Nowadays having a physical calendar is far from a necessity. But you have to admit, there’s something about holding one in your hands, and scanning through its virgin pages that makes you feel incredibly organized and hopeful, like the months to come are full of possibility. Clicking through your Gmail calendar just doesn’t do that. You know what else it doesn’t do? Provide your life with some much-needed pretty. That’s why we’ve rounded up a selection of 20 calendars for 2012 that also function as mini works of art. Click through to check them out, and let us know in the comments which one you plan to use to cross off the days in 2012.
Nearly ten years ago, in an effort to explore the working methods of artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, Brooklyn artist Joe Fig began constructing a series of diorama-like mini reproductions of their studios. The research ultimately led to Fig’s book, Inside the Painter’s Studio, which includes interviews with Chuck Close, Mary Heilmann, Ryan McGinness, Steve Mumford, Alexis Rockman, and others about their creative process, alongside photos snapped in their studio spaces. Click through to check out a gallery of Fig’s work, and if you live in New York, be sure to check out his upcoming public lecture at SVA on February 3 at 7pm.
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.
What started out a decade ago as a ragtag bunch of 25 artists in rural North Carolina is now one of the hottest group exhibitions in the Chelsea gallery district. This spring, Joshua Liner Gallery has tapped the global Barnstormers collective to bring its dizzying brand of murals — or “motion paintings” — to the largest show the venue has ever organized. With their numbers swelling to 35 (including appearances by Swoon, Doze Green, ROSTARR, Ryan McGinness, and founder David Ellis), the Barnstormers use image, sound, materials, and technology to connect with contemporary culture.
Things you may already know about New York art wunderkind Ryan McGinness: he runs with the Deitch crew, his saturated paintings habitually contain signs and logos, he once posed for J. Crew, and he’s not Ryan McGinley. Thing you may not know: McGinness is going renegade and taking back the “middleman” from auction houses by hosting an artist-direct auction tonight, comprising 16 lots by the likes of Eric Parker, Eve Sussman, and Spencer Tunick. Maybe he was spurred to action after news of the recent Warhol sale? He did intern at the Warhol Museum throughout college…
Yes, we’ve heard some disgruntled rumblings about the fact that J. Crew only used male artists in “Life Imitates Art” feature in their October catalog. Point taken. Nevertheless we think it’s fantastic fun when two worlds collide, and as ArtsBeat notes, there are several generations of talent represent here ranging from Julien Smith and Chris Dorland to Ryan McGinness and Glenn Ligon to Stephen Shore, Billy Sullivan, and Vito Acconci. Hopefully the guys on the more emerging end of the spectrum will get some good publicity out of it. After the jump, rate the “models” and place a vote for who you think pulls off the J. Crew look the best. Read More »
One might think that after the Venice Biennale opened, Art Basel came and went, and the Athens Biennial added more to consider, the art world would be ready for a summer break, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. After returning from Europe, New York has offered one art event after the next. Read More »
