Despite finally having access to a car this summer and thus becoming one step closer to the delights of Fort Tilden beach, I remained a sickly white shade that I like to refer to as “extreme English Rose” but, in truth, is more akin to “library pale.” For the first half of my so-called [...]

For the last seven years I have abandoned (mostly) Friday afternoon happy hours in favor of driving north and spending the late afternoons and nights in my studio. For anywhere between four and seven hours I am able to work in silence or blast the stereo and hammer away at any number of pieces in [...]

Lucas Blalock’s only plan is to work… preferably in the evenings. He deals with a set of parameters that his tools provide and brings things he purchases at local discount stores into his apartment. From there it’s open season. In a world filled with artists that create work in a myriad of settings, Lucas Blalock’s [...]

Most artists assume the role of an artist, perhaps by going to school, perhaps by having a studio, or not. Bruce Nauman made it simple by deciding that anything he did in his studio was art. With that out of the way, artists assume all kinds of other roles. Artist and filmmaker, artist and professor, [...]

In his recent show at Lehmann Maupin Gallery in Chelsea, Ashley Bickerton, a founding member of the 1980s “Neo-Geo” movement alongside Jeff Koons and Peter Halley, continued his exploration of the Western fantasy perspective of the Far East.  In his latest series of paintings and C-prints, Bickerton focused in on the debaucherous side of the [...]

We are very, very excited to be starting up YEAR 3 of Art21 Educators today. Sixteen teachers from a variety of disciplines and from across the country will join us for a week’s worth of workshops, discussion, planning and learning in order to utilize Art21 resources- bringing contemporary art into their classrooms for the 2011-2012 [...]

Jeff Jamieson talks about his history of making Judd Furniture with IMA conservator Richard McCoy.

I’ve held my own definition of literacy for some time now: that becoming increasingly literate is essentially seeing the world with increasing nuance.  Greater literacy means grasping the many shades of difference that might be attached to any one object or idea.  Knowledge, on the other hand, is the way we make useful all of [...]

Art conservator Eleonora Nagy talks about her historic relationship with the conservation of Donald Judd’s artworks with IMA conservator Richard McCoy.

SUBSCRIBE TO NEW YORK CLOSE UP: RSS | YOUTUBE | VIMEO How does an artist contribute his own personal story in the face of prevailing historical narratives? In this film, artist Rashid Johnson discusses the fluid nature of black identity in America and its escapist tendencies, from the Afrocentric politics of Marcus Garvey to the cosmic philosophy of [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO NEW YORK CLOSE UP: RSS | YOUTUBE | VIMEO When does a painting stop being a private object and start becoming a public work? In this film, artist Keltie Ferris prepares for her show KF + CM 4EVER (2010) by crating a new series of paintings in her Bushwick studio, shipping the work across town in [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO NEW YORK CLOSE UP: RSS |YOUTUBE | VIMEO What is the responsibility of an artist to her community? In this film, artist and activist LaToya Ruby Frazier discusses the economic and environmental decline of her hometown—Braddock, Pennsylvania—the city that the clothing company Levi’s used as inspiration and backdrop for a major advertising campaign in 2010. Having photographed [...]

SUBSCRIBE TO NEW YORK CLOSE UP: RSS | YOUTUBE | VIMEO How do you activate a white cube gallery space? In this film, artist Mika Tajima works with two amateur contortionists to create a series of dance-like movements that respond to her sculptural installation of re-purposed vintage office cubicles and ergonomic chairs. The performance is the culmination of [...]

Founded in 2008, Light Industry, which is run by Ed Halter and Thomas Beard, is already thought by many to be one of the premiere venues for cinema and new media art the world over. Bringing together artists, critics, curators, and academics from a range of fields, the frequently nomadic series has established a catholic [...]

It’s a momentous Monday here at Art21. Following Maren Miller’s thoughtful introduction of our newest documentary series, New York Close Up, last week, we are thrilled to present you with the very first episodes. Kicking off the project are films with the artists Shana Moulton (b. 1976, Oakhurst, California, USA; lives and works in Brooklyn, New [...]

Miriam Simun’s The Lady Cheese Shop, installed at Michael Mut Gallery in New York for four days between April and May, served up three different types of cheese at its opening reception and tasting. All made from local breast milk, Simun’s art des fromages, made in collaboration with Chef Sarah Hymanson, offered plenty food for thought. [...]

Work by Laura Siragusa, Nyack High School, New York Spring is in the air. The end of the school year is upon us, or for those who bob and weave right through June, almost upon us. This is the time of year (and more than once) I’ve thought about getting out the proverbial lounge chair [...]

The Armory Show is the most prestigious international art fair held annually in New York City devoted to showcasing the most important artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries. In its thirteen years The Armory Show with The Armory Show – Modern has become an international institution, combining a selection of the world’s leading galleries with an exceptional program of art events and exhibitions throughout New York City during Armory Arts Week.

“I’m really trying to pay homage to the notion of the sublime and the abject together and using the aesthetic of rejection, or poverty, or wretchedness as a tool to talk about things that are transcendent and hopeful.” (Aimée Reed, “Interview with Wangechi Mutu,” Daily Serving, Apr. 12, 2010) Wangechi Mutu was born in Kenya [...]

This year The Armory Show will feature 274 blue-chip contemporary and modern art galleries from 31 countries. With The Armory Show and The Armory Show – Modern, visitors will now have unparalleled access to the most important artwork of the 20th and 21st centuries in New York City, the center of the art world.