Weekly Roundup

An ancient proposition, a group of Modern women, life-restoring elixir, and more in this week’s roundup:

• Vancouver Art Gallery has organized Canada’s first solo exhibition of works by Season 1 artist Kerry James Marshall. The exhibition presents approximately 20 paintings created since the early 1990s. Vancouver Art Gallery director Kathleen Bartels says of Marshall: “[His] skill as an artist, his keen observation of other genres, and his acuity as a thinker have led to a twenty-five year practice characterized by historically informed explorations of the representation of the black figure in pictorial space, as well as investigations into the pretensions of the art world in which he participates.” Kerry James Marshall (co-curated by Jeff Wall) is on view through January 3, 2011. Read recent interviews with the artist in The Globe and Mail and National Post.

• Tonight from 6pm to 8pm, meet Season 2 artist Walton Ford at the Taschen store in Miami. Ford will sign copies of the trade edition of his book Pancha Tantra. Only 100 copies will be available. Reservations are accepted only via telephone order, on a first come first serve basis. Get more information about this event here.

• This is the last week to see two exhibitions of work by Season 5 artist William Kentridge in New York: Five Themes at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) ends today, and Sheets of Evidence at Dieu Donné closes May 22.

• Catch Season 4 artist Mark Bradford at MoMA on May 26. Bradford will be in conversation with Christopher Bedford, Curator of Exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts. MoMA director Glenn D. Lowry will moderate the discussion. Tickets are available online or at the Museum information and Film desks. (The first major survey of Bradford’s work is on view at the Wexner through August 15.)

• Works by Art21 artists Kiki Smith (Season 2), Roni Horn (Season 3), An My Lê (Season 4), Cindy Sherman, and Carrie Mae Weems (both Season 5) are on view at MoMA through March 21, 2011. Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography brings together over 200 photographs by women artists in the museum’s collection, charting the history of photography from the beginning of the modern period to the present. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with MoMA’s publication of Modern Women: Women Artists at The Museum of Modern Art due out next month.

• Resurrectine, a new group show at Ronald Feldman Gallery in New York, is titled after the fictive life-restoring elixir imagined by Raymond Roussel in his 1914 novel Locus Solus. The exhibition, according to the gallery’s website, “embraces the notion of transformation – the creative act of taking form, appearance, nature, character, or meaning, and making it new again.” More than fifty artists — including Art21’s Eleanor Antin (Season 2), Pepón Osorio (Season 1), and Carrie Mae Weems (Season 5) — are included in the show. From June 15 to 19, visitors are invited to bring in their old clothes, which will be “resurrected” courtesy of Junky Styling.

• Works by Josiah McElheny (Season 3), Blinky Palermo, and Heimo Zobernig are currently on view at Andrea Rosen Gallery. The exhibition, titled Blue Design, consists of three works, each of a similar blue tone, that relate through their use of architectural and design language, and the idea that color is “a narrative element of abstraction.” McElheny’s new sculptural work, Charlotte Perriand (and Carlos Scarpa), Blue, (2010), is a shelving design by Charlotte Perriand that has been remade in a deep glossy blue color. The shelves are filled with designs by Carlo Scarpa that have been reconstructed in blue glass. McElheny’s work connects to Palermo’s early exploration of material, narrative, and abstraction. (McElheny’s upcoming summer project at the CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art will coincide with Palermo’s retrospective exhibition, jointly presented by CCS Bard and Dia: Beacon.)

• The Cremaster Cycle (1994-2002), a five-part film by Season 2 artist Matthew Barney, will screen at the IFC Center in New York, May 19 through June 3. According to the New York Post, one reason to attend this screening is that The Cycle will never be available to audiences on DVD. Another reason is that “the films make for damn good viewing.” And if that’s not enough, the artist will make an appearance on May 20 at the 7pm showing of Cremaster 4 and 5. See all show times and purchase tickets here.

• On May 21 at 7pm, Barney will speak at the New Museum as part of the discussion series “A Proposition.” The artist will discuss his developing project Ancient Evenings and share the storyboards and video sequences for this seven-act performance. Purchase tickets here.

• In more Barney news, Carol Vogel of the New York Times reports that MoMA has purchased 50 percent interest in the “Drawing Restraint Archive,” the artist’s chronicle that began in 1987 and to which he continues to add. Read more.

• Season 1 artist Richard Serra has won Spain’s prestigious Prince of Asturias award in the arts. The Prince of Asturias Foundation described Serra as one of the “most relevant sculptors of the second half of the 20th century” and said his minimalist works were of “great visual power that are an invitation to reflection and wonder.” The prize includes a $63,000 cash award and a sculpture by Joan Miro.