Weekly Roundup

John Baldessari. “Learn to Dream,” 2013. Courtesy of Arts Matter and the Los Angeles Fund for Public Education. Photo by Victor Treato.

In this week’s roundup, John Baldessari’s artwork covers L.A. buses; Kara Walker, Yinka Shonibare MBE, Carrie Mae Weems, and Mark Bradford say it loud in West Palm Beach, and lots more.

• John Baldessari‘s artwork now wraps around twelve metro buses in Los Angeles that have been redesigned to look like traditional yellow school buses. One side bears Baldessari’s saying “Learn to dream.” The other side bear the phrase in Spanish, “Aprende a soñar.” This public installation is part of the Arts Matter campaign for the nonprofit Los Angeles Fund for Public Education.

• Nancy Spero‘s work is on view at Galerie Lelong (NYC). From Victimage to Liberation: Works from the 1980s & 1990s is the first solo presentation of Spero’s work in New York since her death in 2009. It features female figures that run, dance, crawl, tumble, and strut across the gallery space. The exhibition runs through February 16.

• Kiki Smith will be the featured speaker at the annual Nasher Lecture Series presented by the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design. The lecture will take place January 29 at 7:00 pm. A limited number of tickets are available.

• Kiki Smith and Dr. Alexander Nagel of the Institute of Fine Arts will engage in conversation about the medieval manuscripts in Crossing Borders: Manuscripts from the Bodleian Libraries, on view at The Jewish Museum (NYC). Smith and Nagel will use their individual artistic and research practices to frame the discussion. The event will take place January 17 at 6:30 pm. Tickets to the event are free with museum admission.

• Kara Walker, Yinka Shonibare MBE, Carrie Mae Weems, and Mark Bradford have work in a group exhibition at the Norton Museum of Art (West Palm Beach, FL). Say it Loud!: Art by African and African-American Artists in the Collection features paintings, sculpture, photographs and works on paper by artists who either reside in Africa or are of African descent. All works are held in the museum’s collection, and span the 20th and 21st centuries. The show runs through March 3.

• Roni Horn‘s work is on view in Gespräche über persönliche Themen: Miroslaw Balka and Roni Horn (“Conversations About Private Themes”) at Galleria Raffaella Cortese (Milan, Italy). The double solo show features sculptures and portraits by the two women. Set up in the same room, they collide in an uncomfortable tête-à-tête. The show closes February 9.

• Louise Bourgeois, Mike Kelley, Marina Abramovic, Matthew Barney, and Paul McCarthy (among other artists) have work on view at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Edinburgh, Scotland). From Death to Death and Other Small Tales: Masterpieces from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the D. Daskalopoulos Collection includes many objects that have never before been seen in Scotland. The show explores the diverse ways in which 20th and 21st-century artists have approached the subject of the body. The exhibition runs through September 8.

• The Louise Bourgeois Church was commissioned in 1994 but remains a little-known pilgrimage site for lovers of the late French-American artist. Located at Couvent d’Ô (Bonnieux, France), the church houses a series of sculptures that Louise Bourgeois created specifically for that space.

• Hiroshi Sugimoto has designed Christie’s new Tokyo office. The space was unveiled in December 2012 with an exhibition of selected works by Japanese contemporary artists, as well as ancient and contemporary pieces from Sugimoto’s personal collection. In his spatial concept, Sugimoto has maintained the architectural details of the original structure and incorporated new wood and metal elements into the design.

• David Altmejd is one of the many artists included in the National Gallery of Canada’s Builders: Canadian Biennial 2012. Presented here are more than 100 recent and significant acquisitions by emerging and established artists who have been instrumental in shaping perspectives in Canadian art today. Builders is on view through February 18.

• Trenton Doyle Hancock‘s work will soon be on view at the Columbus College of Art and Design in the Canzani Center Gallery (Columbus, OH). The exhibition will run from February 4 – March 14.