Front Page of the Art World: What’s Hot & What’s Not — 20 May 2022

Kicking off my first Auckland ArtSafari!

Kicking off my first Auckland ArtSafari!

This week marked the inauguration of another export from my days in the Northern Hemisphere: the ArtSafari! ArtSafaris are what call the gallery/studio tours I used to lead in NYC, Basel, Venice, Berlin, London, Europe and Dubai.

A great group of women joined me on a discovery mission of what’s hot in six of Auckland’s central art galleries right now.

Gow Langsford, Starkwhite, Tim Melville, Fox Jensen, Two Rooms, Scott Lawrie and Trish Clark.

Left: IMI KNOEBEL | Deluxe. May/June 2022 @ Fox Jensen Gallery.

What a day. I loved every moment and cannot wait for ArtSafari #2. A few pix in this photo grid — a lovely receipt of time well spent together, and an on-foot perspective of the exhibitions on at the moment for those looking for some inspiration this weekend!

What I’ve been following

From Connecticut to the world stage

Two people I've been watching rise in the world of art, and have been fortunate to have worked with a little bit, are Titus Kaphar and Robert Lugo - both of whom I knew from Connecticut.

Titus Kaphar is an American contemporary painter whose work reconfigures and regenerates art history to include the African-American subject (Wikipedia). in 2017, Titus delivered the brilliant TED talk, ‘Can art amend history?’ - a must-see and ever more relevant.

This week, Titus announced the launch of his production company, Revolution Ready. “Revolution Ready,” Titus says, “is an extension of my studio practice, dedicated to expanding existing bodies of painting and sculpture through film.” He recently released two, already internationally-acclaimed, short documentaries: I Hold Your Love and Shut Up and Paint.

Titus Kaphar: How Can We Address Centuries of Racism In Art? View TED talk here.

Another artist I worked with on the Governor’s Council who is gaining prominence is Robert Lugo, a Puerto Rican street artist whose first art was graffiti, and whose pottery is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I once gave Robert decommissioned gun components for his pottery as part of #UNLOAD. In this collaboration with Hartford Police gun buy-back programme Mary Scott Himes and I offered these decommissioned parts to artists in Connecticut to create artworks to trigger conversation.

Robert Lugo’s teapots using decommissioned gun components for #UNLOAD.

The New York Times has published a great piece on Robert’s journey from street art to the Met.

What’s on

New Zealand

• James Cousins Artist Talk, 28 May — Please join us at Gow Langsford Gallery 2pm on Saturday 28 May for an artist talk and Q&A with Dr. Ruth Watson and James Cousins discussing his new exhibition A Following Cadence.

• Creative Mornings, 27 May — come to Studio One Toi Tū this month to hear Lauren Woolf tell the story of The Lockdown Collection — “The Subtle Art of actually giving a F*ck.” 8-9am, 27 May. More about Creative Mornings here.

• Penthouse, 18 May — this off-site curated exhibition, supported by Webb’s will bring together the work of four outstanding contemporary artists who are shaking up the Aotearoa art scene. Preview evening: Wednesday 18 May, 6pm–8pm. Click here for details.

• 'Te ahua, te wa, te atea' by Russ Flatt, 20-21 May — MTG Hawke’s Bay, Tai Ahuriri’s latest exhibition is by Russ Flatt. Te ahua, te wa, te atea (2022) is a video installation that gives us a hawk-eye view of significant sites in Te Matau a Māui. More info here.

• Now & Then at NorthArt, 21 May- 2 Jul — Exhibition runs from May 24 at NorthArt.

• Vai and Marks of Mana, 22/26 May — as part of Govett Brewster gallery’s immersive Laga Pasifika programming, two award-winning films will be screened for free in the Len Lye Cinema. Vai is is a portmanteau feature film made by nine female Pacific filmmakers. Marks of Mana is the first film about Pacific female indigenous tattoo. Watch Vai - Sun 22 May, 3pm. Watch Marks of Mana - Thu 26 May, 4pm.

• ArtNow — ArtNow is an online platform showcasing outstanding contemporary art exhibitions, art events, and art galleries in New Zealand - put together by the incredible Stephanie Post, co-director of the Auckland Art Fair. Discover this one-stop site for everything going on around the country here.

• Budget 2022 - Yesterday, the New Zealand Treasury delivered Budget 2022, and announced more than $185 million “to help build a resilient cultural sector as it continues to adapt to the challenges coming out of COVID-19” - wonderful news. For all the information for arts and culture read Minister Carmel Sepuloni's statement, or view the factsheets here.

International

• Frieze New York, 18-22 May — Bringing together the world's best galleries and today's most influential and talked about artists, Frieze New York returned to The Shed this week for its tenth year in the city! The Art Newspaper has covered the six must-see shows in its 65-exhibitor decennial edition here, and the New York Times discusses its winning formula, international feel, and “at least one surprise (meet: Cofftea)” here.

Frieze New York is at The Shed from May 18 to 22, 2022. The fair brings together over 65 of the most significant contemporary art galleries from New York, the US, and around the world, alongside a rich program featuring special projects and talks. Info here. Photos: The Shed.

• Botanica - Contemporary Art Outside, 20-29 May — Discover a stunning open-air art exhibition in the heart of Brisbane City, in the City Botanic Gardens from 5-10pm daily. More info here.

• Immersive art exhibits in California — read the NYT’s write up on what’s worth visiting here.

• Museum of Future Experiences — MoFE is a venue in Brooklyn, NY for high-tech immersive experiences that use Virtual Reality and spatialised 3D sound design. MoFE productions are ticketed, limited-seating shows. “Our goal is to show you something you’ve never seen before.” Discover the three current shows here.

• Leon Golub at the Hall Art Foundation, starting tomorrow — The Hall Art Foundation is pleased to announce an exhibition by American artist Leon Golub to be held in its galleries in Reading, Vermont from 21 May – 27 November 2022. Get tickets here.

Leon Golub: “I’ve tried to deal with situations of stress, and violence, and so on. There is virtually no location where enormous types of violence have not occurred or are going to occur or are happening right at this minute. […] One of the major histories of our time has to be what people do to each other on a continuous basis, and there is relatively little art that deals with this.” Photos: Andy Hall, Instagram

• Marc Quinn at Yale Center for British Art, started yesterday — Quinn seeks to make sense of the world by focusing on ideas about science, mortality, survival, and the environment. Runs until 16 October. Get tickets here.

• Wonder Women at Deitch Gallery, til 25 June — curated by Kathy Huang, this exhibition presents thirty Asian American and diasporic women and non-binary artists responding to themes of wonder, self, and identity through figuration. More info here.

News and opinions

1. Art Market: Our top picks of art you should be buying now. (Denizen)

2. Fighting Forgetting, With a Venice Biennale Win. Sonia Boyce triumphed with a work about the erasure of Black women artists. She greets the trophy with a mix of gratitude and circumspection. (NY Times)

3. Christie’s evening sales total $831.3m, with Texan poker player’s surprise bidding spree upstaging blue-chip successes. On a night when many works outpaced expectations in Christie's New York saleroom, Ernie Barnes’s “The Sugar Shack” sold for more than 76 times its high estimate. (The Art Newspaper)

4. The Macklowe Collection Tops $922 Million at Auction. The art holdings from a bitter divorce became what Sotheby’s called the most valuable collection ever sold at auction. Comments by the NY Times and Judd Tully.

5. After 2-year delay, Philip Guston art exhibit explores his Jewish identity — under cloud of controversy. (JTA)

6. Art Review: Nick Cave Goes Underground. Amid the noise and teem of the Times Square station, the artist’s mosaic Soundsuits feel more alive than they often do in the silence of museums. (NY Times)

7. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan—the UAE's president who oversaw major cultural projects including Louvre Abu Dhabi—has died, aged 73. The art landscape of the United Arab Emirates came to prominence during the Sheikh's rule from 2004. (The Art Newspaper)

8. Ask an Art Adviser: Is Art a Bubble? Are NFTs Art? Lisa Schiff weighs in on the state of the global art market — and what she learned from advising Leonardo DiCaprio. (NY Times)

9. Critic’s Pick: Review: ‘Hamlet’ Boldly Engulfs the Metropolitan Opera. Brett Dean and Matthew Jocelyn’s adaptation of the classic play is both traditional and innovative, elegant and passionate. (NY Times)

10. Snapchat co-founder pays off college debt of new graduates at L.A. art and design school. More than 200 graduates of Otis College of Arts and Design react to the surprise announcement Sunday that their college debts will be paid off. (Los Angeles Times)

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Helen Klisser During is recognised by Kea as a World Class New Zealander, is a Global Woman, and Ambassador of Auckland University of Technology.

The ArtCafé blog is put together with the help of Laura Cheftel.