After a few hurried but critical reads, I find myself dissatisfied with Jerry Saltz's recent review of “Damien Hirst: The Complete Spot Paintings, 1986-2011”. First published in New York Magazine, the review delivers a truncated history of Hirst’s rise to fame and makes some fast and loose comparisons between the artist and other notable creators before dissolving in a vague denouement that offers little conclusion. Much like institutional critique, I believe there is a time and place for art critical critique. It happens to be here and now.

September is always the best time of the year for contemporary art. With the end of summer, families return from vacationing and get back into the swing of school and work. Participating in cultural programming returns to prominence and, with winter and the headaches of preparing for the holidays still a few months away, those interested in collecting art swarm gallery districts. Exploiting their patrons' fresh return, art dealers push forward their key exhibitions for the year. Coveted September exhibition slots are offered to the most valued gallery artists, in a signal to the market that these are the most exciting artists to watch, the thoroughbred race-horses competing for the triple crown of sales, critical review and buzz.

Though by no means an exhaustive list of the many amazing shows currently on display this month, The Ministry of Artistic Affairs shares the following selections from the many fantastic exhibitions we saw last week in New York City. All of the galleries are listed below with live links to their online version but if you have time to drop some NYC in the next few weeks, we highly recommend hitting each of these shows in person:

Larry Gagosian Buys and Sells Buildings the Same Way He Does Art: Behind Closed Doors. If he wasn't dealing art, "I’d probably be in real estate."

Even by the standards of what we've come to expect of Gagosian's cavernous, ambition-boosting 24th Street Chelsea gallery, Anselm Kiefer's recent exhibition, his first in New York since 2002, was striking.

Hirst’s mini skull heads east.

The new version — this time an infant's skull cast in platinum and pavé set with pink and white diamonds — will inaugurate Gagosian's new space in Hong Kong.

As his £50m diamond skull, For the Love of God, 2007, goes on show at the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, The Art Newspaper can reveal that Damien Hirst has created a new version — this time, an infant's skull, cast in platinum and pavé set with pink and white diamonds. It will form the centrepiece of Gagosian's inaugural exhibition, “Forgotten Promises”, at its new Hong Kong space (18 January-19 March).

Science Ltd, Hirst's main art-producing company, declined to comment on the price for the new work, so the question remains whether — since the baby's skull is smaller than the original sculpture — the price tag has shrunk, too.



By Charlotte Burns and Helen Stoilas in The Art Newspaper.