art priori:Courtney, Author at art priori

Frieze New York

May 8, 2014

Jack Pierson @ Cheim & Read

Frieze Art Fair 2014 has officially descended upon New York! Of all the art fairs clamoring for our attention these days – and there are LOTS – Frieze New York is my favorite. The fair kicks off a busy month in the New York art world, abounding with major auctions, gallery openings, and museum galas.

Even with more than 190 national and international galleries exhibiting, Frieze is totally doable in a couple of hours and you don’t feel like you’ve hiked Everest afterwards. The atmosphere is lighthearted, especially given that Frieze takes place in a giant tent on Randall’s Island, and galleries always take a bit of a risk by mixing in the young and whimsical with the established regulars. (And, most importantly, Frieze New York has great coffee and restaurant options from NYC’s favorite spots like Momofuku and Frankies, so no need to fear for low blood-sugar moments!)

Here’s a preview of works I’m excited to see later today!

above: Anna Gaskell SVETA #5 2013 @ Galerie Gisela Capitain; left: Jacqueline Humphries @ Greene Naftali; right: Joseph Kosuth @ Vistamare

above: Tim Rollins and K.O.S. @ Maureen Paley; left: Pieter Vermeersch @ Carl Freedman Gallery; right: Bettina Samson @ Galerie Sultana

Printed Matter

May 7, 2014

I get it. You’re young and not quite able to splurge on high-priced art, but you’ve graduated from you Ebay art buying days. Friends ask me all the time to point them in the direction of great art/great value. I always say the same thing: Prints!

There are a few misconceptions about prints. Some novice collectors assume that since the work is printed in a edition of, say, 50, that it’s not an original or that the artist wasn’t involved in the process. Au contraire. Oftentimes artists opt to leave their quiet studios for a bit and collaborate with printmakers to explore this other form of image-making. So, what you see on paper is what the artist created while in the print studio. Masters like Picasso made thousands of printed works, and pretty much every great contemporary artist, has produced an edition (some of the best being published by Pace and Gemini). By working in multiples, prices can remain lower than for a painting or sculpture by the same artist. Here’s a look at a lovely print exhibition on view and highlights from last week’s print auctions:

Bernard Cathelin (1919 – 2004) lithograph exhibition, Bouquet de Fleurs, on view at Galerie Mourlot, curated by yours truly. Prices range from $1,200 – $3,800. Read More

Americana

April 29, 2014

Art inspired by good ‘ole U.S.A…

Robert Longo, Untitled (Capitol), 2012-2013, charcoal on paper, 120 x 450 inches

I love America. We have a unique and proud history, but not without its dark days. Robert Longo captures some of our crowning achievements and somber moments in his exhibitions at both Petzel and Metro Pictures galleries. He is an insanely skilled artist who, for the past 30 years, has presented charcoal drawings with photographic precision. Longo’s colossal Untitled (Capitol), 2012-2013, is a testament to the might of our monuments. It is also a symbol of our often polarized nation, being the site of both inaugurations and protest. Another work in the show, Untitled (Black Jack Boot), pictured here, poignantly captures a day of mourning in America by depicting the riderless horse and empty boot that led President JFK’s funeral procession

April 24, 2014

Although I live in New York, Fort Worth is and will always be my home. And spring is, by far, my favorite season in Texas. The weather is warm and sunny, not yet unbearably hot, and the landscape is in full bloom. Perfect time to check out the incredible architecture and contemporary art in the lovely museum district.

Ours is no amateur run-of-the-mill art district. The world class artists and architects placed within one city block of Fort Worth will impress even the most jaded museumgoer. Like they say, “Everything is Bigger in Texas.” Especially the Richard Serra‘s.

Richard Serra, Vortex, 2002, 67 feet tall!

April 18, 2014

Perhaps it was the warm sunny weather and the reintroduction of color into my New York world, but on a recent stroll through Chelsea galleries I couldn’t help but notice all the vibrant large-scale paintings on view. If they were Rorschach tests I’d probably see palm trees and sailboats. They emanated warmth. In all seriousness, I saw alluring new works by artists who engage with painting by layering various materials and methods. While these four are not the first to mix ingenuity with painting, they are a strong bunch to keep on your radar. Here’s a highlight:

April 16, 2014

I inaugurate this endeavor with a note on the artist who, in my humble opinion, revolutionized our ideas of art. Or, rather, what art can be.

The renegade Edouard Manet: a classically trained painter who used the Academic modus operandi to then challenge its very authority. His paintings are not only beautifully rendered; they represent a crucial turning point in art history. My passion for contemporary art begins with Manet’s Le dejeuner sur l’herbe, 1863. Actually, I adore everything Manet painted but if I must pick a favorite it is certainly this iconic luncheon on the grass; an image that had the power to shock, question, contradict, and transfix. Le dejeuner sur l’herbe was rejected from the Salon in 1863 as the jury found that a nude figure within a landscape (brazenly gazing straight at them!) was much too scandalous. Now, the work hangs with pride in the galleries of the Musée D’Orsay in Paris and appears in every art history textbook.

Manet was one of the greatest rule-breakers contemporary art has known. His paintings weren’t about history or allegory or portraiture or landscape; they were about painting. He blurred the lines between the Academic hierarchies and focused on light, color, form. Because of him, Impressionism happened. Expressionism happened. Dada happened. Marcel Duchamp set a urinal atop a pedestal. Everything changed in terms of what it meant to be an artist.

art priori

Frieze New York

May 8, 2014

Printed Matter

May 7, 2014

Americana

April 29, 2014

Art inspired by good ‘ole U.S.A…

TEXAS

April 24, 2014

Spring into Chelsea

April 18, 2014

Musings on Manet

April 16, 2014

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