- Delaware is the Luxembourg of Interstate 95, apparently. The state’s lack of sales taxes means collectors can save hundreds of thousands of dollars by directly shipping artwork there after purchase. Of course, this means it won’t be displayed, only hoarded. [The New York Times]
- “The Metropolitan Museum of Art tried to throw a mother and her child out of the PUNK show for writing in crayon on the wall… Shame on you!” This, and other one-star Yelp reviews of art museums are available for your edification and amusement on this Tumblr, which (full disclosure) is run by my (Michael’s) niece. [Bad Art Museum Reviews]
- Ai Weiwei’s latest social media beef? The artist is accusing Lego of censorship after the company refused to send a bulk order of bricks for an exhibition. Lego apparently does not condone the use of its products for political artwork. [artnet News]
- Speaking of beef, the World Health Organization released a report today finding that eating processed meats such as bacon increases the chance of getting colorectal cancer by 18 percent. It also said that red meats were probably carcinogenic, but there was limited evidence. The report also stressed the benefits of meat and said this was reason to cut down, not entirely eliminate meat from diets. [BBC]
- Music producer/collector Kasseem Dean, also known as Swizz Beatz, and retired private equity investor Barbara Vogelstein have joined the Brooklyn Museum’s board of trustees. Vogelstein is actually returning to the board after a hiatus. [Artforum]
- The Obama family likes more abstract art and have decorated the white house with works by Mark Rothko, Robert Rauschenberg and others. [The New York Times]
- Edward Gomez offers an indepth look at Martha Wilson’s show at P.P.O.W. We were interested in this exhibition because her image Bear in Mind/Bear in Hind was inspired by our panda calendar project, but also because there’s been a lot of talk over social media about “Martha Meets Michelle Halfway”, a portrait in which Wilson dresses like Michelle Obama…in half blackface. Many find it offensive. Wilson told Hyperallergic, “An African-American artist friend advised me not to wear blackface,” she recalled, “but I had been impersonating First Ladies for three decades. In the end I decided to wear half no makeup and half black makeup to clearly show that it was a performance whose subject had to do with how race figured into our perception of the current First Lady. Clifford [Owens] engaged the audience [at The Brooklyn Academy of Music] to get a discussion going about performativity in the room and in the culture at large.” [Hyperallergic]
- Midsize brick-and-mortar galleries are dropping like flies in traditional art centers. Rising rents, the increased cost and importance of art fairs, and competition/mergers from/with international mega-galleries are to blame. [Blouin Artinfo]
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