It is said that multiculturalism won the 2008 presidential election. So why does contemporary art in New York feel so unicultural these days? A decade ago exhibitions linking Africa and the Americas were not uncommon. They are now, though, which may be one reason that “S&M: Shrines and Masquerades in Cosmopolitan Times” at the 80 Washington Square East Galleries looks so fresh.
Technically it’s an adjunct to two shows of African textiles, one at the Grey Art Gallery a few doors away on the New York University campus at Washington Square, the other at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. But one glance is enough to establish that “S&M” is not just part of a larger picture. It occupies a planet all its own.
You know you’ve landed when you see “The Mothership Tranceformer,” a rainbow-hued patchwork tent by Xenobia Bailey. Part shrine, part home, part workshop, with a sewing machine outside its door, it is a component of a project called “Paradise Under Reconstruction in the Aesthetic of Funk” that Ms. Bailey has been working on for years. An Afro-futuristic vision, it owes as much to Sun Ra as to the quilters of the American South and tribal crafts.
But even before reaching Ms. Bailey’s house of many colors, you encounter other hybrid things. An abstract sculpture by Senga Nengudi made of pantyhose and wire looks like a many-breasted goddess sprouting from a wall. A rangy assemblage by Thomas McDonell and Richie Gergel, two young New York artists who worked together in Ghana, suggests an African power figure with a video screen for a face. (The New York Times)

For lovers of contemporary art the appointment in September at the Meeting Art auction house can be particularly appealing.  The experienced auction house, which has been operating in the sector since 1979, after a summer break, is proposing to the public a truly inviting September exhibition, with a particularly rich agenda and catalogue.
Meeting Art has decided to focus its attention on modern and contemporary art with an attractive menu of about 1300 lots, which will be proposed in 10 sessions spaced out throughout the whole month, from Saturday 6th to Sunday 28th September.

The agenda of art lovers in the month of September will be full of important appointments for the art market, with regard to both ancient art and modern and contemporary art.   Various sales will be held by the different international auction houses.  All ready to start a second semester wondering what it will be like.

Here you are the most interesing prices of last days.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

The auction that will take place by Sotheby’s in Milan on April 8^th is an unmissable date for all art lovers and collectors of contemporary art. The works that will go on show come from a private collection composed of about 150 pieces dating from 1953 onwards.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

The Italian publisher Rolando Pieraccini, who has lived for about thirty years in Finland, has become an Art Ambassador, or rather he has put into practice the important mystery of the intention of art as an extraordinary diplomatic medium. In his entire career as a publisher, in many ways Pieraccini promoted the cultural rapport between Finland and Italy, organising on one hand, numerous exhibits of Italian artists in Finland and viceversa. And what’s more, he contributed to the formation of relevant modern Finnish art collections in European museums including the Albertina in Vienna and Florence’s Uffizi Gallery.