Showing - 'The Spray Gun and the Cosmos' by John Latham @ Delave Saltoun - London

Representing a group of fairly funky artists (Colin Self, Dieter Roth, and Keith Arnatt to name but a few), Delave Saltoun is a relatively new gallery in London. The space specializes in post war British and international art, and this month is showing a rare collection from the late, great John Latham; ‘The Spray Gun and the Cosmos’. These works were last seen during the sixties, but to be honest, they're so current, they could have been created yesterday. And that’s just typical of Latham. He was such a quirky, radical kind of talent and, as such, is thought of as one of the most influential artists of the late 20th century. His techniques were extreme. His 'Still and Chew' collection was based around, well chewing and spitting. It’s a technique that must have worked pretty damned well as the works currently find home in MoMA.

Back to the Delave Saltoun show, and 'The Spray Gun...' pieces too are fairly revolutionary too, and are believed to be some the first examples of spay painting within fine art – and that can’t be a bad thing.

John Latham’s The Spay Gun and the Cosmos' is showing at Delaye Saltoun, 1st Floor, 11 Saville Row, London, W1S 3PG, from 29th February - 11th April.

Showing - Juergen Teller 'Ukraine' @ Lehman Maupin - NYC

He is that good. No really he is. Juergen Teller, his work is superb. It’s filthy, fabulous, grimy and great. It’s everything it should be and more. This month, if you’re in New York, you can check out his new show, 'Ukraine', at Chelsea’s Lehman Maupin Gallery. While this latest body of work was originally commissioned by the PinchukArtCentre for the 52nd International Venice Biennale 2007, Teller's stuck to a fashion vibe with a shoot for W. Also including ‘real people’, he's focused on capitalism within an economic reality, all hinged together with a sharp twist. Think lean, long and lanky, female nudes standing aimlessless in a wood with designer handbags covering their heads. In addition, there’s a selection of prime cut portraits that include usual suspects such as Victoria Beckham and other more quirky characters like Harmony Korine.

'Ukraine' by Juergen Teller @ Lehman Maupin, 540 West 26th Street, New York, from 7 February – 15 March 2008.

Showing - Various 'A Loaf of Bread, a Carton of Milk, and a Sick of Butter' @ Hudson Fraklin - NYC

The superbly entitled Hudson Franklin group show, ‘A Loaf of Bread, a Carton of Milk, and a Stick of Butter’, comes courtesy of curators Andreas Fisher and Nicole Francis. Pulling together the works of five hot, young artists - Anna Bjerger, Munro Galloway, Mairead O’hEocha, Anders Oinenen, and Alison Schulnik - the exhibition deals with ‘the relationship between representation and the basic material ingredients of the medium’. It's a pretty smart notion, so obvious it's unobvious; after all, that’s exactly what all art is about.

Now there’s one artist included here, who does this in spades; Alison Schulnik (Above: Fish Head, 2006). Her work is real ‘reach out and touch me’ type stuff. She slaps that paint on so thick it’s hard not to stick a finger into it just to see how it feels, not to mention whether it’s dry or not. And yes, I’m mad about her work. I think she’s a genius. Her paintings, frankly, blow my mind.

While I’m a big old Schulnik fan, it’d be remiss to leave other artists involved in ‘A Loaf of Bread…’ in the shade. Munro Galloway is another winner. While he’s gone through several guises over the past decade - everything from sultry video stills to fab Buddha shaped disco balls (Left; Shangri-La, 2000) - his work is continually inspired and, often rather intense (in the best possible way). Anna Bjerger is of the quirky Stella Vine school of thought, Anders Oinonen, cubic, and multi-coloured, while Mairead O'hEocha, detailed, stylised and figurative. Indeed, they are diverse and add perfectly to this eclectic, electric mix.

A loaf of Bread, a Carton of Milk, and a Stick of Butter at Hudson Franklin, 508 West 26th Street, #318, NY 10001, from 15th February - 15th March 2008

Showing - Vanity Fair Portraits @ National Portrait Gallery - London

There’s something hot happening at London's National Portrait Gallery with the aptly entitled Vanity Fair Portraits. Exhibiting a supernova stable of prints from the New York magazine, this show does exactly what it says on the tin. Works cover a 95 years of talent including Baron De Meyer, Edward Steichen, Man Ray, Cecil Beaton, as well as more recent luminaries such as Annie Leibovitz, Mario Testino, Helmut Newton and Herb Ritts. As you'd expect, their subjects are equally impressive and range from Claude Monet to David Hockney, Arthur Miller and Madonna, Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Run DMC (above) and Demi Moore. It's an incredibly mix; this is history, culture, fashion, music and arts, in one sassy punch.

Vanity Fair Portraits at The National Portrait Galley, St Martin's Place, London WC2, from 14th February – 26th May 2008

Showing - Jan de Cock 'Denkmal 11' @ MoMA - NYC

Jan de Cock, 'Denkmal 11' showing at MoMA, 11 West 53 Street, NY 10019-5497, from 23rd January – 14th April 2008

Previous - Dan Perjovschi 'WHAT HAPPENED TO US?' @ MoMA - NYC

"They way they rate it (cartoons) is lower somehow, but who cares, if I can do it at MoMA," Dan Perjovschi

Showing - Shara Hughes @ Museum 52 - London

Shara Hughes @ Museum 52, 52 Redchurch Street, London E2, from 31st January - 1st March.

Private View Review - Mark Quinn @ White Cube Mason's Yard - London

Mark Quinn’s work never really did it with me. I never quite got that whole Kate Moss yoga thing with 'Sphinx'. But I get it now. Today, I am a total convert - A fan of Quinn’s, a devotee to each and every one of his recent works, which were unveiled at the swanky west one White Cube Mason's Yard last night.

Now Quinn’s clearly got sex, birth and procreation on his mind; this show is all about human and plant style breeding. It’s a fantastic mix, one which Quinn’s given his all to, producing in a whole host of media’s, set out over three spaces of the gallery. Upstairs, in the first room, ‘The Nurseries of El Dorado’, was a real paradise jungle; four enormous hand painted canvases of brightly coloured flowers surrounded the floor space in between, which was covered with podiums topped by bronze, chrometized potted plants. Think shinny lilies, bearing fruit - strawberries, apples and large rather phallic giant jalapeños. Yeah, you get the idea. To a child it would look like the secret garden, to an adult, the secret sex garden – and it was frankly, breathtaking.

Downstairs, Quinn went back to marble, with nine enormous sculptures, depicting the various fetal stages of pregnancy. Now, that might sound a little icky, but believe me, there was nothing vulgar here. These, which are being sold as a set, were clean, solid and stunning. The embryos looked as though they were practically fighting to get out of the stone, while the grain of the marble was ideal, strangely flesh-like and alive. Finally, in the smallest room, Quinn included some working sketches; drawings in water colour and thick pencil, filled with energy and confidence.

Quinn is quite the funny guy. The works at White Cube have been dubbed with some dry, amusing titles like: 'Opening of the Northwest Passage', and 'The Lost Rivers of London' . Oh, and my favorite, 'Early Self-Portrait', a small pick marble fetus, of a stage when we all looked the same.

Mark Quinn @ White Cube, 25 -26 Mason's Yard, London from 25 January - 23 February 2007.

Showing - Michel Gondry 'Be Kind Rewind' @ Deitch Projects - NYC

Michel Gondry 'Be Kind Rewind' @ Deitch Projects, 18 Wooster Street, NY 10013, from
February 16 - March 22, 2008

News - Jeffs Koons Exhibiting at Versailles - Paris

Jeff Koons has made it to the Palace of Versailles. As an addition to the annual ‘Versailles Off’, from September 26 2007, he’ll be exhibiting up to fifteen works. Now, given that Koons is arguable the costliest artist around – this man has armies of artists working for him – I’m figuring, it’s apt that he’ll be showing at Versailles. With huge pieces placed both in and out of the palace, it should be quite the show. And you wouldn’t really expect anything less – and that, frankly, is not such a bad thing.

Showing - Yoshitaka Amano, Deva-Loka @ Galerie Michael Janssen - Berlin

Mr Manga himself, Yoshitaka Amano, is back with a solo show, ‘Deva-Loka’ at Michael Janssen in Berlin – which is, by all accounts, a fair distance from Amano’s Tokyo and New York homes. Still, that’s not to say his genius won’t be appreciated on European soil; it will. His work is international, and crosses all sorts of boundaries. So, it goes without saying, you don’t have to be a video game aficionado to appreciate ‘Deva-Loka’.

The works presented here are diverse. Think large canvases, aluminum panels, ‘psychedelic ornamentation’ and ‘grim superheroes’. While I’m not so sure about the ‘psychedelic ornamentation’, it’s too close to lava lamp for my liking, I’m always sucker for a ‘grim superhero’, and as for the canvases, well, going by the press images, they're bound to be pretty funky too.

Yoshitaka Amano, Deva-Loka @ Galerie Michael Janssen Berlin, Kochstr. 60 D-10969 Berlin, from January 19 - February 29, 2008

Alison Jacques @ Artera - Bologna

Showing - Global Lens 2008 @ MoMA - NYC

Global Lens 2008 @ MoMA, 11 West 53 Street, NY 10019-5497, from 10th - 24th January 2008

Denis Darzacq La Chute @ De Soto - LA

This month, there’s a superb slice of French action at LA's De Soto Gallery. Serving up the first US exhibition, 'La Chute', AKA The Fall, by France’s Denis Darzacq, this one, despite it’s content, is kind of slick. Influenced by the 2005 housing riots, Darzacq has photographed seemingly ordinary people floating, flying, and spinning round mid-air, as if catapulted during flight or flight. Documentary you might think, however, these subjects are hip-hop dancers and athletes. They are those used to getting spun above the nice firm ground. And that means La Chute is a little more staged than the average riot, and in that, a touch more classy and well worth checking out.

Le Chute @ De Soto Gallery, 08 W 2nd St. #104
Los Angeles, CA 90012, from January 12 – February 23 2008.

On a Street Near You - One Week of Art - Daisuke Yamamoto

Graff Production Line Euro-Style

Showing - Final Weekend by Martin Puryear @ MoMA - NYC

Showing - Jim Isermann 'Viynll Smash-Up 1999-2007' @ Dietch Projects - New York

Showing - Roswell Angier @ Gitterman Gallery - New York

He’s just too good. Too hot. Too much of an in your face mix of chicness, crassness, and general tell it like it is, funk. Yep, as far as I’m concerned Roswell Angier is a bit of a God. It’s the way he gets down low to street level and documents street life in a frank, honest, raw way. Of course his subjects are pretty enigmatic too. Think; labourers, strippers, hustlers and pimps. These are the people that make the world go round. They help keep society moving and grooving. However, just to add an extra helping of (old) spice, these are the original toe tappers from way back when Hustler was a baby. Indeed, this 70s, full-funk vibe has been caught perfectly in Angier's head lights. It’s all boogie nights and Larry Flint by way of Boston’s finest strip joints and burlesque clubs and is superb.

Angier's photographs are all gritty and raw and quietly sexed-up. While these prints may be in black and white, packed with big haired girls and sharp suited, shady looking guys, they’re continually relevant today. Because, nothing much really changes with society and its various sub-cultures, and although many of these folk may now be a little less agile, their legacy lives on through Angier; and that, to me, is golden.

Roswell Angier at the Gitterman Gallery, 170 East 75th Street, New York, NY 10021 from 18th May – 28th July.

Showing - MACO - Mexico

MACO (Mexico arte contemporaneo) kicks off this month with a whole mash up of works from a pile of international artists. Created by Zélika García, the enterprise is now in its fourth year and is growing by a rate of knots. Indeed, it is now one of the most important fairs in Latin America. This time round there’s over seventy galleries expected to exhibit. These include Washington's Connor Contemporary , which will be showing pieces from Erik Sandberg, Maria Friberg and Leo Villareal (Left; 'Solaris' (LED)).

Showing - Face Invasion - Galerie PremArts - Berlin

Showing - Group Show 'DC Dusseldorf Contemporary' @ Alison Jacques - London

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