Artsy’s Holiday Wish List
Naughty or nice, at Artsy we work with 73,000+ artworks, and during the holidays we’d like to imagine that at least one could find its way beneath our respective trees. This year, for the 12 days of our holiday, we asked 12 folks from Artsy—including our founder, heads of each department, and sales specialists—to choose the one work they’d like to see tied up with string.
Carter Cleveland, Founder and CEO | Dieter Roth, Aus der Hand in den Mund (Pram), 1972
With the spectacular inaugural show at Hauser & Wirth’s Chelsea, New York, space this year, Dieter Roth is certainly an artist I would wish to add to my collection. This work, printed in 1972 in a 7-color process by the artist, who was known for his printmaking skills, captures the perception of the image. It reveals the artist’s process while also embodying a complex conceptual construct: a print of a photograph of a digital image—brilliant!
Sebastian Cwilich, President and COO | Davide Balula, Burnt Painting (\-I) - Imprint of the Burnt Painting (/-I), 2013I saw Davide Balula’s work for the first time at Art Basel in Miami Beach and at NADA Miami Beach. The artist creates a pattern of cedar planks, then burns the surface of the wood and creates an impression of the burnt pattern on a fresh canvas. I love the artist’s use of unconventional materials to create a “painting”. Galerie Rodolphe Janssen will be showing a new body of these burnt paintings in 2014.
Christine Kuan, Chief Curator & Director of Strategic Partnerships | Joseph Stashkevetch, Sanctuary, 2013
Joseph Stashkevetch’s gorgeous, monumental drawing captures a feeling of spirituality and wonder. It seems at first to be a documentary photo, yet upon closer inspection one gets the sense of the artist’s hand where the lines are blurred and sanded down. Can’t wait to get to his solo show at Denver Art Museum now through July 2014.
Matthew Israel, Director of The Art Genome Project | Tal R, Walk Towards Hare Hill, 2013
Tal R’s work reminds us to stop and look. His titles reveal little and his pictures appear strange. But his works are not impenetrable or ungenerous, superficial or ironic. Their strangeness, akin to that of the Surrealists, lures us in. It makes us question how we conceive of the fabric of reality and our complacency with that which is deemed familiar.
Rebecca Bronfein Raphael, Head of Sales | Chantal Joffe, Blonde with a Baby, 2012
Chantal Joffe’s massive portrait is composed of layers of bright colors and pronounced brushstrokes that blend together to create a somber portrait of a woman and a child. The entire painting glows from the neon pink underpainting that peeks through between the black-and-white zigzag of the woman’s dress, the baby’s hand, and the blonde’s deep setback eyes. I love how this painting links two independent figures who are each clearly isolated in their own worlds—it’s arresting and vibrant.
Marina Cashdan, Editorial Director | Nathan Carter, Data Collecting City is located at the base of Sister Six near the coast of the infamous Northern Shipping Route., 2013
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of visiting Nathan Carter’s Brooklyn studio, an incubator of childlike imagination and fantasy. Carter’s work recalls scenes from Richard Scarry storybooks and equally the drawings and mobiles of Alexander Calder—with his use of color, contrast, and of his wildly creative narratives, as seen through his fanciful cities. Data Collection City is located at the base of Sister Six near the coast of the infamous Northern Shipping Route., 2013, made with acrylic and enamel paint, color pigment, and ink on an aluminum panel, to me depicts a crisp and quiet winter night—the perfect complement to the holiday season.
Daniel Doubrovkine (dB), Head of Engineering | Alexandra Catiere, Celine, 2012
Alexandra Catiere’s photographs combine unusual simplicity, elements of time, and impeccable taste. Her work makes me pause. Alexandra is a Belarusian artist who lives and works in Paris. In some ways, I want to think that I feel what she feels taking these pictures.
Robert Lenne, Head of Design | William Moggridge, Prototype GRiD Compass laptop, 1981
The GRID laptop is a milestone in the design of technology. Not only was it the first computer to feature a screen that folded over the keyboard, but during the design process the then-young industrial designer Bill Moggridge realized that what was happening on the screen was as important to design as the physical object. Bill named this “Interaction Design” and started a humanization of technology that is still going on today. I’m very lucky to have had a chance to work with Bill before his passing last year. His work and spirit is a inspiration to me and generations of designers to come.
Michelle Finocchi, Head of Communications and Director of Media and Brand Partnerships | Llyn Foulkes, Installation: “LLYN FOULKES”, 2013
I would like a Llyn Foulkes rock painting. I saw his retrospective at the Hammer and then at the New Museum, where I had the wonderful opportunity to hear Llyn speak and play his famous “Machine”, which left a powerful impression on me. The exhibition has moved on to the Museum Kurhaus Kleve in Germany, and while I can’t have these color versions under my tree, I can dream.
Caroline Lau, Director of Operations | Carlos Cruz Diez, Chromointerférence, 2013
I tried this on at Design Miami/ after discovering it on Artsy and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Who wouldn’t love a work of art that moves with you throughout your day?
Alex Gilbert, Design Specialist and Content Partner Manager | Misha Kahn, Saturday Morning Series: Large Orange Mirror, 2013
I hope that Santa brings me one of Misha Kahn’s Saturday Morning Series mirrors. Kahn uses inflatable forms to slip-cast the resin frames and and hot glass poured over tinfoil to produce the bright and balloon-like wall-hung forms that offer a playfully obscured view of ourselves.
Elena Soboleva, Specialist | Korakrit Arunanondchai, Untitled (Pillow), 2013
Korakrit Arunanondchai has been an artist I’ve been watching all year. With shows at CLEARING Gallery and Suzanne Geiss, he’s been a recent obsession of several art folks, including the illustrious curator of PS1 Klaus Biesenbach who spent his Miami Basel week following Krit around and hashtagging the adventures on Instagram #inMiamiwithKrit. The Pillows, priced at $3,000 are functional artworks that combine his tie-dye paintings and activate any space. They are a lot of fun too and I got to hang out with Olivier of CLEARING Gallery on the pillows during the NADA install day.
What works are on your wish list? Share them on Artsy (and we’ll Tweet them to your significant others).