Monday
September 30 GIACOMETTIS
SOLD: A controversial auction of Giacometti sculptures was stopped prematurely
Saturday night in Paris, after 24 of the 36 pieces were sold for $5.8 million.
A Paris court had agreed to a sale of work up to that amount after the "executor
of Annette Giacometti's [the sculptor's wife] will had persuaded the court that
she needed the money to cover legal costs as well as the cost of insuring and
storing some 700 sculptures, paintings and drawings." The
New York Times 09/30/02 THIEVES
STRIKE - FOR A FOURTH TIME: One of Ireland's most valuable art collections
has been raided again - for the fourth time - by thieves. The five paintings taken
include a Rubens, and two paintings that had been stolen before from Russborough
House in County Wicklow. Nando Times (AFP) 09/29/02 THE
FORCES AGAINST ART CRIME: "Nobody can give you an exact figure, but experts
suggest the worldwide value of stolen art amounts to several billion pounds. That
covers everything from paintings to candlesticks, etchings to antiques. If you
consider paintings alone, you get an idea of the scale of the problem: some 479
Picassos are currently missing, 347 Miros, 290 Chagalls, 225 Dalis, 196 Durers,
190 Renoirs, 168 Rembrandts and 150 Warhols." To try to get it back, an impressive
infrastructure has sprung up armed with databases and detectives. Financial
Times 09/27/02 A
PROPER MEMORIAL: Leon Wieseltier, literary editor of The New Republic, architect
Daniel Libeskind and author Sherwin B. Nuland debate the idea of memorial at Ground
Zero. "There is something a little grotesque in the interpretation of ground
zero as a lucky break for art," says Wieseltier. Libeskind argues for a memorable
structure, while Nuland declares: "I am offended by the thought that there
will be a piece of architecture on that spot because ultimately architecture is
about the architect." The New York Times 09/30/02
Sunday
September 29 ART
AMONG THE JUNK: "A wistful painting of two young women that came with
the furnishings of a dilapidated Canadian farmhouse, has been revealed as a long-lost
Victorian masterpiece expected to fetch more than $7-million at auction in London,
England." National Post 09/28/02 BARNES
- A SINGULAR COLLECTION: News that the quirky Barnes Collection might move
to Philadelphia from the nearby suburbs has in-town folks excited. The Barnes
Collection is a collection like no other. "Barnes didn't collect systematically,
as if he were filling in a stamp album. He seemed to be attracted to artists whose
work he believed best illustrated his theories about the interaction of line,
shape and color. The Barnes is quirky and unpredictable, something like a treasure
hunt with a higher purpose. Pleasant surprises lurk beyond every doorway. You
will find masterpieces throughout, because even though Barnes was unorthodox in
his collecting, he acquired a bushel of them." Philadelphia
Inquirer 09/29/02 INGROWN
INTEREST: Why do artists think art about making art is so interesting? It's
not, writes Russell Smith: "The desire to question the gallery experience,
to take art outside 'the white box,' has been prominent since at least the late
1960s (it was largely behind both performance art and conceptual art). It is still
going strong, and I still don't understand what's important about it. I don't
understand the hostility toward gallery spaces and gallery viewing." The
Globe & Mail (Canada) 09/28/02 PROMOTION
THROUGH CRITICISM: Skidmore Owings & Merrill is one of the world's great
architecture firms. But in recent years the company has been overshadowed by other
star architects who have offered more imagination. To help turn its reputation
around, the firm has produced a series of books about its recent buildings. But
this is no ordinary puffery and hype - projects in these books are chosen and
critiqued by outside critics - and the criticism can be blunt... The
New York Times 09/29/02
Friday
September 27 SCRUTINY
FOR THE BARNES PROPOSAL: The Pennsylvania attorney general and trustees for
the Barnes Foundation are examining the proposal by the Barnes to move to Philadelphia.
To make the move, the Barnes will have to go to court to break conditions of the
trust set up by founder Albert Barnes. The New York
Times 09/26/02
Thursday
September 26 MORGAN
TO TATE MODERN: "Jessica Morgan, chief curator at Boston's Institute
of Contemporary Art since 1999, is leaving to take one of the top international
jobs in her field: She will be a curator at the Tate Modern in London. Morgan,
33 and a British citizen, leaves Boston in November, after a decade of working
in US museums... Her rise in the museum world has been rapid. She trained at London's
Courtauld Institute of Art, came to the United States for a fellowship at Yale
and another at Harvard, worked as a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art
in Chicago, then as contemporary curator at the Worcester Art Museum, which she
left after a year to take the ICA job." Boston
Globe 09/26/02 SPACE
AGE RESTORATION: A Monet painting damaged by a fire in the 1950s might be
restored by a beam of oxygen. "Conservators are talking to space chemists
at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, after hearing of their success
in removing an overzealous art lover's lipstick from an Andy Warhol painting.
Their trick? They vapourise contaminants by blasting them with oxygen. Right now,
the painting is almost entirely blackened, but the team managed to transform the
blackened paint chips to Monet's dreamy blues and greens." New
Scientist 09/25/02 THAT'S
ONE EXPENSIVE JIGSAW: "A series of restored ceiling and wall fresco
paintings are being unveiled at the medieval shrine of St Francis at Assisi in
central Italy, five years after an earthquake seriously damaged them. Four people
were killed when part of the ceiling of the upper Basilica of St Francis collapsed
in the 1997 earthquake, and a memorial service to them is being held as part of
the ceremonies marking the restoration... New computer techniques have been used
to solve what amounted to a huge jigsaw puzzle - the piecing together of hundreds
of boxes of tiny plaster fragments carefully salvaged from the debris inside the
basilica." BBC 09/26/02 FAMILY
FEUD: "A nasty quarrel between two of the country's leading cultural
institutions -- the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian
American Art Museum -- has been ended amicably. In the process, one of the capital's
architectural treasures -- the Old Patent Office Building -- has been rediscovered
and is being restored to take its proper place in company with the White House,
the U.S. Capitol and the Treasury as one of the great historic public buildings
of Washington." Chicago Tribune 09/26/02 $150
MILLION DOESN'T BUY MUCH, APPARENTLY: As part of a plan to revitalize a blighted
stretch of downtown, the city of Minneapolis several years back embarked on a
plan to erect 'Block E,' a giant entertainment complex, at a taxpayer cost of
$150 million. The plan was wildly controversial, and had much to do with the mayor
of the city losing her job last year, but Block E is finally up and open for business.
Unfortunately, it is arguably one of the ugliest, least original structures ever
to rise in the architecturally diverse Twin Cities, possibly because Minneapolis
chose to use a design from a Chicago firm known for building suburban strip malls.
Says one local architect, "It's a cartoon version of a mall theme park." City
Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul) 09/26/02 Wednesday
September 25 BARNES
WANTS TO MOVE: The Barnes Collection says it wants to leave its home in the
suburbs and move to downtown Philadelphia. "At a news conference, the foundation's
officers said the sudden but long-awaited move was necessary to save one of the
world's greatest art collections, but any move faces considerable legal hurdles.
A relocation and other proposed changes would contravene the will of Dr. Albert
C. Barnes, the eccentric millionaire who established the trove, with an estimated
worth of $25 billion, as a quirky, anti-elitist academy that because of local
restrictions only 1,200 visitors a month can see. The foundation is projected
to run an $800,000 deficit this year and has less than $1 million in cash reserves.
The New York Times 09/25/02 - FIRST
AID: The Pew Charitable Trusts, and the Lenfest and Annenberg Foundationshave
have "agreed to provide $3.1 million in operating funds to the Barnes for
at least the next two years. More important, they have promised to help the Barnes
Foundation raise $100 million to build a museum on or near the Parkway, and to
raise $50 million for an endowment." Philadelphia
Inquirer 09/25/02
- CITY
OF MUSEUMS: "If the ambitious move succeeds, the Barnes' collection of
181 Renoirs, 69 Cézannes, 60 Matisses, and other art from around the world
would be within walking distance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Rodin
Museum, the proposed Alexander Calder Museum, and the Franklin Institute."
Philadelphia Inquirer 09/25/02
HOME
OF THE BRAVE: The art police are at it again. Last week a bronze statue of
a falling woman was placed at Rockefeller Center. "Eric Fischls Tumbling
Woman, which he sculpted during the weeks when he kept thinking of the image
of bodies falling from the World Trade Center, was removed after a reactionary
tabloid columnist for the New York Post attacked it in her column. Within hours
of the column hitting the streets, "Rockefeller Center folded and announced
that it would remove the work, which otherwise would have been on display through
September 23." New York Sun 09/19/02
- AFRAID
OF A LITTLE ART? Why did Rockefeller Center cave? "If we are to remain
true to the repeated assertions that we must never forget, why silence a work
like Fischl's? Displaying the sculpture was no more exploitative than airing those
videos of the attacks we've all become so familiar with. But perhaps the real,
solid presence of "Tumbling Woman" spoke with an urgency that could
not be dismissed as easily as a TV news feed." New
York Daily News 09/22/02
TATE
ATTENDANCE DOWN: "Attendance figures for the Tate's four galleries -
including the Tate Modern and Tate Britain in London - fell by more than 1.2 million
in the 12 months to the end of March 2002. Some 5.25 million visitors went to
the gallery in its first year, but that figure fell to 3.6 million in the following
12 months." Tate director Nicholas Serota says the Tate may face a £1.5
million budget shortfall. BBC 09/25/02 THE
KIMBELL AT 30: The Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth is architect Louis Kahn's
masterpiece "and, in the opinion of many critics, the greatest museum building
of the 20th century. Simple in its forms, refined in its proportions and details,
it speaks to everyone from art historians to bronco riders." The museum is
celebrating the 30th anniversary of the building's opening. Dallas
Morning News 09/25/02 TATE
CUT OUT OF BUYING: The Tate Museum has been shut out of buying numerous artworks
because its acquisitions budget has declined in real terms over the past 20 years.
"Almost on a daily basis major works are offered to us which we cannot begin
to contemplate." The Tate's budget for acquiring art is just under £2
million, compared with £2.2 million in 1982, and means that the museum doesn't
have the funds to buy major works. The Guardian (UK)
09/25/02 PROTESTING
NEW AUSSIE TAX LAW: Prominent Australian artists are withholding promised
donations of their artwork to museums because of onerous new tax laws. "Tthe
artists are disputing a requirement they believe casts doubt on tax-deduction
entitlements when gifting works." Sydney Morning
Herald 09/25/02 Tuesday
September 24 RESTORATION
MAY HAVE DAMAGED SHROUD: A new "restoration" of the Shroud of Turin
may have irreparably damaged it. "Scientists performed a secret restoration
of the shroud - which supposedly wrapped the body of Jesus after his crucifixion
- during which they cleaned and restored the burial cloth. This may have caused
potentially important dust and pollen molecules to be lost forever. It is feared
the process could compromise the possibility of ever conclusively carbon-dating
the shroud, which believers claim bears the image of Christ after his body was
cut down from the cross." The Herald (Glasgow)
09/22/02 HONEST
FAKES: John Myatt is a painter who made a good career as a master forger until
he was caught. "When Myatt was freed in June 1999, he had 'pretty much decided
to pack up painting,' he says. But friends asked for a Monet or another Nicholson.
'I said no, but if you're prepared to have something that looks like one ... '
was his answer. Gradually he built up a collection. Several London galleries apparently
eager to cash in on his notoriety offered to show his work." Now he's got
a show... Los Angeles Times 09/23/02 MUSEUM
OF DESTRUCTION: The American military is turning over an old nuclear missile
silo in South Dakota to the National Park Service, which will turn the site into
a national park where "parents and kids will be able to see how the end of
the world could have begun. 'It will really be kind of stunning to be able to
see these things. There's almost something surreal about it, and this makes it
more real. Probably people's impressions about this, to the extent that they have
one, is based on movies'." New Jersey Online
(AP) 09/24/02 Monday
September 23 KRUGER
WINS COPYRIGHT CASE: Can artists legally appropriate other artists' images
into their work as part of something bigger? The US Appeals Court says they may,
ruling in favor of artist Barbara Kruger. "Photographer Thomas Hoepker and
his friend Charlotte Dabney, had sought damages stemming from the use and exhibition
of an image of Dabney within a work created by Barbara Kruger." The pair
had also sued the Whitney Museum and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art
for selling copies of Kruger's work in their giftshop. The
Art Newspaper 09/20/02 UNSOLICITED
ADVICE: "Who can forget the booing that erupted spontaneously at the
Javits Center two months ago after the presentation of six much-anticipated plans
for rebuilding the World Trade Center site? The audience of 5,000 New Yorkers
from every walk of life were not just being contrarians; they were expressing
a collective demand for urban and architectural greatness, scaled to the magnitude
of 9/11." Accordingly, New York magazine solicited designs from 7
leading architects, and is welcoming reader feedback. The designs range from imposing
to subtle, from futurist to surreal. New York 09/23/02 LOOKING
FOR THE NEXT BIG THING: Jay Jopling is the man who sold contemporary Britart
to the public, introducing Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and others. Now, after ten
years he's closing his original gallery and consolidating his four locations into
one. Some critics have been saying he's lost his way in recent years, and the
39-year-old Jopling hopes consolidation of his spaces will help his focus. The
Observer (UK) 09/22/02 Sunday
September 22 THE
TROUBLE WITH AUTHENTICATION: The purchase of a painting thought to be a Rubens
for CAN$117 million this summer sparked a raging debate over the authenticity
of the work, and brought to the fore the troubling difficulty of decalring a work
of art to be genuine. "A tour through the international world of art authentication
leaves one reeling with the complexity of a discipline that is in rapid flux.
While a half-century ago, the legendary connoisseur Bernard Berenson boldly authenticated
works of art by sight alone, authentication today is a painstaking collaborative
process, and never more so than when the stakes are high." The
Globe & Mail (Toronto) 09/21/02 BEST/WORST
DOCUMENTA EVER? This year's installment of the German Documenta
festival was savaged by U.S. critics as virulently anti-American, out of touch
with reality, and, according to the New York Times "puritanical and
devoid of humor." Regardless, attendance was the highest it has ever been
in Kassel, the average age of attendees has stopped escalating, and the bottom
line is safe for the first time in years. America, it turns out, may need to grow
a thicker skin: "Art has seldom been so insolently criminalized as with the
absurd assertion that Documenta Director Okwui Enwezor was pursuing the same objective
in the area of aesthetics as the mass murderers of Sept. 11, and that they only
differed in the degree of their motivation." Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung 09/20/02 THE
NEW SURREALISTS: "Surrealism is alive and well in Toronto, and not just
in the disproportionate number of light-bulb jokes on the Internet. Instead, the
wild art has been experiencing a renaissance with a group of artists under the
banner of Recordism." What-ism? Well, according to the web site of
the International Bureau of Recordist
Information, the movement is about non-standard expression, the blending of
sound and art, and the artistic bliss of breaking free from typical constraints
of what is pretty, normal, or expected. Sounds plenty surreal to us. The
Globe & Mail (Toronto) 09/21/02 SELLER'S
MARKET IN PARIS: "The suspense may not match the tension in world politics,
but for those who sell art the stakes have never been so high. At the 21st Paris
Biennale, 96 dealers watch with apprehension the reactions of collectors thronging
to the most sophisticated showcase of the art of the past for sale in the world.
Their anxiety is matched by that of collectors wondering how much longer they
have to find gems as supplies continue to shrink every year." International
Herald Tribune (Paris) 09/21/02 WHERE'S
OUR TECH BOOM? Digital art continues to have a tough time getting respect
as a serious art form, and France's new digital art festival Villette Numérique
aims to advance the cause with six days of installations, juries, club shows,
concerts, and video game marathons. (Could that last one be a source of the public
disrespect for the form?) But organizers of the festival lament the lack of understanding
of their oeuvre, and gently suggest that they ought to be in line for some government
funding, as well. Wired 09/21/02 Friday
September 20 ARCHITECT
SUES SKIDMORE: An architect who worked on the Bloomberg corporate headquarters
in New Jersey is suing Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, alleging the architecture
firm of copying hundreds of his drawings, perhaps at the direction of Bloomberg.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg may be called to testify. New
York Observer 09/18/02 A
CATHEDRAL TO FIT L.A.: Paul Goldberger is impressed with the massiveness of
Los Angeles' new cathedral. It's the poor man's Getty, which is not an insignificant
achievement. Architect Rafael Moneo plays with the past and is genuinely inventive
at the same time. His best touch is both an homage to the traditional Gothic cathedral
and a subtle, brilliant inversion of it." The
New Yorker 09/16/02 SEATTLE
ART MUSEUM TO EXPAND: The Seattle Art Museum announces a construction plan
that will triple its exhibition space. Not only will the expansion not cost the
museum, it will make money on the deal, a partnership with a major bank. The bank
will build a 40-story tower on property owned by the museum next door. The museum
will occupy the bottom of the tower, and in return for the prime downtown real
estate, the bank will pay off outstanding construction bonds used to finance the
museum's current home, a Robert Venturi building that opened in 1989. Seattle
Post-Intelligencer 09/19/02 BUY
AMERICAN: "Since 1986 the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts has been
quietly selling off its collection of European paintings to create a fund for
the acquisition of American art. The decision to sell paintings by masters like
Courbet and Boldini is a way of refocusing its mission in the 21st century, its
officials say." The move towards American art will also help distinguish
the Academy from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which holds a massive European
collection. The New York Times (first
item) 09/20/02 Thursday
September 19 STOLEN
TITIAN RECOVERED: A Titian painting stolen in 1995 is returned - dropped off
in a brown wrapper at a London bus stop after its owner pays a $150,000 ransom.
The painting was likely stolen by amateurs who didn't know what they had stolen,
and who found it difficult to fence. The New York
Times 09/19/02 PUBLIC
ART OFF THE RAILS: The Los Angeles subways seems like a good place for art.
But the projects designed for it are a disappointment. "In nearly every instance,
the scale of the transit system dwarfs the art. The works come off as afterthoughts,
decorative flourishes that are meant to add a bit of whimsy and individualism
to an otherwise rational operation. Such thinking sells art short. When art is
interesting, it embodies a lot more than idiosyncrasy. The biggest problem with
this project is that it is based on the idea that art at subway stops is public
and that art in museums isn't. That's simply wrong." Los
Angeles Times 09/18/02 Wednesday
September 18 MUNICH'S
NEW MODERN ART PALACE: The Pinakothek der Moderne, one of the world's biggest
modern art museums, has opened after six years of construction in Munich. "This
is a great day for Bavaria, a great day for Germany. The museum rivals the Tate
Modern in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in
New York." Expatica.com (DPA) 09/17/02 DANGEROUS
ART: Many of the guests invited to a boarded up gallery in London last week
were angry at Santiago Sierra, the artist whose "work" the closed gallery
was. But Sierra's art is usually much more dangerous and unsettling. "He
goes beyond the limits of reasonable human interaction. He implicates the viewer
and doesn't account for the effect. I am not sure I can handle it. I certainly
don't approve of it. But here and there, through the shock of it, there is a superb
formalist trying to get out." London Evening
Standard 09/17/02 GERMAN
ART WE'VE BEEN MISSING: German art of the 20th Century has never been popular
in Britain. "The main reason? The high discomfort level of much German painting.
The critical reason? The belief of so many critics that the sun shone out of Paris;
Expressionism and Abstraction in Germany were of minor import. The emotional reason?
Gut anti-Germanism, politics and war." The Times
(UK) 09/18/02 SEE
ME, TOUCH ME: A 36-ton marble sculpture of the Roman God Janus that was recently
placed in front of a public building in Denver, was designed partly, with blind
people in mind. The sculptor wanted the blind to be able to touch the sculpture
and trace its relief with their hands. But the piece has run afoul of the Americans
With Disabilities Act which "mandates anything that protrudes 4 inches or
more above a height of 28 inches requires some kind of warning for blind people
using canes." New Jersey Online (AP) 09/17/02 Tuesday
September 17 ART
AS EVERYDAY: The second Liverpool Biennial takes the viewer out to the art.
To see this biennial you have to be willing to explore the city: "You are
in a world where anything can be art, from a ketchup v soy sauce battle (a symbol
of East/West antagonism, apparently) to the appearance of Queen Victorias
head in your hotel room to a fire engine belching eyebrow-singeing flame. It could
all be and often is bewildering. The viewer quickly succumbs to
sensory overload. And yet talent will out." The
Times (UK) 09/17/02 COMPLETING
SYDNEY: Joern Utzon designed one of the 20th Century's most identifiable buildings
- the Sydney Opera House. But as it was being built, some three decades ago, he
walked off the project after he thought his designs were being tampered with in
a way he couldn't tolerate. Now, at the age of 83 he's been hired to finally finish
the project. In all these years, he's never seen the building in person. Any plans
to? "Oh, I don't need to do that. I see it every night when I close my eyes."
The Telegraph (UK) 09/17/02 REDISCOVERING
KOENIGSBURG: Archeologists are piecing together the ruins of the 800-year-old
shattered city of Koenigsberg. It was leveled in the 1950s by the Russians, then
built over with an entirely new city, Kaliningrad. "The castle was built
in the 13th Century and was the centre of Koenigsberg's cultural life. It also
housed the great wealth of the Museum of Prussia. 'It was the cultural and spiritual
center of Koenigsberg. Here there were very many museums, picture galleries, archives,
exhibitions.' The Soviet authorities claimed it was a centre of fascism."
BBC 09/16/2002 MEMBERSHIP
DRIVE: Memberships are the life's blood of a museum. They build loyalty and
are an important source of income. But how good a deal are they for the consumer,
wonders Huma Jehan? "Before taking out any gallery membership, be brutally
honest. Look at the list of forthcoming exhibitions. Consider how many times you
think you'll visit it, and then divide the number by three to get a more realistic
idea." The Guardian (UK) 09/17/02 Monday
September 16 ENDANGERED
ART: The Philadelphia Museum of Art basement, an area "more than two
acres" big, which stores "paintings, sculptures, books, carpets, furniture,
ceramics, china and silver, including works by Monet and Alexander Calder"
is a fire hazard, says the city's fire department. "More than half of the
vast basement has no sprinklers or other fire-suppression system - a fire-code
violation - according to a fire-inspection. The museum has been in violation of
the city fire code since Jan. 2, 1952. In the cultural world, fire experts cannot
name other museums that leave most of their art-storage areas unprotected. And
it highlights a tension between art curators and firefighters - one group fearful
of water, the other of fire." Philadelphia Inquirer
09/16/02 RICHEST
NEW ARTS PRIZE: The Gulbenkian Foundation announces a £100,000 arts
prize for museums to "raise the morale and profile of Britain's museums and
galleries." The unexpected new prize is twice the value of the Booker prize,
and more than the Booker, Turner and Stirling prizes put together. It is open
to galleries large and small. It is designed to reward 'the most innovative and
inspiring idea - an exhibition, new gallery, public programme or important new
initiative - developed during 2002'." The Guardian
(UK) 09/16/02 COLLUSION
IN ART BUY? Last year the National Gallery of Australia and the Tasmanian
Museum and Art Gallery got together to jointly bid on a painting they wanted.
They won the John Glover painting, and at a price of $1.5 million, had to shell
out $1 million less than the picture was thought to be worth. But the agreement
has run afoul of Australian regulators, who say the deal might have been anti-competitive.
If the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission rules against the museums,
they could face fines of up to $10 million. The Age
(Melbourne) 09/16/02 JUST
GIACOMETTI: A controversial sale of work by Giacometti this month in Paris
draws attention the legal quagmire into which his estate has fallen. A foundation
set up by the artist's widow has had great difficulty getting authorized by the
French government, and some wonder if there is an ulterior (and selfish) reason
the bureaucracy has ground to a halt. The Telegraph
(UK) 09/16/02 Sunday
September 15 HOW
BIG IS TOO BIG? "According to C. Northcote Parkinson, the inventor of
Parkinson's Law, the final and terminal decline of an institution is often signalled
by a move into a gleaming, towering, purpose-built headquarters. If that is so,
then the London contemporary art world is moving into a perilous phase, as more
and more of its most notable movers and shakers are currently engaged in vigorous
architectural expansion." The Telegraph (UK)
09/14/02 MORE
WTC FALLOUT: New York continues to struggle with the question of what should
eventually rise where the World Trade Center once stood. When the official proposals
were unveiled a few months back, the New York Times and its lead critics wasted
no time in decrying them as unimaginative and antithetical to any truly human
response to the attacks which felled the towers. But a series of proposals by
those same critics is now appearing at the Venice Biennale, and isn't garnering
a much better response: "The proposals... commissioned failed to address
all the complexities of the site, it was argued. Since it is a place of global
significance, it was added, why was its future being treated as a parochial New
York affair?" Is this project simply a no-win situation for any who undertake
it, or is there a hidden solution still eluding the experts?
London Evening Standard 09/13/02 HIGH-TECH
NOSTALGIA: It's not exactly modernism, and it certainly couldn't be considered
authentically nostalgic, but the new hot movement in British architecture is a
combination of high-tech features and nods to classic styling called High-Tech,
and there's a lot more to it than a first glance might suggest. "High-Tech
architecture... is about an image of modernity fashioned a surprisingly long time
ago, early in the 20th century, in a very different world dominated by heavy industry.
In today's post-industrial world, there is something increasingly nostalgic about
that image of modernity." The
Telegraph (UK) 09/14/02 MORE
THAN JUST GROUND ZERO: "This fall's architecture lineup is one of the
most dynamic in recent memory, with signature buildings and high-profile exercises
in urban planning dominating the stage... around the nation." Projects to
keep an eye on include a new Gehry-designed business school in Cleveland, a 37-story
tower in Chicago by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill, and, of course, the question
of what to do with the massive space formerly occupied by the World Trade Center
towers in New York. Chicago Tribune 09/15/02 AND
NEXT TIME, LOCK THOSE THINGS UP! "Seven paintings and about 20 statuettes
stolen from the home of a Spanish billionaire have been recovered, wrapping up
one of the biggest art heists in decades, officials said. The seven paintings
were among 17 stolen from the Madrid penthouse of construction tycoon Esther Koplowitz
while she was on vacation in August, 2001." The
Globe & Mail (AP) 09/14/02 Friday
September 13 SAATCHI
VS TATE: Super-collector Charles Saatchi fired a shot at the Tate Modern this
week by announcing that he's opening a new gallery across the street from the
Tate Modern. And he'll open next spring with artwork that was denied to the Tate.
"Saatchi will curate the shows himself and the Damien Hirst exhibition will
pointedly feature the pickled sharks denied to Sir Nicholas Serota, the director
of the Tate, when he sought to honour the artist with a retrospective at Tate
Modern." The Guardian (UK) 09/13/02 COLOR
OWNERS: "If color is a language, Pantone is the Oxford English Dictionary
thousands of shades, from almond blossom to walnut, that can be printed,
woven, or extruded anywhere in the world. Though Pantone doesn't sell inks, dyes,
or paints, it has come to hold a monopoly on color. Of course, frequencies of
light, like naturally occurring sounds, are free for anyone to use. But Pantone
owns their names or, more specifically, their designated numbers and spectro-photometric
descriptions." So how much are you willing to pay? Wired
09/12/02 FALLING
APART: Much contemporary art is made from materials that don't last. So how
to preserve them for the future? "Artists today are experimenting with materials
that were never intended to be used in art makingfrom chocolate to excrement,
foam rubber and fluorescent tubes, bodily fluids and banana peelsmaterials
that are difficult or impossible to preserve. Such works have compelled curators
and conservators to come up with new preservation strategies." ARTNews
09/02 ENGORGED
MISTAKE? China's giant $24 billion Three Gorges dam is about 70 percent complete.
"Almost 650,000 people have been moved, some 140,000 of them to other regions
of China." But there have been widespread reports of corruption on the project,
and "environmentalists, scientists and archaeologists call the dam an expensive
mistake. They say it will wreck the local environment, destroy cultural relics
and be an economic drain." The project is supposed to begin producing power
next year. Yahoo! (AP) 09/10/02 BATH
TIME: The last time Michelangelo's David was cleaned was in 1873. "Next
week restorers at Florence's Galleria dell'Accademia will begin wiping away 129
years of dirt and grime from the Renaissance marble statue from Monday. It is
the first time the statue has been cleaned since it was moved into the gallery
in 1873 to protect it from weather and pollution." CNN
09/13/02 STAMPING
OUT BAD ART: Beijing is sprucing up to get ready to host the Olympic games.
To that end, city officials commissioned a study of public art in the capital,
and determined that "up to 40% of sculptures in the Chinese capital are substandard."
The "bad" art includes "a fat mermaid" and a "timid"
tiger. The statues will be pulled down and replaced by work by "professional
sculptors. Ananova 09/13/02 Thursday
September 12 SHUT
OUT: Guests invited to the opening of a new London gallery arrive to find
it shut. Turns out the invitation to a closed gallery is Spanish artist Santiago
Sierra's art itself. "The artist had used the stunt to make a political point,
aiming to show how frustrating it is to turn up somewhere to find it closed due
to economic reasons." Guests generally weren't amused. BBC
09/11/02 OVERSIMPLIFYING
IN VENICE: The Venice Biennale is underway amidst howls from architects that
the event is ignoring real-world context, and treating architecture as an art
form in a vacuum. "Biennale curator Deyan Scudjic selected as the focus the
word 'Next,' dedicating the exhibit to buildings, architecture and places projected
for the next decade. A vague theme at best and at worst a curatorial cop-out,
it felt as if, in the face of a growing schism in architecture between showcasing
design and creating relevant public space, Scudjic decided to cling to the physical
security of buildings themselves." The Globe
& Mail (Toronto) 09/12/02 TOO
MUCH BUILDING FOR THE SPACE: Why have proposals for replacement of the World
Trade Center (by some of the world's best architects) been so uninspiring? Martin
Filler writes that the reasons are obvious: "Given that the bulk of the space
had been contained in the megalithic superstructures, it does not take an architecture
expert to understand that if you redistribute the same quantity of volume in considerably
shorter, safer buildings - deemed prudent by all concerned - then more ground
will have to be covered. And because of the considerable - and to my mind justifiable
- public pressure to leave the footprints of the towers vacant (a central demand
of the missing victims' families and a feature of four of the six LMDC schemes),
the gross overcrowding of the site is inevitable." The
New Republic 09/08/02 - IMAGINATION
RATHER THAN REBUILDING: The New York Times gathers a team of prominent architects
and asks them to imagine a redeveloped WTC area. "Some of the West Street
projects will appear bizarre or perhaps self-indulgent to those unfamiliar with
contemporary architecture. But this is not a lineup of architectural beauty contestants.
All are conceptually rooted, in step with the level of architectural ambition
in Vienna, Tokyo, Rotterdam and many other cities overseas." New
York Times Magazine 09/08/02
HOW
TO SCREW UP A TRAIN STATION: Toronto is 'revitalizing' it's architectural
jewel of a rail station, and according to Lisa Rochon, the city could not be doing
a worse job. How did the process get to such a disastrous point? Too much secrecy,
too many egos on city council, and a complete and baffling ignorance of anything
to do with trains, architecture, and public relations. The process may be beyond
repair at this point, and many observers are worried that Union Station will never
be the same. The Globe & Mail (Toronto) 09/12/02 DESIGN
MATTERS: Can anyone make a Mondrian? Can anyone tell a real Mondrian from
a fake? "A psychologist at University College London, took studies by the
giant of post impressionism, altered the balance of composition a little with
a computer, and tested them on the public. 'The short answer is there is a very
clear relationship between good design and the way people look at that, and the
way people take in information from a painting, and whether they find it pleasing
or interesting'." The Guardian (UK) 09/11/02 Wednesday
September 11 MUSEUMS
HURTING FOR MONEY: State museums in Europe and the US are being squeezed for
money. "From the Louvre to Florence's Uffizi, the monumental showcases of
Europe are getting battered by a huge funding crisis. Cash-strapped governments
are refusing to hike grants in line with inflation, causing museums to close galleries,
skimp on security staff, and put off much-needed restorations." BusinessWeek
09/16/02 STOLEN
ART RECOVERED: Spanish police have recovered paintings stolen last summer
in what was one of the country's largest-ever art heists. "Goya's The
Donkey's Fall, valued at £8 million, was found hanging on the wall of
the house in the resort town of Playa d'Aro, eastern Spain, together with 20 other
stolen artworks." The art is believed to have been heading to the home of
a Colombian drug lord. The Guardian (UK) 09/11/02 HERZOG
BEATS UP ON BILBAO AND MOMA: Jacques Herzog, designer of the Tate Modern -
Britain's most successful new museum, blasts two of the modern artworld's star
institutions. "He said that New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the world's
most powerful fount of public art, was driven by a cynical and elitist strategy.
And in Bilbao, the Guggenheim Museum, designed by the architecture superstar Frank
Gehry, left him totally cold because it was a 'very bad example for museums in
the future'." The Independent (UK) 09/10/02 LIVING
DOWN THE ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISTS: "The American art world has been trying
to live down abstract expressionism for four decades now. There is no abstract
expressionist tourist industry. You won't find a Pollock, de Kooning, Rothko,
Gorky, Still or Newman cafe, or encounter tour groups on the abstract expressionist
trail. Sometimes it's as if the [New York's] most significant art movement never
existed - indeed it can even be hard to find the paintings. Manhattan museums
have their Tate-style rehangs, and curators love to iconoclastically shove those
big macho paintings in the cellar to make way for, say, a slide show by Nan Goldin."
The Guardian (UK) 09/11/02 TERMINALLY
NICE? Have art critics become too nice? "Much art criticism is adulatory
or merely descriptive. Many critics have never seen a show they weren't enthusiastic
about. These days, negative criticism is branded as 'mean' or 'personal.' Future
generations will peruse today's art magazines and suppose ours was an age where
almost everything that was made was universally admired." Village
Voice 09/10/02 SURVIVOR:
It's estimated that $200 million worth of art was lost in the Twin Towers tragedy.
Miraculously, one piece survived almost intact: Fritz Koenig's 27ft, 45,000lb
bronze Sphere, commissioned in 1969 for the Trade Center Plaza. For more
than three decades it stood as a symbol of world peace, 'the bellybutton of the
complex,' according to its architect, Yamasaki. Now it's relocated at the tip
of Manhattan in Battery Park as a temporary memorial." Financial
Times 09/11/02 ON
THE REYNOLDS TRAIL: A long-missing portrait by Joshua Reynolds has been found
after a 70-year search. Soon after it was sold in 1930, Joshua Reynolds' portrait
of Margaret Morris, a Welsh heiress who co-founded Dulwich Picture Gallery in
south London, went missing. The painting is 250 years old, and a long and dramatic
search for it included leads to the mafia, bombed-out buildings and midwestern
U.S. hotels... The Guardian (UK) 09/10/02 Tuesday
September 10 WHAT
AUSTRALIA'S ARTISTS NEED: Australia's visual arts need help. What kind? About
$15 million in government funds, suggests a new report. Also a royalty system
for artists so they would earn a percentage of the price every time their work
is resold, and generous tax incentives for those who donate artwork to museums.
"In a nation that's pretty good at acknowledging sporting heroes, we might
be able to move quite quickly soon to begin to acknowledge our great living artists
as heroes of our country, too." The Age (Melbourne)
09/10/02 A
TIME OF VISION: If we learned anything from the official proposals to replace
the World Trade Center earlier this summer, it was that New Yorkers expect something
grand, something extraordinary. New York Magazine asked six prominent architectural
firms to deliver. "New Yorkers need buildings at the World Trade Center site
that will make us stop, look, and feel. Buildings that will make us turn our gaze
up and understand a larger order of aspiration. This is not the time to settle
for real-estate deals dressed up with expensive curtain walls but the moment to
prescribe curative doses of the beautiful, the poetic, the sublime." New
York Magazine 09/09/02 Monday
September 9 ART
TO THE PEOPLE: Mao Zedong's Long March revolutionized China and inspired generations
of Chinese. "Almost seven decades on, Mao's Long March is providing the inspiration
for a new group of 'revolutionaries' - not cadres this time, but artists. Since
July, The Long March, a travelling exhibition and interactive art show,
has been retracing Mao's journey through China." The aim is to bring contemporary
art to the people. Far Eastern Economic Review 09/12/02 CHINA'S
NEW COMMERCIAL ART TRADE: In China, only the state and its wholly owned shops
are allowed to deal in the trade of antiques. But a resolution passed by the recent
People's Congress proposes opening up the antiques trade to private companies
for the first time since 1949. The new freedom is not without its strictures.
"The draft law defines categories of art that cannot be traded; mandates
'certification' by the central government of any art business, State-owned or
private, and gives the State first refusal on any object." The
Art Newspaper 09/06/02 DIANA
MEMORIAL CRITICIZED: The selection of a design for a London memorial to Diana,
the Princess of Wales, has been controversial. Now a judge makes his objections
public... The Art Newspaper 09/06/02 Sunday
September 8 BANNED
ART: How to create a work of art which truly reflects, in both a realistic
and human sense, the way in which our world has changed since last September?
A new exhibit in San Francisco embraces the task in the most literal fashion -
a Bay Area artist has assembled a series of collages made up entirely of the wreckage
of aircraft and items seized by airport security officers since the new, more
stringent restrictions on baggage went into effect. Gimmicky? Sure. But visitors
and critics are finding it surprisingly powerful as well.
San Francisco Chronicle 09/07/02 ROLE
REVERSAL: Being a critic is significantly easier than being a creator, and
most critics would tell you as much. But being a critic-turned-creator may be
harder still, as the world lines up to see if you can take the heat you're used
to dishing out. Such is the lot of Deyan Sudjic, the architecture critic tapped
to head up this year's Venice Biennale. The government is against him, his plans
are thwarted at every turn, and he speaks very little Italian. Somehow, it all
comes together. Or so he hopes. The Observer (UK)
09/08/02 SUBTLE
SELF-PROMOTION: Philadelphia's Print Center is trying something new to increase
its profile in the city: art that no one notices. The plan is called "Imprint,"
and consists of works by six artists placed at various points around the metro
area, on billboards, coffee cups, and in magazines, designed to gradually work
their way into the minds of the viewer, rather than be analyzed in any one sitting.
The images are described as simple but confusing, accessible but startling, and
subliminal yet unavoidable. Sounds like art, all right. Philadelphia
Inquirer 09/08/02 FOR
THE LOVE OF ART: Many rich collectors acquire art for the status symbol, or
the investment, or just to have it.George and Maida Abrams collect art because
they love it. Not every piece in the Abrams collection is worth great gobs of
money (although some, like Rembrandt's 'Farm on the Amsteldijk,' are priceless,)
but every painting, every drawing, every sketch has something in it that caught
the eye of either husband or wife and made it impossible for them to leave it
behind. The Abrams collection is currently touring Europe, its first public display
since Maida died of cancer last spring, and is garnering mostly rave reviews for
the highly personal nature of the works included. "They constitute a loving,
lingering look at everyday life -which accounts for their accessibility to a wide
public." Boston Globe 09/08/02 A
HOME FOR THE MACABRE: "Edward Gorey never passed up a chance to give
a gift -- unless it involved an event where an admiring stranger might thrust
the shy author and illustrator into the centre of attention. So he probably would
have grumbled aloud about the spotlight on his life at the Edward Gorey House,
a tribute to all things Gorey that opened in July in his beloved Cape Cod home,
where he had a fatal heart attack in April, 2000. Secretly, however, Gorey might
have been pleased by efforts from friends, family and an anonymous foundation
to preserve his eccentric legacy." The Globe
& Mail (AP) 09/07/02 Friday
September 6 POISONED
HERITAGE: "As late as the 1960s, it was common practice for museums and
collectors to preserve artifacts - and to ward off bugs and rodents - by applying
a variety of toxic pesticides, including mercury, arsenic, and the now-banned
DDT. In the wake of a federal repatriation law passed in the early 1990s, Native
Americans have realized what was previously known only to museum workers: Virtually
every organic artifact collected before the second half of the 20th century has
been contaminated. Because the problem is so new, no data exist on the correlation
between contaminated artifacts and health defects, especially among the little-studied
Native American population." SF Weekly 09/05/02 LET'S
GET SOME ROYALTY ACTION: The real money in art is made in the resale market
after the artist is established. Collectors get rich if they pick the right artist
to collect. But visual artists in the United States do not earn royalties on their
work after it is first sold, meaning their capacity to earn goes to the grave
with them. Australian artists - painters, sculptors, photographers and the like
- are in exactly the same boat and right now are locked in a tussle with gallery
owners and the Federal Government to grab a piece of that rock-star-earning action."
Sydney Morning Herald 09/06/02 MEMORIALIZING
AS A CONCEPT: Arthur Danto tries to make sense of the flood of post-9/11 art
raining down on us from everywhere as the anniversary approaches. "I somewhat
resist the idea of the anniversary, but at the same time acknowledge a deep wisdom
in the way an anniversary marks a symbolic ending. The art that belonged to the
experience of September 11 now constitutes a body of work that differs from the
art that will undertake to memorialize it. The difference in part is this: One
need not have shared the experience to memorialize it." The
Nation 09/023/02 PROTESTS
OVER HITLER STATUE: A lifelike statue portraying Adolf Hitler kneeling in
prayer is being installed in Rotterdam (which was flattened by the Nazis in World
War II) this week. The city's leading cultural critic has complained, but the
museum showing the work defends it, saying: "By confronting this loaded theme
with irony, the historic and ethical importance of this extremely dark period
of our existence becomes clearer. It is particularly important to display this
type of work now in a time of fear." Nando Times
(AP) 09/06/02 MUSEUM
ACCESS DENIED: Many museums are restricting access to parts of their collections
deemed "inappropriate" for public scrutiny. "Whats significant
and alarming about this story is not just that researchers and the rest of us
may be denied a chance to study objects and their cultural importance. A situation
where museum curators are no longer obliged to defer to the idea of research being
integral to their employment by the museum is deeply disturbing. Instead they
seem to be playing the role of high priests, hiding the ancient saints finger
as a relic in the basement, only to be seen by the privileged few chosen by birth
or background." The Spectator 09/07/02 RIFFING
RESTORATION: The University of Canberra is dropping its art restoration program.
"They are losing a huge amount of money because there's very low demand."
Some warn that the preservation of Australia's art collections will be endangered
without new conservators. Sydney Morning Herald 09/06/02 Thursday
September 5 THE
BEST NEW BUILDINGS? Here's a list of new American buildings (opened since
the change of the millennium) that one panel of experts picked as buildings pointing
to a new age. The list includes "an office building, a courthouse, two museums
and even a public transit project. In a sense, the populism of these structures
recalls another great era, that of 100 years ago. Back then, great architecture
was represented by central rail stations: ornate, Renaissance-styled places that
embraced the masses as they caught an eye-opening first impression of the big
city. Then modernism came along, and we lost this..." USA
Weekend Magazine 09/01/02 HIGH-END
HEIST: "Works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse and Mexican painter Frida
Kahlo have been stolen from a doctor's home in Texas. The haul, worth more than
$700,000, was taken from the San Antonio house of Dr Richard Garcia while he was
asleep upstairs... The most expensive item taken was a painting by Frida Kahlo,
valued at $500,000. Dr Garcia, who has not publicly identified the paintings on
the advice of his lawyer, said he had not insured the works because the premiums
would be too high." BBC 09/04/02 AIMING
HIGH IN BOSTON: Boston's Institute for Comtemporary Art unveiled its plans
for a new museum on the Boston Harbor this week, and reaction has been overwhelmingly
positive. But the ICA has a number of significant hurdles to clear before the
museum can be built, and the exorbitant cost may be the least of the problems.
"Is the section of the Harborwalk bordering the building going to be wide
enough? And what about the dramatic, fourth-floor overhang that stretches to the
water's edge? A stunning design, but didn't it violate the rules of the Municipal
Harbor Plan? And would it create a wind tunnel like the one around the John Hancock
Tower?" Boston Globe 09/05/02 HOW
TO GET YOURSELF DECLARED AN 'ENEMY COMBATANT': Hlynur Hallsson probably could
have chosen a better time and place to "stimulate discussion." The Icelandic
artist installed an exhibit of his work in a rural Texas gallery with the stated
intention of getting people to talk. The townsfolk haven't stopped shouting since:
Mr. Hallsson's exhibit consists of bilingual graffiti-style sentences scrawled
on walls, with the text reading "The real axis of evil are Israel, USA and the
UK," "Ariel Sharon is the top terrorist," and "George W. Bush is an
idiot." The New York Times 09/05/02 Wednesday
September 4 THE
DEPRESSING HOMEFRONT: So what if we create civic buildings of aesthetic quality?
People can come and visit them. But then they go home to wretched mass-produced,
unsustainable, depressing houses in suburbs. Could this be what people want? "But
are these people offered, or have they experienced, anything different? How are
they so sure when there are so many alternative ways of living? And just who gains
from turning lark-sung meadows into acres of breeze-blocks tricked out in doll's
house detailing?" The Guardian (UK) 09/02/02 IT'S
HIP TO BE DUMBO: It's where you want to be in New York - Dumbo - Down Under
the Manhattan Bridge Overpass - the latest neighborhood to make a claim for rising
hipster status on the New York scene. In its 15 rough-hewn square blocks, about
1,000 artists and performers fill some 700 lofts." Washington
Post 09/04/02 THE
BATTERED BARNES: The Barnes Collection outside Philadelphia is one of the
world's great collections of Impressionist art. "The Musee d'Orsay in Paris
owns 94 works by Renoir. The Barnes has 181. The Museum of Modern Art in New York
has 39 by Cezanne. The Barnes owns 69." But the Barnes is surely one of the
most troubled of art institutions - trapped by the will of an eccentric founder
and the wrath of angry neighbors. Can anything be done? Los
Angeles Times 09/03/02 NEW
BOSTON LANDMARK? Boston's new waterfront home for the Institute of Contemporary
Art may be delayed because of financial dificulties. But that isn't stopping the
ICA from unveiling its
dramatic design for the building. "This is one of the city's great moments.
We see this as quite the beacon of light on the waterfront. It will be as luminous
outside as the work will be inside.'' Boston Herald
09/04/02 AWKWARD
OPENING? The first cathedral built in the United States for three decades
opened yesterday amid protests from Roman Catholics who say that the $200 million
cost of the building should have been spent on the poor. All-night vigils were
held by protesters describing the building as a 'fat cats' cathedral' and by others
critical of the church's handling of the sex scandals engulfing it. The dedication
of the cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels comes at an awkward moment for the
church. Seventy-two current or former priests from the LA diocese alone are under
criminal investigation and the church is embroiled in costly settlements with
abuse victims." The Guardian (UK) 09/03/02
- Previously: BREATHTAKING
ADDITION: The new Los Angeles Cathedral opened over the weekend. Not the best
time in the history of the American Catholic Church to be into an expensive project.
Architecturally, the building is impressive, writes Nicolai Ourssouroff. "If
it struggles to find its place in the city, its intent is to offer a refuge from
it. The relentless flow of Los Angeles' sprawling landscape is momentarily lessened.
In its place is a monument to spiritual communion that certainly ranks among the
great architectural achievements in recent American history." Los
Angeles Times 09/02/02
Tuesday
September 3 INNOCENTS
IS BLISS? Controversy still swirls around the painting bought by a Canadian
collector for £49 million at auction this summer. Is Massacre of the
Innocents by Rubens (thus justifying its enormous price) or is it not? "The
work is not a 'typical Rubens', but bears a marked similarity to the National
Gallery's Samson and Delilah, itself an initially controversial purchase.
'To link this painting so strongly seems disturbing when Samson and Delilah's
attribution has been challenged for all sorts of reasons'." The
Guardian (UK) 09/03/02 BREATHTAKING
ADDITION: The new Los Angeles Cathedral opened over the weekend. Not the best
time in the history of the American Catholic Church to be into an expensive project.
Architecturally, the building is impressive, writes Nicolai Ourssouroff. "If
it struggles to find its place in the city, its intent is to offer a refuge from
it. The relentless flow of Los Angeles' sprawling landscape is momentarily lessened.
In its place is a monument to spiritual communion that certainly ranks among the
great architectural achievements in recent American history." Los
Angeles Times 09/02/02 - EARTHBOUND
ART: The art commissioned for the new cathedral doesn't match the inspiration
of the building. "The result is self-defeating. If you already believe, the
art is superficial. If you don't, there isn't much to see." Los
Angeles Times 09/02/02
WORLD'S
LARGEST PAINTING? It's a lifesize painting of a tree. "The picture of
an oak tree is 32ft by 22ft. It is going on display in the middle of Golden Square
in Soho, central London. Artist Adam Ball used 100 litres of paint and varnish
to create the vast work, entitled The Tree. He got through 35 brushes, as well
as mops, brooms and builders' trowels, to cover the canvas. It will hang on a
12 metre (40ft) scaffold and be weighed down by 50 tonnes of concrete to prevent
it from blowing over." The Guardian (UK) 09/02/02 Sunday
September 1 COME
TO BOSTONLAND! The city of Boston is about to have a big chunk of open land,
once the major traffic artery through the city is shifted underground. And this
week, a city councilor proposed that a parcel of the land be used to create a
sort of colonial theme park, an idea which Robert Campbell calls "stupid...
Hey, why not turn the Artery into Venetian canals? How about a bullfight arena?
Maybe a giant balloon launcher for tourists? The problem isn't dreaming up ideas.
The problem is that there's nobody in charge of sifting those ideas and figuring
out what will really work, what will really make a better city." Boston
Globe 09/01/02 THERE'S
NEVER ENOUGH FREUD: The Lucien Freud exhibit at the Tate Modern has been the
hot ticket of the summer in London. And it's not over yet - the final two works
to join the exhibit have only just been completed, and, as previewed in a London
broadsheet, they are as eclectic as one would expect from the UK's painter of
the moment. One of the works features a dog lying at a man's bare feet; the other
is a nude of pregnant supermodel Kate Moss. The Telegraph
(UK) 08/31/02 OUTSIDER
ART FROM THE INSIDE: An exhibition of sketches depicting life in a South African
prison will go on display in London this week. The artist, who is an amateur,
is hoping to raise money to support a children's charity in his home country,
and actually returned to the prison in which he spent a quarter century incarcerated
in order to make the sketches. So why would anyone care? Well, the sketches are
reportedly quite good. And the artist's name is Nelson Mandela. BBC
09/01/02 AS
IF TIMES SQUARE NEEDED MORE POP ART: "The Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein
liked to parody the modernist styles of his day. So it's altogether appropriate
that five years after his death, he has given the new Times Square, with its sci-fi
glass towers and Tomorrowland electronic signs, a monumental mural that harks
back to a bygone future — the future as it was evisioned in the machine age...
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which commissioned the piece and will
unveil it on Thursday, may rightly see the work as an emblem of a revitalized,
forward-looking Times Square. But it's also a Lichtenstein sendup of modernist
visions of the future." The New York Times 09/01/02 THE
OTHER OTHER TATE: "St Ives would like to be the Collioure of Cornwall.
It was in Collioure, on the western end of the Côte d'Azur, in the early 20th
century that Matisse, Picasso and the French avant garde drank Bandol and reinvented
painting. Those days are long gone now. Collioure trades on its artistic heritage,
but you have to go a long way to find a few slightly sorry traces of its glory
days... The locals are in no doubt about the source of St Ives's new prosperity:
it's the Tate St Ives." The Telegraph (UK) 08/31/02
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