erikjsommer.com

8.28.2008

candy chang


Candy Chang is an amazing artist, and person in general. Keep track of what she is up to here.

8.26.2008

cecily brown


I'm so excited for Chelsea to re-open for the season. And Cecily Brown's show at Gagosian is not a bad way to start.

Cecily Brown
Gagosian Gallery
555 W. 24th St.

September 25 - October 25

8.24.2008

beautiful inside my head forever


Sotheby's will hold an auction of new Damien Hirst work on September 15 and 16 in London. It hopes to fetch $130 million. According to Hirst, he chose to sell his work through an auction house rather than through a gallery because "the world is changing". Indeed.

store here

and here

8.21.2008

kenn duncan


There is a very nice retrospective of Kenn Duncan at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts through the end of October. Duncan, who in a 20 year career captured many of the famous artists of the 1970s, regularly had his photographs featured in such publications as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Life, Time, and Newsweek.

More info here


Focus on the 70s: The Fabulous Photography of Kenn Duncan
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
40 Lincoln Center Plaza

July 30 - October 25

8.19.2008

salvador dali


Dali: Painting and Film brings together 130 paintings, drawings and films in order to explore the role that cinema played in Dali's work. It is at the MoMA through September 15, with numerous events scheduled that are related to the show.

Dali: Painting and Film
MoMA
53rd St. and 5th Ave.

June 29 - September 15

8.16.2008

paul mccarthy


Paul McCarthy's inflatable sculpture "Complex Shit" broke free from its moorings and was carried more than 200 meters by the wind, causing damage to a children's home at the Paul Klee Centre in Berne, Switzerland. The sculpture is the size of a house.

story here

8.14.2008

steve powers


Steve Powers' Waterboard Thrill Ride at Coney Island has gotten a ton of press lately. The Times describes it as follows:

"It looks at first like any other shuttered storefront near the boardwalk: some garish lettering and a cartoonish invitation to a delight or a scam — in this case there’s SpongeBob SquarePants saying, “It don’t Gitmo better!”

If you climb up a few cinderblock steps to the small window, you can look through the bars at a scene meant to invoke a Guantánamo Bay interrogation. A lifesize figure in a dark sweatshirt, the hood drawn low over his face, leans over another figure in an orange jumpsuit, his face covered by a towel and his body strapped down on a tilted surface.

Feed a dollar into a slot, the lights go on, and Black Hood pours water up Orange Jumpsuit’s nose and mouth while Orange Jumpsuit convulses against his restraints for 15 seconds. O.K., kids, who wants more cotton candy!"

On Friday, August 15, the artist and a few other lucky people will have themselves waterboarded for real.

8.13.2008

louise bourgeois


There is about a month left to see Louise Bourgeois, the retrospective of this eminent artist at the Guggenheim.


Louise Bourgeois
The Guggenheim
5th Ave at 89th St.

June 27 - September 28

8.10.2008

neti neti


There are a few nice shows closing this week, among them Neti Neti at Bose Pacia. Curated by Peter Nagy, the show features works that "articulate through imagery and content a space that is in between tradition and contemporaneity, straddling cultures both Western and Eastern." It is an interesting and well done show.


Neti Neti
Bose Pacia
508 W. 26th

July 8 - August 16

8.06.2008

insider art


The 9th Annual Christie's Staff Exhibition will run from August 7 - 26 at Rockefeller Plaza. The opening is scheduled for Thursday, August 7th, from 6-8PM. Check it out.


insider art
9th Annual Christie's Staff Exhibition
20 Rockefeller Plaza

August 7 - 26

8.04.2008

philip pearlstein


The Philip Pearlstein show at Betty Cuningham Gallery closes later this week. Included are 12 paintings, half of which were created in the 1960's and the other half in the 1990's. It is a nice opportunity to see how his work has evolved over the years, and to admire his technical virtuosity.


Philip Pearlstein
Then and Now
Betty Cuningham Gallery
541 W. 25th

June 26 - August 8

8.01.2008

university of iowa art museum


There was a nice story recently in the Wall Street Journal about 13,000 pieces of the University of Iowa's collection, including the infamous Pollock 'Mural', being saved from the Iowa River flood. Their collection is world-class, and Iowa City is a neat little town as well.