Archives for October 2006

I can understand why, as reported in today's NY Times, the Whitney Museum might want to consider ditching its on-site expansion plans for the trendy environs of downtown. Its Renzo Piano-designed proposal for Madison Avenue suffered significant modification in response to neighbors' critiques and government reviews, and there is still an unresolved lawsuit from local opponents. … [Read more...] about The Whitney’s Latest Architectural Antics

Will someone please use some Bounty paper towels (preferably soaked in cleaning solution) on Anish Kapoor's Sky Mirror? Nearing this Friday's announced end of its five-week display at New York's Rockefeller Center, its "polished stainless steel" urgently needs polishing: Its cloudiness is not just a reflection of the sky, and it also bears numerous vertical stains that seem to … [Read more...] about “Sky Mirror” Needs Windex!

MASS MoCA, North Adams, Mass., is about to announce its plan to transform a three-story, 27,000-square-foot building on its campus into a "quasi-permanent living archive" for 50 of Sol LeWitt's intricately engrossing but far too ephemeral wall drawings. The galleries, designed by the artist himself, are to open in Fall 2008. The $9-million cost ($6 million raised to date) will … [Read more...] about Speaking of Sol LeWitt…

The Propitious Garden of Plane Image, Third Version, (photographed unfinished in May 2006), 2000-2006, oil on linen, six panels, overall 72 x 288 inches, collection the artist. Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, © 2006 Brice Marden/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York How I wish I had never read this article about Brice Marden's intimate relationship with Bounty paper … [Read more...] about Brice Marden, the Quicker Picker-Upper

Former J. Paul Getty Trust board member Barbara Fleischman replies to my report about her "new cultural philanthropy": I was interested to read your comments regarding my support of arts and cultural reporting at Columbia University. What propelled my decision to be part of this initiative was the irresponsible and scurrilous reporting of Marion True's case and where it seeped … [Read more...] about BlogBack: Barbara Fleischman on Her Recent Journalistic Benefactions

(Part I is here.) The mandarins of the Mainstream Media like to debunk blogs as superficial at best, trashy at worst. But properly deployed, a blogger's cards can trump the more traditional players at their own game. Here are a few tricks that nimble CultureGrrl of the Blogosphere can execute but that plodding Rosenbaum of the Mainstream Media can't: ---Link to primary source … [Read more...] about Why I Blog—Part II

Today marks my six-month blogging anniversary---a fitting moment to reconsider what lured me into this demanding pursuit---a somewhat unconventional and inconvenient genre for a tradition-bound journalist. What started me thinking about this was not my anniversary, but this recent NY Times piece by Byron Calame, the paper's public editor. In roundhousing Linda Greenhouse, who … [Read more...] about Why I Blog—Part I

I haven't acquired these tomes yet, let alone absorbed them. (What I'm reading now is George Bernard Shaw's "Heartbreak House." I've got tickets!) But on the assumption that CultureGrrl's readers share some of her interests, here's what I plan to peruse in the near future: Collecting Contemporary by Adam Lindemann (Taschen)---From the publisher's description, it sounds like … [Read more...] about Four Books on My Must-Read List

This article in today's NY Times about the self-portraits of an artist with Alzheimer's struck a chord with me. That's because I got my 92-year-old father to strike a chord for me yesterday. He had joyously played jazz standards all his life, but now usually declines when I ask him to entertain me. One of my favorite photos of him, a copy of which sits atop my own piano, shows … [Read more...] about The Art of Alzheimer’s

Here's the response to CultureGrrl from Michael Brand, director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, on the recent negative comments by Italy's Culture Minister regarding antiquities discussions with the Getty: We do not intend to comment on the continuing negotiations until we're ready to announce a final agreement. Apparently, the Italian negotiators do not share this reticence. … [Read more...] about Michael Brand on the Italian Tirade

Having left the board of the J. Paul Getty Trust, Barbara Fleischman has found a new cultural cause to support. This just in from the newsletter of my alma mater, the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism: The Barbara Fleischman Fellowship has been established for students committed to arts and cultural reporting. I guess that means no hard feelings about the hard … [Read more...] about Barbara Fleischman’s New Cultural Philanthropy

Italian Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli on Friday took the occasion of the signing of an antiquities agreement with Switzerland to issue a highly negative assessment of ongoing discussions with the J. Paul Getty Museum over 52 Getty-owned antiquities that Italy claims were illicitly removed from its territory. According to an Italian-language report by the ANSA news agency … [Read more...] about Italian Culture Minister Upbraids the Getty

You know how you can sometimes tell just from listening to a radio ad whether an upcoming musical theater production is likely to be worth seeing? If the selections chosen for the promotion irk you, what are the chances that you'll feel differently about the rest of the music in the show? I loved "Movin' Out," the Billy Joel/Twyla Tharp musical. And you could already tell from … [Read more...] about Does Dylan Belong on Broadway?

Yesterday, the NY Times ran this appreciative obit by Roberta Smith of Marcia Tucker, the doughty founder of the New Museum. And today, the New Museum's website has...nothing. … [Read more...] about Marcia Tucker, Doyenne of the Cutting Edge

Cecilia Beaux, "Ernesta (Child with Nurse)," 1894, Metropolitan Museum of Art Curator Barbara Weinberg says she wants visitors to the Met's upcoming show, Americans in Paris, 1860-1900 (opens Tuesday) to ask themselves: Where have Charles Sprague Pearce and Dennis Miller Bunker been all my life? Trust me, Barbara, that's not going to happen. But along with the ho-hum … [Read more...] about Strike Up the Gershwin: “Americans in Paris”