Posts tagged as:
Albright-Knox
by Paddy Johnson and Michael Anthony Farley on November 2, 2016
- The latest artwork to be launched into space are two manga murals on a Japanese rocket from cartoonist Chuya Koyama. The idea is to get kids excited about “the wonders of the universe.” [phys.org]
- Due to Chinese cities’ slash-and-burn style gentrification, in which whole neighborhoods might be demolished for a development, artists are flocking to the nondescript Beijing suburb Yanjiao. Are dystopian-looking cheap condo towers the new warehouses? [The New York Times]
- Tony Rosenthal’s “Alamo”, better known as the Astor Place cube, is finally back! New Yorkers are thrilled, and Nicole Puglise cites the city’s enthusiasm as evidence that public art is important. [The Guardian]
- Crain’s asked a dozen of NYC’s top architecture firms for ideas to help the city absorb so much new growth. Most of them are pretty good—especially the outer borough transit ideas. Others not so much—is a hotel at the Javits Center really a priority? And can we please make preserving manufacturing/workspaces a part of the discussion rather than always viewing industrial land as “underutilized”? [Crain’s]
- Canadian artist Jeremy Shaw has won the prestigious Sobey Prize. Who is he and what does he make? From the report, “Working in a variety of media, Shaw explores altered states and the cultural and scientific practices that aspire to map transcendental experience by creating a post-documentary space in which contrasting ideals and belief systems are put into crisis.” I (Paddy) haven’t even seen the work, but this garbled and pretentious statement makes me want to hate it. [artnet News]
- Uruguayan gallerist Diana Saravia was summoned to a police station after displaying a painting by Julio de Sosa that depicted former president José “Pepe” Mujica and his wife, senator Lucía Topolansky, as nude Adam & Eve. The police also confiscated the painting. She’s justifiably upset. What gives Uruguay? [Artforum]
- Well, this is depressing. Here’s what $1,400 a month rent will get you in NYC right now. [Curbed]
- This Julia Halperin story on how the Albright Knox raised $100 million in three months is just nuts. Last April Janne Sirén, the director of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, got an email billionaire Jeffrey Gundlach pledging an insane amount of money towards their $80 million capital campaign. Gundlach, who had never donated to the institution gave $42.5m and the museum’s trustees pledged $21.3m this summer. Halperin says the rate of giving works out to over 1 million a day. Sirén had met Gundlach only once the year before, had not been in touch since, but did remember to send his mother flowers on Mother’s Day. Executive Directors, take note. [The Art Newspaper]
- We couldn’t be more thrilled for the art collective Current Space, who just bought their building (and one next to it!) from the city of Baltimore for $1. They’re the best, and now they finally have a permanent home! Read about that process in this interview with the collective’s Co-Director Michael Benevento. [Bmore Art]
- Headline of the week: “Boneghazi: How a Grave-Robbing Controversy Tore an Online Witch Community Apart.” The piece is a mind-blowing look at the identity politics of Tumblr culture. [Broadly.]
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by Paddy Johnson and Rea McNamara on June 8, 2016
- Will any of the above new emojis replace the eggplant as the definitive dick symbol? According to a mobile keyboard expert, probably not. [Motherboard]
- Carey Dunne delves into the Smithsonian Archive’s collection of artists’ hand-written letters, and the insights it reveals into their lives and work. Ray Johnson’s letter to gallerist Eva Lee is child-like and to the point: “EVA — HELLO / RAY”, and ends with his signature bunny head. Meanwhile architect Eero Saarinen, who designed JFK Airport, had dyslexia, and while precise, his writing was sometimes reversed. [Hyperallergic]
- Norway’s not in hot diplomatic waters when it was discovered that a drive from its Royal Embassy to Israel was arrested last week for attempting to smuggle a stash of ancient artifacts. The car was travelling from Jordan and was stopped along a checkpoint to Jerusalem. Worst is that due to protocol, diplomatic vehicles are typically not searched, making this a huge security breach. [The Art Newspaper]
- Francesco Bonami on the changing role of the curator in the past ten years: “we became self-delusional main characters and at the same time totally irrelevant in relation to the market and the artists’ career.” [artnet News]
- Buffalo’s Albright-Knox has announced it’ll go with Rem Koolhaas’s firm, OMA, to oversee its $80 million expansion. [New York Times]
- One of Zaha Hadid’s final buildings will be built at 220 11th Avenue. [Curbed]
- Book Marks, dubbed the “Rotten Tomatoes for books”, launched this week, and it seems like none of the books have a letter grade rating below B-. So why does Book Marks have such a hard time separating the good from the mediocre? According to Alex Shephard, this simply reflects the current state of literary criticism, and its problem with grade inflation. [New Republic]
- In primary news, as expected, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to claim a major party’s presidential nomination last night. [The New York Times]
- A bipartisan Senate bill could help make it easier for Holocaust victims to reclaim art looted from them. The bill would allow claims made within six years of when the families discover the art and has been tabled by two senators we never thought would agree on anything—Ted Cruz, the gun-slinging Republican from Texas and Charles Schumer, the popular New York state Senator. [The New York Times]
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by Paddy Johnson on September 4, 2013
- Collector Adam Lindemann writes that celebrities are the new sales driver in the art market. I’ve seen lots of snide remarks about Lindemann being the author of this piece over Twitter, and I can’t say its warranted. Lindemann is a divisive participant in this world, but in this case, he hasn’t said anything all that outrageous. Jay Z’s song Picasso Baby does suck. [Gallerist]
- I’ll be running a Q&A with the new Director of the Albright-Knox, Janne Sirén this Saturday at Buffalo’s Echo Art Fair. Lots to talk about here, so if you’re in the Buffalo area, I recommend checking it out. [Echo Art Fair]
- Speaking of Buffalo, for those out-of-towners either visiting the fair, or considering visiting the fair this weekend, here’s 10 reasons to check out the art scene. [ArtInfo]
- These baby German Shepherds are being trained to be police dogs. This photo essay is just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. [Buzzfeed]
- Copenhagen has a new art fair, CHART, and its exclusivity has made it very press friendly. No sales reports that I can see, but this preview from Kopenhagen Magasin sets the scene. Oddly, Charlottenborg hosted the event, which this author deems as a positive because it will increase foot traffic to the museum. It’s hard to believe a museum of that quality ever struggles to bring in visitors. [Kopenhagen Magasin]
- Interpretations of Success, a new artist-run conference, will take place October 18-20. The Bushwick based event hosts a series of panel discussions that will explore what success means for an artist. Panelists include Judith Shimer, Jen Shepard, Margaret Coleman, Anna Marie Shogren, Kelly Worman and Ben Peterson. [Sign up here–>Interpretations of Success]
- Christie’s increases its buyers premium for the second time this year. Art collector Alain Servais is not happy. [Art Market Monitor]
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