By Paul Laster and Renée Riccardo

Iris van Dongen’s ‘Suspicious’ - a survey show of the artist’s large-scale drawings from 2003 to 2009, recently on view at the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam - was a striking exhibition by a rising star on the international art scene. Born in Tilburg in 1975 and living and working in Berlin, Van Dongen mixes pastel and charcoal in her works on paper that portray gorgeous, gothic mistresses and femme fatales.

We only recently discovered her work when Paul photographed New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz alongside one of her pastels at the Armory Show. The figure in the drawing totally dwarfed him, and Van Dongen’s work forever stuck in our minds. We later discovered that she had shown in New York at Salon 94, a gallery run by our friend Jeannie Greenburg Rohatyn, but we had somehow missed that 2005 solo exhibition. (more…)

By Willum Geerts

I’m home. That is, New York has become my second home in recent years. The chaos, speed, energy, 24hr noise, the extremes in about everything: It’s completely exhausting, but it gives me a great boost. The reason for my two months stay this time is the invitation to participate in the Homebase Project IV: A site-specific public art project exploring the meaning of “Home”.

And as soon as I set foot in the city “home” seizes me, since the promised accommodation, due to our friend the crazy crisis, is not available. So there’s nothing more to do than start running around straight away, checking listings and visiting places. Hunting for a home, or at least, somewhere I will feel at home. After a week I finally find a nice place in Williamsburg, I never would have thought this would take so much time and energy. Mundane life can start especially after I dig up my bike out of a friend’s basement. The city is mine again. (more…)

By Paul Laster and Renée Riccardo

After spending 30 years in the New York art world and seeing galleries evolve into big white boxes with mostly unapproachable owners and staff, it was refreshing to recently visit Amsterdam’s intimate art spaces and find the owners and directors sitting behind the front desk which, in most cases, was the only desk.

In New York, size matters. The galleries that have the most clout also occupy the most real estate, particularly Gagosian, Paula Cooper, David Zwirner, Matthew Marks, Mary Boone, and Deitch Projects. (more…)