Ellen Gallagher. “Deluxe 2004–5 (detail, Wiglette).” Courtesy Tate Modern. © Ellen Gallagher.
In this week’s roundup Ellen Gallagher plays on black vernacular, John Baldessari considers crowds, William Wegmen displays vintage prints, Ai Weiwei addresses his detention, and more.
- Ellen Gallagher‘s first major solo exhibition in the UK is on view at Tate Modern (London). Ellen Gallagher: AxME explores recurring themes in the artist’s work. The title of the show is, according to an article in The Guardian, “a play on the fictional Acme corporation that supplied Wile E Coyote with mail-order gadgets in the cartoon Roadrunner, as well as a reference to the African-American vernacular for ‘Ask me.'” Public programs scheduled in conjunction with the exhibition include “Afrofuturism’s Others” on June 15. AxME is on view through September 1.
- John Baldessari has collaborated with Mixografia on a show at ForYourArt (Los Angeles, CA). Works on view depict individuals gathered together in formation or haphazardly while captivated by the unknown. Soldiers, onlookers, harem girls, and a wide assortment of people become participants in an event that was undoubtedly defined before the artist altered the image. John Baldessari: Crowds runs through June 16.
- Ann Hamilton is half of a two-artist exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art (Lawrence, KS). Hamilton and Cynthia Schira were commissioned by the museum to create the room-sized works of art in An Errant Line: Ann Hamilton /Cynthia Schira. Using digital technologies to explore the essential nature of cloth and the ways museums organize and maintain material legacies, the artists considered the role of the hand and thread, and the meanings of gesture and notations. The show closes August 11.
- William Wegman has an exhibition at Marc Selwyn Fine Art (Los Angeles, CA). William Wegman: He Took Two Pictures. One Came Out presents the artist’s text-based black-and-white photographs from the 1970s. The show features vintage prints, as well as prints made from recently discovered vintage negatives. The exhibition is on view through July 6.
- The Artist’s Voice: Fred Wilson in Conversation with Lauren Haynes will take place at The Studio Museum in Harlem on May 30 at 7pm. The program will begin as a discussion about Fred Wilson‘s installation Local Color—originally created in 1993 for The Studio Museum exhibition Artists Respond: The “New World” Question—and then make connections between this installation and Wilson’s project Black Now. Seating is limited and RSVP is essential.
- Jeff Koons is showing a new series of sculptures at David Zwirner (New York, NY). Gazing Ball takes its name from the mirrored spherical ornaments frequently found on lawns, gardens, and patios around Koons’s childhood home in Pennsylvania. Their unique visual qualities allow viewers to see around corners while absorbing them and their entire surroundings. The exhibition continues through June 29. Read more about it in New York magazine.
- Ai Weiwei will display six fiberglass dioramas in a building on Giudecca, an island used as an art gallery by the Zuecca Project Space (Venice, Italy). Ai Weiwei: Disposition coincides with the 2013 Venice Biennale, though it is not officially part of the event. The artist’s dioramas depict, at half-scale, his daily existence as a captive of a vast government security apparatus. The show runs May 29–September 15.
- Ai Weiwei has released a heavy metal music video to express the trauma he experienced while held in detention. The video entitled Dumbass is online: