It is hot in the city, very hot. So I imagine lots of skin at the Haunch of Venison opening tonight, which is perfect because my paintings are all skin. Haunch was nice enough to ask me to do a project along side Alexandra Grant, Doug Argue and Bill Fontana. Since the paintings are a peek into the most intimate of moments I figured why not also offer a peek into the often unseen activity and energy that ends up bottled in the finished works. All the chemist mixes on the table and splatters on the studio floor, the paintings living for awhile cozy, shoulder to “shoulder,” before their new roomier homes. The only studio witness, roaming, in form of trusted Labrador. The dreaded rolling of largest works (all went well thankfully). Paintings arrive at the gallery wrapped in a teasing gauzy haze of glassine and plastic. Propped against walls looking very much like the bodies they depict. The couple painted here are “putting on a show” so here are a few behind the scene shots.

Kelsey Brookes is a former biochemist whose work exhibits an interplay with figure, abstract forms and text.

Jasper Johns’ signature work “Flag” sold for $28.6 million at Christie’s last night, a record for the artist.

Swiss Institute presents historical paintings by Adolf Dietrich with recent works by Richard Phillips.

Mark Ryden’s “The Gay 90’s: Old Thyme Art Show” opened this week at Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York.

Emily Burns is a young artist working for Jeff Koons Studio in New York.

Crash – Homage to JG Ballard at the Gagosian London aimed to analyze how the British writer influenced a generation of artists.

Haunch of Venison presents a group show organized by David
Salle and Richard Phillips of works produced in the 1980s New York.

For almost the first time Marlene Dumas turns her hand to space, architecture, and most unusually still life.

Cheim & Read presents an exhibition of recent paintings, sculptures and works on paper by American artist Donald Baechler.

Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Guggenheim are both showing survey exhibitions of Picasso’s avant-garde in Paris.

Robert and Ethel Scull created a market for Pop, making it the occasion for lavish parties and the new face of art in the 60s.