VISUAL

Architectural Drawings Of Trump’s Planned White House East Wing Released

“The drawings picture the East Wing volume extending well into the White House lawn. At roughly 90,000 square feet, its footprint is more than twice the size of the previous East Wing building, which is now fully demolished. … The documentation includes site plans, building plans, elevations, landscape drawings and renders.” - Dezeen

Why Does Bernini’s Beloved Elephant Sculpture In Rome Keep Losing The Tip Of Its Tusk?

Because people keep knocking it off — most recently, this past weekend, when police found the four-inch marble fragment from the left tusk on the pavement nearby. - AP

V&A Museum Acquires First-Ever YouTube Video

“The V&A has acquired a reconstructed early webpage and the first video ever uploaded to the platform by co-founder Jawed Karim,” a V&A spokesperson said. - CNN

Judy Chicago Walks Away From “Nightmare” Google Project

The celebrated visual artist Judy Chicago has walked away from a major commission at Google’s headquarters project in the Loop, comparing an aspect of working with the tech giant as “a nightmare.” - Chicago Sun-Times

Saudi Arabia Commissions World’s Largest Mural, Which It Hopes Will Be Visible From Space

The job — to create a painting 50,000 square meters large, roughly the size of nine football fields, in the Saudi capital, Riyadh — has gone to New York-based artist Domingo Zapata, who is reportedly getting an “unlimited budget.” - Page Six

Louvre’s No. 2 Official Says Ticket Fraud Is “Inevitable” At Large Museums

“Which museum in the world, with this level of attendance,” said Louvre general administrator Kim Pham, “would not at certain moments have some issues of fraud?” (He would not, however, name another museum with a similar problem.) - AP

Architect Oscar Niemeyer’s Final Building Was A Diner In Leipzig

The great Brazilian modernist, best-known for the futuristic government buildings in Brasilia, had recently turned 103 when he drew the first sketch for what’s now called the Niemeyer Sphere. When he died almost a year later, he hadn’t finalized the design, but there were enough sketches and specifications to complete it. - The Guardian

The Cultural Debate About Wall Texts

“When curators withhold information about the works and the artists, they are reinforcing their own curatorial approach, which is a contradiction. Decontextualizing and dehistoricizing is practically a colonialist act.”  - Hyperallergic

America’s Post-Modernist Architecture Legacy

Postmodernism began as a critique of modernism's exhausted promises. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, many designers no longer treated modernism as radical or socially redemptive. Urban renewal projects accelerated the demolition of historic neighborhoods, and landmark preservation battles raised urgent questions about what the United States valued and, ultimately, protected. - Arch Daily

Louvre Discovers $12 Million Ticketing Scam

When officials at the Louvre in Paris suspected a couple of tour guides of reusing tickets in late 2024, they did not expect to learn that a broad scamming network had cost the museum nearly $12 million over a decade. - The New York Times

Tate Modern Serves Frida With a Side of Capitalism

When museums pivot from contemplation to consumption, even revolutionary icons get commodified. Tate's Kahlo experience trades artistic liberation for lifestyle branding—because apparently unibrows sell better with appetizers. – The Conversation

University Gets Cold Feet Over Hot ICE Criticism

When your art hits too close to home, apparently even universities develop sudden institutional amnesia about academic freedom. Victor Quiñonez's immigrant-focused work got the silent treatment—no notice, no discussion, just gone. — Hyperallergic

African Art Market Caught Between Home and Away

As Middle Eastern buyers flex their newfound muscle, African dealers face the classic dilemma: chase the international money or build local infrastructure first? Turns out you can't auction your way out of everything. — Artnet

The Women Of Bauhaus

“The German art school turned political and cultural engine founded in 1919,” and its “principles included absolute equality between male and female participants — or they did at first, at any rate.” - Open Culture

As Minneapolis Starts Construction On A Memorial To George Floyd, It’s Dealing With Two More Intense Memorial Spaces

The mayor’s office says Minneapolis is “actively working on next steps, including continued community engagement regarding both memorials.” - Minnesota Public Radio

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss