Basquiat Serenades a Venus of Antiquity @ Gagosian in Paris

Gagosian’s exhibition, Venus, sees a pairing of two rarely seen masterpieces from different millennia: Untitled (1982), a significant painting from Jean-Michel Basquiat’s acclaimed Modena series, is shown in dialogue with an Imperial Roman sculpture of the goddess Venus loaned from the Torlonia Collection in Rome, the world’s largest private collection of Roman art. This is Gagosian’s eleventh exhibition dedicated to Basquiat and demonstrates the gallery’s ongoing commitment to the artist’s legacy.

Untitled is one of eight large-scale paintings that Basquiat made in Modena, Italy, in the summer of 1982 at the age of twenty-one. Produced at the invitation of collector and art dealer Emilio Mazzoli for an exhibition that never came to fruition, the works were not shown together until they were reunited last summer at Fondation Beyeler in Riehen/Basel, more than four decades after they were made.

Highlighting how Venus has been a muse across centuries, the exhibition is on view through December 20th at Gagosian’s gallery at 9 rue de Castiglione, Paris.

Chris Burden Exhibiting @ Gagosian in Paris

Chris Burden, Porsche with Meteorite, 2013, restored 1974, Courtesy of Artist and Gagosian

“Limits is a relative term. Like beauty, it is often in the eye of the beholder." Chris Burden Gagosian Paris presents works by Chris Burden, his first exhibition in Paris in more than twenty years. Since the 1970s, Burden has channeled the daring spirit of his early life-threatening performances into sculptures that embody technical feats on an imposing scale. Toys (figurines, train sets, Erector parts) are used as the building blocks for expansive scale models, cities, and battlefields, while actual vehicles (ships, trucks, and cars) are suspended or set in motion in surreal and improbable ways. The exhibition will be on view until July 24th at Gagosian Paris, 26 Avenue de l'Europe, Le Bourget