Fairs & Collecting
Artist Spotlight
Ed Ruscha
September 16–22, 2020
At the start of his artistic career, Ed Ruscha called himself an “abstract artist . . . who deals with subject matter.” Abandoning academic connotations that came to be associated with Abstract Expressionism, he looked instead to tropes of advertising and brought words—as form, symbol, and material—to the forefront of painting. Working in diverse media with humor and wit, he oscillates between sign and substance, locating the sublime in landscapes both natural and artificial. Ruscha’s formal experimentations and clever use of the American vernacular have evolved in form and meaning as technology alters the essence of human communication.
Photo: Kate Simon
“Things Fall Apart”: Ed Ruscha’s Swiped Words
Lisa Turvey examines the range of effects conveyed by the blurred phrases in recent drawings by the artist, detailing the ways these words in motion evoke the experience of the current moment.
Now available
Gagosian Quarterly Fall 2020
The Fall 2020 issue of Gagosian Quarterly is now available.
Northeast Regional
A short story by Emma Cline, published here on the occasion of her forthcoming collection of stories entitled Daddy.
Lockdown: Henri Matisse’s Domestic Interiors
John Elderfield reexamines Matisse’s Piano Lesson (1916) and Music Lesson (1917), considering the works’ depictions of domestic space during the tumult of World War I.
Isabelle Waldberg
Jacquelynn Baas profiles Isabelle Waldberg, writing on the sculptor’s many friendships and the influence of her singular creations.
Jay DeFeo
Suzanne Hudson speaks with Leah Levy, executive director of the Jay DeFeo Foundation, about the artist’s life and work.
Theaster Gates: Black Image Corporation
As a prelude to his first-ever solo exhibition in New York, Theaster Gates discusses his prescient work with the photographic archive of Chicago’s Johnson Publishing Company and his formation of Black Image Corporation as a conceptual project. In conversation with Louise Neri, he expands on his strategies as artist and social innovator in his quest to redeem and renew the sacred power of Black images and Black space.
Bebe Miller and Cynthia Oliver
The legendary choreographers discuss their history together, the evolution of Cynthia Oliver’s boom!, imposed boundaries on “Black dance,” and the choreographies of the pandemic.
Building a Legacy
The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation on COVID-19 Relief Funding
The Quarterly’s Alison McDonald speaks with Clifford Ross, Frederick J. Iseman, and Dr. Lise Motherwell, members of the board of directors of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, and Elizabeth Smith, executive director, about the foundation’s decision to establish a multiyear initiative dedicated to providing $5 million in covid-19 relief for artists and arts professionals.
Titus Kaphar: Can Beauty Open Our Hearts to Difficult Conversations?
In this TED talk, presented during the sweeping protests against racism and police violence following the killing of George Floyd, Titus Kaphar describes how the beauty of a painting can draw the viewer in and allow difficult conversations to emerge. Kaphar discusses his own work and shares the idea behind NXTHVN, a new national arts model he founded to empower artists of color through education and access.
Anton Corbijn
Natasha Prince interviews the Dutch photographer and filmmaker about his relationships with musicians and gets the backstory on some of his most legendary images. Ivan Shaw puts Corbijn’s practice and aesthetic innovations into context.
For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Worn.
Sydney Stutterheim meditates on the power and possibilities of small-format artworks throughout time.
Events & Announcements
In Conversation
Adam McEwen, Bob Monk, and Lisa Turvey on Ed Ruscha
Tuesday, September 22, 2020, 5pm EDT
On the occasion of Artist Spotlight: Ed Ruscha, join artist Adam McEwen, Gagosian director Bob Monk, and Lisa Turvey, editor of the catalogue raisonné of Ed Ruscha’s works on paper, for an online conversation. The trio will discuss how Ruscha has experimented with the sound, appearance, and sense of language to imbue his works on paper with humor and pathos. To join, register at zoom.us.
Ed Ruscha, CERTAIN FACTS, 2020 © Ed Ruscha. Photo: Fredrik Nilsen
Online Exclusive
Artist Spotlight
Ed Ruscha to kick off new season of Gagosian’s online series
Launching September 16, 2020
Gagosian is unveiling a new vision for the Artist Spotlight series that will operate independently of our exhibition program. This will cement the platform’s status as a vibrant aspect of the gallery’s programming that allows artists to operate imaginatively beyond the physical exhibition format.
The second season of Artist Spotlight—a series that focuses on an individual artist for one week each month—premieres on September 16, 2020, with a new project by legendary artist Ed Ruscha. A selection of works by preeminent artists—including John Currin, Takashi Murakami, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, and Rachel Whiteread—will debut this fall. For updates, please contact the gallery at collecting@gagosian.com.
Ed Ruscha. Photo: Sten Rosenlund
Auction
LAXART
2020 Benefit Auction
September 15–29, 2020
The nonprofit visual art space LAXART is hosting a benefit auction, featuring works by Katharina Grosse, Jennifer Guidi, and Ed Ruscha. Proceeds will help the organization continue its mission to promote emerging and under-recognized talent and engage with key issues of our time through exhibitions, publications, and public programs. The live auction begins at 5pm edt on September 15 on Artsy. The works will also be available for viewing at LAXART by appointment beginning September 15. To register to bid, visit artsy.net.
Ed Ruscha, Street Cred, 2019 © Ed Ruscha
Art Fair
Frieze London Online
Nathaniel Mary Quinn
October 9–16, 2020
Gagosian is pleased to present new works by Nathaniel Mary Quinn for the online edition of Frieze London. A suite of drawings by Quinn will premiere concurrently on the Gagosian website and in the Frieze Viewing Room. In addition, a selection of paintings and a large-scale work on paper will be on view at Gagosian, Davies Street, London, through November 21. With its wide plate glass window, this storefront exhibition space will act as the artist’s “solo booth” for Frieze London.
Nathaniel Mary Quinn. Photo: Ike Edeani
Museum Exhibitions
Opening Today
Chris Burden in
States of Mind: Art and American Democracy
September 18–December 19, 2020
Moody Center for the Arts, Rice University, Houston
moody.rice.edu
Reflecting on some of the most pressing topics facing American democracy, States of Mind is timed to coincide with the 2020 presidential election in order to encourage dialogue around current social and political issues. Many of the works on view examine the status of our country’s founding principles of freedom and equality, while others engage with questions of voting access, gun control, and immigration policies—three issues that are common throughout the United States and that are of particular concern to Texas. The exhibition does not attempt to cover the myriad complexities of a democratic government but rather invites viewers to consider timely yet recurrent questions around these themes. Work by Chris Burden is included.
Chris Burden, L.A.P.D. Uniforms, 1993, installation view, Made in California: Art, Image and Identity, 1900–2000, Los Angeles County Museum of Art © Chris Burden/Licensed by the Chris Burden Estate and Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Museum Associates/LACMA
Opening this Week
Gregory Crewdson in
Le mauvais œil
September 19, 2020–January 10, 2021
FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France
clermont-ferrand.fr
Clément Cogitore’s 2018 film The Evil Eye lends this exhibition its title and, projected in the center of the museum, is also the show’s heart. Its soundtrack is broadcast in each of the institution’s rooms and accompanies the other works to create a sense of a whispered litany announcing the end of the world. Work by Gregory Crewdson is included.
Gregory Crewdson, Untitled (Long Clump of Beetles), 1992–97 © Gregory Crewdson
Opening this Week
Crossing Views
September 23, 2020–January 3, 2021
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris
www.fondationlouisvuitton.fr
Presented in conjunction with a retrospective on Cindy Sherman, Crossing Views examines a selection of works from the collection of the Fondation Louis Vuitton, chosen in collaboration with Cindy Sherman. Echoing the artist’s work, the exhibition unfolds across two floors and is centered on the theme of the portrait and its interpretation through different approaches and media, including painting, photography, sculpture, video, and installation. Work by Damien Hirst, Albert Oehlen, Cindy Sherman, and Andy Warhol is included.
Cindy Sherman, Untitled #582, 2016 © Cindy Sherman. Photo: courtesy the artist and Metro Pictures, New York
Opening this Week
Disonata
Arte en sonido hasta 1980
September 23, 2020–March 1, 2021
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid
www.museoreinasofia.es
This exhibition, whose English title is Disonata: Art in Sound up to 1980, analyzes the development of sound as a creative field of visual arts differentiated from music across the first eighty years of the twentieth century. The show reflects the efforts of artists who resorted to sound beyond its traditional use in such manifestations as mixed-media work, poetry, and theater. Work by Chris Burden and Nam June Paik is included.
Chris Burden, The Atomic Alphabet, 1980 © Chris Burden/Licensed by the Chris Burden Estate and Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York