Articles

The egg has always held particular symbolic significance, partly because it is a visual shorthand for new life and un-hatched potential. The egg brings hope and purity. It is a symbol of fertility and the circle of life. In some Asian cultures the egg is seen as a symbol of luck and wealth.

Following the recent revelation that Jeff Koons had used the work of a Ukrainian artist for the basis of his widely acclaimed inflatable sculpture at the Rockefeller Centre, Artdependence can reveal that a second piece of derivative work has been uncovered amongst Koons’ Antiquities series.

Recently, the saying "There is nothing new under the sun" has acquired unexpected relevance in contemporary art. The scandal associated with the sculpture "Seated ballerina" by Jeff Koons caused unprecedented resonance among both fierce opponents and devoted fans of the work of the famous American artist. The statue was erected near the Rockefeller Center in New York and was exposed as being a close copy of the porcelain figurine of "Ballerina Lenochka" by the Ukrainian porcelain sculptor Oksana Zhnikrup (1931-1993). Artdependence Magazine met with the grandson of Oksana Zhnikrup, Maxim Lozovoy, who told us about his grandmother, what she was like according to family stories, about her fate and creative activity, about the sensation around Koons’ statue, and his own views on what’s the scandal.

Pablo Picasso’s Femme Écrivant (Marie-Thérèse) Will Be a Leading Highlight of Christie’s Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale 27 June 2017

The upcoming Sotheby’s France Contemporary Art sale will pay tribute to the Parisian masters of abstraction.

The ‘largest volcano and earthquake exhibition in Europe’ is due to open June 1st in Hvolsvöllur in South Iceland. LAVA is dedicated to the country’s volcanic landscape and will explore the geographic makeup of the local area through a series of interactive exhibits and educational activities.

Yesterday late at night Artdependence received the following response from Lauran Rothstein from Jeff Koons LLC: «We are aware of Oksana Zhnikrup’s work and have a license to use it for Mr. Koons’s work».

Curated for the second year by Samuel Leuenberger, Director and Curator of SALTS in Birsfelden, Switzerland, Parcours returns with 22 site-specific artworks sited around Basel's historical Münsterplatz.

Jeff Koons latest installation at the Rockefeller Centre features a 45 foot high inflatable ballerina that bears as striking resemblance to a little known work from Ukrainian sculptor Oksana Zhnikrup. Koons received praise and admiration on May 12th, 2017 when he released a 45 foot inflatable version of his ‘Seated Ballerina’ sculpture at Rockefeller Centre in New York, but Artdependence can reveal that the work bears several similarities to a work known as ‘Ballerina Lenochka’ from the artist Oksana Zhnikrup and the The Kiev Experimental Ceramic-Art Factory.

Born in Portland, Oregon, artist Mike Berg has been interested in abstraction since the early days of his career. Feeling connected to countries such as Turkey, Uzbekistan and Armenia, Berg created his own form of artistic expression through geometrical abstractions created on tapestry.

Primavera De Filippi: "As an academic, I try to understand the current state of the world and I struggle to develop a theoretical framework that can explain the way things work. As an artist, I try to challenge the current state of the world, in a continuous attempt to expand the boundaries of is deemed possible today."

Anthony Gormley is a British sculptor. He is currently living and working in London and has received an OBE for his contributions to the art world. His best known work includes The Angel of the North, a large-scale sculpture erected outside Gateshead in the North of England. His recent exhibition ‘LIVING ROOM’ was shown at the Xavier Hufkens gallery in Brussels.

A total of 58 galleries from 13 countries will take part in the second edition of ARCOlisboa, 50 of which form part of the General Programme while 8 are included in the new Opening programme, dedicated to young galleries under seven years old.

Painted in 1914, Le Ville de Paris, equisse presents one of the artist's most iconic subjects and indicates Delaunay's revolutionary transition from his earlier Cubist style toward his initiation of the Orphist movement.

Contemporary Chinese surrealist painter and sculptor Zhang Xiaogang was born in Southern China in 1958. Often seen as Avant-Garde, Xiaogang’s artistic life has witnessed several important moments in China’s history, many of which are explored within his work. Perhaps the most defining brush with the political regime occurred during the early stages of Xiaogang’s life when he was brutally separated from his parents during the Cultural Revolution. They were sent to one of Mao’s notorious ‘study camps’, leaving him and his siblings behind.

Painted in 1909, Danaë is Egon Schiele’s greatest early masterpiece. It contains the first flowering of Schiele's unique vision and voice.

Artist Paul Buchanan was born in Glasgow and is currently living and working in the Netherlands. His work aims to explore the boundaries of the social, political and economic structures that contain us. He has a unique way of working with people and places, using responses and reactions to his work in order to shape their development. Paul Buchanan: "A lot of the time, people don’t know that they’re participating in my projects. It’s tricky making a piece of work and expecting people to participate. I suppose the way I work is to leave it open for people to participate in their own terms."

Ceric Samir, Art Coach: "I am an entrepreneur and disrupter in the art market aiming to change the fabrics of the art market that’s lacked transparency and serious and credible structure for centuries when it comes down to it being run as a business (perhaps with an exception of a few blue chip galleries and auction houses). I set up the world’s first art incubator and accelerator, Debut Contemporary, designed to assist ambitious and talented artists turn their practice into a viable business and a successful long term career."

Best known for her mysterious and delicate stories, Norwegian artist Anja Niemi expresses herself through the medium she finds most comprehensive – photography. Her latest project, titled “The Woman Who Never Existed”, was inspired by the words of the pioneering Italian actress Eleonora Duse. Eleonora worked in theatre, travelling the world’s stages alongside Sarah Bernhardt in the early 20th century. Unlike other actresses of the time who seemed to be constantly striving for publicity, she was private and introverted by nature.

In Matisse’s Music, created in 1910 to be hung in the staircase of a Moscow mansion, we see one of the artist’s last compositions of the human figure. It was created to be hung alongside a second, preceding painting titled Dance. The two works are colouristically linked, portraying red figures contrasted against a blue and green background.