Young & Tough

08 May 2011
by Art Rubynstein

Aaron Young opened his anticipated Built Tough showcase on Saturday at Bortolami and he didn’t disappoint. His Americana themed works ventured where the artist hasn’t gone before: full scale entrancing paintings, polished youth propaganda sculptures, and meaningful prints. He had plenty of support during the weekend as he co-hosted his opening and party with Nate Lowman at Jane , who also had a fair amount of stars and stripes in his show.

Young supporters: Jane Holzer, Tom Hooper and Tara Subkoff, Richard Phillips and Josephine Meckseper, Terry Richardson, Dustin Yellin and Linda Yablonsky.
Most supportive art girlfeind award: Young’s favorite woman, Laure Heriard Dubreuil who’s always smiling and wearing better clothes than others in the room
Guest who most resembled one of Young’s sculptures: James Franco
Jane hotel patrons in Young’s support: Waris Ahluwalia and Vito Schnabel among others
Best surprise: DJ Aziz Ansari taking over the bash

Rob Pruitt’s 2nd Art Awards: Jarring Preview of the Oscars?!

09 December 2010
by Art Rubynstein

In case you didn’t notice, second annual Rob Pruitt’s 2010 Art Awards got downgraded this year. Despite the fact that Guggenheim Museum partnered with the artist on the project, the dinner was relegated to Webster Hall last night – one of least tolerable event spaces in all of Gotham. Calvin Klein dropped their sponsorship, and meal was prepared by Roberta’s pizzeria. Yes, creating a legitimate art ceremony is tough, but despite the obstacles, we have to give it up to Mr. Pruitt. He’s on the roll this year. Aside from this giant headache, his recent joyful collaboration with Marc Jacobs at P.S.1 was a true (albeit brief) highlight of this fall. Pruitt did everything to get people through the door last night…and plenty of amazing art faces showed (hello Marina, Marilyn, and John!). But after three hours of award-giving, Glenn O’Brien’s light jokes, and James Franco’s crooning, everyone was still as confused as ever about the meaning and relevance of the event. Here’s the recap and the full list of winners…

Most unexpected Oscar preview: This year’s Academy Award host James Franco pairing with Kalup Linzy for a little number named “Asshole” (among others). Will Kalup ever make it to the Kodak theatre?

Most expected celebrity guest: James Franco. We love you James, but we think you kind of already earned your art street cred. Does like Justin Bieber want to collaborate with Matthew Barney or something?

Biggest relief: Absence of those awful, champagne light bulb trophies from the inaugural honors.

Biggest upset: Trisha Donnelly’s (Casey Kaplan Gallery) win in the Solo Gallery Show category over power showcases in Gagosian and Gavin Brown, that also works with Pruitt by the way.

Best prop: Few naked bodies on stage, paying tribute to Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present

Biggest category domination: Jerry Saltz, who already has two of these things thanks to his supremacy in the Critic category. Next year, Linda Yablonsky.

Heath Ledger Moment Alert: Wonderful Louise Bourgeois winning the big prize of the night, posthumously despite being the favorite LAST year. Marina Abramovic was thrilled with her deserving Solo Museum Show honor.

Most red carpet ready couple: Rachel Feinstein and John Currin. Beautiful Feinstein is totally channeling Cate Blanchett lately which is a great thing.

Rob Pruitt’s 2010 Art Awards honorees:

• Artist of the Year: Louise Bourgeois
• Solo Show of the Year, Gallery: Trisha Donnelly, Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York
• Solo Show of the Year, Museum: Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, Museum of Modern Art, New York
• Blogger or Critic of the Year: Jerry Saltz
• Curator of the Year: Chrissie Iles
• Alternative Space of the Year: Artists Space, New York
• Alternative Project of the Year: INDEPENDENT, New York
• Exhibition outside the United States: John Baldessari: Pure Beauty, Tate Modern, London (in association with Los Angeles County Museum of Art)
• Group Show of the Year, Gallery: Primary Atmospheres: Works from California 1960-1970, David Zwirner, New York
• Group Show of the Year, Museum: In & Out of Amsterdam: Travels in Conceptual Art, 1960-1976, Museum of Modern Art, New York
• New Artist of the Year: Tauba Auerbach
• The Rob Pruitt Award: Lena Dunham
• Lifetime Achievement Awards: Jonas Mekas and Martha Rosler.
• The Artist-Educator Achievement Award: Marilyn Minter.

Photo – EUGENE MIM/PatrickMcMullan.com

Hits and Meese at Miami’s MOCA!

01 December 2010
by Art Rubynstein

Miami’s MOCA opened tonight with their standard insane opening. Why so crazy? Well, it evidenced by thousands of guests (most were North Miami residents), police escorts, a giant garden party, and few huge names stacked in between. And we still love going all the way to 100-something street for the bash that gets things started every year. Here are the highlights….

Notables: Little Haiti exhibitor, Bruce Weber, Andre Balazs, Sante D’Orazio, and Linda Yablonsky.

Best poser award: Hosting artist Jonathan Meese who posed with just about anyone who asked while channeling his inner Zoolander at the same time.

Best outfit: Japanese performance artist Ken Hamazaki’s signature, scarlet ensemble…

Parting gift you can’t actually read: Italian Vanity Fair (night’s sponsor) along with every other edition.

Most devoted Basel schedule honor: Ingrid Sischy and Sandy Brant who are flying back to Gotham tomorrow (to host a Prada dinner), only to return to action in Miami on Thursday. And Brant is doing all of this on crutches!

Your Comprehensive Art Basel Miami 2009 A-Z Memory Box!

13 December 2009
by Art Rubynstein

It took us a whole week to process four fairs, fifty-six events, and hundreds of faces we’ve encountered in Miami during this year’s Basel. Here’s your complete A-Z guide to places, works, and names you should keep in mind until the next craze fest kicks in.

Altmejd, David. The Canadian (!) delivered and we all wanted to keep staring at that strange Glasswalker mutant.  Well done, Andrea Rosen.

Ben & Jerry’s. Yes, the ice-cream maker finally joined the performance art derby by having thousands of people peacefully dancing on the beach to a John Lennon number curated by Natalie Kovac. Cherry Garcia lovers were rewarded for their efforts with sweets.

Chow, Eva and Michael. Most diners went into for lobster with ginger and left with a pocketful of business cards. Deals were made, every big name artist paid a visit to a brand new eatery, and Larry hosted his own big dinner on Mr. Chow premises.

Deitch, Jeffrey. Sure, we enjoyed the booth (Shepard Fairey and Miranda July were very strong) but it seemed like everyone had an even better time at Jeffrey’s Santigold concert at The Raleigh. Could the music promoter be his next big job title?

Efron, Zac. Yes, the High School Musical icon made it to Basel thanks to Richard Phillips’ Five Most Wanted Men series. It was sold almost immediately.

Fernández, Teresita. One of Maupin’s brightest stars and a Miami native had a strong week: cocktail party in Setai in her honor, strong reviews, and good Chelsea show momentum.

Geers, Kendell. That “F&%!” disco ball was pretty cool to look at.

Hirst, Damien. You might have heard of this fella.

Irwin, Robert. Two strong works (at Pace and White Cube). At 81, he can still knock it out of the park.