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THE NEW YORK TIMES Show Us Your Walls By Shivani Vora Ellen Marmur and her art collection. Top, a decorative light fixture by Lumens (2005), and photographs, from left, Susan Paulsen’s “Katonah” (1998) and “Bedford” (1997). Credit: Kivvi Rachelle Roberts for The New York Times The dermatologist Ellen Marmur says she has always appreciated a striking painting or photograph, but she only began collecting art seriously after she learned she had skin cancer in 2006. “When I got cancer, my philosophy became very much about ‘carpe diem’ and living my best life now,” she said. “Part of that life means collecting beautiful art because art gives me such joy.” Dr. Marmur, who recently had a recurrence of aggressive but not life-threatening basal-cell cancer, has gathered a sizable collection of contemporary paintings and photography by American artists. Many live in or around New York, including Tara Donovan, a sculptor from Brooklyn who likes to use disposable items like toothpicks and s...

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Anemona Hartocollis Artists from not just Senegal but Burkina Faso, Algeria, Morocco, Congo, France and Italy have come to paint on these walls. agazie Emezi for New York Times DAKAR, Senegal — On one wall, the painting of a marabout, a Muslim holy man, peers out from behind a line hung with laundry. Nearby, a poster of an African woman in a bustle has been pasted to a house. Still further along, women socialize in front of a wall covered in an intricate black-and-white abstract pattern. These are the painted houses of the Médina, a poor and working-class neighborhood near downtown Dakar. The neighborhood has welcomed street artists from all over the world to practice their craft in what the founder of the project calls the open sky museum. Dozens of wall paintings dot the neighborhood, bringing color to usually drab cement walls, and adding to the flourishing international art scene in Dakar. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton Francesco Clemente talking about his exhibition "India" at Vito Schnabel Projects When painter Francesco Clemente first visited India in 1971, he left so inspired that he studied Hindu spiritualism for the next four decades. Clemente’s example has been instructive to Ernest who remains spellbound by his one visit to Senegal in 2004. For his newest exhibition, Francesco Clemente: India   at Vito Schnabel Projects, the artist created four large map paintings of India using Hindu symbols including skulls, fish, marigold flowers, and a traditional sari. Francesco Clemente's forty-year study of Hinduism makes him our artist of the week .

KHALEEJ TIMES By Ismail Sebugwaawo The exhibition was supported by curatorial advisors, Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath. Ten artists who received Al Burda Endowment grants in 2018 are now showcasing their works at Al Burda Endowment exhibition-Abu Dhabi Art 2019 , which kicked off on Thursday at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Abu Dhabi. The artists - Ebtisam Abdulaziz , Ammar Al Attar , Dana Awartani , Fatima Uzdenova , Khalid Al Banna , Zoulikha Bouabdellah , Aisha Khalid , Aljoud Lootah , Nasser Al Salem and Stanley Siu - comprise the first cohort of the Al Burda Endowment grantees with works ranging from sculpture, textile-based work and photography to installation, virtual reality, experiential projects and more. The exhibition was supported by curatorial advisors, Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath. [ More ]

THE JEWISH NEWS By Judith Harris Solomon Jane and Larry Sherman’s house in Bloomfield Hills reflects their interests in art, Israel and antiquities. Jane and Larry Sherman’s 3-year-old Bloomfield Hills home, designed by architects Denise and George Hartman and constructed by custom builder Joel Lerman, faces a water refuge that is continually teeming with interesting wildlife. And the home’s stunning interior, designed by Patti Kelter of Kelter Schwartz Design, is brimming over with exciting collections of both contemporary art and Judaic antiquities. Holding a place of honor in the living room is an oil painting of the Judean Hills outside of Jerusalem by famous Israeli artist Yossi Stern that the couple purchased in 1962. “It the first piece of art we bought together, and it cost $60,” Jane says. [ More ]

FORBES MAGAZINE By Natasha Gural Francesco Clemente: "India” (2019) at Vito Schnabel Projects in New York City through January 2020 Profoundly inspired by the culture and traditions of India since his first visit to the South Asian country 48 years ago, Italian-born, New York-based artist Francesco Clemente’s newest paintings and frescoes lead the viewer on an enchanting voyage. Flowers resembling marigolds form the ancient diamond-shaped outline of a map of India, which marries with a background of dozens of skulls gazing at the map, all awash in soft pink. Marigolds, or Calendula officinalis, are prevalent throughout India, where they are used to craft garlands that are offered to Hindu gods and goddesses. Skulls are prominent in Hindu and Buddhist artwork depicting deities, their relevance in eastern symbology dating back to the dawn of the Hindu civilization more than 5,000 years ago. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES  By Farah Nayeri “Exotic Eve” (1890). Pola Museum of Art LONDON — “Is it time to stop looking at Gauguin altogether?” That’s the startling question visitors hear on the audio guide as they walk through the “Gauguin Portraits” exhibition at the National Gallery in London. The show, which runs through Jan. 26, focuses on Paul Gauguin’s depictions of himself, his friends and fellow artists, and of the children he fathered and the young girls he lived within Tahiti. The standout portrait in the exhibition is “Tehamana Has Many Parents” (1893). It pictures Gauguin’s teenage lover, holding a fan. The artist “repeatedly entered into sexual relations with young girls, ‘marrying’ two of them and fathering children,” reads the wall text. “Gauguin undoubtedly exploited his position as a privileged Westerner to make the most of the sexual freedoms available to him.” [ More ]

Yvan Sagnet, center, as Jesus Christ, in a scene of “The New Gospel” filmed in Matera, Italy. The director Milo Rau’s work is a hybrid documentary, political campaign for migrant workers, and movie. Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times MATERA, Italy — For his cinematic retelling of the story of Jesus Christ, “ The New Gospel ,” the Swiss-born, Belgium-based director Milo Rau sought answers to some questions: What would Jesus preach in the 21st century? Who would he stand with? What would he fight for? Mr. Rau found one answer in contemporary Italy, where his project — part movie, part documentary, part political campaign — unfolded this year. To play Christ, he chose a former migrant seasonal worker, one of the thousands who harvest sundry crops — mostly tomatoes, olives and oranges — in the fields of Southern Italy. [ More ]

CHABAD-LUBAVITCH NEWS By Yoni Brown “Spread Your Light–To The Street” by Yitzchok Moully, Amid the bustle of Jerusalem’s iconic First Station, new flashes of color adorn the walls of the historic railroad station, now an outdoor mall. Three Shabbat candles shine brightly from a pop-art mural, spreading their glow on a colorful backdrop. Street art is a very contemporary medium, but the message of this piece is timeless. The piece is called “Spread Your Light–To The Street,” and its creator, New Jersey-based rabbi and artist Yitzchok Moully , sees it as an expression of the Baal Shem Tov’s call to spread the wellsprings of chassidus outward. “This is literally bringing the message of chassidus to the street,” said Moully. [ More ]

THE JERUSALEM POST AMIR NAVE’S 2017 work ‘The Boy is a bag of needs.’ What turns a painter into a Jewish one? Take a walk down Chaim Soutine Street in Tel Aviv and you will embark from Rembrandt Street and stroll by Bezalel Street. Bezalel, the name literally meaning “In God’s shadow,” was tasked with creating the objects used to host the divine spirit of God in the material realm. The Tabernacle (known in Hebrew as the Mishkan), for which the multi-colored skin of the mysterious Tahash was used, was one such object. Rembrandt, who was not Jewish, depicted biblical scenes in his 1635 work Belshazzar’s Feast, for which he employed Hebrew letters, and the 1665 work The Jewish Bride – which had a stunning effect on Soutine when he saw it. [ More ]

SOTHEBY'S ILYA SCHORUkrainian1904 - 1961HASSIDIC FIGURES, “DIG, DANCE, AND DAVEN”signed I. Schor (lower right)pen and ink and gouache on parchment paper cutout on gold underlaysight, 8¼ x 11⅞ in.21 x 30 cm The Judaica collection of Arthur and Gitel Marx began as one of Judaica silver and paintings and gradually expanded to Hebrew Books and Manuscripts. Their choices were guided by a search for quality and the countries of origin were secondary to the uniqueness and rarity of the item. Hand in hand with collecting silver and books, the couple collected paintings by the greatest masters of Jewish Art, including Isidor Kaufmann and Edouard Brandon . Click ahead for a closer look at the breadth of the Arthur and Gitel Marx Collection and some of its most important objects which come to auction on 20 November in New York. [ More ]

CATHOLIC NEWS AGENCY By Hannah Brockhaus ROME -- Osamu Giovanni Micico had never read the Bible, knew nothing of the stories of Christ in the gospels, and had never heard of the apostles, when his experience studying sacred art in Italy brought him to the Catholic faith. “When I came to Italy, painting was the only street for me as far as my profession goes. Thank God, that is also where God gave me my spiritual rebirth,” Micico told CNA. Catholicism “transformed my life. The way I relate to others, the way I view the world. And the direction I’m taking in my life. The meaning of suffering. It all changed. My conversion gave life to death.”[ More ]

iNEWS By Katie Grant The terracotta heads are believed to have been stolen by the Taliban (Photo: Met Police) An “ancient and precious” collection of terracotta Buddha heads, believed to have been stolen by the Taliban and transported to the UK, are to be returned to Afghanistan 17 years after their discovery at Heathrow Airport. A Buddha sculpture and nine heads will be sent back to their “rightful home”, the National Museum of Afghanistan, following a “long and complex” investigation that was carried out by the Metropolitan Police’s art and antiques unit. In September 2002, customs officers intercepted two wooden crates at Heathrow Airport that had been flown over on a flight from Peshawar, Pakistan. Officials suspected the crates contained drugs but instead stuffed inside were the Buddha sculpture and nine heads. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton Laylah Amatullah Barrayn, photographer /curator Ernest worked with Indianapolis-based performing artist  Baba Khabir Shareef  for the last seven years, and his recent passing both haunts and inspires us to be better children of God. Like our Baba, for decades, NYC-based documentary photographer Laylah Amatullah Barrayn has been celebrating the Muslim-inspired spirit of communities of the African diaspora that she also honors. Her “Cheikh Bamba's Tomb” is included in an exhibit closing today at BRIC that honors the Muslim experience, and that is why  Laylah Amatullah Barrayn is our artist of the week .

THE NEW YORK TIMES | MAGAZINE By Janelle Zara The artist Calvin Marcus in his Los Angeles studio with one of his two dogs, Francis, a 3-year-old mutt. Chantal Anderson In Los Angeles, daylight sifts into Calvin Marcus’s studio through panes of pastel-stained glass set in lancet windows. The San Francisco-born artist has lived and worked in this cavernous former synagogue turned Baptist church, constructed in 1928, since May. He found the property in 2016, by which time unknown years of neglect had led to severe structural damage. Nevertheless, “I had a vision for how it could be a great studio,” Marcus said recently, ahead of the opening of his current solo show, “Go Hang a Salami Im a Lasagna Hog,” at David Kordansky Gallery. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Laylah Amatullah Barrayn’s “Cheikh Bamba's Tomb” (2014), Touba, Senegal. Laylah Amatullah Barrayn American Folk Art Museum hosts outsider art; Heidi Jahnke’s offbeat paintings; a group show on contemporary Muslim art; and Jessica Eaton’s mesmerizing photographs. The eight artists in “ Beyond Geographies: Contemporary Art and Muslim Experience ” at BRIC all live in New York, but their work often refers to histories and traditions forged elsewhere.  Laylah Amatullah Barrayn’s  beautiful, moody color photographs documents how Sufi Muslims in Senegal are often treated as “Others,” and yet thousands of pilgrims flow through mosques and sites like one devoted to Cheikh Amadou Bamba, founder of the Mouride Sufi sect and the holy city of Touba. Created in partnership with “ Muslims in Brooklyn ,” an art and history project started in 2017 by the Brooklyn Historical Society. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Show Us Your Walls By Ted Loos Mercedes Vilardell, at her home in London, with her art. She specializes in African pieces and supports young African artists. Kader Attia/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Tom Jamieson for The New York Times LONDON — As a philanthropist and as a collector, Mercedes Vilardell has distinguished herself by her focus. In the former arena, there is a consistent mission; in the latter, a tight aesthetic. To carry out that mission, Ms. Vilardell travels several times a year — to places including Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Senegal and South Africa — working to boost the fortunes of artists there by underwriting biennials and other projects. She also sponsors a residency for midcareer African artists at Gasworks, a London nonprofit. “Wherever I go, I try to support young artists,” she said, sitting in the cozy living room of her rowhouse, in the southwest corner of London. [ More ]

ART MONEY The first work that I bought with Art Money was an IOUUOME show painting by Paul Rouphail (pictured above) at Smart Objects gallery in Los Angeles had shown. Tell us a little about yourself and your collection? I am a contemporary art lover! I'm a director at Alexander Gray Associates gallery in New York City and I also curate independently and write for a number of publications including Elle Mexico. I am passionate about artists and their practice. I see my art collection as a gathering of work by people I respect. The only condition when buying an artwork is that I am picking the best example of the artist's practice, at least in my eyes, because I have the goal of amassing a collection worthy of being donated to a museum or institution one day. [ More ]

DW.COM With 170,000 graves above ground, the Jewish cemetery Har Hamenuchot, or Hill of Rest, is the largest in the holy city. Yvelle Gabriel has created glass "light spheres" for a huge new underground graveyard in Jerusalem, Israel. His work symbolically references the concept of the soul in Kabbalah, Judaism's mystical teachings. When one of the world's largest underground cemeteries opened on Wednesday, German artist Yvelle Gabriel saw his five "light spheres" for the very first time, hanging in immense catacombs some 50 meters (164 feet) below Jerusalem. The last time Gabriel was in the city he installed the prototype. The geometric lights are meant to hang in this newly built cemetery for a literal eternity — because the graves are here for eternity, too, as Jewish law prescribes. [ More ]

SOTHEBY'S Maqbool Fida Husain's "Blue Boy on Tree Top" (1969); Estimate $112,080 - $168,120 USD Following on from the success of the inaugural auction in Mumbai, Sotheby’s is delighted to reaffirm its commitment to South Asia by holding a second 'Boundless: India' sale on 15 November 2019 at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel. The sale comprises an exciting array of art sourced from collections across the Indian subcontinent and globally by an international team of specialists. ‘Boundless: India’ presents an opportunity for young and seasoned collectors to acquire museum-quality works from a variety of categories such as Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, Photography, Prints, and Design. The sale is led by a luminous masterwork by Vasudeo S. Gaitonde from the collection of actor and society doyenne, Sabira Merchant. [ More ]

VOX.COM By Constance Grady A man walks through James Turrell’s installation “Aural” at the Jewish Museum, April 2018. Photo by Wolfgang Kumm/picture alliance via Getty Images Earlier this year, Kanye West announced his intention to spend the rest of his career making only Christian music. And to establish the aesthetic of this new spiritual stage in his career, Kanye is turning to one of the world’s greatest quasi-spiritual artists: James Turrell, whose medium is light. James Turrell’s fingerprints are all over the work Kanye has been putting out in 2019. Kanye’s new IMAX movie Jesus Is King was shot at Roden Crater, the site of the magnum opus art installation Turrell has been working on for the past 45 years, which Turrell describes as “a gateway to observe light, time, and space.” “I look at light as a material,” Turrell said to Interview magazine in 2011. “It is physical. To the Quaker magazine Friends Journal, he describes his Skyspaces as “not that far from making someth...

T HE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS By Mark Mietkiewicz ketubah from The Ketubbot Collection of the National Library of Israel (Wikimedia Commons/Ketubbot Collection of the National Library of Israel/ The ketubah is essentially a legal document whose text can be a bit arcane (something we looked at last time). But for most couples, it is an enduring and unique piece of art and a remembrance of their special day under the chuppah. If you are considering having a ketubah done professionally, ketubah.com showcases the work of over fifty exceptional artists. After the wedding is over and you have hung your ketubah on your wall, Anita Diamant says don’t just admire your ketubah, read it regularly. Diamant quotes the Baal Shem Tov, the 18th-century founder of Hasidism who “advised couples to re-read their ketubah whenever they were fighting. [ More ]

S [eEDITION] Mat Collishaw's "The End of Innocence"  Mat Collishaw’s body of work explores suppressed desire, seduction and dark pleasure. With this exclusive new-media artwork, The End of Innocence, the artist presents a ghostly image that has been digitally manipulated. Upon a closer look, it oscillates between two appropriated portraits of Pope Innocent X—one painted by the Irish twentieth century artist Francis Bacon, and the other by the Spanish seventeenth century artist Diego Velázquez. The work was first created in 2009, where it was projected on a monumental scale. Here, it continually dissolves and reforms to create a smaller-scale striated image that is reminiscent of digital rain. [ BUY ]

HYPERALLERGIC By David Carrier Detail: Andy Warhol, “Jesus Statue” (painted between 1938 and 1941), paint on plaster; Jeffrey Warhola PITTSBURGH — That Andy Warhol was a lifelong practicing Byzantine (i.e. Eastern) Catholic is not a secret. At least one book is devoted to his religious concerns. His biographers and some critics note that most of the women and men in the Factory were lapsed believers. And he made paintings, especially late in life, with explicit Christian concerns. But because the contemporary art world has, at least recently, been a secular place, there hasn’t been much attention given to Warhol-the-Catholic. Some of the work in this show has not been much seen before, or even published. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Martha Schwendener Hank Willis Thomas’s “Unity” at Tillary and Adams Street, near the Brooklyn Bridge. Kyle Johnson for The New York Times Standing at the newly constructed intersection of Tillary and Adams Streets, near the exit from the Brooklyn Bridge, is a new, 22-foot bronze arm with the index finger pointing skyward. Commissioned by New York City’s Percent for Art program, the permanent sculpture was created by Hank Willis Thomas and is titled “Unity” (2019). Is this outstretched arm a new greeting at the threshold of Brooklyn, like the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor? “Unity” was originally called “We’re No. #1,” a more assertive title, perhaps recalling the historical competition between the boroughs that reaches back to the 19th century. “Unity” is a traditional and fairly conservative work, accompanied in the official news release by a statement that sounds politician-worthy: “This sculpture is a homage to, and celebration of, the unique and...

S [eEDITION] "Tristan's Ascension" (2000) by Bill Viola A new solo exhibition by Bill Viola is on display at Borusan Contemporary until 13 September 2020. The exhibition, titled Impermanence , is a satellite show presented as part of the 16th Istanbul Biennale. Impermanence is the first solo exhibition by Viola in Istanbul and features ten works from different stages of his career. Curated by Kathleen Forde, the exhibition brings together a number of thematically linked works by the artist, which explore the capacity of new media, in particular video technology, to extend our collective reflection on the nature of birth, death, fear, desire, reincarnation and reality. Viola’s work contains both enigma and clarity, and is both transcendent, almost religious in character, and rooted in the everyday. [ More ]

CNN REPORTS By Edmund D. Fountain Artist Dread Scott, second from left, marches through New Orleans. Scott spent six years planning the march in conjunction with other artists, historians and community members.Edmund D. Fountain for CNN Hundreds of people marched along the Mississippi River this weekend in a reenactment of the 1811 German Coast slave uprising, the largest revolt of enslaved people in the history of the United States. The performance, the brainchild of artist Dread Scott , was six years in the making and sought to reclaim the history of the uprising. In the river parishes outside New Orleans, the reenactors retraced much of the route of the revolt and concluded with a public celebration at Congo Square inside Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans. The reenactment was the first time the revolt has been reenacted at this scale. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Rick Rojas Performers in a reenactment of an 1811 slave rebellion marched through LaPlace, La., on Friday. William Widmer for The New York Times LaPLACE, La. — The rebels and slave owner were performers — actors, students, engineers and teachers who had been enlisted in the ambitious undertaking on Friday to recreate a rebellion in 1811 in which some 500 enslaved people of African descent marched from the sugar plantations along River Road to New Orleans. The 26-mile march, a re-enactment of the 1811 German Coast Uprising in southeast Louisiana, began Friday morning and will conclude Saturday. It was timed to the 400th anniversary of the arrival of enslaved Africans in Virginia, a moment that has ignited considerable reflection about the specter of slavery still hanging over the United States and the depths of its influence. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Richard Fausset Sammi Ross, rehearsing in costume for the 1811 Slave Rebellion Re-enactment, a 26-mile march along former antebellum plantations in Louisiana. Her great-great-grandmother was part of the original slave rebellion. “My family has been taught how to survive through everything,” she said. LaPLACE, La. — The New York artist Dread Scott was standing in a tiny traffic island in this working-class suburb west of New Orleans on a recent afternoon near the EZ Stop convenience store. He had come to point out a single sentence on a historical marker, one unheeded by the truck drivers barreling down Airline Highway: “Major 1811 slave uprising organized here.” “That’s the only marker anywhere in the United States, as far as I know,” Mr. Scott said, that mentions the largest slave rebellion in United States history. The remedy Mr. Scott is planning, for Nov. 8 and 9, is likely to be the most ambitious artwork thus far in his long career as a radical multid...

JEWISH TELEGRAPH AGENCY  By Alan Grabinsky London Underground: Brixton Station and Victoria Line Staff, 2019 (Courtesy of the artist and Art on the Underground, London; Anton Kern Gallery, New York/© Aliza Nisenbaum) Mexican-Jewish artist Aliza Nisenbaum sees a failure to communicate in the modern world — and her work as a way to counteract the dilemma. “The problem today is that we are not sitting with real people, face to face, we are shouting to each other on social media,” Nisenbaum says. She looks to fight this cultural tendency through her paintings, whose intense, sensuous color forces the viewer to inhale the humanity of her subjects. Influenced by the work of Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas and his theory of “the Other,” which is grounded in Jewish ethics of responsibility and humanism, Nisenbaum aims to portray the “back regions” of everyday life — a term coined by the Jewish sociologist Erving Goffman. [ More ]

ARTDAILY Fantasy (Under Sea), 1979, oil on canvas, 42.0 x 36.0 in._106.7x91.4 cm. NEW YORK, NY.- Madhvi Parekh’s art embodies an intuition of significance that is wholly relevant to a world in the grip of a global ecological crisis. She is an artist for our times. Susanne Langer, whose path-breaking work on aesthetics is again enjoying currency, thought that in a successful work of art "symbolic form, symbolic function, and symbolized import are all telescoped into one experience, a perception of beauty and an intuition of significance." Look at Parekh’s paintings. You will see, possibly in a flash, that they exemplify Langer’s great insight. Madhvi Parekh was born and grew up in Sanjaya, a village in the Indian state of Gujarat. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton Artist Anila Quayyum Agha looks at her piece "Intersections," which is part of the Philbrook special exhibit "Shadow of Time." digital editor Tim Landes IF IT'S SUNDAY, then there's a major museum somewhere in the world opening another exhibition of the work of Anila Quayyum Agha ( 2014 winner of Alpha Omega Prize ). Today in Tulsa, Oklahoma, her show " Shadow of Time " opens at the Philbrook Museum of Art. "I think that the more I show in places considered conservative states, the better. I think those are the people that we need to reach to tell them that we are no different than you," says Agha. Because her work is now in red state Oklahoma, Anila Quayyum Agha is our artist of the week.

PATCH MAGAZINE By Mira Temkin "The Four Questions" by Jacqueline Kott-Wolle Growing Up Jewish - Art & Storytelling is an exhibition of contemporary paintings and personal narratives by Highland Park artist Jacqueline Kott-Wolle exploring the key people, experiences, and institutions that shaped her evolving Jewish identity. Like many Jewish children who grew up in North America in the late 20th century, Kott-Wolle's connection to her Judaism was influenced by multiple generations, countries, and a Jewish culture always in motion. The exhibit will take place at Madron Gallery now through December 6, 2019, located a 1000 W. North Avenue, Third Floor in Chicago. [ More ]

SOTHEBY'S MAGAZINE Marc Jacobs with Ed Ruscha's "She Gets Angry at Him" (1974) in the foyer of his home. Auction estimate: $2,000,000–3,000,000. I was always really intimidated by the art world. I grew up in New York City and I spent plenty of nights with Jean-Michel Basquiat , Francesco Clemente , and a lot of the artists who were around in the 1980s. Other than an art survey course in high school, I had no art history knowledge. Around 2000, I went to a show of Mike Kelley at the Whitney. I just knew that I connected to his art for some reason. Later I went to this gallery show of Mike Kelley prints, and I called my friend John Reinhold, a great art collector, and said, “Oh my god, these prints are for sale.” He started teaching me about how one buys art. And so, that was my first purchase. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Show Us Your Walls By Hilarie M. Sheets Sanford Smith in his Manhattan home in front of a wood construction by Michael Zelehoski. Credit: Charlie Rubin for The New York Times When Sanford Smith talks about working in “show business,” he’s not referring to Broadway or Hollywood. Over the last four decades he has produced some 130 fairs nationwide, bringing together dealers in art, design and antiques. Art by early American modernists including John Marin , Charles Burchfield and George Bellows is mixed with contemporary pieces by Judy Pfaff and Michael Zelehoski and furniture designed by George Nakashima , Charlotte Perriand , Paul Evans and Ettore Sottsass . It’s the kind of eclecticism that Mr. Smith favors in his high-end show Salon Art + Design , now in its eighth edition and opening Nov. 14 at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. [ More ]

ARAB NEWS Nasser Al Salem's "Arabi, Gharbi (Blue)," 2016; Neon Installation DUBAI: Jeddah-based Saudi artist Nasser Al-Salem has revealed his latest project, which will be showcased in the UAE’s Al-Burda Endowment exhibition — organized by the UAE Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development — on Nov. 21. Al-Salem is one of 10 contemporary artists awarded the Al-Burda Endowment in 2018. The endowment is awarded to “artists who explore Islamic art practices and continue to work towards developing contemporary Islamic Art,” according to a press release. He has been hailed as “pushing the boundaries of Islamic calligraphy” for his habit of using mixed-media platforms to present his work. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Show Us Your Walls By Shivani Vora Leticia and Miky Grendene and their puppy Lulu at their Miami home with, from left, Seydou Keita’s large “Untitled” (1949-1951), and a portrait of Keith Richards by Sante D’Orazio from a 2002 Rolling Stone cover. Scott McIntyre for The New York Times MIAMI — The kitchen is where all the action happens at the waterfront home of Leticia and Miky (pronounced Mickey) Grendene. For that reason, they have used the large and inviting space as a canvas for their art collection, which is largely made up of photographs. The couple — he is 56 and from Italy; she is 52 and has Mexican-Puerto Rican roots — own Casa Tua, a restaurant and private club in Miami. The trove of photos in their home in the Bay Point neighborhood includes more than 100 pieces by artists as diverse as Irving Penn, Paulo Nazareth, and Seydou Keita. “Generally, we gravitate to pictures that are happy and uplifting and have some meaning to them,” Ms. Grendene said of...

TULSA PEOPLE By Tim Landes A Philbrook Museum visitor examines "Intersections," which is artwork created by Anila Quayyum Agha. It is part of the special exhibit "Shadow of Time." TULSA---A giant black cube hangs from the ceiling of Philbrook Museum of Art’ s Helmerich Gallery. A single small lightbulb in the center blasts light through an intricate laser-cut design resulting in the space-filling with shadows that create various patterns across the walls, ceiling, floor, and support pillars. It is an entire room turned into a stunning work of art comprised of shadows and light. Artist Anila Quayyum Agha looks at her creation titled “Intersections” as people walk around the installation taking it all in as patterned shadows cover their bodies. Beginning Nov. 10, museum visitors will be able to witness the awe-inspiring creation when “Shadow of Time” opens to the public. It runs through Feb. 16. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Nina Siegal “Typhoon as Elieser” by Humberto Tan, features Typhoon, a dutch rapper, dressed as a 17th-century servant. The photograph is displayed in “Dutch Masters Revisited” at the Amsterdam Museum.Credit...Humberto Tan, via Amsterdam Museum AMSTERDAM — Elisabeth Samson, an 18th-century freeborn black woman, made millions as a coffee planter and exporter using slave labor in the Dutch colony of Suriname. She was one of the wealthiest women of the era, but few people have ever heard her story. That’s why her image is one of 13 diverse portraits recently added to a collection of paintings of the city’s wealthiest trade groups. Before the additions, the Portrait Gallery of the Golden Age, as it was known, was a sea of all white and mostly male faces. It resides in a wing of the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam that houses part of the Amsterdam Museum’s collection. These photographic portraits, created using contemporary models in period clothes and sett...

SOTHEBY'S | EXPERT VOICES Francis Bacon's "POPE" (1958); oil on canvas; 77 1/8 by 55 7/8 in. In 1952, Francis Bacon found love. He would spend the next decade in a tumultuous relationship with the English pilot Peter Lacy, making frequent and extended trips to visit his lover in Tangier, Morocco. During these stays, Bacon produced a series of paintings reflecting his tortured affair, including the intensely emotional Pope . In this episode of Expert Voices, Head of Contemporary Art Grégoire Billault examines Bacon wrestling with his most iconic subject matter in a crucial stage of artistic development. Just one of six surviving canvases the artist painted in Tangier, this masterpiece has remained in the collection of the Brooklyn Museum for nearly forty years and will be a highlight of Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction. (14 November | New York) [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Hilarie M. Sheets George Condo’s new sculpture, “Constellation of Voices,” on the terrace of the Metropolitan Opera’s facade. Visitors to Lincoln Center Plaza may be dazzled or disoriented by the light bouncing from the 24-karat-gold-leaf surface of George Condo’s new sculptural spectacle, rising more than 13 feet on the terrace of the Metropolitan Opera’s facade. “Trying to find what it is that you’re actually looking at will be part of the visual excitement of the piece,” the artist said of his first major public sculpture, “Constellation of Voices,” which was unveiled on Tuesday. Mr. Condo, 61, is best known for his bold figurative paintings that blend old master techniques and cartoonish characters, capturing a range of emotions from many perspectives in a method he calls “psychological Cubism.” [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES By Martha Schwendener Agnes Pelton , a visionary symbolist, depicted her spiritual side in paintings such as “French Music,” circa 1917, at Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts, Tefaf.Credit...Rebecca Smeyne for The New York Times When the European Fine Art Fair arrived in New York and set up in Park Avenue Armory four years ago, it was enough to be exactly what it was: a fair that boasted European old master paintings and antiquities and catered to museum curators and high-end connoisseurs. Several years in, Tefaf is examining its clientele and tweaking its game plan. Among many of its 90 vendors, “cross-collecting,” or assembling private collections of art from different eras and categories, is a trend now, and Tefaf has responded by including 7 collaborative booths on its upper floor. [ More ]

ARTIST TALK MAGAZINE "Darkness" (2019); 11″ x 14″; Ink and watercolor on paper | Discover more Jessica Hancock art at www.jhancockart.com Jessica Marie Hancock (formerly Springman) is a visual artist producing highly-detailed drawings with strong geometric elements. The art produced is highly sophisticated, very detailed and clearly ordered. It is not created to be interpreted as "sacred" or based in any way on the principals of a mandala. There are similarities that people often point out, but that's the abstract nature of her work doing exactly what contemporary art is supposed to do - leave the viewer free to interpret the art from their own unique perspective - spatially, spiritually and emotionally. If they "see" answers to the mysteries of Life in her work, good for them. [ More ]

DALLAS MORNING NEWS By Dallas Morning News Editorial Movie poster for HARRIET which opened last Thursday nationwide It’s easy to look back on American history and cast aspersions. But it’s harder to recognize the complexity and uneven nature of history. It’s one thing to talk about the basic principles that we all should follow: That all human beings deserve to be free to live their lives as they see fit. That we all should be afforded the rich opportunities this country has to offer. There is no better example than Tubman. We’re particularly pleased that a new generation will get to learn about her bravery and perseverance with the movie Harriet that opened on Friday. Stunningly, it’s the first motion picture to hit the big screen that chronicles the remarkable life of this abolitionist, who fought for women’s right to vote and was on the front lines for the Union during the Civil War. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By  Gregory & Ernest Disney-Britton Artist Nick Cave poses with Gregory Disney-Britton during Chicago Expo 2019 Nick Cave was named the artist of the year this week by the Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts , but we want to talk about Naudline Pierre . Like Nick Cave and even  Kanye West , she’s an artist on a mission, and isn't that exciting? Both Cave and Pierre are masters of mixed colors, but Cave is an Old Testament messenger, while Pierre is more New Testament. This Sunday, we celebrate Nick Cave as our artist of the year for his righteousness, but also Naudline Pierre as our artist of the week for restoring our faith in gentle blessings.

SOTHEBY'S Zhang Daqian's "Clouded Village" (1967); splashed ink and colour on paper; 102 x 136 cm  In celebration of the 120th anniversary of Zhang Daqian’s birthday, Sotheby’s will present a large-scale solo exhibition, Zhang Daqian: The Master, from 12 October to 9 November 2019, at Sotheby’s Hong Kong Gallery. Co-organised by Xi Zhi Tang Gallery, the exhibition will feature nearly 60 paintings sourced from the artist’s family and private collectors around the world. This exhibition will encompass important works from different periods of the artist’s oeuvre, with an emphasis on splashed ink paintings, many of which have been featured in major exhibitions and some have never before been seen in public. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Kanye West’s ninth album, “Jesus Is King,” amplifies the religious themes that have always underlined his music.  Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Aba Last week, Kanye West released his ninth album, “Jesus Is King ,” and an Imax film of the same name. How is West’s turn to religious music viewed by those in the gospel music industry? This week’s Popcast features insights from a pair of gospel music insiders who discuss how West’s pivot fits into a broader history of pop performers seeking refuge in sacred music, the specific gospel music that’s sampled on the album, and the commonalities and differences between “Jesus Is King” and other contemporary holy hip-hop albums. [ More ]

THE NEW YORK TIMES Show Us Your Walls By Shivani Vora Alain Verzeroli poses for a portrait in his Manhattan home with, from left, Erwin Olaf’s “Irene” (2007), from his “Grief” series, and Cui Xiuwen’s “Angel No. 11” (2006). Credit: Brittainy Newman/The New York Times After long days in the kitchen, the chef Alain Verzeroli says he indulges in a “visual feast” to wind down. That involves communing with his art collection. “There’s nothing more relaxing for me than to come home and be surrounded by all the pieces I’ve so carefully collected,” he said, standing in the foyer of his Midtown duplex, gesturing at the works adorning the walls and tables. The French chef, 53, lives here with his wife, Isabelle Verzeroli, who is the vice president of marketing and communications for Cartier and his co-conspirator in art-buying. “Isabelle loves art, and I cannot buy anything without her liking the piece as much I do,” he said. [ More ]

ALPHA OMEGA ARTS By Gregory Disney-Britton Nick Cave is a Chicago-based performance artist, sculptor, dancer and professor of fashion. (ABC Arts: Teresa Tan) The Alpha & Omega Project for Contemporary Religious Arts named Chicago-based artist Nick Cave as its artist of the year for 2019, recognizing the impact of his art on religious and spiritual dialogue in America during the past 12-months. Determined by the online votes of supports/followers of Alpha Omega Arts news blog, the nominees are selected based on their national media coverage. Besides Mr. Nick Cave, voters also recognized Saint Louis, MO-based  Museum of Contemporary Religious Art for the 2019 exhibition, " MOCRA: 25 ." The project has been honoring artists and museums annually since 2008.