Desirable and symbolic, the icon of an artist embodies an individual who hones a clear voice or style that transcends their own public persona. Curated by Ralph DeLuca, ICONS of Contemporary Art showcases multifaceted works from living artists who challenge convention to evolve known paradigms of our time, and impact contemporary society through diverse and permeating transformations. Moving beyond being recognizable, the featured artists of ICONS exemplify aspects of greatness, influence, and boundary-breaking, both visually and conceptually. Each artist, vastly different and iconic in their own right, converges in an exciting, microcosmic survey of preeminent art. 
-Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art

The rather hifalutin’ verbiage, above, is Bellagio’s erudite way of telling us that with ICONS of Contemporary Art, esteemed art collector and advisor, Ralph DeLuca, has curated a bright, witty, and thought-provoking show, featuring paintings and sculptures by ten of today’s most exciting and coveted living artists.

It’s so good—I’ve heard one individual describe it as Las Vegas’s “best showing of available primary market contemporary art”—that DeLuca’s longtime client, Leonardo DiCaprio, attended the show’s opening during the Formula One weekend, as did such artworld mainstays as the prolific collector and lender, Larry Warsh; art organization strategist, Heather Harmon; actor, Lukas Haas; billionaire banker and real estate mogul, Andy Beal; Venus Over Manhattan founder, Adam Lindemann; and British billionaire collectors, philanthropists, and founders of The Zabludowicz Collection, Anita and Poju Zabludowicz (she’s an OBE, btw…)

So, with regard to the ten artists whose works comprise ICONS of Contemporary Art, I’ve whipped up this handy little primer, for you.  Enjoy!

ESTHER MAHLANGU [Ndebele, South African, b. 1935]—Untitled (Large Ndebele abstract) (2011); Untitled (Ndebele abstract) (2011); Untitled (Ndebele abstract) (2011); Untitled (Ndebele abstract) (2011); Untitled (Ndebele abstract) (2017); Untitled (Ndebele abstract) (2018); Untitled (Ndebele abstract) (2018); Untitled (Ndebele abstract) (2019); Untitled (Ndebele abstract) (2019); Untitled (Ndebele abstract) (2019); and Untitled (Ndebele abstract) (2019)—A favorite of Oprah Winfrey and John Legend, Esther Mahlangu takes the Ndebele tradition of mural-painting (handed-down to her from her mother and grandmother) from the adobe cow-dung exterior walls of houses, and brings it to canvas, using decidedly non-traditional acrylic paints in a bright array of colors.  Her use of geometry, pattern, and color is just fantastic!  These works by Esther Mahlangu appear courtesy of a private collection.

FRANK STELLA [American, b. 1936]—Bogoria IV (1971)—Whether you favor his earlier works of structured minimalism or those multicolored maximalist pieces from later in his career, there’s no arguing that Frank Stella’s works are among the most coveted by any American post-war artist who’s still working, today.  Stella’s Point of Pines (1959) sold in 2019 at Christie’s, for $28 million and change; and his Honduras Lottery Co. (1962) just sold last Thursday (November 16) at Sotheby’s, for upwards of $18.7 million.  This work by Frank Stella appears courtesy of a private collection.

GEORGE CONDO [American, b. 1957]—Sexy Sadie (2023); and Constellation II (2023)—“If Hopper had been a Cubist…” was my first reaction upon seeing George Condo’s Sexy Sadie, (2023), and I’m standing by it.   A one-time assistant to Andy Warhol (for whom he would spend all day ”diamond dusting, silk screening, and trashing probably billions of dollars worth of reject prints”), Condo was a contemporary of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Kenny Scharf, and is credited with them for the renewed popularity in painting that began in the 1980s.  Both his paintings and his more recent sculptures utilize a unique hybridization of humor with his signature bizarre and distorted human figures (described by Condo as “Psychological Cubism”) wherein even the most monstrous subject elicits a smile.   His Nude and Forms (2014) sold at Christie’s in 2018, for 6.16 million.  These works by George Condo appear courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth.

GHADA AMER [Egyptian-American, b. 1963]—Baisers #2 (2011-12); The Heart (2012); and Twins (2023)—Best known for her embroidered paintings wherein she finds a pornographic image and stitches an outline of the subject onto canvas, knotting the long threads she uses, and securing them to the surface with transparent gel, Ghada Amer’s paintings juxtapose traditionally female skill of sewing with the male gaze (not to mention the historically masculine medium of painting).  Her globular form sculptures, meanwhile, explore how simply adjusting modalities such as shapes, colors, and lines can bring about any number of results to a work’s design and composition.  These works by Ghada Amer appear courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York and Aspen).

GINA BEAVERS [Greek, b. 1974]— Fiji Nails by Krocaine (2022); and Invisible Lip Tutorial (2022)—Using social media as a lens through which she observes popular culture, Gina Beavers’s work (whether her paintings or pastel drawings) shines a light on the rise in conformity through the seemingly infinite onslaught of curated feeds full of edited selfies and well-lit food images.  And if Beavers’s Fiji Nails by Krocaine (2022) doesn’t immediately bring to mind the TBS series Claws, then you might consider getting a television in your bedroom.  These works by Gina Beavers appear courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York and Aspen).

THE HAAS BROTHERS [American, b. 1984]—Tallmala Harris (2020)—Regardless of whether you think their fantastical creations are art or décor (and really: if you like it, what does it matter?), what’s endeared twins Nikolai and Simon Haas, better known as The Haas Brothers, to the likes of Tobey Maguire, Lady Gaga, and Donatella Versace is the way their work speaks to the nostalgic heart of Generation X, drawing inspiration from Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax, and the Pixar film, Monsters, Inc., among others.  Fun?  Certainly.  Absurd?  Absolutely.  And yet, they invariably spark so much joy that even Marie Kondo would walk by one and think, “Yeah, let’s leave that right where it is.”  This work by The Haas Brothers appears courtesy of the artists and Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York and Aspen).

RASHAAD NEWSOME [American, b. 1979]—ICON (2014)—A champion of ballroom culture, Rashaad Newsome incorporates disciplines including video, film, music, collage, and fractals into works that speak to erasing ballroom’s association with what he’s described as “the framework of performing gender binaries or some devotion to capitalism,” thereby allowing for “a premium put on the contestants’ ability to imagine Black artists’ work in new ways.”  Werk.  This work by Rashaad Newsom appears courtesy of the artist.

SANFORD BIGGERS [American, b. 1970]—BAM (for Michael) (2016)—By touching on themes that he explains are “meant to broaden and complicate our read on American history,” Sanford Biggers created his BAM series as a response to the violence against Black Americans by the police.  The sculptures are comprised of fragments of wooden African statues that have been recast in bronze, after which the sculptures are dipped in wax (to obscure the subject’s identity), and finally are ‘resculpted’ via a barrage of gunfire.  This work by Sanford Biggers appears courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery (New York and Aspen).

SHERRIE LEVINE [American, b. 1947]—Wild Boar After Chemin (2016); and Caribou Skull (2016)—Confronting the concepts of appropriation and authenticity, Sherrie Levine has built an oeuvre out of painstakingly mimicking various themes and works from the canon of Western art (whether paintings, photographs, or, in the case of ICONS of Contemporary Art, sculptures).  Following a visit to Georgia O’Keefe’s Santa Fe farm, Levine created Caribou Skull (2016) and other works that alluded to the fleeting nature of life and the inevitability of death, while referencing O’Keefe, for whom animal skulls were a frequent motif.  These works by Sherrie Levine appear courtesy of the artist and David Zwimer.

YOSHITAKA AMANO [Japanese, b. 1952]—Kiki, 2007; Mimi, 2007; Momo, 2007; Sue, 2007; and Devaloka 13, 2010—Between working on the adaption of the popular manga Mach GoGoGo into the global anime phenomenon Speed Racer (for Tatsunoko Productions, in the late 1960s) when still in his teens, and the Final Fantasy video game franchise (for which a plethora of his illustrations have been commissioned), Yoshitaka Amano’s mere presence at San Diego Comic-Con International might well erupt in an impromptu tickertape parade.  His wonderfully color-saturated use of automotive paint on aluminum panels is stunning; while his incredible style is influenced by an amalgam of the Art Nouveau and Orientalist movements, as well as Japanese woodblock prints and Western comic books.  The year before the 1997 release of Final Fantasy VII (when his work was fully recognized and applauded, internationally), he’d already become the world’s highest-earning artist, with $40 million in earnings (and that was more than a quarter-century ago)!  These works by Yoshitaka Amano appear courtesy of the artist and LOMEX.

ICONS of Contemporary Art
Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art
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