Douglas McLennan
Doug is the editor of ArtsJournal
Meet The Russian Oligarch On The Guggenheim’s Board (Until Last Week)
“Vladimir Potanin has advised the Board of Trustees of his decision to step down as Trustee effective immediately,” the museum said. “The Guggenheim accepts this...
How The Hermitage Artwashes Russia
According to the 2021 State of Artistic Freedom Report by Freemuse, Russia detained 17 artists in 2020, a number exceeded only by Cuba. Artists are regularly...
International Arts Organizations Scrutinize Russian Artists
Institutions are demanding that artists who have supported Mr. Putin in the past issue clear condemnations of the Russian president and his invasion as...
Kyiv Dancers Quit To Fight In Ukraine Military
Images have circulated online of a principal dancer and ballerina at the National Opera of Ukraine in Kyiv, in camouflage holding weapons. - ClassicFM
Cultural Institutions Wrestle With Whether To Ban Russian Artists
As the war in Ukraine enters its second week, cultural institutions worldwide are grappling with the question of whether to boycott Russian artists, in...
The Politicization and Artistic Downfall Of Valery Gergiev
The idea was that Gergiev could somehow retract his blatant politicization of music and adopt a purist guise when he walked onstage. In fact, if he...
Innovation Is Fine. But Wisdom Creates Longterm Success
Fairly or unfairly, many tech companies with disproportionately young employees and leaders have gone from a shining example of how entrepreneurial capitalism can improve...
Tennessee Is Fighting A Culture War Over What Books Students Can Read
“It looks like the entire curriculum is developed to normalize sexuality, normalize nudity and normalize vulgar language,” said Mike Cochran, a school board member....
European Theatre Pioneers A Kind Of Tour That’s Climate-Friendly
It is an unusual production model in European theater, where directors tend to have the final word on every iteration of their work. The...
New Clue In The Gardner Museum Heist?
Anthony Amore, chief of security for the Gardner museum, tells Boston 25 News that a recent tipster prompted officials to take another look at the murder...
Valery Gergiev, Political Cautionary Tale?
What is happening here represents just the latest, though perhaps the most glaring, iteration of an age-old conundrum. What expectations do we have — should we...
Star Russian Conductor Suspended For Starting Performance With A Wish For Peace
Before the performance, conductor Ivan Velikanov — a star on the Russian music scene hailed as "the new Teodor Currentzis" — came on stage, gave...
Famous Hollywood Celebrity Biographer Dishes On Herself
Regardless of one’s opinions about Kitty Kelley, or her methodology, there can be no denying that her brand of take-no-prisoners celebrity journalism — the...
Behind The Scenes Of Furious Debates About Changing The Oscars Broadcast
In the end, rather than dropping 12 categories altogether from the telecast, the Academy was able to satisfy ABC with the current plan, which...
A Year Ago A Beeple Sale Started An NFT Gold Rush. So Has It...
In the 12 months since, something like $44 billion has been spent on about six million NFTs, usually issued to certify digital creations but...
Why The Sale Of Bandcamp Matters To Musicians
With Bandcamp’s model, buying an album feels like an investment in both the music and the artist, and as a result it’s the best...
New Dr. Seuss Books Inspired By His Sketches
Leaving nothing to chance after the previous book banning, the new works will be written, drawn and edited by what’s described as a group...
Spotify Quits Russia
Spotify said Wednesday it has closed its office in Russia indefinitely because of the “unprovoked attack on Ukraine.” Social media companies with more than...
The First TikTok War
The war has become content, flowing across every platform at once. A single tweet earned the clip more than ten million views, but it...
What If The Internet Is Actually A Living Thing?
Could it be that the internet is not best seen as a lifeless artifact, contraption, gadget, or mere tool, but as a living system,...
Do Birds Have Languages?
Both birdsong and language are passed culturally to later generations through vocal learning. Geographically distant populations of the same bird species can make small...
Okay, So This Is Creepy: New Google Tech Monitors Your Movement Without Cameras
It sounds futuristic and perhaps more than a little invasive—a computer watching your every move? But it feels less creepy once you learn that these...
Even During COVID, State Of Georgia Rings Up Record Spending On Movie Production
Georgia film production in the 2021 fiscal year exceeded its pre-pandemic pace, setting a new record of $4.1 billion in direct spend from productions...
Netflix Is Obligated To Carry Russian Propaganda In Russia. It Isn’t… For Now
News that Netflix would likely be forced to broadcast Russian propaganda sparked a furious response from subscribers in the West, with hundreds taking to...
London: The Theatre’s Great. The Going To Theatre Not So Much
I’d been able to stop thinking about the ventilation, wondering what I was breathing and whether it was worth it. I decided it wasn’t...