Louise Bourgeois’ spiders may be her best-known work (this image from New York Art Tours’ archives captured a bronze arachnid appearing to scale a wall at the American Museum of Natural History), but for 70-years of the late artist’s career, drawing played a key role in expressing states of mind. Hauser & Wirth Gallery’s inaugural on-line exhibition features a selection of drawings from 1947-2007 that channel Bourgeois’ unconscious and personal history.
Beijing gallery Tang Contemporary Art recently reopened (after closing in January to prevent the spread of COVID-19) with a showcase of work by artists represented by Konig Galerie in Berlin. The exhibition includes Austrian artist Erwin Wurm’s deliberately absurd ‘abstract sculpture’ (formed from variously sized cast bronze frankfurters) which brings to mind recent work at New York’s Lehmann Maupin Gallery which involved food treated as an object rather than something to eat. Made entirely of concrete, this sculpture is a permanent version of Wurm’s One Minute Sculptures, in which participants interact with everyday objects. (Photo from New York Art Tours’ archive, Jan ’20).
Whether she’s transforming plastic cups into glacial landscapes or Styrofoam into clouds, Tara Donovan has a knack for turning masses of everyday materials into wondrous installations. In this June ’14 image from New York Art Tour’s archives, index cards become termite mounds or stalagmites at Pace Gallery. The gallery’s current on-line group exhibition, ‘Material Matters,’ features a delightful artwork by Donovan crafted from Slinkys that appear to have massed together and come to life. (On view through April 21st).
Titled ‘Pathological Color,’ James Welling’s on-line exhibition of photography at David Zwirner Gallery assaults the senses with intense color contrasts generated by the artist’s experimental practice in Photoshop. This detail of a photo by Welling from New York Art Tours’ archives features images of dancers layered with modernist buildings and landscapes, each suggesting performance on a different kind of stage. Aiming to explore our perception of color, Welling draws on ‘pathologies’ described by Goethe, who considered the impact of particular colors on the senses. For more images, including early examples of his technique, visit David Zwirner Gallery’s on-line Viewing Room.
Contemporary art inspires. Take your on-line engagement with art to a deeper level on a remote gallery tour. Join Merrily on an hour-long virtual walk through of some of the most beautiful and thought-provoking shows of the moment, seeing and discussing images and video. Tours take place via Zoom. 50% of profits in April go to New York City’s COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund.
