In which Michael Anthony Farley visits an artist residency in a 1939 modernist apartment building, gets lost on his way to a craft fair for witches, dances in a feminist rap video, and tries yoga for the first time.
Whoa. Artist Joanie Lemercier has developed a projection mapping technique that allows for true 3-D video to be projected into space, far better than existing hologram technology. [Facebook]
As the G20 Conference approaches 1000 art zombies took over the city of Hamburg Germany to protest political apathy. Apparently they eventually broke out of their clay, shedding their zombie personas and political malaise. I (Paddy) appreciate the message but geez this is dumb. Is it too much to ask for a bit more creativity when coming up with these performances? [artnet News]
China’s internet freedoms crackdown gets worse. Now it’s illegal to depict homosexuality, drug use, or prostitution online. [Artforum]
Hobby Lobby, the right-wing craft supply chain, has been ordered to return thousands of looted artifacts to the Middle East. The evangelical Christian owners had been using the corporation to smuggle antiquities into the United States. [The New York Times]
The Calder show gets a good review from Andrea Scott who seems especially appreciative of the show’s curation. Art handlers have been hired to “activate” the mobile sculptures three times a day but thanks to some careful selections the exhibition isn’t a circus. [The New Yorker]
62 new units of affordable housing in the Bronx are being offered up in the housing lottery. The application deadline is September 1. Those units range in pricing from $884 per month to $1740. [Curbed]
Maybe there’s no other city in the world where an art gallery based out of a car makes as much sense as in Los Angeles. That space, Gallery 1993, is one of many inhabiting unconventional spots across LA—from trucks to elevators. [The Guardian]
The Hepworth Wakefield art gallery in West Yorkshire, UK has been named the 2017 Art Fund museum of the year. I (Michael) have never even heard of this museum! We’ve apparently gotta check it out. [The Guardian]
Will we ever get tired of how weird AI “deep dream” is? Alexander Reben has been feeding episodes of The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross into the neural net. Predictably, his hair gets even stranger. [IFL Science]
Art Cologne is in talks to absorb abc fair, launching Art Berlin in its place. How many art fairs can Germany possibly sustain? [The Art Newspaper]
More “Fearless Girl” controversy. Sculptor Arturo Di Modica, who created the original “Charging Bull” claims the promotional stunt distorts the intent of his work, and will be holding a press conference about it today. [The Washington Post]
Kate McKinnon as Cecilia Giménez, the abuelita who famously repainted “Ecce Homo” in Borja, is the best art critic SNL has ever had: “The first great question any sculptor must ask about the subject: what would he look like if he had a stroke? But he had the stroke while saying ‘cheeeeeese!’?” She’s talking, of course, about Emanuel Santos’s much-mocked bust of hunky soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo. This whole debacle reminds me of the I Love Lucy/Faces of Meth story from last year. Should we just give up on bronze busts of celebrities? Probably. [Mashable]
Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art will be free for teenagers starting this June. Unfortunately, admission is going up to $15 for adults. Youth is wasted on the young. [Chicago Tribune]
Jeffrey Deitch is heading back to LA, this time to open a gallery in Hollywood. [artnet News]
Ian Macfarlane has won Dezeen’s competition for a post-Brexit passport design. His proposal features the dark blue of old British passports in a gradient, erasing the familiar burgundy EU passport cover. I still can’t believe this is really happening. [Dezeen] There are too many highlights from the NYT Style Magazine profile of Sophie Calle… let’s just say the artist’s meet with the journalist begins(ish) by explaining that seemingly-fake-pregnant Calle is using the opportunity to enact giving birth to her dead cat. [The New York Times]
Diane Bronstein, “GRAB THIS!”. Part of the NASTY WOMEN Exhibition at the Knockdown Center.
A statue of imprisoned Native American activist Leonard Peltier is being removed from American University’s campus following threats. According to the artist, who goes by the name Rigo 23, “What the director of the art center told me is the Fox News item unleashed the crazies, and the crazies are threatening the university.” [WUSA 9]
John Berger, the famed scholar and author the book and BBC series Ways of Seeing is dead. Our obituary will go up later today but in the meantime Adrian Searle, who knew Berger personally, has you covered. [The Guardian]
The Yes Men’s Andy Bichlbaum reflects on his time at Standing Rock, with an honest (and often funny) account of that “what should I be doing?” feeling so many people are going through. [Hyperallergic]
10 bucks for a 2017 calendar from our favorite designer, Phillip Niemeyer, at Northern Southern. Get one. [Northern Southern]
In politics, late last night, the GOP secretly voted to eviscerate the independent ethics committee established in 2008 after the party became mired in abuse and bribes. Even Fox News reported on this thoroughly and without their usual spin (though the news was deemed the second most important story of the evening next to the weather last night and is now below the fold). [The New York Times]
A large text sculpture by Ahmet Güneştekin has been censored in Turkey after eliciting protests. The piece “Kostantiniyye” is just a series of block letters spelling out Istanbul’s former name, which the city was called from 1453 to 1930. Why people are so upset over this is a bit confusing to me. [artnet News]
Wow. According to the MTA, every underground subway station in New York City now has wifi. And AFC staffers can confirm that their routes now all include wifi. Finally some good news to kick of 2017. [Gothamist]
In protest of Trump, and in support of Planned Parenthood, female artists are throwing a NASTY WOMEN Exhibition in Queens. The show will feature affordable artwork, and all of the proceeds will go to benefit PP. The show runs from January 12 to 15 at The Knockdown Center. [The Creators Project]
2017 will see another huge private collection opening a museum in LA. The Marciano Art Foundation, funded by a fortune built on GUESS jeans, is renovating a former Masonic Temple into a shrine of contemporary art. Let the conspiracy theories begin. [Los Angeles Times]
Get your Jeff Koons balloon dog sweater. [Forever 21]
Fiercely Independent. New York art news, reviews and culture commentary. Paddy Johnson, Editorial Director Michael Anthony Farley, Senior Editor Whitney Kimball, IMG MGMT Editor
Contact us at: paddyATartfcity.com