ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

VISUAL

Stunning Daylight Attack On TEFAF Fair

In a brazen raid on the Tefaf art fair, one of the men was filmed smashing cases with a sledgehammer while accomplices kept visitors away. One visitor picked up a large vase in an apparent attempt to halt the robbers before quickly putting it back. - BBC

Saudi Arabia’s New Cultural Destination Will Have Five Major Works Of Earth Art, Including A James Turrell

"Five permanent artworks are planned for Wadi AlFann" —  a "valley of the arts," part of the $15 billion AlUla complex which will be unveiled in 2024 — "(by) James Turrell, Agnes Denes, Michael Heizer, as well as Saudi artists Manal AlDowayan and Ahmed Mater." - Artnet

Visiting Museums Really Is Good For Mental Health: U.S. Study

"New research from the University of Pennsylvania found reductions in anxiety and depression and increases in cognitive function and empathy, among a number of other promising outcomes." - Hyperallergic

TEFAF Maastricht Returns To New Realities

The long-established event, regarded as the world’s pre-eminent fair for art, objects and furniture ranging back through the centuries, was canceled in 2021 and postponed this year by three months to an unfamiliar summer slot. - The New York Times

Maldive Islands Announce New Floating City To Adapt To Climate Change

Called Maldives Floating City, the development will contain 5,000 low-rise floating homes floating within a 200-hectare lagoon in the Indian Ocean. As sea levels rise, so too will the city, which will be built upon a series of hexagonal-shaped floating structures. - Dezeen

Making A Case For Art (It Takes More Than A Village)

You don’t know it’s art by looking at it. You know it’s art because galleries want to show it, dealers want to sell it, collectors want to buy it, museums want to exhibit it, and critics can explain it. When the parts are in synch, you have a market. - The New Yorker

Documenta Was Going Great Until The Organizers Forgot To Account For Fascism

Or, at the very least, someone should have clocked the antisemitic imagery in one artist's piece. Then there's the question of Palestinian artists and Germany's pro-Israel stance. "In this combustible climate, some vigilance might have been expected. But from whom?" - The New York Times

Dora Maar’s Photos Show An Artist Who Knew Her Worth Before She Met Picasso

It's unfortunate (in the extreme) that writers and artists let their relationship overshadow her own work, which not only documents the Surrealists but also captured the economic crisis of the Great Depression in the UK and Spain. - The Guardian (UK)

Why The Inventor Of The Shopping Mall Denounced His Design

Victor Gruen "set his sights on bringing a dose of Viennese urbanity to what he saw as the car-dominated 'avenues of horror' of American commercial strips. He imagined Southdale as the centre of a new high-density, mixed-use district." Developers had other plans. - The Guardian (UK)

FBI Seizes Disputed Basquiat Works From Orlando Show

"Orlando Museum of Art spokeswoman Emilia Bourmas-Fry said in a statement that they were complying with a warrant from the FBI for access to the ‘Heroes and Monsters’ exhibit, which is now in the government's possession." - ABC News (AP)

Want To Have A Nervous Breakdown?

Designing an exhibition is "truly a collaborative process, drawing upon content specialists, community representatives, professional designers, donors, partner institutions and others. It really does take a village. ... But designing and developing a museum exhibition is also a white-knuckle, nerve-racking experience." - Inside Higher Ed

British Columbia Premier Suspends $800 Million Plan To Rebuild Museum

Horgan explained that British Columbians were unwilling to accept an $800-million price tag for the project while the province faces a doctor shortage, an increasing cost of living and other critical issues coming out of the pandemic. - CBC

How James Turrell Was Inspired By Quaker Meetinghouses

"The artist recalls asking his grandmother what they were meant to do inside the meetinghouse, to which she replied: 'We're going inside to greet the light.'" - Artnet

Eight Men Convicted In Paris Of Stealing Banksy’s Bataclan ArtWork

British street artist Banksy painted his “sad girl” work on the door of the Bataclan in memory of the 90 people killed in worst of the 13 November 2015 jihadist attacks that hit several sites around the city. - The Guardian

Smithsonian Picks Four Potential Sites For New Women’s History and Latino Museums

The historical Arts and Industries Building, on Jefferson Drive SW next to the Smithsonian administration building known as the Castle, is the sole site with a structure and the only one under the control of the Smithsonian. - Washington Post

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