Jeff Koons "Gazing Ball Paintings" @ Gagosian Gallery In New York

Jeff Koons’ newest exhibition Gazing Ball Paintings opened Thursday at Gagosian in New York. The exhibit presents Koons’ newest series of paintings entitled Gazing Ball, for which he recreated art historical paintings and inserted a glass-blown blue ball on a small shelve onto each canvas.  The selection of paintings represents Koons’ personal favorites, which he aims to make stronger by creating a dialogue between the viewer, the work and the space through the reflection on its surface. The blue balls hover in front of masterpieces such as Édouard Manet’s The Luncheon on the Grass, Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, and Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, which the artist purposefully did not copy one for one but are there to create the idea of a painting. The flat paintings achieved to confuse some viewers about their authenticity, spark indignation, and the presumption that these paintings needed improvement outraged others. The reflection is reminiscent of a fun-house mirror, and according to the press release, creates a metaphysical occurrence, which connects the viewer to a family of cultural history in real time. Koons seems to have a preference for sexually charged scenes, epitomizing the male gaze even further, by the often unfortunate positions of the balls and their reflections. One disturbing example is Gustave Courbert’s Le Sommeil where the gazing ball is placed right between the legs of one of the figures.  Overall, the exhibit was in line with Koons child-like mentality and left the viewers curious and apprehensive of what can be expected of the artist in the future. Jeff Koons "Gazing Ball Paintings" will be on view until December 23, 2015 at Gagosian Gallery, 522 West 21st Street, New York. photographs and text by Adriana Pauly

Luna Tristá's "She's My Man" Explores Social Themes, Gender Identity and Queer Culture

She's My Man is a new project by one of our favorite photographers, the Cuban-born, Barcelona-based Luna Tristá. It´s a series of portraits she took of her partner, once a month, during their encounters in Barcelona and Paris. She's My Man is about social themes, gender identity and queer culture. It´s a project that develops ironic and romantic undertones and examines these themes from a personal point of view. photographs by Luna Tristá 

Watch The Insane Music Video For New Zealand Sensation Marlon Williams' Track "Hello Miss Lonesome"

New Zealand artist Marlon Williams will release his self-titled, debut album on February 19th on Dead Oceans. With his exceptionally versatile and evocative voice, Williams truly inhabits his material and presents a remarkably assured and diverse debut. The album’s rollicking, acrobatic opening, “Hello Miss Lonesome,” features Williams’ vocals soaring atop bluegrass guitars and a tight snare. It’s accompanying video, directed by Damien Shatford, is a heady visual counterpart presenting Miss Lonesome as an emotional chameleon, dragging Williams through a confusing internal space. Five different actors, each with the same aesthetic but different emotional rules, comprise Miss Lonesome. One may notice nods to Todd Solondz’s “Palindromes,” or that famous bathhouse scene in “Eastern Promises.”

Win Two Free Tickets To See Something Good Presented by Hit City U.S.A At the Echoplex in Los Angeles

Our friends at Hit City U.S.A have given us two free tickets to give away to see this really awesome show, Something Good, at the Echoplex on November 27th. The showcase will include performances from PAPA, Astronauts, etc., Maxim Ludwig & a DJ set from GROUPLOVE. All you have to do is tag a friend you want to go with on Instagram and we’ll choose two winners. Just tag a friend with @AUTREMAGAZINE and we’ll hook you up, no strings attached.  

Sex As Power and The True Meaning of Love: Read Our Conversation With Artist, Performer and Writer Lex Brown Who Just Released Her First Erotic Novel →

"The year is 2056. Hotshot lawyer Mia Garner needs a fresh start after dumping her cheating boyfriend. So she goes on a cross-country drive with Derek, her handsome tech stepbrother, to meet Xavier Céron, a mysterious CEO who wants to acquire the game-changing nanochip Derek invented," reads the description for Lex Browns erotic novel, My Wet Hot Drone Summer. Read our unique conversation with Lex Brown here. 

Melanie Pullen "Soda POP!" @ Jenkins Johnson Gallery in San Francisco

Jenkins Johnson Gallery, San Francisco presents its first solo show by Los Angeles photographer Melanie Pullen. The exhibition features photographs from Soda POP!, her new series that plays with cultural assumptions; she combines things typically associated with childhood, such as computer games, and places them in adult nighttime settings. The unease is heightened featuring young people marginalized by society, neglected street kids, or male prostitutes. Melanie Pullen "Soda POP!" will be on view until January 9, 2016 at Jenkins Johnson Gallery in San Francisco, CA. photographs by Bradley Golden

Paris Photo to Offprint: Here Are Five Things You Need To See During Photo Week In Paris

1. Toby Mott's incredibly covetable and controversial book, Skin Head: An Archive, has been released in a much more monetarily accessible reprint, dubbed "the street edition" – get it signed by Mott at Offprint Paris this Saturday 2. Eye shadow and glitter on paper, tear it up with Brigitte Zieger's solo show at Galerie Odile Ouizeman's booth at Paris Photo 3. Ed Templeton's book Teenage Smokers was beautiful, disconcerting and heartbreaking all at the same time - with Teenage Smokers 2, Templeton amps up the rebellion, get the book signed at Offprint Paris this Saturday 4. Go check out Jeremy Kost's erotically charged and paint splashed polaroids at Galerie Nuke – A Single Man opens on November 12 in Paris 5. The ultimate documentarian of UK underground culture, Derek Ridgers, will be signing copies of his book The Others at the Comme des Garçons Trading Museum Paris 

10 Must See Art Shows Around The World That You Really, Really Need To Check Out

1. Consumption, sexuality, violence, voyeurism, discomfort, guilt, loss of control, and fantasy at Paul McCarthy’s exhibition at Schinkel Pavillon – on view until November 22 in Berlin, Germany 2. Brad Phillip’s erotic Honeymoon Rehearsal at Rod Bianco opening on November 20 in Oslo, Norway 3. See Niki de Saint Phalle’s psychedelic world at the National Art Center in Tokyo, Japan – on view until December 14 4. Alex Israel’s cool, cool world at the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas, Texas 5. See the late Dash Snow’s posthumous retrospective at the Brant Foundation in Greenwich, Connecticut 6. Misha Hollenbach and Cali Thornhill Dewitt team up for Hot Fire in Milan, Italy 7. Pablo Picasso’s sculptures are on view at The Museum of Modern Art In New York City, New York 8. The Avant-Garde Won’t Give Up at Blum & Poe in Los Angeles, California 9. Josh Jefferson is putting his Head Into The Trees at Gallery 16, opening on November 13, in San Francisco, California 10. Gilbert & George’s subversive banners will be on view at White Cube starting on November 25 in London, Englan

Go See Juergen Teller's Images of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West On View Now In London

One of the strangest and most talked about books of 2015 is Juergen Teller's "Kanye, Juergen & Kim," which was published by System Magazine, but never released. Idea Books put the book out and the world's axis tilted ever so slightly - mostly because of Kim's backside. Now you can see the photos and more at Phillips Gallery London until 20 November, 2015. 

Listen to Lana Del Rey's Heartbreaking Rendition of Daniel Johnston's 'Some Things Last A Long Time'

Last week, Autre got a chance to checkout Gabriel Sunday's moving short film, Hi, How Are You? at MAMA Gallery in Los Angeles that stars Daniel Johnston as an artist coming to terms with his dreams of yesteryear. The short film will be premiering tomorrow and can be preordered here. Below, listen to Lana Del Rey's cover of Some Things Last A Long Time, which is featured in the credits of the film. photograph by Terry Richardson

Pop and Circumstance: Read Alex Kazemi's Existential Review of Grimes' New Album →

Alex Kazemi is one of our favorite “voices of a generation” – a voice that has risen angelic and rebellious above the Tweeting and Snapchatting hordes. In a recent podcast, Bret Easton Ellis called Kazemi a “millennial friend” and “a contrarian 20 year old with a brilliant grasp of the contradictions that exist within his generation.” In the following review, if it can be called that, Kazemi shares his views on Grimes’ new album and wonders: “If Grimes can have a career in pop music, why can’t reality TV stars Scheana Marie and Heidi Montag?" Click here to read the review. 

Sophie Calle Installs Safes For Storing Lovers' Secrets At Fraenkel Gallery In San Francisco

"Find a couple. Have each of them tell me a secret. Install two safes in their home. Lock each secret up in its own safe. Keep the codes to myself. The lovers will have to live with the other’s secret close at hand but out of reach." Fraenkel Gallery presents an exhibition of work by Sophie Calle. Calle uses photography, text, and video to pursue her sociological and autobiographical investigations. Her exhibition at Fraenkel Gallery focuses on four bodies of work in which the artist delves into the nature of love, violence, secrets, and death. Among the works on view will be Secrets—a pair of working safes for storing a couple’s secrets, accompanied by a plaque engraved with the above text and the artist’s contract stipulating how these mysteries will remain secured. Writing is often integral to Calle’s work, as in her 2014 triptych Suicide (also on view), in which photographs of dark ripples on the surface of black water are accompanied by text sandblasted on glass: “They say the police can distinguish between people who drown themselves for love and those who drown themselves for money…” Featured in this exhibition will be two series incorporating portraits from ‘ready-made’ sources and addressing themes of privacy and violence. Calle’s Cash Machine photographs are made from ATM video surveillance footage, and each work is exhibited as a sequence of two to eleven images. Collateral Damage, Targets is a series comprised of images of petty criminals’ mugshots, which were used for police target practice. The exhibition will be on view until December 24, 2015 at Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco. photographs by Bradley Golden

Aarhus Is On Fire: Read Our Interview With An Amazing New Band From Denmark Called Liss →

Put a ‘B’ in front of Danish band Liss’ name and you have the perfect description of their unique, blissed out sound. Comprised of four teenagers from Aarhus (which is a little bit like the New Orleans of Denmark), Liss sounds like an amalgam of Arthur Russell angst and 90s R&B. Currently, Liss – who are on the Escho label (known for introducing Iceage and KLoAK to the world) – is making waves on the international music scene, and it is only a matter of time before they blow up in the States. In the following interview, Søren Holm, Vilhelm Strange, Villads Tyrrestrup, and Tobias Hansen chat with Autre about musical upbringing, their unique sound and their new single, which will be released at the end of this month. Also, listen to their incredible track, Always, at the end of the interview. Click here to read and listen. 

Here Are 11 Things You Need To Know About the Artist H.C. Westermann Before Seeing His Retrospective in New York →

"See America First," a comprehensive exhibition of sculptures and drawings by the late, great H.C. Westermann, is on view now at Venus Over Manhattan. The installation features a wide range of Westermann's work, spanning from 1953 to 1980. Clock here to read eleven things  about the artist before seeing the exhibition.