From left to right: Upcoming lots by Petra Cortright, Mike Kelley and Harmony Korine
Following last month's Chinese New Year celebration and honoring 2017 as the year of the Rooster, we're highlighting the particularly prescient inclusion of Mike Kelley's Cocks and Balls, 1988 in our upcoming New Now sale — and taking the opportunity to suggest selections based on the characteristics of each individual Chinese Zodiac sign.
Roosters are said to be hardworking, talented, resourceful and courageous — all traits that could describe the late artist Mike Kelley and his practice. Kelley's large-scale, wall-bound works made of glued and sewn felt, like the above Cocks and Balls, 1988, are important examples of skill and boldness. Kelley took up sewing as an adolescent in rebellious response to his father's desire for him to explore more stereotypically "manly" pursuits, and in these felt banners he challenges established notions of gender-normative activities as well as high art and craft culture. Also drawing from Modernist sources like Henri Matisse's cutouts and Alexander Calder's prints, these felt pieces are complex and subversive works that evoke a joyous primitivism.
Dogs, characterized by playfulness and an energetic spirit, will most definitely be drawn to Katherine Bernhardt's 4 Socks on Red from 2014, a distinctive example of her popular "pattern" paintings.
Boars, or pigs, are intellectual and gracious, but can also have gluttonous tendencies. This Zodiac sign will identify with Rob Pruitt's "more is more" approach in his glittery composition, Pa, 2001, depicting a pair of equally indulgent Pandas.
Rats, imaginative and innovative, will appreciate Petra Cortright's cutting-edge work, like the above Deep URL Submission, 2014, which is typically composed of images culled from the internet, edited in Photoshop and printed in layers on aluminum.
Patient and determined, Oxen will most certainly respond to the meticulous nature of Yayoi Kusama's practice and her work The Galaxy from 1991.
Tigers — sensitive, loving and bold — should be captivated by the message in Tracey Emin's neon work With you I want to live, 2007.
The late Rene Ricard's practice as both a poet and painter will appeal to Rabbits' sentimental and intuitive nature. His composition Metric Conversion from 1990 asks the question, "And should I care what he's doing when he leaves my house with all my clothes and all my money?"
Energetic Dragons will be drawn to Keltie Ferris' dynamic, fiery composition, The Producer, 2014, which juxtaposes hand-painted elements and gestures created via spray gun.
Snakes are graceful and cerebral, and no work in the sale encompasses those characteristic better than our cover lot, Tauba Auerbach's Slice V from 2013. Snakes won't tire of pondering the unique way this elegant work, from her "woven" series, occupies a territory somewhere between painting and sculpture.
Heroic Horses will be enticed by works that are heroic in scale. At 102 inches tall, Harmony Korine's monumental Clif Note Check from 2014 makes a bold statement. Pioneering Horses will also be tempted by the opportunity to own this, the artist's first major work to appear at auction.
Rams are defined by their characteristic elegance, but this Zodiac sign is also marked by shyness. Jiro Takamatsu's minimalist masterpiece from his signature series of "Shadow" paintings, Shadow No. 1439, 1997, is a beautiful, contemplative composition that will appeal to Rams' quiet sophistication.
Lively and funny Monkeys will be drawn to artists with humor at the core of their practice, and they'll find it in a cartoonish work from Peter Saul and John Pylypchuk's furry cast of characters, as seen in the above Trying to Kiss My Ass, You Must Die, 2001.
Visit our New Now sale on view at 450 Park Avenue, New York from 21 through 27 February.