When you head to a newsstand and pick up a copy of Art Forum, you'll find one of Torbjørn Rødland's incredibly haunting images: a naked blonde haired, blue eyed baby staring at you, almost posing for the camera with a frightening, bewildering cognizance. This is what Rødland's images do to you - they make you slip into an awkward feeling of warm wonder. Right now, you can catch a solo show of work by Los Angeles-based, Norwegian photographer Rødland, entitled Venetian Otaku, at Team Gallery's quaint and cozy bungalow in Venice Beach, California. "For this exhibition, Rødland presents six photographs from his oeuvre. His immaculately staged images contain an eerie blend of the sensual and cerebral, of harsh precision and bizarre idiosyncrasy, giving them a mesmerizing unheimlich quality. His unorthodox treatment of frequently recognizable and firmly quotidian subjects – human bodies, food items, household objects – confound familiar cultural material." Torbjørn Rødland "Venetian Otaku" will be on view until November 8, 2015 at the Team Gallery Bungalow, 306 Windward Avenue, Venice, California. photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Wolfgang Tillmans "Polymerase Chain Reaction" @ David Zwirner Gallery In New York
David Zwirner is pleased to present its first exhibition with Wolfgang Tillmans since he joined the gallery in 2014. On view will be over one hundred recent works installed by the artist, spanning a comprehensive selection of the major themes and processes in his oeuvre. The show also presents the United States debut of Instrument, a new, split-framed video. Bringing together pictures taken across the world of friends and strangers, as well as the natural and built environment, the present exhibition addresses one of the main questions explored in Tillmans’s recent practice: as photography becomes increasingly ubiquitous, and as ever higher resolution yields unprecedented views of our surroundings, how do pictures continue to shape our knowledge of the world? The artist proposes that there is still a space for perplexity, mystery, and emotional relevance. Click here to read our full review of this exhibition. Wolfgang Tillmans "Polymerase Chain Reaction" will be on view until October 24, 2015, at David Zwirner gallery, 525 and 533 West 19th Street in New York. photographs by Adam Lehrer
New Work By Isa Genzken @ David Zwirner Gallery In New York
David Zwirner presents an exhibition of recent and new work by German artist Isa Genzken. On view will be two and three dimensional assemblages from the past two years by the artist, who is widely recognized for her significant, pioneering contribution to contemporary sculpture. With a career spanning four decades, Genzken’s works draw upon everyday material culture, including design, consumer goods, the media, architecture, and urban environments. In addition to sculpture and installation art, her prodigious oeuvre includes paintings, collages, drawings, films, and photographs, and frequently incorporates seemingly disparate materials and imagery to create characteristically complex, enigmatic works. Drawing loosely on the legacies of Constructivism and Minimalism and often involving a critical, open dialogue with Modernist architecture, her interest lies in the way in which common aesthetic styles come to illustrate and embody contemporary political and social ideologies. The exhibition will be on view until October 31, 2015 at David Zwirner gallery, 519 West 19th Street, New York. photographs by Adam Lehrer
Alex Hubbard "Basic Perversions" At Maccarone Gallery's Brand New Complex In Los Angeles
Maccarone gallery presents “Basic Perversions,” an exhibition of new paintings by Alex Hubbard. Comprising eleven large-scale works in pigmented urethane, resin, and fiberglass, this exhibition inaugurates the gallery’s new 50,000 square foot West Coast complex at 300 South Mission Road in the Downtown L.A. Arts District. The exhibition also coincides with the release of the artist's first comprehensive monograph, entitled Eat Your Friends. "Basic Perversions" will be on view from September 19 until December 19, 2015 at Maccarone Gallery, 300 South Mission Road, Los Angeles, CA. photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Ai Weiwei and Anish Kapoor Walk Out of London to Support the 60 Million Refugees In the World Today
Ai Weiwei and Anish Kapoor joined forces today when they walked out of London to support the some 60 million refugees in the world today. The walk started at 10 am from the Royal Academy of Arts where Weiwei's retrospective has just opened to Stratford. The action will be carried out in cities across the world. photograph by Anish Kapoor
Go See Matthew Barney's "River of Fundament" @ MOCA in Los Angeles
Matthew Barney: River of Fundament is Barney's first major solo museum exhibition in Los Angeles. River of Fundament is one of Barney's most challenging and ambitious projects to date, and his largest filmic undertaking since the renowned, five-part Cremaster film cycle. The film, written by Barney in collaboration with composer Jonathan Bepler, tells a story of regeneration and rebirth inspired by Ancient Evenings (1983), Norman Mailer's sprawling, provocative novel set in ancient Egypt. The presentation at MOCA comprises the epic length, operatic film and approximately 85 works inspired by or made in conjunction with the film, including large-scale sculptures weighing up to 25 tons, drawings, and storyboards. The exhibition also includes Barney's Water Castings, a new group of sculptures on view for the first time. Overall, the works in the exhibition intertwine history and mythology with the contemplation of fundamental human drives—such as sex, violence, and power—that have continuously propelled civilizations. Matthew Barney "River of Fundament" will be on view until January 18, 2016 at MOCA, 52 N Central Ave, Los Angeles
A First Look At The Brilliant New Broad Museum and Collection in Los Angeles
Autre was invited to the preview of the amazing new Broad Museum in Los Angeles designed by Diller Scofidio and Renfro. Housed in a structure enveloped in a coral reef-like outer shell, the Broad's immersive art collection sits in a bath of diffused light as you take a journey through multiple artistic movements - from California conceptualism to pop art to some of the finest contemporary artists of the last decade. After five years of intensive of construction, the Broad is a formidable force not only in the artistic and cultural atmosphere of Los Angeles – it also sets a bar for museum institutions worldwide. The Broad is set to open on September 20, 2015. photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Opening Night of Urs Fischer's "Fountains" @ Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills
Gagosian Beverly Hills presents an exhibition of sculptures and paintings by Urs Fischer. Constantly searching for new sculptural solutions, Fischer has an uncanny ability to envisage and produce objects undergoing psychic transformation in a bewildering range of materials. As its title suggests, this exhibition is conceived around fully functional fountains, “active sculptures” that transform the galleries into humid and energized places through which viewers can wander, as if in a town square. The lumpen fountains are cast in bronze from hand-built clay models; the rims of the water basins are powder-coated white, while the base is left as raw roseate metal. In one gallery, a sort of roughly formed, almost naturalistic blowhole spouts water, splashing merrily and drowning out all other sound; in the other, water hisses from a misting ball, and spills down over two tiered basins. A third fountain, also in cast bronze and delicately powder-coated in parts, is a human skeleton arched across a chair over which a draped garden hose gently flows—the latest in Fischer's lexicon of darkly humorous vanitas. Urs Fischer "Fountains" will be on view until October 17, 2015 at Gagosian Beverly Hills.
Lisa Yuskavage "The Brood" At The Rose Art Museum in Waltham, Massachusetts
Lisa Yuskavage’s select showcase of “trouble causing” oil paintings opened this past week at Brandeis University’s The Rose Gallery. Yuskavage noted that “the first thing I do is paint the eyes looking at you,” a technique that encapsulates the intensely surrealistic, animated life in her paintings. Unabashedly female, and verging erotic, Yuskavage’s works certainly speak for themselves. Lisa Yuskavage "The Brood" can also be found as a monograph (purchase here) – the exhibition will be on view until December 13, 2015 the Rose Art Museum in Waltham, Massachusetts. photographs by Tenlie Mourning
Melanie Schiff, Zoe Crosher, Galia Linn and Mark Hagen @ LAXArt In Los Angeles
LAXArts presents an exhibition of work by Melanie Schiff (a series of photographs entitled Pains), Zoe Crosher (from her LA-Like: Prospecting Palm Fronds series), a sculpture installation of Vessels by Galia Linn and a modular wall sculpture by Mark Hagan. These exhibitions will be on view until October 24 at LAXArt, 7000 Santa Monica Blvd. Hollywood, C. photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Yuh-Shioh Wong "In Reality" @ Night Gallery In Los Angeles
Night Gallery presents present its first exhibition “In Reality” with LA based artist Yuh-Shioh Wong. Through her intrinsic understanding of the natural world, Wong’s paintings communicate the inherent structure of things- through shape, color, and lineand how they connect to one another and to human experience. Yuh-Shioh Wong "In Reality" will be on view until October 12 at Night Gallery, 2276 E. 16th Street, Los Angeles.
Katherine Bernhardt "Pablo and Efrain" @ Venus Over Manhattan in New York
Venus Over Manhattan presents Pablo and Efrain, an exhibition of new work by painter Katherine Bernhardt, on view beginning September 9, 2015. The exhibition’s title is a nod to the twin artists behind the collective Poncili Creacion, whom the artist met during a recent residency in Puerto Rico. “It’s all about Puerto Rico, so it’s fruit, sharks, water, sea turtles, all tropical,” notes Bernhardt. For Pablo and Efrain, Bernhardt depicts items both specific to the lush landscape of Puerto Rico and her personal affinity for novel and mundane commodities, such as cigarettes, headphones, sharpies and keyboards. Katherine Bernhardt "Pablo and Efrain" will be on view at Venus Over Manhattan until October 24, 2015. Read our review of this exhibition here. photographs by Adam Lehrer.
Mike Kelley "Kandors" At Hauser and Wirth Explores Some of the Last Works of The Best Artist Of His Generation
I try to not speak in absolutes, but I really believe that Mike Kelley was the best artist of his generation. His work demanded attention, and at times could be equally frightening, radical, revolutionary, and poignant. His Kandor project, that he started in 2009 and worked on up until his suicide in 2012, is one of the most aesthetically beautiful and emotionally powerful bodies of art created over the last 30 years. The Kandors are the primary focus of the new Hauser & Wirth exhibition, ‘Mike Kelley,’ that opened last night. Click hereto read the full review. photographs by Tenlie Mourning
Gordon Matta-Clark "Energy & Abstraction" @ David Zwirner Gallery in New York
David Zwirner presentsan exhibition of Gordon Matta-Clark’s drawings, a medium the artist explored continuously throughout his career, alongside the architectural cuts and photographs for which he is most known. On view at 537 West 20th Street in New York will be rarely shown works that reveal on an intimate scale some of the major ideas underpinning his practice. With his drawings—which span three-dimensional reliefs, calligraphy, and notebook entries—Matta-Clark captured the interdisciplinary spirit that defined the art world in the 1970s. Intricate and yet concise, they testify to his interest in the crossovers between visual and performance arts, as well as the broader integration within his oeuvre of the natural and built environment—trained in architecture, the artist keenly explored options for creating “breathing cities” in treetops as well as below ground, subverting traditional ideas about urban planning. Gordon Matta-Clark "Energy & Abstraction" will be on view until October 10, 2015. photographs by Adam Lehrer
Billy Childish "Flowers, Nudes and Birch Trees: New Paintings 2015" @ Lehmann Maupin in New York
Lehmann Maupin is pleased to present its fourth exhibition with British artist Billy Childish, a prolific painter, writer, and musician. The artist’s vivid oil paintings offer fragmented fields of intense color applied frenetically, often leaving charcoal marks and the linen canvas exposed, further emphasizing the immediate and intuitive nature of Childish’s work. Billy Childish "Flowers, Nudes and Birch Trees: New Paintings 2015" will be on view until October 31, 2015 at Lehmann Maupin, 536 W 22nd Street. photographs by Tenlie Mourning
Read Our Exclusive Interview of Artist and Fictional Archeologist Daniel Arsham Before His Solo Show In Hong Kong →
Daniel Arsham makes art. His studio is nestled away on a quiet street in the Greenpoint neighborhood in Brooklyn. You could pass his studio door a hundred times and not even notice it, were you not looking for it. The front of the building almost looks to be an extension of his art. And, behind the unassuming door is a vast treasure of ash, crystal, obsidian and other substances that make up the various forms of his sculptures. Click here to read the full interview.
Preview of Legendary Viennese Actionist Hermann Nitsch's First Exhibition @ Marc Straus Gallery in New York
Last month, we featured an incredibly fascinating interview with legendary Viennese Actionist Hermann Nisch. Tonight, the artist will be having his first exhibition at the Marc Straus gallery in New York. The exhibition will include recent paintings as well as important historic pieces from his distinguished career of over 55 years. Since 1957, Nitsch has been addressing the intensification of human existence through his ritualistic performance art, most prominently “The Orgien Mysterien Theater.” With more than 100 performances to date, these staged Dionysian performances are replete with religious sacrifices, mock crucifixion, blood, entrails, robes, dance and nude participants. Religious tropes are all here; the intensity resembles scenes from Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece, the carcasses nod towards Rembrandt’s hanging meats. The exhibition opens tonight and runs until October 8 at Marc Straus Gallery, 299 Grand Street New York, NY. photographs by Tenlie Mourning
Sue De Beer On Shooting Noir In the Middle East, The Excitement of Unpredictability, and Explaining American Puritanism to German Electro-Clash Musicians →
Sue de Beer paints a lonely, haunting portrait with moving imagery. She is a filmmaker, but she is ultimately an artist in the sense that her short films exist in a sculptural environment that typically inhabits a physical space – usually a gallery – replete with film stills, three dimensional objects and more. Her films are often inspired or influenced by literary works and deal with identity, memory, and paranormal activity. In her film Ghosts, an occult hypnotist recovers lost lengths of time from peoples’ memories and returns them as if they are new memories. In another film, The Quickening, sexuality and desire is explored in an oppressive environment of Puritanical New England in the 18th century. The installations in which De Beer presents her films creates an almost dreamlike environment that leaves the viewer wondering if the time spent within the installation was a dream itself. Click here to read our interview of the artist.
Run(a)way Fashion Art Show Featuring Clothing by Barf Queen, Agency and More at Night Gallery In Los Angeles
"Forget the runway, come run(a)way to a place where fashion has been wrestled from the talons of Vogue, torn to shreds, and redistributed amongst the munchkins." Barf Queen, Agency, and Dopp Doolittle present a unique one night only tradeshow fashion orgy at Night Gallery in Los Angeles.
A Fatal Personality: An Interview With Artist Brian Kokoska On Knives, His Inspirations, and His Current Must See Show in Paris →
Brian Kokoska, who can often be found with a knife clutched between his teeth or with a devious, wide-grinned smile, is one of our favorite artists working today. His paintings almost look like they belong to the hand of a child in art class working out some kind of trauma caused by alien abduction, but when you look closer, there is unexplainable magic going on. Perhaps Kokoska’s paintings are mirrored reflections of our own demons, or the artist’s – who really knows or cares – but what you will find amongst his crude oil painted visages is a sense of primordial familiarity. Maybe these creatures are our friends, or maybe they are out to kill us. Click here to read our interview with the artist.