new museum

Artist Chuck Close's Portrait Project with AOL

Filed under: Events, Art

Wednesday night the rooftop space at New York's New Museum was utterly jam-packed with artists, tech-heads and creative types, including Kate Spade and model Doutzen Kroes, celebrating the 25th anniversary of AOL (Luxist's parent company). Famed artist Chuck Close was commissioned by AOL to create portraits of innovators from the last 25 years. The first phase of this "Project on Creativity" was on display in the rooftop space while model-worthy servers made the rounds with Champagne and truffle mac and cheese on Lucite trays.

Close's literally larger-than-life portraits focused on the faces of Claire Danes, the Dali Lama, inventor Dean Kaman, Close himself and others, all done in the artist's typical documentary style. (The trouble was catching a glimpse of them through the thick crowd.) The photographs (and others yet to be taken) will be used in a campaign for AOL's 25th anniversary year.

How did AOL ever get hooked up with the renowned artist whose work hangs in the MoMA and the collections of many other museums -- and how is Kate Spade involved?

Tags: aols 25th anniversary, bowery hotel, chuck close, dean kaman, new museum, new museum of contemporary art, project on creativity

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Kiki Smith Limited Ed. Tote, Handbag of the Day

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags, Art

Kiki Smith, noted feminist sculptor and printmaker, teamed last year with Coach to produce a limited edition tote bag (only 100 were made), featuring original prints reminiscent of Smith's well known nature iconography.

The bag is crafted from natural canvas and trimmed in silver snakeskin.

First available at the Whitney Museum, where Smith had a retrospective in 2007, the bag has reappeared at the New Museum, where it retails for $1,500 (a $200 increase over its original price a year ago).

Source

Tags: coach, handbags, kiki smith, KikiSmith, new museum, NewMuseum

Elizabeth Peyton Exhibit Draws Crowds, Crosses its Fingers

by Tracy Chait (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

The New Museum has enjoyed a terrific response to its Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton exhibit, the first American retrospective of the artist's work, and two teeming floors of Peyton's Hockney-style portraits of cultural icons like Marc Jacobs, Kurt Cobain and Georgia O'Keefe.

And though the show has drawn huge crowds and notable press, the Museum is still hanging onto what could be its curatorial ace in the hole: a portrait of Michelle Obama (at right, via W) that will only join the exhibit if Obama wins tomorrow.

If that happens, Peyton's rendering of the brand new First Lady and her daughter Sasha would hang in good company -- featured works include a tender portrait of Jackie Onassis and John F. Kennedy, Jr.

See the gallery for more of what's currently on show. The exhibit will run through January 11. The New Museum is at 235 Bowery, New York, NY.

Gallery: Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton