Archives for March 2010

William Kentridge's banner for the façade of the Metropolitan Opera House. The black silhouette of the renegade Nose is at the top, astride a horse. I love those rare moments when New York's preeminent cultural institutions work together in scintillating synergy. Sometimes it occurs through sheer serendipity. But in the case of the William Kentridge retrospective at the … [Read more...] about Kentridge X 2: MoMA + Met Opera = Harmonic Convergence

Jeffrey DeitchMike Boehm of the LA Times expertly moves the reportorial ball down the field today in his interview with Jeffrey Deitch regarding yesterday's revelations in CultureGrrl.LA MOCA's incoming director told Boehm one aspect of Deitch's plans that I hadn't learned about during my brief conversation with him after Jeffrey had addresssed an audience at the Guggenheim … [Read more...] about Deitch Deals: LA MOCA Director-Designate’s Self-Defense in LA Times

Jeffrey Deitch in front of LA MOCA's Giacomettis Just when New York dealer Jeffrey Deitch might have thought that the blow-up had subsided regarding his controversial appointment as the incoming director of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, more negative news was reported yesterday by the LA Times. What's more, CultureGrrl is about to break even more startling news … [Read more...] about Dealer-to-Director: More on Why Jeffrey Deitch is Wrong for LA MOCA

Screenshot from the Museum of Modern Art's live video feed of Marina Abramović's endurance performance in the atrium, "The Artist is Present" (Color-coordinated with her visitor, Abramović is on the right.) As an arts writer who (almost) always obeys the rules, I confronted a reportorial quandary at the recently concluded Tino Sehgal performance pieces at the Guggenheim and … [Read more...] about Sehgal, Abramović: Who’s more interesting—performers or visitors?

"At last, he's got to mention it!" I thought excitedly as I began reading Nicolai Ouroussoff's hot-blooded embrace in today's NY Times of architect Jean Nouvel's almost finished 100 Eleventh Avenue. As I perused the detailed appraisal of the building and its environs, I felt confident that the Knox Notch---the gap in Nouvel's building that permits barely a glimpse of a fragment … [Read more...] about Ouroussoff and the Knox Notch: The Critic Sees (or doesn’t)

Think of it as analogous to The Doors' two versions of "Light My Fire": There's the short version, suitable for top-40 radio play, and then there's the mind-blowing longer version. If you were up at about 8:30 this morning and tuned in to WQXR, New York's public classical radio station, you heard the drive-time cut of my conversation with Kerry Nolan about the hot-button … [Read more...] about Dakis Fracas: L-o-n-g Version of My WQXR Commentary, Now Online

If all goes according to plan, you'll be able to hear me tomorrow morning in an "Arts File" segment on WQXR, New York's public classical music station. I'll be commenting on the New Museum's Skin Fruit exhibition and the controversy surrounding it. The news peg is this Saturday's symposium on the relationship between private collectors and museums.Preparing for … [Read more...] about Coming Tomorrow: My WQXR Radio Commentary on the Dakis Fracas

Michael Sillerman, attorney for the planned MoMA/Hines tower (pictured behind him), speaking on its behalf at a NY City Planning Commission hearingMore bad news for MoMA: In a Feb. 24 petition filed in New York State Supreme Court, the West 54-55th Street Block Association, long-time opponents of the planned 1,050-foot-tall, Jean Nouvel-designed mixed-use tower in their … [Read more...] about Court Challenge to the MoMA Monster: Alleged “Failure to Comply” with Requirements UPDATED

Jennifer RussellYou can tell the quality of a museum director in large measure by the quality of the appointments that he or she makes. Tom Campbell has just made a first-rate, seasoned choice in his appointment of the second of his two associate directors. This just in from the Metropolitan Museum:Jennifer Russell will return to the [Metropolitan] Museum as associate director … [Read more...] about MoMA’s Jennifer Russell Moves to the Met as Associate Director

I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to pre-order these.This Thursday, the Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, will host the first-day-of-issue ceremony for the U.S. Postal Service's new commemorative stamps---Abstract Expressionists (above).Here's the USPS description of action postage:In celebration of the Abstract Expressionist artists of the 20th Century, [USPS] art … [Read more...] about Abstract Expressionism, The Postage Stamp

Jean Metzinger, "Tea Time," 1911In the course of my posts on the Whitney Museum's current survey of new, I promised to take you to the Philadelphia Museum of Art's evocation of a past exhibition of the new---the 1912 Salon d'Automne in Paris. That installation is the centerpiece of the museum's current permanent-collection show, Picasso and the Avant-Garde in Paris (to Apr. … [Read more...] about Back to the Future: From 2010 Whitney Biennial to 1912 Salon d’Automne

© Michael Crichton, photographed by Jonathan ExleyAfter I put CultureGrrl to bed for the weekend, I received the answers to questions that I had sent to Christie's regarding its upcoming sales of works from the estate of the late author Michael Crichton (discussed here: Christie's Beats Sotheby's in the Market-Share Game for 2009). I had speculated in Friday's post about … [Read more...] about Update on Crichton Cache at Christie’s: No Guarantees

Julián Zugazagoitia, current director of El Museo del Barrio, New York Repeat after me: "HOO-lian SZU-ga-sa-GOY-tee-ah." Julián Zugazagoitia, 46, will succeed Marc Wilson (much easier to pronounce), the venerable veteran director of the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, on Sept. 1. That leaves a three-month interregnum: Marc announced June 1 as his retirement … [Read more...] about Julián Zugazagoitia Named Nelson-Atkins Museum’s New Director UPDATED

Sotheby's two-year stock chart (stock price on top; trading volume on bottom)For those who like to keep score in the epic battle between the Big Two auction houses, the results are now in.With publicly traded Sotheby's having issued its 2009 annual report on Monday, we can at last do an apples-to-apples comparison with privately held Christie's to determine market share for … [Read more...] about Hammer Time: Christie’s Beats Sotheby’s in the Market-Share Game for 2009

LEFT PHOTO: Lisa Phillips, the New Museum's director, at Joannou press preview. (In background, a rear view of Andro Wekua, "Wait to Wait," 2006)RIGHT PHOTO: Massimiliano Gioni, right, director of special exhibitions, discussing the showGuest curator Jeff Koons and featured collector Dakis Joannou were, as expected, notably absent from Tuesday's press preview for the New … [Read more...] about Dakis Fracas: Lisa Phillips and Massimiliano Gioni on Doing the Right Thing