Archives for May 2011

Rendering of the planned Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi's Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) today announced that PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been appointed "as an independent auditor to monitor its contractors' and subcontractors' performance in the area of worker welfare" for construction projects on Saadiyat Island, including the … [Read more...] about Workers’ Rights Monitor Appointed for Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

As you consider various outdoor alternatives for enjoying Memorial Day weekend, here's a suggestion for those in the NYC metropolitan area: a pleasant ferry ride from the tip of Manhattan to Governors Island, where a gloriously sited exhibition of 11 sculptures by Mark di Suvero---from large to monumental---awaits. Governors Island Ferry Terminal at the Battery, Lower … [Read more...] about MeTube: Marvelous Mark di Suvero Conquers Governors Island (and me)

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has just released photos of preliminary renderings by Snøhetta, the Oslo- and New York-based architectural firm, of its planned 225,000-square-foot expansion, to be completed in 2016. Constricted by its site to a long, narrow footprint, it appears to tower and glower menacingly over the fanciful Mario Botta building, which it exceeds in … [Read more...] about SFMOMA’s Expansion Renderings: Notta Botta

There was much speechifying at today's "groundbreaking" for the Renzo Piano-designed Downtown Whitney, with the architect, Mayor Bloomberg, Whitney director Adam Weinberg, museum trustees and the Manhattan Borough President taking the podium. Piano lofted an all-white model of the building, calling it a "25,000-pound meteorite" (still looks like an ocean liner to me) that will … [Read more...] about Renzo Piano’s “Meteorite”: Downtown Whitney Fly-Through

Before other stories rose to the top, I had been planning to start this week on a lighter (and light-filled) note---CultureGrrl's supplement to Saturday's offering from Real Clear Arts, where ArtsJournal blogger Judith Dobrzynski posted her photos of the James Turrell skyspace that she and I both visited earlier this month. So now let's get to it. Here's its bunker-like … [Read more...] about Crystal Bridges’ Turrell Skyspace: An Optical Mystery Tour

Warren Olney, host of "Which Way, L.A.?"I'm a bit player in this one, which also includes Ralph Frammolino, co-author with Jason Felch of the new book on the Getty's past antiquities scandals; and Ron Hartwig, the Getty Trust's vice president for communications.Our segment on Chasing Aphrodite (for which I bring up the rear) should air at about 7:06 p.m., LA time (10:06 p.m., … [Read more...] about My LA Public Radio Commentary on “Chasing Aphrodite” (Hear It Now)

I hate immediately posting over my important Rotten 'Soft Diplomacy opinion piece on U.S. museums' insufficient response to the plight of Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei. But this is also important: The Association of Art Museum Directors has just posted its revised Professional Practices in Art Museums, with some important changes. (These guidelines are reconsidered every … [Read more...] about News Flash: AAMD’s revised “Professional Practices” Guidelines

Virginia Meets China: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts' director Alex Nyerges, second from right, and Governor Bob McDonnell, fifth from right, visit the Forbidden City, Beijing, to sign a cultural-exchange agreement with China.My fellow AJ contributor, Judith Dobrzynski, has an important post today, pegged to the Milwaukee Art Museum's (MAM's) upcoming Summer of China (which is … [Read more...] about Rotten “Soft Diplomacy”: Ai Weiwei’s Plight and U.S. Museums’ Appeasement CLARIFIED and UPDATED

Ian Wardropper, Frick Collection's director-designate Colorful and dynamic, he's not. Strong on scholarly and administrative credentials, he is. I was almost as surprised to learn that Ian Wardropper had been named to be the Frick Collection's next director as I had been when I first heard, almost three years ago, that the under-the-radar chairman of the Metropolitan … [Read more...] about Ian Wardropper, The Frick’s Surprise Choice for Director

As I predicted, there are many in the museum field who do not joyously welcome the additional government oversight for deaccessions embodied in the new rules approved on Tuesday by the NY State Board of Regents (and also approved by CultureGrrl).Both the American Association of Museums and the Association of Art Museum Directors yesterday issued statements that express their … [Read more...] about NY State’s New Deaccession Rules: Ambivalent Response from AAM, AAMD

Ralph Frammolino, left, and Jason Felch with their finished productFelcholino, the investigative reporting team, above (who clearly appreciate my nickname for them), have been doing a victory lap in Sicily, where the eponymous, although probably misnamed (scroll down), goddess of their new book, Chasing Aphrodite, was unveiled Tuesday in a small museum in Aidone, Italy, after … [Read more...] about “Chasing Aphrodite”: My Q&A with the Getty Regarding Book’s Revelations

If all goes according to plan, I'll have a soundbite on New York Public Radio (WNYC) on this evening's "All Things Considered" and/or tomorrow's "Morning Edition," regarding the NY State Board of Regents landmark deaccession regulations. Here's a link to producer Abbie Fentress Swanson's written story (which quotes me). I'll embed the audio here, if/when it's available … [Read more...] about Coming Soon: My WNYC Comments on NY State’s New Deaccession Rules (plus NY Times’ Catch-Up Gaffe)

John King Jr., New York State's newly elected Education Commissioner It's been a long slog, but a new, overdue national model for the regulation of museum deaccessions was enacted today by the NY State Board of Regents. The Regents unanimously approved a permanent amendment to Regents Rule §3.27, relating to museum collections management policies. The new rules, effective … [Read more...] about News Flash: NYS Regents Pass Stringent Deaccession Regulations (finally!)

A small sigh of relief.If Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei were in demonstrably poor physical condition, it's unlikely that the Chinese authorities would have allowed his wife to see him yesterday, albeit briefly and closely monitored. Ai had been previously unheard from since taken into custody on Apr. 3.Alexa Olesen and Isolda Morillo of the Associated Press report:Lu Qing … [Read more...] about Ai Weiwei Visited by Wife; His “Circle of Animals” Visits New York and London (CultureGrrl Video)

Margaret Juntwait, host of the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcastWas the maestro ailing?This afternoon's start of the season's final performance of Wagner's "Die Walküre" at the Metropolitan Opera (I attended the first one on Apr. 22) was delayed for 40 minutes, with no explanation for those of us who were listening to the radio broadcast. (This performance was also to be … [Read more...] about Met’s “Die Walküre”: James Levine Sturdier Than the Glitchy Set