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Zoë Lescaze

Openings

13 Photos

The scene at the opening

Seven Adoptions in First Days of ‘Cat Show’ at White Columns

The walls of White Columns are studded with work by dozens of artists for its latest exhibition, “The Cat Show,” which is organized by Rhonda Lieberman, but at the opening last Thursday evening, stars like Andy Warhol and Matthew Barney played second fiddle to five homeless felines.

Visitors pressed their noses and smart phones against the chicken wire dividing them from the cats, who spent the opening exploring the amenities of their artsy enclosure, such as Rob Pruitt’s Zen Litter Tray (2013) and Jonathan Horowitz’s carpeted Cat Pedestal (2006). The crowd cooed every time one of the kittens did something cute, which was pretty often. By the end of the night, a dozen people had filled out adoption applications and by the end of the weekend, all five cats had found homes (as had two more that arrived on Saturday). While the gallery originally planned on only holding two adoption weekends, it will now host Social Tees Animal Rescue cats every weekend (except for that of July 4) during the show. Read More

Awards

The-Last-Day-of-Written-History-600x419

Abraaj Group Announces Five Art Prize Winners

The Abraaj Group Art Prize, which highlights artists from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, has announced this year’s five winners. This recipients of the sixth-annual prize include Abbas Akhavan (Iran), Anup Mathew Thomas (India), Bouchra Khalili (Morocco), Kamrooz Aram (Iran) and Basim Magdy (Egypt), who is represented in New York by Newman Popiashvili Gallery in Chelsea. Mr. Magdy’s most recent show there, “A Steady Progress of Nothingness,” closed last month on May 11. The winners, who were chosen on the basis of plans for new artworks, will create the proposed pieces for exhibition in the next edition of Art Dubai in March 2014. The works will be acquired by the Abraaj Group Art Collection.  Read More

auction woes

Untitled (1957), a painting attributed to Ivan Serpa that was one of ten works withdrawn from the Christie's sale. (Courtesy The Art Newspaper)

Christie’s, Philips Withdraw ‘Suspicious’ Works From Latin American Sales

Within a week of one another, Christie’s and Phillips pulled works from their Latin American sales after doubts were cast on their provenance and authenticity, The Art Newspaper reports. Christie’s withdrew 10 pieces by Brazilian artists from its sale (which took place on May 29 and 30) after various outside authorities on the artists’ estates expressed concern about the legitimacy of the works, which all stemmed from the Rio de Janeiro-based collection of Ralph Santos Oliveira. According to Mr. Santos Oliviera, he was selling on behalf of his grandmother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and cannot remember where she purchased the pieces in question. Phillips removed a work by Alfredo Volpi from its Latin American sale on May 23. Read More

Museums

Tom Finkelpearl and the Panorama. (Courtesy the Queens Museum)

Queens Museum Gala Garners Gift From Shelley, Donald Rubin

Tom Finkelpearl, the executive director of the Queens Museum, walked on water out to a point just south of Governors Island, where he stood towering above the five boroughs. As he delivered his speech, the 350 guests attending the museum’s annual gala last week stayed above sea level, listening from the glass walkway that wraps around the perimeter of the painstakingly detailed Panorama. “The community is here, the world is here,” he said proudly. “I’ve seen friends from China, India, Taiwan, Mexico—I’ve even seen people from Manhattan here tonight.” Read More

Happenings

12 Photos

THURSDAY | Opening: "On Looking" curated by Daniel Kingery at Kunsthalle Galapagos

12 Things to Do in New York’s Art World Before June 9

TUESDAY, JUNE 4

Panel: Ian Hamilton Finlay, “Ring of Waves,” at David Nolan Gallery
Prudence Carlson and John Yau discuss Ian Hamilton Finlay’s new show “Ring of Waves” at the gallery. The show is nautically themed, so I’m fairly certain all participants will be wearing sailor suits. That’s just what I heard. —Dan Duray
David Nolan Gallery, 527 West 29th Street, New York, 6:30 p.m. Read More

panels

Talking Ambition, Taking Apart ‘Lean In’: Six Women Tackle Gender Politics in the Arts

Even for the staunchest supporters of the cause, discussing gender inequity in the art world can get very grim very fast. Bleak statistics on gallery representation and auction records elicit (understandable) groans, and more time gets spent maligning the problems than working on them. Fortunately, the six women participating in last week’s “62 Years Later: Gender Politics in the Arts” discussion at Robert Miller Gallery avoided gloom, expressing optimism and frustration in near equal measure. In conjunction with the gallery’s Lee Krasner exhibition, three of the fiercest female forces in New York’s art world—RoseLee Goldberg, founding director and curator of Performa, artist Laurie Simmons and Anne Pasternak, president and artistic director of Creative Time—spoke about ambition and achievement along with Lauren Flanigan, an opera soprano and nonprofit director, Heather Watts, formerly the principal dancer in George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet, and moderator Sylvia Ann Hewlett, the esteemed author and economist. Read More