Selections include press-on nails hand-painted with miniature versions of artworks by Martin Kippenberger, Chris Wool, Jules de Balincourt and others by Katia Bassanini ($45), a gold-framed plaque recognizing the recipient as "immigrant of the month" by Esperanza Mayobre ($46), "Art Dealer Work Gloves" embroidered with the names of top galleries like Barbara Gladstone and David Zwirner by Bill Burns ($25) and a miniature rhinestone-decorated "Hamian Durst" skull by James Prez ($25).

Other participating artists in "Giftland" are Trenton Doyle, Hancock Doyle, Terence Koh, Nora Ligorano & Marshall Reese, Ryan McGinness, Gary Panter, Paper Rad, James Prez, Sara Greenberg Rafferty, Terry Richardson, Carlos Roque, Chrysanne Stathacos, Dale Wittig and Alivia Zivich/Aryan Asshole Records.

HIRST IN AIDS AUCTION
British art star Damien Hirst has teamed up with Bono to raise money for the rocker’s (Red) charity, pulling together artists for a $40 million art auction scheduled for Sotheby’s New York, Feb. 14, 2008. Proceeds go to benefit the United Nations Foundation fund to support HIV/AIDS programs in Africa. Hirst wrote letters to 100 of his fellow artists soliciting contributions to the auction, and contributed seven of his own art works as well -- all red-themed.

Hirst works featured in Sotheby’s "(RED) Auction" include Where There’s a Will There’s a Way, a pill cabinet stacked with red antiretroviral capsules; All You Need Is Love, a red heart with dead butterflies stuck in paint; and a Beautiful RED Spin Painting. Other artists in the auction are Georg Baselitz, Cecily Brown, Michael Craig-Martin, Anish Kapoor, Richard Prince, Ed Ruscha, Keith Tyson and Marc Quinn.

After a preview in London, the works are heading to New York, where they go on display at Gagosian Gallery starting Feb. 4. This is not the first time that Hirst has collaborated with Bono for the cause -- last May, he created a cover image for a special "Red" issue of London’s Independent newspaper edited by the rock star [see Artnet News, May 19, 2006].

DOUGLAS GORDON IN ST. BARTH
Two years ago, art dealer Marc Jancou and Fergus McCaffrey launched a deluxe "art residency" program in a villa on the Caribbean island of St. Barthélemy, inviting artists to visit and have an exhibition. Dubbed Medium St. Barth, the program has hosted Mike Kelley, Justin Lieberman, Kelley Walker, Roe Etheridge and now, Scottish video artist Douglas Gordon –- whose slow-mo video works have about the right pace for life in the tropics. Titled "Rock Stars," Dec. 4, 2007-Jan. 4, 2008, the show is a selection of burnt photographs with caramelized honey and wax, mounted on mirrors, depicting acts such as The Beatles, David Bowie and Cat Stevens. For details, see www.mediumstbarth.com

RECORD VISITORS AT VENICE
The 52nd Venice Biennale, which drew to a close on Nov. 21, 2007, totaled 319,332 visotors in its 165 days, a record for the entire history of the exhibition. More than 34,000 people attended the professional preview, June 6-9, 2007, and a record 5,691 journalists visited the show (1,764 from Italy and 3,927 from 60 foreign countries).

TURNER PRIZE 2007 TO MARK WALLINGER
British conceptual artist Mark Wallinger has won the £25,000 Turner Prize for 2007. The jury -- composed of Michael Bracewell, Fiona Bradley, Thelma Golden, Miranda Sawyer and Christoph Grunenberg -- cited him for "State Britain," a meticulous recreation of an anti-war memorial shown in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern in London, but also noted the strength of his work in the current Turner Prize show at the Tate Liverpool, which consists of a video featuring the artist dressed in a bear costume. Actor Dennis Hopper presented Wallinger with the award at a ceremony on Oct. 3.

KATIE GRINNAN TAKES AXA AWARD
L.A-based sculptor Katie Grinnan has won the $25,000 AXA Artist Award, given out each year by the art insurance giant AXA to recognize an emerging or underrepresented artist. The award is generally selected by an established artist, and this year sculptor Nancy Rubins did the honors. It was handed out last night at the Margulies Warehouse in Miami, during the International Collectors’ Dinner for Art Basel Miami Beach. For more info on this and the roster of other events Axa is sponsoring in Miami, see www.axa-art-usa.com

KANDINSKY PRIZE TO ANATOLY OSMOLOVSKY
The first-ever Kandinsky Prizes for contemporary art were handed out in Moscow earlier this week, in what is described as a bid to create a "Russian Turner Prize." The top prize went to sculptor Anatoly Osmolovsky, who took the €40,000 "Artist of the Year Honor" honor for a sculpture of a tank turret, beating out works by AES+F and Yuri Albert. Vladlena Gromova took "Best Young Artist of the Year," and Vladislav Mamyshev-Monro won "Best Art Media Project of the Year." The Kandinskys are funded by Deutsche Bank AG and the Art Chronika Culture Foundation. The ceremony was held at Moscow’s Winzavod Center of Contemporary Art, and hosted by the Russian art duo the Blue Noses.

KEMPINAS TAKES CALDER PRIZE
Zilvinas Kempinas won the 2007 Calder Prize, worth $50,000. The biannual prize is awarding to "artists who have completed exemplary work early in their careers." As part of the award, the Linthuania-born, New York-based artist, known for installations that incorporate floating loops of magnetic tape, takes up residence at the Atelier Calder, in Saché, France, starting January 2008. Kempinas is represented by Spencer Brownstone Gallery.

ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH GOES ONLINE
For those art world types not lucky enough to migrate south for Art Basel Miami Beach weekend in Miami, December can be a sad time. Never fear, though! The day the art fest closes its doors, it goes online at Artnet, allowing collectors to revisit pieces they missed in the format of a deluxe "virtual fair." The online Art Basel Miami Beach is open through February 2008.

Artnet’s online version of Design Miami is already available, at www.designmiami-artnet.com

PAUL BRACH, 1924-2007
Paul Brach, 83, second-generation New York School painter who later became known for spare and colorful works with Western themes, died of prostate cancer at his home in East Hampton on Nov. 16. A devoted teacher and arts administrator, he served as dean at Cal Arts and later at Fordham in New York. He exhibited with Leo Castelli, Cordier & Ekstrom and Emmerich galleries. He was married to the artist Miriam Schapiro.

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