Image credit: Gawker
- A Bill Cosby rapeseed portrait has been banned from the Minnesota State Fair. [Gawker]
- Jean-Marc Bustamante has been appointed as director of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, following the controversial July dismissal of former head Nicolas Bourriaud. The Toulouse artist represented France at the 2003 Venice Biennale, but there are misgivings regarding the new director, especially for these sexist comments he made in 2006 regarding an all-male Pompidou show: “A man needs to conquer territories; a woman finds her territory and stays there…Men are always on a search for virgin territories.” Talk about an inspiring move towards the future. [Le Monde]
- Canada: the model of Humanitarianism. When it was revealed that the family of the drowned Syrian toddler had their refugee bid rejected by the Canadian government in the midst of one of the worst refugee crisis since WWII, Conservative immigration minister Chris Alexander got deservedly roasted in a CBC interview for relying too much on the private sector to take in refugees rather than leading the effort. Despite promising to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees this year, the Conservative government has only accepted just over a 1,000. (Adding further insult to injury: Alexander was hand-delivered a letter back in March from the boy’s aunt making the case.) Unsurprisingly, Alexander has now suspended his re-election campaign. [CBC]
- About time: a ground-breaking exhibition focusing on the often overlooked female artists in Abstract Expressionism is opening next summer. [Denver Art Museum]
- I love this: WNYC, in search of the longest possible subway ride in New York, mapped it out with the help of a computer. They’ve enlisted Jody Avirgan to live tweet the experience too, which he’ll be doing all day today. Already, Avirgan’s twitter account is pretty entertaining—he’s set rules up and is remarking on all the public art. Tomorrow Avirgan will be on Brian Lehrer. [WNYC]
- Lisson Gallery now represents Stanley Whitney. I guess painting colored grids for 40 some odd years has paid off. [Baer Faxt]
- Prehistoric cave paintings from one of the oldest South African indigenous tribes are under threat. [ArtNet]
- The Getty apparently has a really great exhibition on Greek bronze sculptures right now. [Wall Street Journal]
- What’s a more secure alternative to Bluetooth? Turns out your body. Scientists are developing technology that will use your body as a communication medium, better enabling the passing of magnetic signals between wearable gadgets. [@CorinnaKirsch]
- A 59 year old was shot in the groin in a squabble over potato chips. The potato chip thief and gunman remains at large. [Gawker]
- DJs, rejoice: Panasonic is re-launching Technics Turntables. [Wall Street Journal]
