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Tag Archives: Viewpoints

Viewpoints / Recap: Dran – ‘Public Execution’ pop up show in Soho, London (Part II)

Posted by Patrick Nguyen, February 24, 2015

AM recently covered the opening and first week of the last show by Dran, which was hosted by Pictures On Walls and closed on Saturday 21 February. The uniqueness of Public Execution is that it was produced by the artist — bit by bit and in public view — over the course of its duration. A white space filled with spraypainted images of blank canvases on Day 1 evolved into a picture-rich multicoloured venue on Day 17, the grand finale. Some visitors have referred to […]

Viewpoints / Openings: Olek — “I do not expect to be a mother but I do expect to die alone” @ Tony’s Gallery, London

Posted by Patrick Nguyen, January 31, 2012

AM was at Tony’s Gallery in Shoreditch on Thursday to see the first UK solo show by Olek (set-up and teaser photos here). The New York-based artist has been making the most of her extended London visit, transforming the ground floor of the gallery into a domestic setting filled with crocheted furniture and other household items. Everything but the entrance area, the ceiling, and a couple of plants has been given a second skin. The combination of brightly-coloured yarn and Olek’s signature camouflage pattern means […]

Viewpoints: A Reading of Boris Hoppek’s Obama Beach Ball

Posted by sven, November 23, 2011

The following article is a guest post by friend of AM, Peter Bengtsen. He wrote this essay for us after seeing the release of Boris Hoppek’s Obama Beach Ball, the resultant opinions that have been broadcast on the internet in response to the artwork, and the political motivations of the artist himself. We hope you enjoy the article, and that it may bring some clarity both to Hoppek’s project, and a context to this work as part of the artist’s output. Make up your own […]

Viewpoints: Top 25 Most Expensive Banksy Works Ever

Posted by lowpro, September 21, 2011

Last Wednesday during Christie’s Post War & Contemporary Art sale in London, a historic Banksy canvas came very close to tripling its high estimate of £50,000. Originally exhibited in 2002 at Santa’s Ghetto, a perennial winter group show (a modern riff of which occurred last December with Marks and Stencils) during those early, pre-hype years that saw Banksy canvases sell – and sometimes sit unsold – for a mere few hundred quid, Bird with Grenade closed at £145,250 ($228,043). The piece serves as an interesting […]

Viewpoints / Openings : Takashi Murakami @ Gagosian Gallery, London

Posted by Patrick Nguyen, August 5, 2011

For the last five and a half weeks, Gagosian Gallery on Britannia Street (the larger of its two spaces in London) has been hosting a Takashi Murakami exhibition (previewed). The show features five large-scale sculptures along with a group of paintings merging references to both Japanese contemporary society and the country’s artistic heritage. This recent output includes collaborations with manga, animé, figyua and other artists from Japan’s otaku subculture, which some might describe as a curious world of fantasy, self-indulgence, obsession and disengagement. For the […]

Viewpoints / Openings: Richard Hambleton pop-up show @ The Dairy, London

Posted by Patrick Nguyen, December 6, 2010

Three weeks ago, AM attended the London preview for the pop-up exhibition Richard Hambleton New York. Upon entering the venue, it wasn’t immediately clear whether we’d arrived at an art show or a fashion show. The heaving crowd and large amount of perfume in the air may have disoriented us slightly; we were left hesitating between taking pictures of the art on the walls and the clothes people were wearing. What’s certain is that the event was glamourous, and it’s been a long time since […]

Viewpoints: Traditional Museums Set Record Attendence Non-Traditionally

Posted by juggernut3, September 25, 2009

The recession has been hitting everyone hard, even the museums are being hit in their wallets. From the MOCA needing a bail out to the Rose Art Museum selling off their collection, museums seem to be dealing with declining attendance and many have been forced to reduce payroll or take mandatory staff furloughs to make ends meet. Yet there’s a silver lining to every situation. Some museums have found ways to boost attendance by tapping into alternative “non-traditional” art forms. Museum mainstays such as Rembrandt, […]

Viewpoints: Murakami, MOCA & Louis Vuitton Sued by Disgruntled Speculator

Posted by juggernut3, April 24, 2009

Last summer, the MOCA was sued by a disgruntled speculator, Clint Arthur, over the sale of some lithographic prints from Takashi Murakami’s retrospective. Arthur’s initial suit alleged that without proper documentation, the prints were just overpriced posters and the museum was misleading customers. The judge quickly dismissed the charges of fraud in the initial case. Also, the MOCA has offered Arthur a refund with interest (which he refused, of course) and a certificate of authenticity for all their customers who wanted one. Now, Arthur is […]