Blog

Hundreds of online attendees were recently treated to a spectacular hour-long conversation between the artists Tony Tasset and Michelle Grabener, courtesy of a Zoom webinar hosted by Kavi Gupta Gallery. The conversation revolved around Tasset’s current exhibition, The Weight, which opened in Chicago just days before the complete shutdown of the city due to COVID-19.

The exhibition features five new sculptures: Angry Sun, Crow, Ghosts, Snakes, and Eagle Head. The works all relate to a world in crisis. Says Tasset: “My art has always responded to the cultural moment, the current zeitgeist. The Weight was made in response to the current state of the world. Things are heavy.”

Anyone who missed the webinar can watch the full video below, or on Kavi Gupta’s Vimeo page.

South African artist Mary Sibande recently caught up with us from her home in Johannesburg, to let us know how she’s coping under lockdown, how the pandemic has affected her art making, and what her thoughts are about how her community is reacting to the rapidly changing conditions.

View the interview and more in our Viewing Room

Congrats Jeffrey!

Two works by Jessica Stockholder are included in Color Field at Crystal Bridges

We had the pleasure last week of attending the VIP premier of the exhibition About Face: Stonewall, Revolt and New Queer Art at Wrightwood 659. We were enthralled by the artist symposium that kicked off the night, which included captivating talks by Carl Pope, Harmony Hammond, María Elena González, Del LaGrace Volcano, Keijaun Thomas, Sophia Wallace, and Leonard Suryajaya.

Curated by Jonathan David Katz, PhD, Visiting Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies at The University of Pennsylvania and chair of the doctoral program in Visual Studies at the University at Buffalo, the exhibition features more than 450 works by more than 40 artists. Of special note to us was the selection of three paintings on view by our own Roger Brown. From the exhibition catalogue:

“Roger Brown was a leading member of the Chicago Imagists, a group of artists united not necessarily by style, but through shared beliefs, such as a rejection of Abstract Expressionism in favor of works with concrete imagery, and an interest in surrealism, comics, and advertising. Memory and experience always saturated Brown’s art and, growing up, he found himself particularly influenced by Art Deco design and the aesthetics of pop culture, which he incorporated into his work, often in a humorous or satirical way. In a style that echoes comic strips, his paintings frequently employ supersaturated colors and a bright palette, sometimes functioning as multi-framed stories with symmetry, gradient backgrounds, and silhouetted figures.“

We were also thrilled to see one of Nick Cave’s Soundsuits prominently exhibited on the main floor of the exhibition. Again from the catalogue:

“Nick Cave is a Chicago-based visual, performance, and sculpture artist and dancer who weaves his artforms together to create pieces that are never a single, easily definable object. He is perhaps most well-known for his Soundsuits: large, often colorful sculptural costumes made from found materials, both something to be worn, but also structures that refuse simple categorization. The first one was spurred by the Rodney King riots, a series of events during which Cave confronted his own identity as a black man. Forced to think deeply about the dangers of racial profiling, he began collecting objects that had also been discarded or deemed devoid of value. He would then construct a suit out of what he found, realizing that they were meant to be worn, and that they made sound. These “secondary skins” and “suits of armor” erase the race, gender, and class of the wearer, allowing a space for appreciation without judgement. Cave continued his exploration of the adornment of a surface with his paintings, which act as bas-reliefs that protrude from walls like sculptures. This ambiguity of form is intentional for Cave, who wants viewers to wonder what they’re seeing.”

Congratulations from Kavi Gupta to all of the wonderful artists who are included in this groundbreaking exhibition. About Face: Stonewall, Revolt and New Queer Art is on view at Wrightwood 659 through Jul 20, 2019. The exhibition is supported by the Alphawood Foundation.

Roger Brown at Museum of Art and Design NYC

A look at the prepartions for AFRICOBRA in Venice

Tony Tasset's Mood Sculpture installed at the Universtity of Kentucky.

Angel Otero featured in Artnet

Congrats Audrey!

The Goldsmiths CCA gallery in London is presenting HOW CHICAGO! 

Africobra inculded in the 2019 Venice Biennale!

Jeffrey Gibson curated into the 2019 Whitney Biennial. 

Congratualtions to Manish Nai on being featured on the Cover of ART India

Congrats Firelei!

Felix Art Fair is Coming Up!

Cry Baby In the New York Times

AFRICOBRA: Messages to the People opened during Miami Art Week

Kavi Gupta hosted its annual wine event for top collectors and curators at the Gates Hotel

Titus Kaphar was recently featured in The New Haven Register

Last week, "The Time Is Now! Art Worlds of Chicago's South Side, 1960-1980" opened at the Smart Museum of Art. 

Muses Opens at Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio.

An Article on Richard Hunt's Upcoming Georgia Museum of Art's upcoming exhibition.

AfriCOBRA 50, a retrospective, will open at Kavi Gupta Gallery at the end of September!

Scott Reader:  “How to Succeed as an Artist While Living outside of Art-World Capitals.” 

St. Louis-based fabric artist Basil Kincaid recently spent a week in the lobby of JPMorgan Chase & Co

Jeffrey Gibon: THIS IS THE DAY Opens at the Wellin Museum.

Review of Young-Il Ahn's Show in NEWCITY!

AFRICOBRA 50 opened last week at our Elizabeth Street location!

Richard Hunt's Special Olympics Memorial was unveiled outside of Soldier Field!

Great press just keeps coming about Jeffrey Gibson: Like A Hammer!

Jessica Stockholder gave the city of Basel, Switzerland, a beautiful assist this year at Art Basel 2018. 

Young-Il Ahn on the cover of the latest issue of Western Humanities Review!

Encouraging press has been coming out ever since Firelei Báez: Joy Out of Fire opened

Manish Nai: Capturing Time will open on July 28th at The Noordbrabants Museum.

El Centro Galego de Arte Contemporáneo (CGAC) Featured the work of Jessica Stockholder.

Tony Tasset's monumental outdoor sculpture Arrived in Cleveland this week.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, there are a few more days to experience The Let Go, Nick Cave’s spectacular performance installation at the Park Avenue Armory in New York.

We’re so proud of Firelei Báez for her contribution to this year’s Berlin Biennale!

 To Kick off the Blog we interviewed Kavi about the Gallery's history!