Artists Space redesigned their website, getting rid of their big, neon, triangular, blinking web 1.0 cursor. [Artists Space via Rhizome]After the opening of Yayoi Kusama’s current show at David Zwirner, people were waiting in line for hours to see Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinity Rooms.” The gallery’s solution to this ridiculous problem: 45-second-long sessions inside the rooms. [Wall Street Journal]
This profile of David Zwirner doesn’t spill too many trade secrets, but offers a clear history of Zwirner’s rise and the sheer volume of business being done in the upper tiers of the art world. [The New Yorker]
“He spoke to his paintings. They were his friends, the loyal companions that didn’t exist in his real life.” Der Spiegel profiles Cornelius Gurlitt, best known as the man responsible for hiding a recently unearthed collection of Nazi-looted artworks. [Der Spiegel]
Citing rising rents in a building owned by Cooper Union, St. Marks Bookshop is moving a few doors down in the East Village. [CBS]
Last night, members of Free Cooper Union put on dinner-theater reading at e-flux where they read aloud from documents leaked from their college’s trustees. In case you missed it, there’s a livestream. [Free Cooper Union]
Oddly, Peter Schjeldahl begins his review of Isa Genzken’s show at MoMA by painting a picture of her as a fairly unknown artist. [The New Yorker]
In the Bronx rests one lonely castle without an owner. It’s for sale, awaiting a buyer. [Daily Intelligencer]
Rhizome has been on a roll lately; Michael Connor’s latest essay on “postinternet” gives us another reason to ponder the term’s potential use or uselessness. It ends with a really touching, personal note from Connor, who writes: “I wanted to write this text in a way that would appeal to olds like me.” [Rhizome]
How not to run an art auction, brought to you by the Jan Krugier Estate and Christie’s. Before Monday night’s auction, it was generally assumed that many of the estate’s Modernist paintings were overpriced, and suffered from overexposure; many had been circulating in the market, however unsuccessfully, for years. [The New York Times]
Artspace interviews Performa founder Roselee Goldberg. On acting like an art historian: “I’m always trying to expose the history of performance and tell the [Performa] artists about it, because, really, a lot of people don’t know the history very well.” Okay. On the Internet: “The Internet, on the other hand, is keeping people out of the galleries—I’m hearing that from different writers, and I think it’s very real.” That’s kinda not true, but fine. [Artspace]
A story of gentrification: Since its development in 1993, Philadelphia’s “Avenue of the Arts” has caused real estate prices to jump by nearly 1,300 percent. [The Philadelphia Inquirer, via Arts Journal]
Luck does not smile broadly on musician Questlove. After six months, his Chelsea Market fried chicken stand has shuttered. We blame this on location, location; Chelsea Market-goers like raw juice, not chicken buckets. [Eater]
A juicy summary of SAC’s guilty plea to all five counts of insider trading violations and pay a record 1.2 billion dollar penalty. This, in addition to $616 million in insider trading fees SAC agreed to pay the Securities and Exchange Commission, and a host of legal fees. According to The Times: “Guilty pleas by financial institutions are exceedingly rare, and legal specialists say the case against SAC could embolden prosecutors to bring criminal charges against other firms.” [Dealbook]
Llyn Foulkes’ paintings are full of quirky found objects, unexpected textures, and an unfettered, playful use of paint. But they’re not perfect. The materials can seem secondary to conveying those very simple, heavy-handed messages. I can like art that I disagree with, but Foulkes’ obsessions are at times feebly argued, and borderline crazy, making it hard to love his paintings entirely.
Back in October, we heard that George W. Bush’s retirement plan now includes painting dogs while out at his private ranch in Crawford, Texas. Now, thanks to hackers who’ve broken into the email accounts of Bush family members and close friends, we’ve been given a glimpse into a few works in progress by Central Texas’ favorite recluse. Let’s take a closer look.
Paddy Johnson, Editorial Director
