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The principal medium of the superstar Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson is light itself. Is it any wonder he feels such a close connection with Los Angeles, a city whose clear skies and even light built an industry and drew sun worshippers from around the world?

“I do feel very excited about this particular show because I have had a long relationship with L.A.,” Eliasson tells The Hollywood Reporter about Open, his dazzling, immersive new exhibit at The Geffen Contemporary at Moca, part of Pst Art: Art & Science Collide, spanning 80 arts institutions throughout Southern California and on view until July 2025

Eliasson, who has had several major shows in Los Angeles over the years, says he was drawn early on to the “holistic approach” of America’s West Coast art scene, counting mid-century SoCal-based art legends like Robert Irwin, Larry Bell and James Turrell among his influences. “I felt immediately more...

In Body Of Truth Evelyn Schels explores the lives and works of Marina Abramović, Sigalit Landau, Shirin Neshat, and Katharina Sieverding Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

As the tenth annual Doc NYC Closing Night selection, Ebs Burnough’s The Capote Tapes (based on audio recordings by George Plimpton of Truman Capote) was screening at Sva Theatre 1, I attended the international première of Evelyn Schels’ Body Of Truth, screening in Sva Theatre 2.

Shot by Börres Weiffenbach (Margarethe von Trotta’s Searching For Ingmar Bergman), edited by Ulrike Tortora (Nina Wesemann’s Kids) and with a score by Christoph Rinnert (Schels’ Georg Baselitz), Body Of Truth explores the lives and work of four artists - Marina Abramovic, Shirin Neshat, Sigalit Landau, and Katharina Sieverding.

Marina Abramović with Klaus Biesenbach at the Gotham Awards for Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

At Cinépolis Chelsea, Evelyn Schels and producer Arek Gielnik (Isabella Sandri’s An Uncertain.

Alan Cumming, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lea Michele, Paris Jackson, and Eva Longoria were among those who gathered last night at Milk for the tenth annual amfAR Gala Los Angeles.

Gwyneth Paltrow attends amfAR Gala Los Angeles

The event paid tribute to world-renowned art dealer Larry Gagosian and Academy Award winner and founder and CEO of goop, Gwyneth Paltrow, who were presented with amfAR’s Award of Courage in recognition of their commitment to charitable causes including the fight against AIDS. The black-tie dinner and auction benefit culminated in a special performance by music sensation Christina Aguilera. Featuring Perrier-Jouët Champagne and signature Absolut Elyx Vodka cocktails, the event raised more than $1.6 million for amfAR’s lifesaving HIV/AIDS research programs.

Paul Andrew, Bobby Berk, Klaus Biesenbach, Dan Bucatinsky & Don Roos, Cyn, Christine Chiu, Eva Chow, Joy Corrigan, Kristen Crawley, Alexandra Daddario, Pauline Ducruet, Jay Ellis, Brad Falchuk, August Getty, Frankie Grande,...

Forty years ago in Los Angeles, the decision to invest millions in a museum dedicated exclusively to contemporary art — not to mention its formerly desolate downtown location, where the vibe was more apocalyptic than artsy — was a risky proposition. But now that the city’s cultural heart has shifted south of Hollywood, it seems visionary.

And thanks to the Museum of Contemporary Art’s new director Klaus Biesenbach, what once seemed bound to be a big flop was buzzy on Saturday night, with the Moca Benefit gala attracting an eclectic crowd that included punk rockers (Patti Smith) and politicians (Mayor Eric Garcetti) as well as pop stars (Katy Perry and Ricky Martin) and leading men (Keanu Reeves and Orlando Bloom) to its benefit.

“I’m excited about Klaus leading the museum because he has a vision and he’s someone who is willing to take risks,” said the Mayor of...

As Princess Eugenie celebrates her engagement to longtime boyfriend Jack Brooksbank today, take a look back at the first time she wore the floral black Erdem dress. She wore the garment for an August 2016 interview with Harper’s Bazaar, where she talked about what a day in her life looks like — including mentions of her husband-to-be!

Princess Eugenie may be daughter to Prince Andrew, cousin to Prince William and granddaughter to Queen Elizabeth, but it turns out, her life isn’t all that different from the average 26-year-old – or so she says.

In a new interview with Harper’s Bazaar,...

Princess Eugenie may be daughter to Prince Andrew, cousin to Prince William and granddaughter to Queen Elizabeth, but it turns out, her life isn't all that different from the average 26-year-old - or so she says. In a new interview with Harper's Bazaar, Eugenie shared what goes on in a typical day in her life, from the moment she wakes up in the morning to when her head hits the pillow at night. And yes, despite her royal status, the Princess of York's schedule is rather conventional: She goes to work everyday, she checks Instagram, she shops at Topshop and Zara,...

She’s one of the most expressive and devoted singers of her generation and Lady Gaga was recognized for her contribution to the art world during the annual Americans for the Arts’ National Arts Awards on Monday night (October 19).

The “Just Dance” diva received the Young Artist Award at the New York City shindig and was introduced by her friend and art mentor Klaus Biesenbach, a curator for the Museum of Modern Art.

Gaga gushed, "Thank you so much to all of you for honoring me today, because I don't think there is a single award that means more to me than this one. My name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. I am an Italian-American... I, over time, read so many books, watched so many movies, did so much art, met so many sculptors, filmmakers, poets, musicians, sidewalk artists that I invented something that was much stronger than I ever...

On Monday night, a tearful Lady Gaga received the Young Artist Award from the arts-education nonprofit Americans for the Arts at its annual gala at that cathedral of catering Cipriani 42nd Street. The award itself — a gleaming lapdog-scale Jeff Koons balloon dog — was presented to her by friend and art-mentor Klaus Biesenbach, curator-at-large for the Museum of Modern Art. He emphasized that she had done it all — millions of records sold, work on behalf of bullied youth, and not to mention a grisly turn in the current season of American Horror Story: Hotel — before the age of 30.Lady Gaga seemed especially touched by the fact that this august group was taking her seriously as an artist. The night was the culmination of her journey to co-opt the power of Art and channel it through herself — something she's been doing long before teaming up with Jeff Koons (who was also...

Kazuki Kitamura with Tamanojo in Takeshi Watanabe and Yoshitaka Yamaguchi's Samurai Cat

Two recently opened exhibitions in New York, Andrew Bolton and Wong Kar Wai's China: Through the Looking Glass at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960-1971 at The Museum of Modern Art, curated by Christophe Cherix and Klaus Biesenbach, have richly integrated film to magnify the experience, giving broader context to the work.

A sold-out special screening of Takeshi Watanabe and Yoshitaka Yamaguchi's Samurai Cat (Neko zamurai), which was shown in 2014 at the Japan Cuts Film Festival, was held last night in celebration of the second half of Japan Society's must-see Life Of Cats: Selections From The Hiraki Ukiyo-e Collection, closing this week.

Tamanojo, Samurai Cat, knows how to use what Paddington calls, "the hard stare."

Samurai Cat is a wildly entertaining warrior story about two clans at battle...

At the press preview for MoMA’s “Yoko Ono: One Woman Show,” the main curatorial force behind it, Klaus Biesenbach, quoted one of Ono’s poetic directives from her famous typewritten book full of them, Grapefruit: “Throw a stone into the sky high enough so it will not come back.” Maybe he was worried that this show might come crashing down on his (and the museum’s) head, like the Björk exhibit he did earlier this spring, to a chorus of critical derision. But the Ono show opened May 18, to pretty great reviews, and has helped reclaim both Biesenbach’s and, for that matter, Ono’s reputations.One of its many artifactual pleasures is the wall of framed typescripts from Grapefruit — 151 in all, often dated in pen. Ono had self-published 500 copies of the book version of it in 1964, four years before she and John Lennon got together, catapulting her...

Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960 - 1971 press preview at MoMA Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

At the press preview for Yoko Ono: One Woman Show, 1960 - 1971, the Museum of Modern Art Director, Glenn D. Lowry, introduced the co-curators, Klaus Biesenbach, Chief Curator at Large, MoMA, and Director, MoMA PS1 and Christophe Cherix, The Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings and Prints.

Yoko's exhibition includes nine 16mm films - Albert Maysles and David Maysles' Cut Piece, the John Lennon and Yoko Ono Bed-In from 1969, Match Piece (One), Eyeblink, Fly, Film No. 5 (Smile), Wrapping Event, Film No. 4, and The Museum Of Modern Art Show 1971.

Albert and David Maysles' Cut Piece (1965) Carnegie Recital Hall, NYC

The infamous The Museum Of Modern Art Show 1971 consists of interviews Yoko conducted in front of MoMA in 1971 about her Yoko Ono: One Woman Show - a show that did not take...

If there is one Instagram moment that captures the meta-weary strut of Art Basel Miami Beach and all of its attendant fairs, performances, and branding extravaganzas, it might be Klaus Biesenbach’s shot of Marina Abramovic at breakfast at the Edition Hotel on Wednesday morning, her hand on her forehead in a pantomime of exhaustion, skin glowing in the Florida light, which he captioned, “Omg it only just begun.” As of Friday morning, the photo had 1,309 “likes” and spawned two other less successful imitations on his feed (of Jordan Wolfson and Marilyn Minter), which he showed me past midnight on Thursday while he was emerging out of a deli near the Edition, where he was staying, too, holding a bag of late-night snacks, and I was on my way to a gay dance party in the hotel’s basement.He’d forgotten in the aftermath of the frenetic self-regard of...

He never seems to slow down, and James Franco was pleased to present his latest project “Child of God” at the Tribeca Grand Hotel in New York City last night (July 30).

The “Palo Alto” hunk smiled for the cameras and mingled with fellow attendees such as rumored love interest Lana Del Rey, who came to the event with Museum of Modern Art curator Klaus Biesenbach.

In addition to starring in the movie, Franco also wrote and directed “Child of God,” slated for limited release on Friday (August 1).

Per the synopsis, “A dispossessed, violent man's life is a disastrous attempt to exist outside the social order. Successively deprived of parents and homes and with few other ties, Ballard descends to the level of a cave dweller as he falls deeper into crime and degradation.”...

The Museum of Modern Art announced today that it will present a retrospective of musician Bjork’s career in 2015. The exhibition will follow the Icelandic musician, composer, and artist from her first album, Debut to her ventures into fashion and photography. Photos Oscars: 10 Most Outrageous Outfits The exhibition will feature a narrative, co-written by Bjork and Icelandic writer Sjon Sigurdsson, that is “both biographical and imaginatively fictitious.” It will also feature costumes, instruments, sound and film pieces to chronicle her illustrious career. The installation is being organized by Klaus Biesenbach, Moma’s chief curator at large. Photos Prankster

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Have you had enough of James Franco yet? Well, no matter what your answer, you're going to get more. Franco has become a renaissance man of art in all forms from painting to filmmaking and even some poetry in between. You might be wondering how a man who has been involved and linked to nearly three dozen projects on film and television alone has time for everything. And soon we'll find out. The Wrap has learned that first-time filmmaker Lisa Vangellow is directing and producing Franco: A Documentary, which will dive into a year in the professional and personal life of the Oscar-nominated star of all sorts of films. The documentary is already near completion, and will likely feature plenty of Franco's famous friends, collaborators and more. Friend and frequent co-star Seth Rogen has been confirmed to be in the film along with Klaus Biesenbach, curator of New York's Museum of Modern Art.

In addition to being seemingly everywhere all of the time, actor James Franco will now be the subject of a documentary. First-time director Lisa Vangellow began shooting Franco: A Documentary last June, capturing the actor's controversies in the art and academic worlds as well as his career in film and on Broadway, The Wrap reports. Franco's family and friends, including Seth Rogen and New York Museum of Modern Art chief curator-at-large Klaus Biesenbach, are expected to appear in the film. The documentary is currently in the early editing stages.

Who are the 50 Funniest People Now?...

It all makes sense now. Sort of. James Franco has been a willing subject in a documentary about his life for the last year. One of his film students at UCLA, Lisa Vangellow, is directing the nearly-completed film, which promises to “examine the incredible stamina and work ethic that James Franco possesses and how he incorporates this into his various areas of artistic interest,” according to Vangellow’s production company’s website.

According to The Wrap, Franco. A Documentary enjoyed access to Franco colleagues, including Seth Rogen and Klaus Biesenbach of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Curtiss Clayton...

Just in case you don't get enough of James Franco from his acting career, his directing career, his screenwriting career, his performance art career, his book writing career, his poetry, his angry, viral Instagram, or his myriad academic endeavors, fear not, more Franco is heading our way! According to The Wrap, a documentary focused on Franco from first time director Lisa Vangellow is almost complete. The film will follow a year in his professional and personal life, because apparently someone thought that he's not overexposed enough already.  "Franco: A Documentary" started filming in June 2013  and is now being edited by Veteran Curtiss Clayton, who is also cutting Franco's upcoming "Bukowski." Klaus Biesenbach, chief curator-at-large of New York's Museum of Modern Art, and Seth Rogen are also said to be featured in the film. Sadly, no word on any appearance from New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley, whom Franco called a "little bitch" after.

The documentary from first-time director Lisa Vangellow will follow the actor and hyphenate culture vulture as he faces controversy and hits Broadway

A documentary following a year in the life of James Franco is nearing completion according to The Wrap, after it began shooting in June last year.

From first-time director Lisa Vangellow, Franco: A Documentary will follow both Franco's professional and personal life, and will apparently feature Franco's actor friend Seth Rogen as well as the director of New York's Museum of Modern Art, Klaus Biesenbach.

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There's been a whole lot of James Franco out there lately, and we're about to be treated to yet another generous helping of everyone's favorite professional dilettante. According to The Wrap, a documentary chronicling "a year in the personal and professional life of Oscar-nominated actor James Franco" is on its way, courtesy of first-time director Lisa Vangellow. Franco: A Documentary started filming last June and is in the early editing stages. Sources close to the production told The Wrap that Klaus Biesenbach, chief curator-at-large of New York's Museum of Modern Art, and Seth Rogen are both expected to appear in the film, which will follow Franco's exploits in art, academia, theater, and film. Hopefully this project will finally allow James Franco's creative endeavors to get the publicity they deserve.

A documentary following a year in the professional and personal life of Oscar-nominated actor James Franco is nearing completion from first-time director Lisa Vangellow, TheWrap has learned. Also read: ‘Palo Alto’ Review: James Franco's Compassionate Look at a Teenage Wasteland “Franco: A Documentary,” which started filming in June 2013, will focus on Franco's controversial exploits in academia and the art world, as well as touch on his conventional film career and Broadway debut. Vangellow, who also produced the documentary, had access to Franco's family and close friends. Seth Rogen and Klaus Biesenbach, curator of New York's Museum of Modern Art,...

Philip Seymour Hoffman has Cate Blanchett's attention Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze In less than 24 hours, Blue Jasmine star, the incomparable Cate Blanchett, was honoured with a New York Film Festival gala tribute at Lincoln Center and a Sony Pictures Classics luncheon at Le Cirque. Blanchett was celebrated by friends and colleagues including Alec Baldwin, Woody Allen, Bobby Cannavale, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marina Abramovic, Klaus Biesenbach, as well as Jim Jarmusch, whose Only Lovers Left Alive, starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston has its Us Premiere at this year's festival.

At the luncheon organised with style by Peggy Siegal in celebration of Woody Allen's latest film last Thursday, Sony Pictures Classics presidents Michael Barker and Tom Bernard toasted the actress.

Cate Blanchett arrives at New York's Le Cirque for Sony Pictures Classics celebration of Blue Jasmine Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze "We're all here for the sublime Cate. Thank you for everything...

Rockaway Beach, a Queens neighborhood hit hard by Hurricane Sandy in October, is still rough around the edges. Five months later, houses near the water look abandoned, and the boardwalk is still in shambles. But weary residents received some great news on Friday, when they arrived at MoMa PS1's Vw Dome 2 next to the beach to see what was promoted as "a special performance": Patti Smith was the star of the show.

Andrea Gidder and Steve Fox, two Rockaway residents who have been living in the area since 1980, spoke to HuffPost about the large number of artists and curators who have recently moved to the area. "The community that's moved in here for the Renaissance of Rockaway has been terrific," Gidder said. "They didn't abandon us." Fox shrugged, saying, "They should've charged something and given it to the Rockaway recovery, but whatever!"

Klaus Biesenbach, director of MoMa PS...

This Saturday, during the first weekend of the New Directors/New Films festival at New York's Museum of Modern Art, it was announced that indie queen Tilda Swinton would be bringing back a 1995 performance that debuted at the Serpentine Gallery in London and went on to be performed in Rome and Paris. In the performance, "The Maybe," Swinton lays in a glass box with a sheet-covered mattress, pillow, eyeglasses and water. MoMA curator Klaus Biesenbach, who has kept a high profile recently after bringing Kraftwerk and Marina Abramovic to the museum (he is featured heavily in Matthew Akers' film "Marina Abramovic The Artist is Present."), worked with Swinton to mount her work this year at the MoMA. According to a report from Gothamist, Swinton will show up unannounced for a day at a time at the museum and museum staff will not know she is there until the day of a performance.

The 22nd Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards on November 26, 2012, began with a red carpet entrance by the filmmakers being honored into the ballroom of Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. I spoke with Marion Cotillard, Marina Abramovic, Jack Black, Mickey Sumner, and Sacha Gervasi.

In addition to the filmmakers for the competitive awards, career tribute honoree Marion Cotillard walked the red carpet. As the spokesperson for Christian Dior she looked glamorous in brand new House of Dior designer Raf Simons' very contemporary variation on Dior's famous 1947 New Look. Cotillard was thrilled to receive acknowledgment for her work in film.

Marina Abramovic walked the red carpet with Klaus Biesenbach, Director of MoMA PS1. When I asked her about the nominated documentary directed by Matthew Akers Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present, she replied: "We got really good material out of it. One year...

The 22nd Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards on November 26, 2012, began with a red carpet entrance by the filmmakers being honored into the ballroom of Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. I spoke with Marion Cotillard, Marina Abramovic, Jack Black, Mickey Sumner, and Sacha Gervasi.

In addition to the filmmakers for the competitive awards, career tribute honoree Marion Cotillard walked the red carpet. As the spokesperson for Christian Dior she looked glamorous in brand new House of Dior designer Raf Simons' very contemporary variation on Dior's famous 1947 New Look. Cotillard was thrilled to receive acknowledgment for her work in film.

Marina Abramovic walked the red carpet with Klaus Biesenbach, Director of MoMA PS1. When I asked her about the nominated documentary directed by Matthew Akers Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present, she replied: "We got really good material out of it. One year...

Madonna has been doing a lot more than singing on her Mdna world tour -- a series of concerts across Europe, South America and North America.

Besides flashing her nipple for a crowd in Istanbul and performing a striptease for Malala Yousafzai, the “Material Girl” mooned the crowd to raise money for Superstorm Sandy victims at her New York City concert on Nov. 12, according to eonline.com.

She told the Madison Square Garden crowd that she was, "showing [my] naked ass for Hurricane Sandy victims" and encouraged fans to throw money onto stage to raise money for those affected, according to eonline.com.

She added, "If you are going to look at the crack of my ass, you better raise some cash," according to the news outlet.

This isn't Madonna's first time pulling down her pants on stage. Back in June, she mooned her audience at her concert in Rome.

Earlier that day,...

The self-described “grandmother of performance art,” Marina Abramovic has for almost 40 years been one of the leading lights of a still-marginalized form. Born to ex-partisan parents in 1946, in the early days of Tito’s Yugoslavia, she is the fascinating subject of Matthew Akers‘ new documentary, Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present. Despite her international renown, the Belgrade-born, New York-based Abramovic failed to enter the public consciousness in the States until her blockbuster 2010 MoMA retrospective. Akers’ film is a sinewy tour through Abramovic’s peculiar life and working process as she embarks upon her most high profile performance yet, one that she hopes will finally push performance art out of the margins and into the mainstream. Mixing biography, interviews and vérité, Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present captures a snapshot of a high-art world in flux and one of its most ambitious inhabitants at the top of her form.

Akers is a veteran documentary cameraman,...

This week is a hard one for Kraftwerk fans. Only 450 tickets were available to the general public for each night of the German band's concert series at The Museum of Modern Art, aptly titled, "Kraftwerk – Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8." In order to find out more about the museum's approach to the music, we interviewed Klaus Biesenbach, the Chief Curator at Large at MoMA.

Called "the Museum of Modern Art’s most chicly perverse curator" by New York Magazine, Klaus Biesenbach is a man who makes calculated choices, though he claims otherwise. In a phone interview with HuffPost Arts, Biesenbach said, "As a curator you don’t conceive of anything, it just comes together."

Biesenbach grew up in the shadow of Dusseldorf, where Kraftwerk's Kling Klang studios was based. When he moved to Berlin, the curator started his own space, Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, and in 1996, the ambitious curator founded the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art.