Art News

An inside look at events and happenings in the contemporary art world.

Museum of Modern Art reopens

This October 21, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City reopens with an expansion of more than 40,000 square feet of gallery space, a transformation that opens up new possibilities for museum programming. Part of the focus is allowing for more voices and perspectives to be represented in artistic spaces. For instance, in the fifth-, fourth- and second-floor galleries, including the new David Geffen Wing, visitors can explore shows where contemporary art is blended with early masterpieces, and mediums like painting and performance are put side by side. Galleries will change seasonally, aiming to highlight work by artists from more diverse backgrounds and geographies.

+++

Betye Saar holding Black Girl’s Window at her Laurel Canyon studio in Los Angeles, California, 1970. Courtesy of the artist and Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, California. Photo by Bob Nakamura. © 2019 Betye Saar.

Betye Saar at MoMA

Betye Saar: The Legends of Black Girl’s Window explores the deep ties between the artist’s iconic autobiographical assemblage Black Girl’s Window, 1969, and her rare, early prints made during the 1960s. The solo exhibition is on view at the Museum of Modern Art from October 21 through January 4, 2020, and highlights the recent acquisition of 42 works on paper that give viewers insight into Saar’s sophisticated, experimental print practice.

+++

Anthony McCall, Between You and I, 2006. Installation view, Peer/The Round Chapel, London, 2006.

Dark Rooms, Solid Light

The first solo exhibition in North America will be held for artist Anthony McCall, known for his “solid light” installations, at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. McCall’s mesmerizing light installations stretch beyond the limits of what is typically imagined when thinking about sculpture, cinema and drawing, creating unforgettable interactive experiences. The exhibition will be on view through November 3.

+++

Frank Frazetta, Egyptian Queen, 1969, oil on canvas, 20 x 26". SOLD: $5.4 million

A major sale

American fantasy and science-fiction artist Frank Frazetta’s oil Egyptian Queen sold for a staggering $5.4 million at Heritage Auctions’ Comics & Comic Art Signature Auction on May 16 to 18. Frazetta, born in Brooklyn, New York, was known primarily for his work in comic books, book covers, paintings, posters, album covers and other media.

+++

Dale Chihuly, Saxon Blue Persian set with flame lip wraps, 2016, 10 x 22 x 16"

Chihuly Glass Art

The mystical glass art of artist Dale Chihuly—almost alien in nature—is on view in an exhibition at Schantz Galleries in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The Tacoma, Washington-born artist, essentially a household name in the Pacific Northwest, has been featured in national and international exhibitions for decades, his work represented in more than 200 museum collections. The show at Schantz Galleries runs through September 22.

+++

Clifford Ross, Hurricane LXIII, 2009, archival pigment print. © Clifford Ross. Courtesy of the artist and Ryan Lee Gallery.

Hurricane Waves

From November 5 to March 1, 2020, the Boca Raton Museum of Art in Florida will hold a major showcase of the photography of Clifford Ross, including an installation of large-scale photographs from his Hurricane Wave series, in which the artist captured the surf during extreme weather conditions. Also included in the show is an abstract installation of wood panels that Ross has printed waves onto.