Museums and galleries in cultural capitals around the world are just starting to roll out an exciting new line-up of fall exhibitions to entice their viewers. From Willem de Kooning’s sensual abstractions at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Diane Arbus’ iconic photographs of nudists and transvestites at the Jeu de Paume in Paris to Pipilotti Rist’s colorful video installations at London’s Hayward Gallery and KAWS’ playful interpretations of cartoon characters at Honor Fraser in Los Angeles, the new art season is a major moment of renewal for artists, both old and new. Click through our top ten show picks worldwide and let us know what you would add to the list.
Long before and since his death on June 25, 2009, Michael Jackson, the self-styled “King of Pop,” was a muse to a wide group of contemporary artists — ranging from Andy Warhol, who was dubbed the “Pope of Pop Art,” and his neo-pop art protégés, Jeff Koons and David LaChapelle, to the hip-hop championing Kehinde Wiley and celebrated street artist KAWS. Now, nearly two years after his untimely death at age 50, Flavorpill pays tribute to the award winning singer/songwriters life through the works of art he inspired.
The first publication dedicated to the full range of work by subculture hero KAWS, this amazing eponymous monograph highlights a superstar from a new generation of pop artists.
A graffiti artist, painter, illustrator, sculptor, toymaker, and product designer, Brian Donnelly, aka KAWS, made his name altering public advertisements with X-eyed, skull-and-crossboned, spermazoidal characters, before turning his talents to editorial collaborations, collectible toy figures, design objects, and colorful canvases. A wildly successful crossover artist, KAWS cleverly makes Mickey Mouse, the Simpsons, Smurfs, and SpongeBob SquarePants anew.
As we slopped through the slush and dirty snow in New York this morning, we longed for the days we spent just weeks ago at the art fairs and parties in Miami and Miami Beach. Looking back at our Miami Basel snapshots of art world players and celebs schmoozing on rooftops, at pool’s edge, and under palm trees, we shuffled through the selection to pull together a colorful mix. From Pharrell Williams and Craig Robins previewing Design Miami, Tilda Swinton sporting a Ryan McGinley-designed sweater at the Pringle of Scotland party and Isabella Rossellini receiving the “Key to the City” of Miami Beach to Nate Lowman and Jeffrey Deitch hanging out at the LCD Soundsystem concert and Paper’s Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovits hosting Shepard Fairey at their Friends With You/Pharrell Williams party, the two cities pulsated with fun and culture.
Art Basel Miami Beach opened to a smart-dressed crowd of VIPs, collectors, and the press on Tuesday afternoon. Bigger than ever, we kept getting lost as we tried to navigate the labyrinth-like arrangement of gallery booths. Eventually we stopped trying to plot a direction and just followed our eye, wandering from one aisle to the next while spotting noteworthy work here and there. Things that didn’t really look like art stood out, such as Michael Beutler’s gigantic rag rug at Galleria Franco Soffiantino. After believing we had seen everything, which wasn’t really the case, we dropped into the VIP lounge for champagne and nibbles, courtesy of Cartier.
As Lance Armstrong cycled toward the finish in the Tour de France, his foundation, in conjunction with Nike, mounted a benefit art exhibition, STAGES, to engage the creative community in the fight against cancer. Taking place at Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin, one of Paris’ premiere art venues, STAGES — whose title references both the daily parts of the race and the phases of cancer — offers a lively group of artworks by 20 established and emerging artists.
Since the early ’90s we’ve seen the emergence of what some have been calling “outsider” and “urban” art — artists who used the street as their canvas and non-traditional mediums as their tools, but weren’t practicing what we’d normally title graffiti. On April 25th the work of many of these artists (including Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee, KAWS, Mike Giant, FAILE, Banksy, Neck Face, and many more) will be featured at Phillips De Pury auction house in their Saturday@Phillips series. We caught up with Ken Miller (auction art consultant, ex-editor in chief of Tokion Magazine, and publisher of Revisionaries: A Decade of Art in Tokion) and Alex Smith (auction curator and Contemporary and Urban Art Specialist at Phillips de Pury & Co.) so we can get an insider’s point of view on the rise and relevance of this movement. Read More »
