Modernity carries alienation and mistrust, as we are increasingly mistrustful of our senses. Beauty no longer carries the same weight as it once did, but eight artists attempt new reflections on the qualities and possibilities of “beauty”. Including Vanessa Beecroft, Chiara Camoni, Andreas Gefeller, Alicja Kwade, Jean-Luc Mylayne, Isabel Rocamora, Anri Sala and Wilhelm Sasnal. An Idea of Beauty will be on view until June 28 at Palazzo Strozzi, 50123 Firenze, Italy. Text and photography by Yanyan Huang. See more after the jump. (more…)

photograph by Terry Richardson

Inspired by Chekhov’s The Seagull with elements of Ginsberg’s Kaddish, BirdShit is a multimedia performance piece that combines theater, dance, video, live and pre-recorded music, and a few surprise elements. BirdShit has been commandeered by artist and musician, Nina Ljeti, choreographer, Chloe Kernaghan, and NYU Graduate Film students Joshua Richards, Zach Kershberg and Tine Thomasen, under the guidance of James Franco. Go here to donate.

Sprüth Magers London is delighted to present an exhibition of work by the iconic filmmaker and artist Kenneth Anger, in his second solo show at the London gallery. Icons will bring together an archive of photographs, scrapbooks, letters and memorabilia from Anger’s personal collection, offering an insight into the unique vision of an artist widely acclaimed as a pioneering and influential force in avant-garde cinema, whose influence extends through generations of film makers, musicians and artists. Icons will be on view until April 20, 2013 at Sprüth Magers, Address 7A Grafton Street, London. Photographs by Adarsha Benjamin – see more after the jump. [CLICK HERE....]

Legendary filmmaker Kenneth Anger at the opening of his exhibition of Icons at Sprüth Magers in London. photograph by Adarsha Benjamin

A selection of painters from 1960s to the present. Painters draw upon the past while experimenting with present challenges to image-making. Curated by Marco Bazzini and David Ferri. Works by Richard Aldrich, Mamma Andersson, Helene Appel, Michael Bauer, Luca Bertolo, Joe Bradley, Peter Linde Busk, Pierpaolo Campanini, William Daniels, Avner Ben-Gal, Thomas Helbig, Merlin James, Rezi van Lankveld, Katy Moran, Marco Neri, Alessandro Pessoli, Tal R, and Matthias Weischer. On view from March 24 to July 8, 2013 at Pecci Center for Contemporary Art, Prato. Viale della Repubblica, 277. Text by Yanyan Huang and photograph by Marco Annunziata

Swiss born, New York based artist Olaf Breuning holds his first solo show in Dubai with an exhibition called Camelops Femina, which is on view until April 30, 2013 at Carbon 12 Gallery. See more photographs after the jump. [CLICK HERE...]

Virtual auction house Paddle 8 is currently holding a sale to support Friends In Deed. The sale includes a number of recognized artists and works from the Friends In Deed archive, including some stunning photographs by David Armstrong, Cecil Beaton, Robert Mapplethorpe, Bert Stern and more. Friends In Deed is a crisis center providing emotional and spiritual support for anyone with a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS, cancer or other life-threatening physical illnesses, any caregivers, family and friends of those who are ill, and anyone dealing with grief and bereavement. All of their services are free of charge. Bidding is now open and ends April 8th at 3pm EST (sign up or registernow to access bidding).

Train Yourself to Lose is a new collaborative artist book by Dan Colen and Harmony Korine – poetry by Korine and paintings by Colen made with the brightly dyed deli store flowers seen all over Manhattan. Purchase here. See more photos after the jump. [CLICK HERE...]

Olaf Breuning is one of those mystical artists with a gift that is both totally innate and at the same time seems to involuntarily possess the artist – as if he were haunted by the immense creativity that overcomes him. This is evident in the art that he has created and presented in over 250 exhibitions, either solo or group, since his professional career started in the late 1990s. The Swiss-born, New York based artist, has created everything from creatures made out of rakes and cardboard, to films that explore the thin line between reality and fiction, bizarre photographic explorations, and installations made from kitchen appliances. Now, Breuning brings his phantasmagorical world to Dubai for the very first time with a striking and magical exhibition at Carbon 12 gallery. “Camelops Femina,” as the exhibition is called, is a fictional exploration of pre-conceived ideas and iconography that digs back 10,000 years in history to excavate an extinct species of Camel that once roamed North America. The images, which were created exclusively for this exhibition, are distinctly Breuning in the quotidian and strange manner of the composition of the photographs where models are dressed like desert sheiks or Bedouin gypsies to represent the imaginary extinct species of camel. This wonderful exhibition is on view now at Carbon 12 in Dubai. Pas Un Autre got a chance to speak with the artist himself in the following interview. [CLICK HERE...]