Not True News From Banksy - UK

News - £5-million Collection Left to the Courtauld - UK

So, it’s been quite a week for art news; the best story concerning a so-called recluse, Dorothy Scharf, who recently passed away, leaving 51 artworks to the nation. Now, given that Scharf lived in a two-bed, ex-council flat, you’d think these paintings would be kind of average. Well, you’d be wrong. Scharf left a serious collection, valued at around £5 million, including pieces by Turner, Constable, and Gainsborough, to the Courtauld Institute. Needless to say, an upcoming show is in now in the pipe line.

A Lil' Something For You

Showing - Clare E. Rojas 'Sympathetic Magic @ Stuart Shave - London

News - Washington's National Gallery Stocks Up On Jasper Johns' - US

Back when I was a young thing at art college, one of my tutors told me that my work was similar to that of Jasper Johns. Now, I’m ashamed to admit, at that time, I didn’t know who Johns was (I know, shocking, shocking). However, who knows what planet my tutor was on, because my work couldn’t have been more dissimilar and, I might add, I have never painted a flag in my life. But that’s not to say my tutor didn't do me a favour (for once). She steered me in the right direction. She introduced me to his talents and I became a big old fan.

Johns is quiet the icon (he’s even appeared in The Simpsons) and his work, well, it's just superb. It’s just too cool, too gritty, so typical of our times. While his name evokes images of stars and stripes, his pieces transcribes across all sorts of boundaries, be they cultural or historic.

So, let’s cut to the chase. Here’s the Jasper Johns news; Washington’s National Gallery of Art will be adding around 1,700 proofs of his work to their esteemed vaults and walls. These pieces include lithographs, etchings, relief and screen prints. They artworks are worth millions and where they were hiding pre-National days, I haven’t a clue. All I know is I would mind a gander. I imagine the Gallery, at some stage in 2008, will be putting on quiet a Johns show, and who can blame them.

Showing - World to Mother's 'Dead Trees Yellow Leaves Cups of Tea' @ Stolen Space Gallery - London

Showing - Andreas Gursky @ Monika Sprüth Philomene Magers - London

Apparently the only music Andreas Gursky listens to is techno. He has this inkling for banging house music, as he feels, apparently, that its ‘simple symmetry’ reflects that of his work. For some reason I find this vaguely amusing; amusing in a kind of cynical, techno-ed out way. I think it’s probably because techno is so damn hard, and Gursky’s work is, well, rather serene. At least I think it is. And let’s be honest here, there is nothing remotely serene about techno. So where the pair get together, who knows.

Moving swiftly on, and Gursky’s work is something of an enigma. His mega-size photographs are filled with details; details of life and that which goes on around and about our little worlds. He’s got a thing for football pitches, supermarkets, architecture and crowds. Of course, these are all seemingly standard scenes. However, it’s the way Gursky shoots and presents his prints of 'standard scenes', which makes them stand out from the rest. Taken from from a high focal point, and printed in a massive format, these works are something else. They document our times. They tell it like it is; warts and all.

As Gursky holds the record for the highest price ever paid for a print from a living photographer ('99 Cent II Diptychon' sold for $2.48 million in 2006) it probably goes without saying, he's exhibited worldwide and has hung everywhere from MoMA to the Tate. This month he’s back on British soil with a show at Monika Sprüth Philomene Magers, covering work produced over the past five years. These pieces go down a more digital route for Gurskey and focus on ‘the 21st century as the age of a globalized, capitalistic society’.

Andreas Gursky is showong Monika Sprüth Philomene Magers 7A Grafton Street, London W1 from 22nd March – 12th May

Showing - Kristin Baker 'Surge and Shadow' @ Deitch Projets - NYC

Showing - Jeanloup Sieff, 'The Years of Harper’s Bazaar, New York 1961-1966' @ Galleria Carla Sozzani - Milan

The late, great Jeanloup Sieff was nothing short of a genius. His work was slick, sassy, sexy, and just packed full of style and finesse. He was a real old school photographic master. The type that makes Holly Golightly look crass and all too Hollywood. Needless to say, during his illustrious career he shot everyone from Jane Birkin to Alfred Hitchcok and Rudolf Nureyev. He exhibited worldwide, and won all sorts of awards including the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres in 1981 and the Grand Prix National de la Photographie in 1992. However, it was during the ‘60s, while working for Harpers Bazaar, that he made a major fashion splash, churning out prints that were both surreal and sophisticated. In light of all this fabulosity, this month Galleria Carla Sozzani presents 'The Years of Harper’s Bazaar, New York 1961-1966'. It's bound to be superb and frankly, if I was swanning around Milan, right about now, I'd be feeling a little ecstatic, shimmying about this exhibition.

Jeanloup Sieff, 'The Years of Harper’s Bazaar, New York 1961-1966' at Galleria Carla Sozzani, Corso Como 10 – Milano, from 10th March - 7th April.