VISUAL

For His First Work Of Performance Art, Ai Weiwei Will Re-Enact His Imprisonment

“From 5 p.m. on July 3 (in Manchester), Ai will enter a replica of his 25.92 square-meter cell, recreated by international architecture firm HawkinsBrown. Inside, (over 24 hours,) he’ll sleep, eat, exercise, write, wash, and face interrogation on personal, political, and philosophical matters by four famed journalists.” - Artnet

Debating The Color Of The National Mall Reflecting Pool

The Reflecting Pool now evokes the joy of a Green Bay Packers victory. Or a high-school prank. Or St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago.It most certainly is not the gleaming American-flag blue that Trump’s repainting of the pool was supposed to produce. - The Atlantic

Louvre Is “Running On Fumes,” Its Director Tells French Senate

Christophe Leribault: “To put it bluntly: despite its imposing majesty and the daily dedication of its staff, the Louvre is running on fumes. Its facilities and infrastructure are reaching the end of their lifespan.” - ARTnews

Houston’s Menil Collection To Reopen Long-Closed Fresco Building And Fill It With Site-Specific Commission

The annex, opened in 1997 to house two Byzantine frescoes and closed since those works were returned to Cyprus in 2017, will reopen late next year to house long-term, site-specific, immersive installations — the first will be by Teresita Fernández — which will remain in place for roughly five years each. - Houston Chronicle (MSN)

The Hague’s Mauritshuis Museum May Keep Its Rembrandts, Rules Judge

Abraham Bredius, museum director from 1889 to 1909, bequeathed the Mauritshuis 25 of his own Old Master paintings — by Rembrandt, Jan Steen, and others — on condition that the works be displayed and not lent out. Because the museum doesn’t display all of them all the time, Bredius’s heirs sued — and lost. - ArtDependence

The Art Commissioned By The Obama Presidential Library

For the Obama Presidential Center on the South Side of Chicago, Barack and Michelle Obama commissioned original works by 30 artists from diverse backgrounds, a bold move never seen at such scale at a presidential library. - The Guardian

11th-Century Cathedral In Kyiv Set On Fire By Russian Missiles

“A massive Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv has badly damaged the Dormition Cathedral in the Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, a UNESCO world heritage site and one of Ukraine’s most significant religious and cultural sites.” - The Guardian

Sagrada Familia Might Have Topped Out, But Big Challenges Ahead

"The biggest will be Glory Facade, which is the main facade. Maybe it will take 10 years, but we don't yet have a fixed schedule." - Dezeen

Behold The New Obama Library

After standing in the glow of this new South Side landmark, I admittedly feel like a buzzkill focusing on documents, kind of like visiting the Sistine Chapel and contemplating the plumbing. - The Atlantic

Living ‘FridaMania’ In Kahlo’s Hometown

“Frida died – but she didn’t pass away. She was like a rocket. She just went up and up.” - The Guardian (UK)

Why The Art Workers Coalition Still Resonates Across The Art World

“Among their demands were a section of the museum dedicated to Black (and, in a later, amended statement, Puerto Rican) artists, an artist committee granted curatorial power, a ‘rental fee’ paid to artists for the exhibition of their work and free admission for all.” - The New York Times

The 91-Year-Old Venezuelan Artist Says No To Weaving With Electronic Machines

“Mora, who is 91 and tiny, wearing head scarves around her weathered face, has clung to a mix of ancestral Indigenous and Spanish traditions.” - The New York Times

Where Did This Family’s Looted Artworks Go?

“Despite evidence that Neumann did appropriate the Zoellners’ furniture and paintings, he was not convicted; in 1947 he was deported from the Netherlands as an ‘enemy subject’ under the Nazi regime, and emigrated to the United States with his family.” - El País English

How David Hockney Celebrated, Sometimes Mischeviously, Gay Life

“What’s so revolutionary about Hockney’s paintings is not just that they portray male nudity and desire, but scenes of domesticity: men swimming, showering and brushing their teeth together.” - The Guardian (UK)

The Sensual, Forbidden Pleasures Of Touching Art

“One of the cardinal rules of museum-going is that art should be enjoyed from a comfortable distance and never touched. However, in the 1960s, a cohort of artists began inviting audiences to interact with, and thus alter, their works.” - Aeon

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss