The claim: It's for earthquake protection. The politics: Extremely complicated. The CEO's claim: "Adding up all the issues and what it would cost to upgrade the building and fix its problems it makes more sense to build a new museum." - Toronto Star
With a lot of planning and flexibility, of course. And a sense of humor. "Let’s consider this my 'embodied perspective,' however frazzled and distracted that might be." - Hyperallergic
True, Woman - Ochre has been recovered and restored. But that's not the issue. "The artwork’s return to view raises the question of to what extent visitors will see the painting, with its grotesque — some say sexist — depiction of the female form, in a different light." - The New York Times
A Russian artist now based in London says using clotheslines and clothing - and deliberately framing them in landscapes - may help us "slow down and look at what’s around us." - The Guardian (UK)
Workers at the museum rang bells, chanted, and cheered when taxi drivers and chauffeurs who just dropped off their employers honked in support of them, holding signs that read “Honk for a Fair Contract” and “Union Strong.” - Hyperallergic
Can activism thrive within the strip-lit booths of essentially glorified trade shows? And does the commodification of protest art render its radical impulses null and void? - The Art Newspaper
"We have not been able to sleep, eat and live peacefully. We are fed up with the scary dreams and are returning your valuables," said a note left by the thieves who had taken ritual objects from a temple to Balaji, an incarnation of Vishnu, in Uttar Pradesh state. - The Guardian (AFP)
"The United Kingdom will hold formal talks with Greece regarding the potential repatriation of the Parthenon Marbles, which have been in the British Museum since 1816. ... The contested sculptures were stripped from the Acropolis in 1801 by Lord Elgin while Greece was under Ottoman occupation." - ARTnews
Five years ago the German painter, one of Europe's most prominent living artists, announced that he was ending his career. But he couldn't stop painting, and now he has a major exhibition at a museum near Basel. - Artnet
For some philosophers, the experience of color is most similar to that of pain: an internal state that resists quantification. But who wouldn’t rather philosophize about azure instead of aches and pains? - Lapham's Quarterly
"Starting out as an informal gathering of local men painting wherever they could find some shade, Papunya Tula has become one of the most respected players in the world of Indigenous art, with two art centers (in tiny desert towns) and an art gallery in Alice Springs." - Smithsonian Magazine
A new game, Artle, launched by the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington, DC, invites art lovers to guess the artist in four attempts using visual prompts from their oeuvre. - Hyperallergic
