Spot Challenge Pit Stop #6: Paris

20 January 2012
by Art Rubynstein

Out of all the cities on our crazy global tour, Paris probably feels most like home to us after New York. We’ve been there countless and countless of times, sampled every macaroon there was to sample, and visited practically every museum at least once. So the four-hour visit on Friday morning made us believe that the finish line and home was that much closer and realistic.

Gagosian on Rue de Ponthieu couldn’t be in a better location. It’s just steps away from the Grand Palais, neighbors with French Christie’s, and we still hold their recent Richard Prince show close to our hearts. A grand Parisian staircase and lots of natural light complement the vast three-floor space. The spots felt very serene here and the second floor mini-library of Damien’s dominance was fun to flip through as well.

We had to time to see other art but a stroll through the Tuileries led us to our second Kusama park installation of the trip (Beverly Hills was the first). We also had nice morning Meurice tea with fashion friends still in town for Paris Fashion Week (Givenchy and Galliano shows were scheduled for Friday night) and a champion’s breakfast at Angelina next door.  Then listening to Kanye and Jay-Z’s Ni**as in Paris we took a cab to Gare du Nord…one step closer to the English finish line!

Brazilian Biennial Babies

28 September 2011
by Art Rubynstein

Brazilian art momentum is rising. Just last month, Iguatemi hosted Steven Klein in South America, and now the brand is taking its art sponsorship many steps further. 219 works by the likes of Jeff Koons, Tom Sachs, Richard Prince, Nan Goldin, Matthew Barney, Damien Hirst, and many others, will be making their South American debut in São Paulo next week at the group show at the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art.

Sachs (who’s taking a break from his NASA mission for Creative Time), Nate Lowman, and Norwegian curator Gunnar Kvaran will all be stamping their passports in Brazil to fete the opening of the exhibition. And the works are in pretty big league. “The objective of the Biennal museum is to show what is happening in the world of contemporary art, and the Astrup Fearnley collection is one of the best examples in the world in this sense,” said Heitor Martins, president of the São Paulo Biennial. Sounds like good excuse to get a visa!

Luxe Condo!

26 January 2011
by Art Rubynstein

There are few notable events happening around the world these day: Sundance in Utah, award shows in Hollywood, and couture season in Paris. And yet, George Condo’s “Mental States” exhibition opening at New Museum and the dinner that followed certainly held its own. Condo attracted big names and some major momentum gains last night. Here’s a recap.

Condo’s most devoted fan: Kanye West, who flew in for the opening from Chicago despite dealing with the sorrow from the Bears elimination from the playoffs. But Condo did the art for the West’s last album and the Grammy winner told us he wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Condos most devoted fan (runner up): Marc Jacobs who flew in from his own show from Paris on Friday and the attendance at New Museum was one of his priorities with best friend Lorenzo Martone.

Power man faces in the crowd: John Currin, Jerry Saltz, Adam Weinberg, Richard Prince, Tony Shafrazi, Bill Powers, Klaus Biesenbach, and Julian Schnabel.

While Elizabeth Olsen is dominating Sundance…Mary Kate Olsen was busy checking out every painting at the museum.

Most popular dinner item: Fries that went fast at Balthazar that were quickly downed with champagne.

Photos – Nicholas Hunt / PatrickMcMullan.com