Raoul De Keyser: Drift

Info

24 Grafton Street
London W1S 4EZ
November 26, 2015 – January 23, 2016

Words

The late Raoul De Keyser's first exhibition at the David Zwirner gallery in London is nearing the end of its two-month run, but there’s still time to see the show before it finishes next week. Drift features 22 paintings known as The Last Wall, completed shortly before the artist’s death in 2012, which are being shown together for the first time. It also includes works from the 1990s and 2000s, that similarly display De Keyser’s sparse and intriguing painterly expressions.

—David Zwirner

Richard Tuttle and Agnes Martin: Religion of Love

Info

Hardback
36 pages, 9.5 x 8 inches
1 colour, 14 B&W illustrations
Published by Walther König, 2016

Words

"Because Religion of Love (written in 1990s) is so late in coming out, we hope it worth the wait. As representative of one of the most important artist’s late thinking; on the one hand, it reconfirms her most classical thought (Beauty is the mystery of life), and, on the other, adds new thought with an urgency only found in a mature artist of her age and persuasion. One of the most rigorous of sensibilities, we do not know what she meant by uncharacteristically asking another artist, Richard Tuttle, to illustrate her text, for she, unlike he, had a clear understanding of the meaning of illustration. Knowing that, he took it up as much to fathom a friend’s genius after their passing, as well as the chance to say goodbye, life did not include, yet made available in publication. Hopefully, the reader can enjoy these various levels of interaction as art." Richard Tuttle, London, September 2014.

—Available from Cornerhouse Publications

J.B. Blunk: Painting, Drawing, Sculpture

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5118 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016
November 14, 2015 – January 23, 2016

Words

In November of last year, Gerard O’Brien, owner of the astonishingly good Reform Gallery in Los Angeles, opened his new space, The Landing, with an exhibition of work by the late American artist J.B. Blunk. Known for his immense redwood sculptures, Blunk’s list of influences is as impressive as his chainsaw carvings, having studied pottery with Laura Andreson at UCLA, and Rosanjin Kitaoji and Toyo Kaneshige in Japan. His lesser-seen paintings and drawings, also featured in this show, evoke a similar simplicity and connection to nature. The exhibition closes on January 23rd, leaving just over two weeks to take in the work of an under-appreciated West Coast legend.

—The Landing

At Home with Gordon Smith

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Video

—01. Music by JIIN.

Words

I recently had the privilege of visiting Gordon Smith to direct a short film about the legendary artist, captured by Fahim Kassam. At 96 years young, Gordon's passion for art and design is contagious, and a pleasure to be around. His home in West Vancouver was designed by one of his closest friends, Arthur Erickson. The space is a modest maze of vaulted ceilings and glass corridors with views of the Pacific ocean, filled with vintage mid-century furniture and an impressive collection of art and objects.

—Nowness

Gerhard Richter: Atlas, in Four Volumes

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Slip, hardcover
828 pages, 14 x 18 inches
Edition of 1500
Published by Walther König, 2015

Words

"More than 50 years ago, Gerhard Richter began mounting parts of his extensive collection of pictorial material on cardboard, hoping to create order and clarity among his archive of photos, newspaper clippings, sketches, drawings, construction plans, room design, collages, overpainted photographs and drafts of paintings. Richter eschewed chronology – his real interest was in iconographical and typological order. A work in progress, this Atlas soon developed into an independent Gesamtkunstwerk mirroring biographical and historical facts – an artistic cosmos of great autonomy, a source of all of his thought and creation. The artist's book has become an important genre for Richter, and in this large-format, four-volume edition, he has not only reproduced Atlas, but rearranged it. His decision to show all of his plates at a scale of 1:2 makes the monumental archive – with more than 5,000 images – visible in all its details for the first time. Richter himself has redefined the colour of his plates, piece by piece, through several correction phases, rendering this epic work accessible in a stunning new publication."

—Available from Artbook

Diane Simpson & Lesley Vance at Herald St

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2 Herald Street
London E2 6JT
November 21, 2015 – January 31, 2016

Words

The Herald St gallery in London opened a concurrent exhibition of work by artists Diane Simpson and Lesley Vance in November. For those that haven’t seen it yet, the show runs until the end of January and looks well worth visiting. Geometric form and an inquisitive exploration of shape, rigidly in the case of Simpson and more fluidly as it pertains to the work of Vance, is the tie that binds these two artists. Amy Sherlock touches on this very succinctly in the text that accompanies the exhibition, referring to the paintings and sculptures as "developable surfaces."

—Herald St

Robert Rauschenberg: Anagrams, Arcadian Retreats, Anagrams (A Pun)

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534 West 25th Street
New York NY 10001
October 23, 2015 – January 16, 2016

Words

Pace is currently presenting a series of late works by Robert Rauschenberg at their New York City space – a show that marks the renowned artist's first posthumous exhibition at the gallery. "These works were created beginning in the mid-1990s, a pivotal period for Rauschenberg as he developed and perfected a powerful new technique combining dye transfer with novel supports including plaster, large-scale paper and polylaminate panels. The resulting approach would inspire the artist’s practice over the remainder of his life. A majority of the works included in the exhibition come from Rauschenberg’s personal collection, which now makes up the holdings of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation."

—Pace Gallery

Fergus Feehily – Invincibles

Info

Capital
716 Sacramento Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
December 11 – January 23, 2016

Words

"Fergus Feehily's work can be disarming in its apparent simplicity. Often his paintings are more about what is not there. Behind this spare approach is a will to get at the heart of sensitivities and phenomena that are multi-layered and difficult to address. Feehily's painting practice grows increasingly fluid and promiscuous, utilizing disparate materials such as found objects, photographs, textiles, screws, and pins — even paintings that appear to have no paint involved in their making.

The discreet power of this exhibition proceeds from a desiring touch. Feehily engages vulnerable and precarious depths to control lightness and understand gravity. The exhibition's title, Invincibles, alludes to defiance — something or someone unbeatable or supreme — even while it sneaks up against the word invisible, itself delicate, fragile and modest."

—Capital