Anish Kapoor "Temenos"

• England’s northeastern region of Teesside has been internationally recognized for embracing and commissioning large-scale public art. The newly unveiled Anish Kapoor sculpture entitled Temenos in the city of Middlesbrough is the first of five monumental works that will be installed in Teesside cities over the next decade. Upon completion, each piece will undoubtedly be in contention for the title of biggest public artwork in the world. Read more about the project here.
• The Hamburger Kunsthall in Germany is home to an exhibition of David Tremlett work called “Drawing Rooms: Wall Drawings for the Gallery of Contemporary Art.” Tremlett, a Turner Prize-nominated British artist, here creates geometric and architectural forms in colored pastel crayon directly on the museum walls, but samples of his photography and works on paper are also on view until October 31. Head to e-flux for further information.

Frank Aurbach "Mornington Crescent - Summer Morning"

• Eight paintings by preeminent School of London artists will hit the Sotheby’s auction block on June 28, giving collectors a rare chance to purchase post-war British art. Works like Frank Aurbach’s Mornington Crescent – Summer Morning and Lucian Freud’s Memory of London are expected to collectively sell for more than £3 million. For full descriptions of works go to Art Knowledge News.
• The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art has announced three new trustees: English diamond tycoon Laurence Graff, NYC real estate developer Edward J. Minskoff, and Wells Fargo executive Charles L. Conlan II – LaTimes.

Lester Johnson, "Crowd" 1967

• American Expressionist painter Lester Johnson died on the 30 of May in Westhampton, N.Y., his son Anthony has confirmed. He was 91 years old. Johnson was known for his bold figurative style, which has been variously described as “the poetry of congestion” and as having “an attitude of interrogation and anxiety.” Go to the New York Times website for more info on Johnson’s life and work.
• Sales figures for Sotheby’s early June auctions of impressionist, modern and contemporary art reached €31.3 million, surpassing rival Christie’s late May auctions of post-war and contemporary art, which made a mere €7.58 million. Picasso’s Le Repos du Sculpteur, an ink-and-wash on paper work, was the highest selling lot, fetching €3.64m. For more information go to The Art Newspaper.
• The Fondation Beyeler in Basel, Switzerland will host the exhibition “Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Specific Objects without Specific Form” until August 29. The show has a different take on the idea of “retrospective” – at each venue, the exhibition will be re-installed halfway through its duration by a different invited artist, a curatorial move that mirrors the themes of transience and fragility found in the work of Gonzalez-Torres. Head to e-flux for further information.

Koons with his Art Car

• Jeff Koons is the artist behind the 17th BMW Art Car, a powerfully psychedelic M3 GT2 that was unveiled at the Centre Pompidou in Paris on June 1. Koons is the newest in a prestigious line of artists like Lichtenstein and Warhol who collaborated with BMW on the project in the past. The car will race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France on June 12-13. Click here to learn more.

In this latest artist video profile, we get a unique opportunity to see Zachary Proctor’s studio, hear him talk about his work,  and watch him complete a painting from start to finish in just one night!

Stay tuned for new available works, fresh off the easel, by Zachary to be posted on the website soon! If you would like a sneak peek before they are posted online, please email us at info@mondofineart.com or sign up on our contact page and check Zachary’s name.

Special thanks to Miaken Christensen, the film maker, for doing a  fantastic job on this video, as with our other videos.

For more info on Zachary, click HERE

Bourgeois, "Temper Tantrum" 2000

• The Magazzino del Sale in Venice is home the exhibition “Louise Bourgeois. The Fabric Works,” the last show the artist actively participated in before her death on May 31. In addition to a piece from the giant steel spider series, Bourgeois’ lesser known collage and assemblage work and pseudo-sculptural “fabric drawings” will be featured. Read more at Art Knowledge News.
• With the nearly $1.75 billion cost of this month’s Fifa World Cup in South Africa, the country’s arts communities have taken a blow as the budget for the National Arts Council was reduced from $3.7 to a meager $1.8 million. “Artists have had to shelve their plans and feel let down at a crucial time when we should be highlighting the uniqueness of our culture,” said one Cape Town gallery director. The full article is available on The Art Newspaper website.

Brandon Anschultz, "Approximately 1350 Hours of Painting and 2 Hours of Woodchipping" 2002-2010

• Iranian artist and filmmaker Daryush Shokof, a “harsh critic” of the government ideologies in his home country, has been missing for 14 days. The longtime Berlin resident was last seen on May 24 boarding a train from Cologne to Paris. Associates have voiced fears that the Iranian regime might be responsible. More at ArtForum.
• Each year, Missouri’s Laumeier Sculpture Park features St. Louis-area artists in its Kranzberg Exhibition Series. This year’s showcase is devoted to artist Brandon Anschultz, and is entitled “Stick Around for Joy.” Anshultz describes his work as “an intersection of painting and sculpture,” responding to the rurally domestic setting of the Laumeier estate. Check out e-flux for more.

Hirst's "We've Got Style", on sale Sept. 25

• The corporate contemporary art collection of the failed Lehman Brothers bank will be put on the Sotheby’s auction block on September 25. More than 400 works by contemporary artists such as Damien Hirst and John Currin will be sold to help pay off creditors. The “provocative collection” is expected to fetch upwards of $10 million. Read the full story here.
• A legal battle is set to begin on August 2 between London art dealer Michael Hue-Williams and artist James Turrell. The lawsuit includes damages claims for “lost commissions,” and embroilment over the “grey books,” that establish authenticity for each Turrell artwork. Read more at The Art Newspaper.

James Turrell, "Tall Glass"

• English painter Rackstraw Downes, famous for his photorealistic landscapes and urban scenes, will be featured in three exhibitions this summer – two in New York and one in Connecticut – “providing a multifaceted glimpse into a lifetime of intellectually grounded and meticulous work and its place in the history of art.” Check out e-flux for further descriptions of the shows.
• The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington will mount a retrospective of French artist Yves Klein called “Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers,” through September 12. The exhibition features Klein’s famous monochromes, selections of his “Anthropometry” paintings, as well as early watercolor and photographic work. Head to The New York Times website for the full review.

Dorothea Tanning Costume Design

• New York’s Drawing Center presents two exhibitions devoted to American artist Dorothea Tanning, respectively titled “A Dialogue Between Visual Art and Performance” and “Early Designs for the Stage.” Tanning’s merging of visual art with performance, dance, and costume design are the focus. For more information go to e-flux.
• Russian collector Aslan Chekhoev and his wife Irina are opening St. Petersburg’s first private art museum on June 4, after spending five years assembling their collection of Soviet underground and Russian contemporary art. “Around 70% of our collection is comprised of important Moscow artists whose works are not well represented in our local museums,” says Chekhoev. Read more here.
• Los Angeles Times Art Critic Christopher Knight has two simple solutions for the low attendance at the Museum of Contemporary Art: changing operating hours to accommodate the city’s more nocturnal population, and abandoning general admission fees. Go to the LA Times website to read his convincing argument. In addition, a retrospective of late actor Dennis Hopper’s art and photography will be the inaugural exhibition for the new director of the MoCA, Jeffrey Deitch.
• A mural by British street artist Banksy was taken off display at a non-profit gallery in Detroit after threats of defacement and destruction. The work is a seven by eight foot, 1,500-pound section of cinderblock wall that was found at an abandoned car factory and removed by a group of local artists. Find out more at ArtForum.