Tanks: The New York-based nonprofit organization Word Above the Street has corralled an impressive list of artists and musicians, including Ed Ruscha, Lawrence WeinerMarilyn MinterJay-Z, and Thom Yorke, to decorate rooftop water tanks across New York City. The organization hopes the effort will raise awareness of the global water supply. [TAN]

– Daring Theft in Glasgow: A thief walked off with a bronze sculpture of a head — "Dreaming" by Gerald Liang — worth an estimated £20,000 ($31,000). The theft occurred over the weekend, while the work was on public display at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery. [UKPA]

– PhD in XXX: Lynda Benglis, the septuagenarian sculptress who caused a stir when she appeared in a 1974 ad in Artforum wearing only sunglasses and brandishing a dildo, recently opened her first major UK retrospective at London's Thomas Dane Gallery. On the occasion of its opening she tells the Guardian, "I had studied pornography." (Or read ARTINFO UK's own interview with Benglis, here.) [Guardian

– A Lofty Goal: New York artist Alex Gardega is attempting to recreate Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling in his own apartment in only a few months. "This will be an exact copy," he said. "I know my anatomy!" [NYDN]  

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French Court Backs Charlotte Perriand Over Jean Prouvé in Posthumous Battle of the Design Stars

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French Court Backs Charlotte Perriand Over Jean Prouvé in Posthumous Battle of the Design Stars
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Last week a Paris appeals court issued a decision in favor of the heir of Charlotte Perriand, who had accused Bergerot-Galerie Patrick Seguin and the Sonnabend Gallery of wrongly denying Perriand's exclusive authorship of three designs. The pieces involved are the Tunisia, Mexico, and Cloud bookcases; the Air France or Tokyo stackable table; and a table and stool with triangular and spindle-shaped legs. The two galleries must pay €50,000 ($66,000) in damages to Pernette Martin-Barsac for having claimed that Perriand's sometime collaborator Jean Prouvé contributed to designing the three items.

For seven years, Martin-Barsac, Perriand's daughter, contested the notion of Prouvé's shared responsibility for the designs. The story began when the Pompidou Center hosted a retrospective of Perriand's work in 2005. The bookshelves for the Tunisia House in the University of Paris's student residences were accompanied by the following description: "the estate of Jean Prouvé (1901-1984) claimed that Prouvé participated in the design of these bookshelves, which was contested by the estate of Charlotte Perriand." Since then, the same disclaimer has appeared on the three designs in question whenever they have appeared at auction. But now the court has recognized Perriand as the sole creator of the designs.

Perriand struggled with similar authorship issues during her lifetime, objecting when the Tunisia bookshelves were put on the market in 1950 with the label "Jean Prouvé Studios." She was first noticed in 1927, at the age of 24, when critics raved about her "bar under the roof" of chrome-plated steel and anodized aluminum. In 1929, she joined the Association of Revolutionary Writers and Artists, alongside designers such as Paul Vaillant-Couturier and writers including André Gide, Paul Eluard, and André Malraux. For the 1935 World's Fair, she collaborated with Le Corbusier, René Herbst, Louis Sognot, and Pierre Jeanneret to create the "Young Man's House," which was divided into two parts representing the mind and the body. Perriand went on to revolutionize furnishings in the 1950s, making a name for herself in a field dominated by men. Now, this legal decision has affirmed her sole authorship of these three seminal designs.

by ARTINFO France,Design,Design

Slideshow: See David Adjaye's Design for Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture

In Five: “Game Change” Slam, Justin as Elton, a Brand-New Bieber, and More Performing Arts News

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In Five: “Game Change” Slam, Justin as Elton, a Brand-New Bieber, and More Performing Arts News
English

Welcome to the first edition of ARTINFO’s idiosyncratic ranking of the day’s Performing Arts news.

1. Former advisors to Sarah Palin are attacking HBO’s forthcoming movie on the 2008 presidential race, “Game Change,” which none of them have seen. [Hollywood Reporter via Vulture]

2. Justin Timberlake will play Elton John — if the right director is assigned to the planned biopic. [MTV]

3. Lindsay Lohan, who is scheduled to host “Saturday Night Live” on March 3, may play Elizabeth Taylor in the Lifetime movie “Liz and Dick” — if she can stay out of trouble. [Access Hollywood via CBS]

4. Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes releases a tentative, “sadsack” new song, “Olivia, In a Separate Bed.” [Pitchfork]

5. Flo Rida gets his very own Justin Bieber. [All Hip Hop]

Taxing Taxidermy: Battle Over $65-Million Rauschenberg Eagle May Hinge on Animal Trafficking Laws

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Taxing Taxidermy: Battle Over $65-Million Rauschenberg Eagle May Hinge on Animal Trafficking Laws
English

A legal battle is brewing between the estate of legendary dealer Ileana Sonnabend and the International Revenue Service over a stuffed bald eagle. Well, sort of — that eagle happens to be part of Robert Rauschenberg’s famous assemblage “Canyon.” The 1959 artwork, which features an eagle with its wings spread wide hanging off the front, was valued at exactly zero dollars in the late dealer’s estate tax return. But the IRS thinks it’s worth quite a bit more: $65 million, to be exact.

The beef really does in fact hinge directly on the eagle, according to Forbes, which reported the juicy tale. According to appraisals from Christie’s and other outlets, the presence of the bird makes the artwork impossible to sell: two federal laws bar possessing or trafficking in bald eagles, dead or alive. (The only reason Sonnabend was able to loan “Canyon” to museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where it is currently on view, is because she got a special permit to do so.) The IRS, however, disagrees with the $0 valuation. It taxed Sonnabend’s estate as if the sculpture were worth $65 million, noting that it frequently applies tax to stolen or illegal goods based on black market value.

Sonnabend’s estate lawyer, Ralph E. Lerner, has now sued the IRS in tax court, and told Forbes he plans to “take it all the way.” He says the estate could never sell such an iconic piece on the black market, and has no plans to try. (It’s worth noting that Sonnabend’s heirs have already paid a great deal of estate tax: They sold off many of her more traditional art holdings in 2007 to pay the initial bill, which amounted to over $400 million.) Still, Lerner said, the chairman of the IRS art panel told him that there could be a market for “Canyon” — “for example, a recluse billionaire in China might want to buy it and hide it.”

Rather than simply seeking to skirt hefty taxes, the estate may have a point that the work is impossible to sell. The eagle issue is somewhat similar to the more common quandry of selling artwork that incorporates ivory. Ivory works made before the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 are legal to buy and sell, while ivory works made after are illegal. Because the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act was passed in 1940, it predates "Canyon," which was made in 1959. 

The whole debacle demonstrates just how far we've come since the days when Constantin Brancusi's own bird art — totemic sculptures from his "Bird in Space" series — were taxed as raw material rather than fine art when they were imported into the United States in the 1920s. Someone must have realized that this bird — the bald eagle — was worth far more when attached to a Rauschenberg. Leave it to the IRS to put the “tax” in taxidermy. 

by Julia Halperin,Art & Crime,Art & Crime

Slideshow: Highlights from Correll Correll Fall/Winter 2012

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