Latest Ocula Conversation Artist Taloi Havini and Ruth McDougall, curator of Pacific art at Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art, discuss Havini's first Australian solo exhibition, Reclamation .
Latest Ocula Report Sydney Biennale Connects Here with Everywhere By Soo-Min Shim, Sydney 'This year's Biennale of Sydney seems like a corrective,' writes Soo-Min Shim, 'prioritising autonomy in an international exhibition format that has all too often omitted or sidelined First Nations artists.'
Ocula Insight Hell is a Place on Earth: P·P·O·W Looks to History in Context of Covid-19 By Stephanie Bailey, London In the United States, parallels have been drawn between the HIV/AIDS crisis and what is unfolding with Covid-19. These connections feed into P·P·O·W's online exhibition, Hell is a Place on Earth. Heaven is a Place in Your Head .
Established in Paris by French art dealer Almine Rech-Picasso in 1997 as part of a city-backed initiative on Rue Louise Weiss, Almine Rech is a leading institution in the field of contemporary art. Rech’s marriage to Bernard Ruiz-Picasso, grandson of the pioneering Spanish modernist painter Pablo Picasso, provides even more pedigree to the gallery’s work with the avantgarde.
Read MoreWith locations in five major art cities—Paris, Brussels, London, New York, and Shanghai— Almine Rech’s programme of exhibitions is large and international in scope. Founded with an interest in a combination of California Minimalism and Conceptual art, the gallery works with artists such as James Turrell, John McCracken, and Joseph Kosuth.
In less than two decades, Almine Rech rapidly spread its wings across the international art scene. In 2006 the gallery moved from its initial Rue Louise Weiss location to a larger two-floor space, more centrally located in the Marais district of Paris. In 2008 the gallery established an exhibition space in Brussels, which was followed in 2013 by the launch of a new Paris space on rue de Turenne. In 2014, the London gallery was opened on Savile Row in Mayfair—later upgraded in 2016 to a larger space on Grosvenor Hill, opened with a solo show by Jeff Koons.
2016 also saw the opening of Almine Rech’s first North American exhibition space on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, kicking off with an exhibition of the works of Picasso and Alexander Calder. The gallery expanded further in 2019, establishing a new Shanghai space on Huqiu Road. In conversation with Ocula Magazine’s Sam Gaskin, Almine Rech-Picasso explained that she set up this platform for showcasing gallery artists on the Chinese mainland, choosing the historic city of Shanghai because of the exciting ‘energy and dynamism of the art ecosystem . . . and how it is developing in an engaging and well-rounded way.’
While maintaining long-standing relationships with major artists such as James Turrell and John McCracken, Almine Rech’s mission is also to find, include, and help develop promising new artists, particularly—but not exclusively—in the field of painting. Alongside printed editions of its own newsletter, the gallery publishes an extensive selection of artist monographs and art books that enhance the public’s knowledge of represented artists, in conjunction with public talks and curated exhibitions.
Representing over 60 internationally recognised mid-career and emerging artists, predominantly working in painting and some small sculpture, Almine Rech’s artist roster is diverse. Alongside the large number of new and up-and-coming artists are several big names in contemporary art that formed the base of the gallery’s roster, such as Koons, Turrell, McCracken, Franz West, Richard Prince, Kenneth Noland, De Wain Valentine, and Markus Lüpertz. Rech’s interest in and interaction with Turrell in particular goes back to the first exhibition of Galerie Froment-Putman (which she co-owned) in 1989; presenting Turrell's light works for the first time in Europe, she explains, informed her approach of ‘taking risks and doing what I think is good.’
The big names on Almine Rech’s roster are joined by a diverse selection of mid-career artists including Alex Israel, Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Claire Tabouret, Farah Atassi, Gregor Hildebrandt, Brent Wadden, and Xu Qu. Holding to its mission the gallery gives prominence to rising talent in the United States and Europe, such as Sam McKinniss, Marcus Jahmal, and Genieve Figgis. The gallery also works with the estates of four influential modern artists: Agustín Cárdenas, Karel Appel, Tom Wesselmann, and Antoni Tàpies.
Maintaining a significant presence on the international art scene, Almine Rech participates in major art fairs across the globe. These include Frieze Masters, London; Frieze New York, London, and Los Angeles; Art Basel in Hong Kong, Miami Beach, and Basel; FIAC, Paris; Independent Brussels; artgenève, Geneva; Art Brussels; ZONAMACO, Mexico City; artmonte-carlo; West Bund Art & Design, Shanghai; miart, Milan; TEFAF New York Spring, New York Fall, and Maastricht; and ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair.
Exhibition view: Genesis Tramaine, Parables of Nana, Almine Rech, London (12 March—18 April 2020). Courtesy the Artist and Almine Rech. Photo: Melissa Castro Duarte.
Exhibition view: Allen Jones, Almine Rech, Paris (7 March–11 April 2020). © Allen Jones. Courtesy the Artist and Almine Rech. Photo: Rebecca Fanuele.
Ocula Photolog Art Basel Miami Beach 2019 'In Art Basel's American show, leading galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia show significant work from the masters of Modern and contemporary art, as well as the new generation of emerging stars. Paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs, films, and editioned works of the highest quality are on display in the main...
Ocula Photolog ART021 Shanghai 2019 'As one of the most important contemporary art fairs in Asia, ART021 reinforces its ongoing commitment to leveraging local recourses with a global perspective, supporting contemporary Chinese art andcultivating new generations of domestic collectors. 111 world's leading galleries from 18 countries and 57 cities are selected to present contemporary...
Ocula Photolog West Bund Art & Design 2019 'The fair provides a platform for international exhibitors to showcase the finest quality of modern and contemporary art in Shanghai. With exhibitions and art events offered by museums and galleries in the city, West Bund has made November's Shanghai a permanent fixture on the global art calendar.' –West Bund Art & Design, Shanghai (7–10...
Ocula Conversation Almine Rech-Picasso Goes Global By Sam Gaskin, Shanghai French gallerist Almine Rech-Picasso opened her first space in Asia on Shanghai 's historic Bund in July this year, bringing her eponymous gallery's total locations to five. The Shanghai gallery occupies roughly 4,000 square feet on the second floor of the three-storey Amber Building, a beautiful warehouse space, originally occupied by the...
Related Press Jean-Michel Othoniel and Johan Creten think big for their new Paris studio 19 October 2019, Wallpaper* A couple of decades ago, this writer's handbag 'disappeared' at the edge of Montreuil, a gritty eastern suburb of Paris once best known for its marché des voleurs, or thieves' market. In recent years, however, artists have been flocking to Montreuil, drawn by its proximity to the capital and affordable real estate. It's not yet Brooklyn, but...
Related Press How did artists’ multiples come to fetch multiple millions? 8 September 2019, Apollo The art market seems to defy most conventional laws of economics, but has historically obeyed the law of supply and demand, prizing the rare above what is easily come by, and the unique above all. Increasingly, however, even this principle is looking wobbly, as art that comes in multiples gains in appeal and value.
Related Press Why does the heart want what it wants? Desire at Imma 7 September 2019, The Irish Times Overwhelming passion, tons of sex, or a brand new kitchen: desire can manifest in many forms. When the book, des/Ire: Designing Houses for Contemporary Ireland , came out in 2008, the cover featured all three. A moody-looking man appeared to be about to shove a strawberry tart in the face (or cleavage) of an elegant model, who had for some reason...
Related Press CLAIM TO FAME 3 September 2019, ARTFORUM ABOUT SAM McKINNISS: He is so out of the ordinary, and so unusually well-equipped to write about himself if he cared to, that writing about him feels presumptuous. And truthfully, most of what's been written about my own work, including by me, has always seemed alien to what I had in mind. How something is made, and why something is made, is a...
Related Video & Audio GÜNTHER FÖRG: A FRAGILE BEAUTY 25 June 2018, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam presents a major survey of the work of German artist Günther Förg (1952–2013). 'A Fragile Beauty' explores the work of a rebellious artist whose oeuvre embodies a critical, witty, yet rigorous and penetrating critique of the canon of modern art.
Related Video & Audio Sam McKinniss I Want Your Attention 12 June 2018, Louisiana Channel Meet a rising star on the international art scene – the young Sam McKinniss, who paints portraits inspired by Google images of the juggernauts of popular culture, such as Prince and Michael Jackson. He wants 'big romantic subjects' held within one picture, and he wants your involvement: 'I want your attention – I'm a jealous lover.'
Related Video & Audio Taryn Simon on the art of mourning and how social media is shaping grief 17 April 2018, Wallpaper* Having gathered professional mourners from around the world to perform their laments in New York in 2016, artist and erstwhile Wallpaper* Guest Editor Taryn Simon is now bringing her groundbreaking artwork to London, opening this evening. We caught up with Simon in midst of rehearsals to talk about grief, performance and ephemerality.
Related Video & Audio George Condo The Artist at Work 14 December 2017, Louisiana Channel The mind of American artist George Condo has been referred to as a place where 'Picasso meets Looney Tunes.' Watch him at work in his New York-studio where he draws and paints his take on a 19 th -century painting by Manet.
