assume vivid astro focus. “alter visions after fatalities,” 2013. Courtesy the artists and The Suzanne Geiss Company.
In this week’s roundup, assume vivid astro focus brightens up the Armory Show, Barbara Kruger talks to Interview, Mel Chin has a major retrospective, Eddie Martinez and Rashid Johnson open new exhibitions, and more.
- assume vivid astro focus, working with The Suzanne Geiss Company, presented brand new works at The Armory Show (NYC) this past weekend. alter visions after fatalities comprised two paintings, wallpaper, and a neon piece. The installation was included in Armory Focus, a section inside the art fair curated by Eric Shiner, director of the Andy Warhol Museum.
- Mel Chin has a major retrospective exhibition up at the New Orleans Museum of Art. The title Mel Chin: Rematch refers to Chin’s continual process of self reevaluation. The exhibition will include approximately 75 works in drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, and video, as well as documentation of collective interventions and public works. The show is designed to reflect the artist’s artistic methodology and conceptual approach. Rematch is on view through May 25.
- Eddie Martinez‘s second solo exhibition at The Journal (Brooklyn, NY) is now on view. Eddie Martinez: Matador features abstract paintings based on a “loosely fixed” cast of characters. According to the press release, Martinez created various shapes that “point toward something familiar without ever pointing directly at anything particular: the red slab, the yellow column, the black spade, and floating cube of deep blue.” The show closes April 28.
- Barry McGee, Chris Johanson, and Laurie Reid have collaborated and created new work for an exhibition at their alma mater, City College of San Francisco. “By working and exhibiting together, they hope to highlight the imperative need for low-cost public arts education.” (Almost) Free Formed: Celebrating Old Days and Hoping for New Times at CCSF is on view through March 20.
- Rashid Johnson has a new solo exhibition at Ballroom Marfa (Marfa, Texas). New Growth features newly commissioned work, including video and a large-scale sculpture produced during the artist’s stay in Marfa. The exhibition begins with the question, “What would happen if Sun Ra, George Washington Carver, and Robert Smithson started a community together in the desert?” Johnson’s work is on view through July 7.
- Barbara Kruger was recently featured in Interview magazine. In candid conversation, she discusses her early days at Condé Nast, her eventual transition out of advertising, and her long-lasting art career. The piece provides interesting insight into the development of Kruger’s artistic practice.
- Marina Abramović is working with architects to design the Marina Abramović Institute for the Preservation of Performing Art (Hudson, NY). According to The Artery, “Abramović aims to convert a theater-turned-public-tennis-court into a showcase for her signature style of long-form ‘durational,’ physically and emotionally wrenching performance art.”
- Ai Weiwei is the subject of a new play that will premiere at the Hampstead Theatre (London). Written by British playwright Howard Brenton, the title of the play, #aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei, refers to the artist’s Twitter handle. Ai is a regular user of the social networking platform, and has repeatedly run into trouble with Chinese officials because of his online activism. #aiww is scheduled to run April 11–May 18.
