Contemporary Art « Arrested Motion

Category Archives: Contemporary Art

Preview: Paul Barnes – ‘Happy Valley’ @ Thinkspace

Posted by sven, January 5, 2011

Paul Barnes brings his unique storytelling to Los Angeles this week in the form of his first LA solo show Happy Valley in Thinkspace’s project room. The Scottish artist uses a muted but warm colour palette within his work and the textured plaster backdrop applied to the board he paints on adds a beautiful and timeless depth to his playful compositions. Barnes’ work features a cast of superbly rendered characters steeped in folklore and narrative, and you should definitely try and check them out in […]

Video: Jesse Hazelip – “The Belle of the Brawl”

Posted by Ken, January 4, 2011

Jesse Hazelip (studio visit here), has a new show opening up next week at the San Francisco gallery, 941 Geary. Following his massive installation last year at White Walls, Hazelip looks to go even bigger and better in the larger museum-quality space as judged by Colin Day’s beautiful video above.

Preview: Mrzyk & Moriceau – “The Man With The Golden Gun” @ Ratio 3

Posted by lowpro, January 4, 2011

In what is shaping up to be a true multi-media experience, collaborative art duo Mrzyk & Moriceau will be unveiling a new body of work, entitled The Man With The Golden Gun, this coming weekend in San Francisco. Opening January 7th at Ratio 3, the European artistic pairing known for their playful, optical illusory black-and-white ink drawings will be taking full advantage of gallery real estate with an installation including wall paintings, masks, and video animation. Their unique visual narrative, however, should shine brightest through […]

Video: Ai Weiwei – “Sunflower Seeds” @ Tate Modern

Posted by sleepboy, January 4, 2011

We wanted to share this documentary we recently watched put out by the Tate Modern on Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds installation (covered). Hosted at the Turbine Hall and part of the Unilever Series of commissions for the museum, the impressive project from the Chinese artist and dissident took two and half years to complete and involved over 1600 artisans handcrafting 100 million ceramic seeds. The footage rolls as Ai Weiwei takes the viewer through the entire creative process from the mining of the raw materials […]

Teaser: James Jean – Solo Exhibition @ Martha Otero

Posted by Khoi, January 3, 2011

Here’s some big news to ring in the new year. James Jean (interviewed) will have his first solo exhibition of his fine art career in Los Angeles at Martha Otero. Although the exact date is not yet released, it will be in March. Following up his highly acclaimed Kindling at Jonathan Levine in 2009 (covered), we hear the artist will be scaling it up with larger canvases featuring his unique mix of romantic, classical, youthful, sometimes surreal, and nostalgic paintings. Keep an eye out as […]

Openings: Ryan McGinness – “Black Holes” @ Phillips de Pury (NYC)

Posted by juggernut3, January 3, 2011

For a New Year’s Eve treat, AM stopped by the Highline in Chelsea’s meatpacking district to check out Ryan McGinness’ outdoor installation located at Phillips de Pury’s 15th St. auction floor. Even more impressive in person when compared to our preview, the specially designed show was created with two parts in mind – an indoor display (more on that later) of his paintings during business hours and the other being a transformation with signature black-light treatment after sunset for the outdoor passersby via the Highline bridge […]

Banksy – “In the Event of a Divorce Cut Here” @ Christie’s “Dennis Hopper” Auction

Posted by juggernut3, January 2, 2011

Near the end of 2010, AM attended the afternoon session of Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary auction (full results here.) This field trip was special in many ways for us. First, it served as the estate sale of legendary actor/collector Dennis Hopper’s impressive art collection with a chance for us to see many of the famous works he collected as we were shown in a video tour of his residence created before his passing. The second was to get a chance to bid on a unique variation of […]

Overtime Dec. 26 – Jan. 1

Posted by Khoi, January 2, 2011

RIP: Andy Warhol’s older brother, John Warhola, died on Christmas Eve. “Frail and terrified” woman hospitalized after police dragged her out of Gagosian Gallery in Chelsea while she was howling in pain. LACMA gets $150,000 from Los Angeles to preserve and manage Simon Rodia’s Watts Towers. In time for Snowpocalypse 2010 – MoMA’s Snow, a Poem in Five Pictures. Isabelle Hayeur – Fighting Fire With Fire. An overview of the upcoming VIP Art Fair. Martha Cooper’s thoughts on Kenny Scharf’s Houston mural getting dissed. Kenny […]

2010 in photos from the Boston Globe

Posted by sleepboy, January 1, 2011

As we ring in the new year, now is the time to look back at some moments in 2010 that summarizes some events that captured the attention of the world. As per their tradition, the Boston Globe published a photo recap (Part one, two, three), some art related like the image above from Art Hong Kong (covered).

Happy New Year from Andy Warhol

Posted by Khoi, December 31, 2010

As the year comes to a close and we welcome the new one in, all of us at Arrested Motion would like to wish you and yours the best and most wonderful new year filled with success, happiness, and amazing art. What better way to usher in 2011 than with Andy Warhol and bottles of Dom Perignon designed in tribute of the ultimate party guest? More after the jump…