the making of, by greg allen
Speaking of early 2000s color, surfing around on Wolfgang Tillmans birthday [HBD, King!], the sheer majesty of Tree Filling Window (2002) just leapt out of the grid at me. Weirdly, it didn t leave such an impression at MoMA, where the vibe was overwhelming. I do think it gains from Tillmans bulldog clip exhibition practice vs Continue reading "Tillmans Making Picture of Tree Filling Window"
When Daniel Joseph Martinez first installed The House America Built, his replica of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski s cabin, which was a replica of Henry David Thoreau s Walden cabin, at The Project in September 2004, it didn t quite fit, so he cropped it. Also it was split, like Gordon Matta-Clark s Splitting (1974). Kaczynski s cabin had become famous Continue reading "Martha Stewart Color Theory"
To have the kind of relationship with a dealer where they re always looking out for things, and when something comes up they know you ll love, they just email it to you, is a wonderful thing. So thanks, Larry, for the invite to explore a selection of newly available prints and limited editions online, and for Continue reading "Gagosian Shop Now: Richter Titian"
I had a jumpscare back in the spring, when I was looking at the frameless Wilhelm Hammershøi paintings Claudio Santambrogio sent, which Elmgreen Dragset showed at SMK in Copenhagen. It was from Inge Pollet s blog post about visiting the show in August 2019, but it wasn t from the show. In the Sculpture Street, the Continue reading "SMK Joint Custody"
In 1657, two years after discovering Saturn s moon Titan and accurately characterizing the planet s rings, the Dutch mathematical physicist Christiaan Huygens invented the pendulum clock, which was an order of magnitude more accurate than previous clock mechanisms. Huygens spent several years experimenting with pairs of clocks as part of a pan-European attempt to calculate longitude Continue…
This is the last week to see Ian Wilson s Circle on the Floor, Circle on the Wall, two 1968 works presented by Yoshi Hill at Camel Gallery in NoHo [by appt]. The circles are instruction-based objects, released in an open, numbered edition that closed at Wilson s death in 2020. They immediately preceded, and in some Continue reading "Full Circles: Ian Wilson Circles at Camel Gallery"
I m not sure I have anything to say about them yet, but I ve been looking at Peter Saville s color code from his New Order album covers, which he developed with Brett Wickens. The outer two rows of the color wheel on the back of Power, Corruption Lies is the key to deciphering the one- Continue reading "How Does It Feel? Peter Saville s Color Code"
Michael Heizer built Double Negative in 1969-70, and in the early days eyewitnesses were sparse. Curator Jan van der Marck told the story of visiting Double Negative and Walter de Maria s Las Vegas Piece on a Viriginia Dwan-organized junket in early 1970, blazing across the desert with German art volks in the back of Heizer s Continue reading "Michael Heizer Earth Art Ephemera"
It s been a minute since I watched videos from the Met s The Artist Project, and this time Nayland Blake discussing a Bamana boli from Mali landed differently. Part of that is my own deeper appreciation of Blake s work, especially their interest in specific forms of creativity or aesthetic experience that break with the artist/audience, object/viewer Continue reading "A Boli We ve Met"
Robin Pegrebin reports in the Times that soon after opening its debut exhibition in its swanky new wing, the New York Historical quietly removed 20 objects and replaced them with reproductions. The issue was light sensitivity; the director directed that giant, south-facing windows be uncovered, because blinds that protected the artworks and historic artifacts were Continue reading "Betye Saar…
Are you wearing the— The airbrushed T-shirt version of the 1974 artwork Lynda Benglis ran as a two-page advertisement in Artforum that sparked an editorial protest and eventually led to the founding of October Magazine, printed as an almost unrecognizably ethereal palimpsest on a sheer, beaded, short-sleeved dress in Jonathan Anderson s Benglis-inspired Dior Haute Couture Continue reading…
Rather than build an actual f ing arch the Emperor Maximilian commissioned a monumental print arch, which could be reproduced and installed all over. It was the only of his grandiose print projects that was completed during his lifetime. Albrecht Dürer and a workshop of least four other artist/printers spent two years producing 198 woodblocks to Continue reading "The Only Arch I Want To See"
Had a fascinating conversation with a scholar working on early 19th century American painting, and we talked some about George Catlin. Though I ve long been interested in Catlin s unusual and sometimes problematic career, I did not know about this painting. Catlin spent the 1830s exploring and painting Native American culture up the Mississippi and Missouri Continue reading "George Catlin, Floyd s…
While studying MoMA s Louise Lawlers the other day, this little snapshot-sized print loomed larger than it does in real life. At first Truck (1978) seems like basic street photography, out of step with the art-in-the-wild practice Lawler became known for. But then you realize the truck that gives the photo its name is in front Continue reading "Lawler, Buren, LeWitt"
There are 12 books in the Jonathan Anderson Dream Library. The titles are presented here as a selection of the 94 Dior products Anderson made by adapting the cover designs of their first editions. Except for the Ulysses by James Joyce Dior Medium Book Tote with Strap in embroidered cotton and calfskin, which greg.org hero Continue reading "From The Jonathan Anderson Dream Library"
While working on the previous Louise Lawler post and revisiting Harrison Kinnane Smith s Lawler-engaging show Tracings and Arrangements at Emmelines last spring, I dug up the images of the Permanent Art Collection of Brookfield Properties, the company that owns the Emmelines building now called 660 Fifth Avenue. The Lawler traced works on view at Emmelines, Continue reading "Lawler Guyton XX…
Louise Lawler s Pollock and Tureen (Traced), 1984/2013, is installed magnificently at MoMA right now, with three of Lawler s paperweight photos round about. It s a vinyl adhesive print of a vector file of an illustration by Jon Buller of Lawler s iconic 1984 photo, Pollock and Tureen Arranged by Mr Mrs Burton Tremaine, that invites consideration Continue reading "Tracing Louise Lawler Traced"
I kept thinking about Jasper Johns s plaster casts while seeing the Duchamp show at MoMA, maybe because Duchamp made plaster casts of body parts, and some of the best ones belonged to Jasper Johns. The plaster cast of a breast in a wooden box is the first thing in that gallery, and next to it Continue reading "Jasper Johns s Duchamp Casts"
I d hesitated to write about the mess created when Caroline Snow tried to sell a Banks Violette sign that he didn t consider an artwork, without the authorization of the artist or his gallery, on behalf of a landlord who didn t own it. I m not a potstirrer. This is not a gossip blog, much. Mostly, I Continue reading "FILL IN THE DETAILS DOROTHY"
Texting Hi Banks! I hope you are well. Is that Surrender Dorothy sign your piece? The owner of the property has asked me to help her sell it. is a helluva way to try to simultaneously authenticate an artwork and get an OK to sell it. Especially when you know full well whose it is, Continue reading "SNOW SURRENDER DOROTHY, 2026"