Saraswati Art Gallery And Store

Friday, January 17, 2025

David Hockney will present his largest show to date at Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. https://ift.tt/I58EiK2

The esteemed British artist David Hockney will present his largest exhibition to date at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, showcasing over 400 works from April 9th to September 1st. The works will span exactly seven decades, from 1955 to 2025.

The exhibition, titled “David Hockney, 25,” will occupy 11 rooms of the museums, displaying pieces from international institutions and private collections alongside works straight from Hockney’s studio. It will encompass a broad range of mediums, including oil and acrylic paintings, digital art, and immersive video installations.

The exhibition is especially focussed on the last 25 years, during which Hockney has spent time in Normandy, London, and Yorkshire. Highlights include the vibrant May Blossom on the Roman Road (2009) and the striking Bigger Trees near Warter or/ou Peinture sur le Motif pour le Nouvel Age Post-Photographique (2007), the latter of which will be loaned from the Tate.

The exhibition will open with a selection of Hockney’s early works level with the museum’s famous pond. These include works such as A Bigger Splash (1967) and Portrait of An Artist (Pool with Two Figures) (1972). In November 2018, Portrait of An Artist (Pool with Two Figures) sold for $90.3 million at Christie’s in New York, becoming the most expensive work by a living artist at the time.

Elsewhere, the exhibition will present a series of 60 portraits of friends and family. Some of the works are painted with acrylic, whereas others were made on his iPad, including his “portraits of flowers” series. The digital flower paintings were the subject of a solo exhibition at Pace Gallery in January 2023. The works are created on the artist’s iPad but displayed in traditional frames.

On the first floor, the museum is presenting Hockney’s landscapes of Normandy, namely his “220 for 2020” series. These works were also created on his iPad. Meanwhile, Hockney’s latest works—all created since moving to London in 2023—will be displayed in an intimate gallery space. According to the museum, the works are inspired by Edvard Munch and William Blake.

The top floor will feature The Great Wall (2000), a timeline-esque installation featuring reproductions of works spanning from the early Renaissance to the modern-day.

Now 87, Hockney continues to paint at his studio in Normandy, both using traditional media and digital tools. On January 29th, the artist will present “20 Flowers for 2025 and Some Bigger Pictures” at Salts Mill in West Yorkshire, U.K.

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/FrjpSW0

8 Los Angeles Artists Reflect on the 2025 Wildfires https://ift.tt/9FUkQIo

To say the Los Angeles art community has been devastated by the wildfires would be an understatement. Artists in areas like Altadena and the Palisades have seen their workspaces gutted and livelihoods threatened as ongoing fires continue to wreak havoc across L.A. County.

Since the onset of the fires on January 7th, the damage has been catastrophic. Flames have consumed more than two dozen lives and over 40,000 acres of land. Upwards of 180,000 people have been evacuated and displaced over the past two weeks. This crisis has affected every corner of Los Angeles, including its cultural hubs.

Los Angeles galleries and artists alike have rushed to support one another in the face of these wildfires. One remarkable initiative, Grief and Hope, has been coordinated by Various Small Fires director Ariel Pittman and former David Kordansky Gallery director Julia V. Hendrickson, along with artists Kathryn Andrews, Andrea Bowers, and Olivia Gauthier. At the time of publication, the effort has successfully raised $453,165, approaching its $500,000 target. Meanwhile, major arts institutions, including the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, MOCA Los Angeles, and the Hammer Museum, have raised $12 million to aid artists and art workers in the city.

As the city and its residents reckon with the past two weeks, Artsy spoke to eight artists about the personal and communal impacts of the Los Angeles wildfires.

Jessica Taylor Bellamy

“Los Angeles has an eternal magic hour. People who are not from here often describe the light as intoxicating. I have lived here my entire life, growing up in Whittier, going to school at USC, living now on the Westside, and working at my studio in Inglewood. I can recognize my city instantly by the light, this defining characteristic of place.

“The idea that all of Los Angeles operates as one, pausing to look at the sky when there is a particularly striking sunset, or pausing again when the light holds the threat of disaster (that tinge in the sky is already a long source of trauma for Californians) is nothing new, but looking at the sky and needing to ask ‘are you safe?’ repeatedly to family, friends, mentors is an unwelcome first.

“It’s a common conversation among artists in my orbit to feel like they have to give everything right now, but organizations will need volunteers and support for months, along with those helping our environment and non-human neighbors.

“Anat Ebgi gallery is holding a group show of L.A. artists to support the L.A. arts community on February 8th.”

Adam Alessi

“I just want to preface that I didn’t lose my home and was not directly affected by the fires. I’ve been operating a donation drop-off for materials to get to the people who lost their studios, homes, and practices in the fires.

“The drop-off has had an overwhelming response of donations coming, from people in L.A. to people all over the U.S., and even some international donations. My goal is to build resources for artists of any medium who lost everything, to start rebuilding. I understand these resources may not be immediate for everyone so I am working to look at how to make this available for the long term.

“I’m also working on trying to get book publishers on board with donations to help kickstart people’s libraries. If people would like to get involved from afar, there are many artists who have GoFundMe. There is also @griefxhope [on] Instagram, which has information on donating to their fund, which will be allocated to the people who are in contact with them and need the resources. They have a survey that people can fill out for everything from donations to receiving help.”

Contact Alessi with questions or contributions via Instagram, or email at ArtistReliefLA@gmail.com.

Sayre Gomez

World 1, 2022
Sayre Gomez
Pinto Gallery

World 2, 2022
Sayre Gomez
Pinto Gallery

“2025 marks my 19th year in L.A., and despite all its flaws, I love it—it’s the strangest place, but for the first time, I’m considering the idea of leaving.

“My family and I bought a home last summer on the northeastern edge of Eagle Rock, about a five-minute drive from Pasadena. January 7th was my son’s fifth birthday, and as he was blowing out his birthday candles, we lost power. By the next morning, I received the official evacuation notice, and we decided to leave town. I’m writing from a friend’s house just north of San Francisco.

“Our home, my studio, and all our loved ones are safe, and we feel extremely lucky because SO MANY friends and family have lost EVERYTHING. But we can’t escape the ‘what will happen next time’ thoughts. Not to mention the asbestos and formaldehyde ash floating down all over our Los Angeles right now.

“Since 2017, I’ve made an ongoing series of paintings called ‘Fire Season’ that imagines what L.A. would look like if a catastrophic event like this took place, and tomorrow, I’ll finally travel home to see it for myself.”

Jessie Homer French

Generations, 2024
Jessie Homer French
MASSIMODECARLO

“Whenever the Santa Ana winds blow—I stick close to home—pack a bag—line up the dry paintings & wait—But I never thought the Palisades would burn—a whole world—a past—gone.”

Gwen O’Neil

Mountain Passage, 2024
Gwen O'Neil
Almine Rech

“It is so uncanny to think that this work, a series I’ve been preparing for over a year, was inspired by the many impelling elements of Los Angeles and, in some cases, the Santa Ana winds directly. To exhibit it [at a current solo show in New York with Almine Rech] comes with equal parts sheer excitement and sobering sympathy.

“In the same sense, I’m so saddened by the event entirely, but proud of L.A. for supporting each other and my artist peers supporting other artists. Like the poppies that bloom after the devastation of wildfires, L.A. has shown the same resilience. This will likely permanently reshape how I approach the canvas, with a deep appreciation for my peers and our community.”

Ben Sanders

Siren XXIX, 2024
Ben Sanders
Gana Art LA

“Most of us are just trying to figure out where to put ourselves and our families. Fundraisers and fundraiser awareness are at max capacity right now, bordering on just very noisy and confusing. I am actually going to my studio right now to try and do some freelance work that was interrupted by the fire so that I don’t lose the gig. I have no time or bandwidth to sit and reflect or write down anything or really do anything other than what is immediately around me....We don’t even have reflections yet, a lot of us are just numb and in shock still. And I still HAVE my house, so you can imagine what it’s like for people that lost it all.”

Mark Whalen

Sweet grapes, 2023
Mark Whalen
STATION

“It was an incredibly shocking experience, to say the least. My wife, Kimberly, and I watched the fire creep down the mountain toward us for 10 hours. All our friends on the opposite side of Altadena had already evacuated hours earlier. We never thought it would reach our house, as we were so far from the mountain. But when we left during the evacuation, I had a strange feeling—it was like we were saying goodbye.

“We lost a lot of great art from our collection, which is incredibly heartbreaking. These were pieces I had collected over the course of my career, each with its own memories and stories attached. On top of that, I lost my own works—finished canvases, paintings in progress, sculptural works, and other projects I had been working on.

“Most of all, though, we lost the memories we had begun creating in that home. It was a new place we had renovated and had only lived in for a year, but it already felt so special to us.”

Piper Bangs

Transferring, 2024
Piper Bangs
Megan Mulrooney

“Los Angeles’s landscape always fills the bank of visuals I’m drawing from when I’m imagining the landscapes in my paintings. Watching mutual aid pour in from the community, like Altadena Girls and the wave of support for GoFundMes for people who lost their homes is inspiring—how important community support is is on my mind. It’ll filter into the next paintings, and I’m grateful I still have my studio to make them in.”

For more information on fundraising initiatives and supply drop-offs, see Artsy’s full list of resources. If you have additional relief efforts or fundraisers to highlight, email us at pitches@artsy.net with the subject line “LA wildfire resources.”

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/FcvyCTB

Thursday, January 16, 2025

American filmmaker David Lynch dies at 78. https://ift.tt/MVAj9bx

David Lynch, the eccentric American director known for his enigmatic filmography, including Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive, has died at 78. His family announced his death on Facebook on January 16th. In 2024, Lynch revealed that after decades of smoking he had developed emphysema, which would prevent him from directing.

“It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch,” the post stated. “We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.’ It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”

He Went and He Did Do That Thing, N/A
David Lynch
Pace Gallery

Lynch’s surreal filmography and distinctive style have given rise to the term “Lynchian,” which alludes to the dreamlike, extravagant, and unsettling characteristics of his work.

Born on January 20, 1946, in Missoula, Montana, Lynch began his career as an aspiring painter at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C., before transferring in 1964 to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Shortly thereafter, Lynch dropped out before traveling around Europe. He returned to enroll at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he graduated in 1967.

Just before graduating, Lynch made his first foray into film when he created Six Men Getting Sick in 1967. It featured a minute-long loop of silhouetted figures vomiting, disappearing, and reappearing. From this point forward, he would be better known for his work in film and television, though he continued aan art practice for the next six decades.

Portrait, n.d.
David Lynch
Sperone Westwater

Lynch moved with his wife and daughter to Los Angeles in 1970, where he began studying filmmaking at the AFI Conservatory. There, he dove head-first into filmmaking. He spent five years completing his first feature film, Eraserhead, a dystopian and surrealistic horror film. Critics mostly dismissed the film, but after an executive producer from Mel Brooks’s production company saw Eraserhead, Lynch was given the opportunity to direct The Elephant Man in 1980.

The Elephant Man put Lynch on the map in mainstream Hollywood. George Lucas offered Lynch a chance to direct Return of the Jedi, but Lynch declined. Instead, the director adapted Frank Herbert’s epic sci-fi novel Dune in 1984. Unlike the Star Wars sequel, Dune became a commercial and critical failure, often attributed to the significant cuts and editing in post-production.

Yet, Lynch’s career is better known for the string of bewildering films that followed Dune. In 1986, Lynch made his aesthetic mark with Blue Velvet, a bizarre neo-noir thriller that simultaneously became a cult hit and earned Lynch his second Oscar nomination for best director (the first was for The Elephant Man). Four years later, Wild at Heart, starring Laura Dern and Nicholas Cage, won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Lynch reached superstardom with his famed television show Twin Peaks, an idiosyncratic murder mystery that aired for two seasons in 1990 and 1991. Lynch received his third and final Oscar nomination for arguably his most celebrated film, Mulholland Drive in 2001.

Head with Bug on Head, 2010
David Lynch
Sperone Westwater

After the release of his final film, Inland Empire, in 2006, Lynch retreated from feature films. Over the next decade, he only released a third season of Twin Peaks in 2017. However, during this time, Lynch began to present his paintings and sculptures more often at venues, including Item Gallery in Paris, Galerie Karl Pfefferle in Munich, and Tilton Gallery in New York, among others. After being passed over several times at the Academy Awards, Lynch received an honorary Lifetime Achievement Oscar in 2019.

In 2019, on the occasion of his show “Squeaky Flies in the Mud” at Sperone Westwater, Lynch told Artsy of his interest in material in his artworks: “I love textures. I love organic phenomena. I like the ins and the outs and the flat. All of it. That’s where it’s at right now. It just has to be that way. I like working with all kinds of materials. Each thing does a certain thing. When you put them together, it gets magical to me.”

Pace Gallery mounted an exhibition of Lynch’s sculptures and paintings in 2022 titled “Big Bongo Night.” It debuted alongside another solo show at Sperone Westwater in New York. His visual artwork has been the subject of several exhibitions worldwide, including those at Fondation Cartier pour l‘contemporain in 2007, The Photographers’ Gallery in 2017, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 2014, among others.

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/53uwicO

Major museums create $12 million relief fund to support L.A. artists. https://ift.tt/qhgOaY9

Leading arts organizations including the J. Paul Getty Trust, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), MOCA Los Angeles, and the Hammer Museum have launched a $12 million fund to aid artists and art workers affected by the Los Angeles wildfires. Among the growing list of supporters are mega-galleries Gagosian and Hauser & Wirth.

The L.A. Arts Community Fire Relief Fund, administered by the Center for Cultural Innovation, will provide immediate financial support to members of the arts community who have lost homes, studios, or employment due to the fires. Applications for aid will open on January 20th at 9 a.m. PST and can be submitted through the Center for Cultural Innovation’s website.

Since January 7th, the wildfires have caused extensive damage across Los Angeles, resulting in at least two dozendeaths and the destruction of more than 40,000 acres. According to preliminary estimates, two fires—the Palisades and Eaton wildfires—are among the five worst fires in California history.

“People around the world are watching in horror as vast areas of Los Angeles burn, but this regional tragedy has global cultural repercussions,” says Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust. “Amid the losses suffered by the artists and arts workers who so strongly define L.A., Getty is grateful to the many partners, local, national, and international, who have come together to meet the urgent needs of this community.”

Contributors to the fund include a number of artist foundations, including the Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts, the Willem de Kooning Foundation, the David Hockney Foundation, the Joan Mitchell Foundation, and the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation.

Additional contributions have come from major philanthropic entities like the Mellon Foundation and the Ford Foundation, as well as international arts organizations including Frieze and Qatar Museums. Directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have also pledged their support through their respective foundations.

“Los Angeles is home to one of the world’s most prolific and creative groups of artists and people working to support our many artists, galleries, and art institutions,” the Mohn Art Collective (which includes LACMA, MOCA, and the Hammer Museum) said in a joint statement. “In particular, the fire-ravaged neighborhoods in Altadena are long-time home to an astounding concentration of artists and art workers. Our local spirit of collaboration is being evidenced right now. And we’re immensely grateful to those outside L.A. offering support.”

In response to the wildfires, local and international arts organizations have launched several programs to help support artists across Los Angeles. Galleries including Hashimoto Contemporary and Anat Ebgi are among those hosting sales to raise funds for affected artists.

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/am69zvP

9 Collectors on the Artists, Shows, and Trends to Watch in 2025 https://ift.tt/p9ny5ZG

Fortune Tellers: The Missing Appendix, 2023
Xin Liu (b. 1991)
Make Room

Add Two Add One, Divide Two Divide One 2022-6b, 2022
Kim Yun Shin
Lehmann Maupin

An exciting year awaits art lovers in 2025, marked by blockbuster events ranging from the 16th edition of the Sharjah Biennial in February to the 36th São Paulo Bienal in September. All the while, the art world calendar is dotted with notable fairs, events, openings, and shows, including several major museum exhibitions.

As momentum builds for a busy year ahead, Artsy spoke with nine collectors to see what shows, artists, and trends they’re looking forward to in 2025.

Pete Scantland

CEO, Orange Barrel Media

Columbus, Ohio

“I’m excited about so much in 2025. In March, the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) will open ‘Louise Nevelson: Dawn to Dusk.’ In addition to a comprehensive survey of Nevelson’s practice, the show will explore the artist’s decades-long relationship [with Columbus] and exhibition history in our city through her friendship with Eva Glimcher (mother of Pace Gallery founder Arne Glimcher), a Columbus resident and the proprietor of Pace Columbus, which mounted at least eight gallery shows from 1965. In addition, the CMA will open an exhibition on J. B. Blunk and Toshiko Takaezu, as well as a site-specific permanent installation at the CMA’s satellite museum space with Tavares Strachan.

“I am also excited about ‘Monuments,’ an ambitious show at MOCA exploring the legacy of confederate memorials and providing an opportunity for contemporary artists, including co-curator Kara Walker, to engage with these fraught and highly charged objects gathered and shown in a decommissioned state and in context with their work.

Laid Up, 2020
Christina Quarles
Whitechapel Gallery

“I can’t wait to see the new Studio Museum in Harlem, which will open with a comprehensive survey of Tom Lloyd, who was also the subject of the institution’s first exhibition in 1968. I’m also excited to see Rashid Johnson at the Guggenheim, Jack Whitten at MoMA, Dyani White Hawk at the Walker Art Center, and M. Florine Démosthène and Didier William at the Frist Art Museum. I can’t wait to visit what is sure to be an incredible new LACMA and a sublime renovation of the Frick Collection.

“In terms of collecting, I’m excited about so many artists, including (in no particular order): María Berrío, Nicole Eisenman, Naotaka Hiro, Tala Madani, Rita Ackermann, Lynda Benglis, Jadé Fadojutimi, Nick Cave, Christina Quarles, Anna Weyant, Salman Toor, Jenna Gribbon, Lesley Vance, Jenny Saville, Issy Wood, Jennifer Packer, Hilary Pecis, Sayre Gomez, Sasha Gordon, Lucy Bull, Ambera Wellmann, Carol Bove, and Lauren Halsey. I’m excited about a new normal in the art market. Following several years of pandemic stimulus-fueled expansion and then a contraction, it feels like we’ve reached a more balanced equilibrium that will be good for everyone. I’ve also grown quite tired of Instagram and of viewing art on my phone. My resolution for 2025 is to see the show at the gallery.

“Finally, at Orange Barrel Media, we were fortunate to partner with more than 100 artists and institutions in 2024 and are excited to continue this work in 2025—doing our part to help create a new durable funding model for museums and a platform to share artists’ work in a highly public and democratic way.”

Alia Al-Senussi

Cultural strategist

London

Potato Purple Legs, 2021
Xin Liu (b. 1991)
Make Room

“I am looking forward to traveling to many far-off destinations, spiritually and physically. Considering the state of the world, it’s much needed!

“The first month of the year will bring the opening of the Islamic Arts Biennale in Jeddah, with the particularly apt theme of ‘All That is in Between.’ I’ll continue with onward journeys across Africa, starting with 1-54 in Marrakech with a brief stopover in Tangier to see Yto Barrada (who will represent France at the Venice Biennale 2026). It’s then to Cape Town to explore the art fair and celebrate Zeitz MOCAA and its incredible director Koyo Kouoh (the curator of the 2026 Venice Biennale).

“All eyes will be on the ‘Global Majority’ world in 2025, and those that epitomize ‘Third Culture Kids’ diaspora and more—where we will see more work by artists like Nour Jaouda, who this past year alone was collected by major institutions such as Tate, Guggenheim, Arts Council England, and the list goes on (this builds on her debut in Adriano Pedrosa’s Venice Biennale main show as its youngest artist). I am also excited to watch Xin Liu’s star on the ascent as the inaugural winner of the K11 Artist Prize, and as the new resident at Delfina Foundation and Somerset House studios.

“The Los Angeles County Museum of Art finally completing the building in April, and the Bukhara Biennial in Uzbekistan in September (curated by Diana Campbell-Betancourt), will be also truly ‘wow’ moments too—from new to the ancient and all that is in between!”

Alan Lo

Investor

Hong Kong

Song of My Soul 2010-215, 2010
Kim Yun Shin
Kukje Gallery

“2025 continues to be a year for the Global South and its ‘transnational’ diaspora. A number of major institutions I’ve spoken to are shaping their collecting and programming strategy around it, and even the best dealers, ranging from Empty Gallery, Miguel Abreu Gallery, and Andrew Kreps Gallery to super-established names like Gladstone Gallery and Marian Goodman Gallery, are signing numerous transnational artists into the program.

“Sculptural practices are also poised to gain momentum again with Mire Lee’s Tate Turbine Hall commission. Artists such as Kim Yun Shin, Li Shuang, and Jes Fan will also be getting more attention!”

Nike O. Opadiran

Lawyer

Washington, D.C.

What is the Black Dada, 2020
Adam Pendleton
New Art Editions

“This is a good time to be a genuine collector. The speculative bubble on ultra-contemporary art has burst. Those effects are disheartening. However, I have welcomed the opportunity to be more selective and deliberate in what I acquire and to have access to quality works at reasonable price points.

“I don’t have much on my radar outside of D.C., where I am based. Two exhibitions, however, that I’m excited to see are Adam Pendleton at the Hirshhorn Museum in April and Amy Sherald at the National Portrait Gallery in September.”

Laurie Ziegler

Arts patron

Los Angeles

Untitled , 2024
Nika Kutateladze
HdM GALLERY

“2025 starts with the opening of the Islamic Arts Biennale in Riyadh and the Sharjah Biennial in early February. There will be a lot of attention in this region with many visitors to these two major events and the Dubai Art Fair, which will be in April.

“Thanks to Adriano Pedrosa’s curation of the 2024 Venice Biennale main show, there has been more attention on the great artists, terrific galleries, and institutions in Brazil. I foresee more international guests at SPArte in April, ARPA in May, or at the opening of the 36th edition of the São Paulo Bienal which opens in September just before Art Rio, so international patrons can visit both great art cities.

“I am also looking forward to Georgian artists whom Tbilisi’s Gallery Artbeat introduced us to at NADA Miami and Paris Internationale. Tamo Jugeli is having a show at Karma in L.A. this January, Nika Kutateladze will have a show at Mendes Wood DM, and Nina Kintsurashvili will have a show at Polina Berlin in New York this March.”

Lawrence Van Hagen