When critics argued that Marina Abramovic exploited her performers back in 2011, I defended her. Now the Marina Abramovic Institute is seeking unpaid volunteers. I take it back.
The L.A. Times let Christopher Hawthorne, their architecture critic, review the new Lego Architecture Studio [LA Times]; it ties in neatly with the Financial Times piece in which Edwin Heathcote reviewed a history of building toys [Financial Times]. Lessons learned: Yes, every architect played with Legos.
Marina Abramovic has now successfully Kickstarted the Marina Abramovic Institute. [Kickstarter]
Woo-0o0 the Williamsburg Bridge just got yarnbombed. Why? To stop bullying. Who did the Williamsburg Bridge bully? Not sure. [Animal New York]
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich (NMM) and the National Gallery of Australia are battling over the first European-made painting of a kangaroo, “The Kongouro from New Holland” (1772) by George Stubbs. [guardian]
Ken Johnson weighs in on those ass-ugly sculptures, and pretend stupidity, in a review of the Public Art Fund show “Lightness of Being.” [The New York Times]
As ArtINFO foretold in its “Thirty Under Thirty” listicle: young Alex Gartenfeld, 28, rose to greater heights yesterday when he was appointed curator of MOCA, North Miami. May his glorious light shine upon the other Twenty-Nine Under Thirties. [Mocanomi.org]
Chris Arnade, who’s spent the past three years photographing in the South Bronx, has written a great piece on why Hirschhorn’s Gramsci Monument makes him uncomfortable. [Gothamist]
Marina Abramovic is seeking funds for her new cult, The Marina Abramovic Institute. We’re not kidding. She’s seeking $600,000 on Kickstarter to finance whatever this thing is, and we’re afraid.
Mona Lisa finally gets shown as Da Vinci intended: under a custom Toshiba lamp with 34 individual bulbs. Congratulations all around. “We have completed one of the most daunting tasks we have faced, innovating the lighting of a world-famous painting,” says Toshiba senior executive vice president Hidejiro Shimomitsu. [Gizmodo]
Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe will transform Marlborough Chelsea’s booth at Art Basel in Switzerland into several fractured spaces all surrounding a printmaking lab titled, “Artichoke Underground.” No idea what this is gonna look like. [ArtINFO]
From yesterday’s ArtFCity twitter: If only I could find fresh succulent Belgium truffles in the shape of a butt model’s anus. Oh wait… [Laughing Squid]
Two days after launch, the Marina Abramovic Institute responds to speculation that the artist is building a cult. [Twitter]
Terry Gross interviews Mitch Hurwitz, creator of Arrested Development. This has nothing to do with art, but he’s a really interesting writer. [NPR]
Good news for net artists. [s]editions expanded their platform yesterday to allow artists working in digital tech to upload their work and sell it. [Hyperallergic]
Art in America has some crazy good interviews with previous Venice Biennale curators. An example:
Francesco Bonami, ’03What did you lose in the process of curating? What did you gain?
I lost some weight and my marriage. I gained the idea that if you believe in what you are doing it is impossible to fail, even if you dive from a plane without a parachute. Which is basically what I did.
Robert Storr, ’07What was the harshest criticism you faced?
Read Artforum’s gangbanging reviews, if you want to know. I am not about to repeat or recycle their diatribes and slander. [Art in America]
Holland Cotter dubs the Venice Biennale a quiet success. [NYT]
There will soon be a lot more Flavins in the world. The Dan Flavin Estate has reversed its position on the production of posthumous versions of the artist’s fluorescent light sculptures. The artist had over 1,000 unrealised sculptures when he died. [The Art Newspaper]
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
Paddy Johnson, Editorial Director
