From the category archives:
Fresh Links!
by Paddy Johnson and Henry Kaye on July 10, 2014
- 80% of French museums have no idea what is or isn’t in their collections. So if you find yourself around the Louvre, borrow a painting or two. Nobody will notice. [Artnet]
- A painting of a woman was removed from the Society of Women Artists’ exhibition in London because some of her pubic hair was showing. Seeing as this is SWA’s 153rd annual exhibition, you’d think they’d be over it by now. [The Telegraph]
- Detroit probably won’t sell their museum’s collection to pay off their debts, but this might give them incentive. A new appraisal of the collection shows that works could be worth up to $2.7 billion to $4.6 billion, which is sell-your-soul-to-the-devil money. [The New York Times]
- From the same man who brought you inflatable flailing tube man jesus, a.k.a Scorpion Dagger, here’s a cat wearing google glass. [Hyperallergic]
- Andy Freeberg ruminates on the troupe of the “gallerina” and how it is that the belittlement of women has become common practice in the art world. [Frieze]
- An interview with artist Charlie White, about his new triannual Journal, THE ENEMY. On the art scene as defined by Brad Phillips as “art world industrial complex” White explains: It’s certainly not a scene anymore, and it’s hardly on the margins, so it’s an industry, right? my take is that it [the term] seems pretty on-point when you look at the art world’s 140+ fairs, multi-billion dollars in transactions, and imperial gallery systems that have spread across the globe much like a franchise or multi-national might. [Hyperallergic, THE ENEMY]
- Residency Unlimited FUNraiser takes place this year Sunday July 20th 5-8 pm. This year, they’re offering a chance to win a 5 week artist’s residency at Sa Sa Projects in Phnom Penh all expenses covered. DO NOT MISS THIS. [Residency Unlimited]
- A two part series by media collector, product strategist and Vermeer lover, Rex Sorgatz. The first identifies all the Vermeers in the world, including a few fakes and who wants to own them. The second explores the reproduction of one Vermeer and includes an interview with a writer at a Chinese Paint Mill. Basically, these are stories designed for Greg Allen. [The Medium: Part 1, Part 2]
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by The AFC Staff on June 25, 2014
19th century thinkers or “hobbits taking a selfie?”
- The New York burlesque community really likes Marina Abramovic. The Coney Island Sideshow is doing a tribute to her. It sounds like pain will be involved. [artnet News]
- Chicago: home to deep dish pizza, a semi-fingerless mayor, and now, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The 17-acre campus will feature Star Wars memorabilia and classic film posters. [The Telegraph]
- A bronze monument in Kazakhstan of two 19th century intellectuals holding a book was removed after locals likened it to “two hobbits taking a selfie.” [BBC News]
- Whatta weird, kinda cute baby otter. [Via @cuteemergency]
- Ummm…in case you haven’t jumped on the selfies-are-amazing-anti-capitalist-devices bandwagon, here’s one about “selfie poetics.” [Mousse]
- The Hairpin’s new column: Ask a Costume Historian. First up, how to wear a jumpsuit to a wedding. [The Hairpin]
- Forget Jeff Koons. Show us the Queen of England’s art collection! With 7,564 paintings, The Art Newspaper reports, she has the world’s largest private art collection, about as large as the Tate’s and National Gallery’s public collections combined. They are now doing the world’s largest condition survey on the work. [The Art Newspaper]
- Don’t forget Jeff Koons! His “Split-Rocker,” a 37-foot high combine of two toy rockers covered in flowers goes on view today at Rockefeller Center. [Gagosian]
- Dealer Gavin Brown will be showing his own artwork tonight, at his own gallery. Earlier this week, we’d wondered what on earth he’d be showing. Gallerist dug up the deets; he’s bringing a two-channel video projection into the gallery. [Gallerist]
- Rat-eating weasels are back! Centuries after the fur trade wiped them out in Manhattan, writes zoologist Roland Kays, one was spotted in the Bronx. Kays now hopes they will re-adapt to the New York environment. They pose little threat to humans and they probably don’t eat cats. Welcome. [Natural Science Research, via ANIMAL New York]
- If you’re a huge art museum, it seems to be getting easier to get a billionaire to give you money for your renovation/expansion. This being said, David Rubenstein gifted $5.4 million to the Smithsonian for the renovation of the Renwick Gallery. [Artnet News]
- Your new social network: Posthang. Created by the people at OkFocus, this network allows you to aggregate content by chat and then turn those chats into blogs. [Youtube]
- Professional art appraiser Ning Qiu has pled guilty to smuggling ivory from poached elephants and rhinos. His sentence is light, since he gave information about the operation. [Reuters, D.O.J., via Glasstire]
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by Paddy Johnson and Henry Kaye on June 24, 2014
Kim Jong Un added to the list of people angry with James Franco.
- An angry janitor or group of janitors slashed dozens of student paintings at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Why? To give the students a dose of discipline about keeping the halls clean. [Artnet]
- Prolific art collector Bernard Arnault announced plans to launch the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation in October, which will give out three days of free admission. Meanwhile, he spent €100m to construct the Frank Gehry design, which he can just do, because he’s the richest man in France. [The Art Newspaper]
- The Rent Guidelines Board backed a proposal for a one percent increase on one year leases in rent stabilized buildings. That’s the lowest increase in its 45 year history, but still more than Mayor de Blasio had hoped for. He had been gunning for 0. [Capital]
- Union Square Cafe is the latest in a series of restaurant closings. They had occupied the same space for nearly 30 years. Marco Canora, the owner of Hearth, one of the first restaurants to bring artisanal cooking to the Lower East Side, has also been hit with 65 percent rent increase. He says he might need to change his whole business model. Anyway, we’ve seen lots of talk about this story over the Internets, and while we wish that the same fear was generated every time an artist lost their studio space, perhaps the loss of restaurants with impart some sense of urgency amongst the people of New York. Market-rate buildings disproportionately favor landlords, and that has to change. [The New York Times]
- In other news, the internet is really excited about this American studying abroad in Germany who got stuck in a 32-ton vagina sculpture. Here are some confusing images to prove it. Thanks for representing us well abroad, students. [The Huffington Post]
- Kenny Schachter files a diary of his travels through Europe for Art Basel at Gallerist. It’s basically vaguely self-obsessed work porn but if that’s your thing, definitely read it. [Gallerist]
- This tool invites users to change the background on this Homer Simpson cartoon, so that he can back into it. The end result is a GIF. [Homer Back Into Things]
- Queen Elizabeth II looks like she doesn’t want to sit in this throne made of swords, and we can’t blame her. [Huffington Post United Kingdom]
- A Monet painting that failed to sell at Sotheby’s four years ago was auctioned off yesterday for $54 million. Times are changing. Or maybe it was just priced too high four years ago. [Bloomberg]
- Kim Jung Un isn’t happy with James Franco nor Seth Rogan. Seeing as they’re starring in a movie in which they assassinate him, this story seems more logical than the headline would have you believe. Still, Kim Jung Un will see the movie, because it’s always fun to be in a movie, even one wherein you die. [Vulture]
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by Leighann Morris on September 6, 2012
- Warning! It’s fashion week again. Previously acceptable areas of Manhattan will be flooded with unacceptable fashionistas. Avoid. [HuffPo]
- AFC’s Paddy Johnson is teaching a class! Do you want to write about art? Enroll, and she’ll teach you. [tumblr]
- Apparently no fewer than 128 people completed Damien Hirst’s “spot challenge” back in January. 128. They’ll get their prints soon, but more importantly, what the hell, people? [The Art Newspaper]
- Photographer Juozas Cernius, who’s taken his share of pretty pictures for this blog from around the world, is looking to fund a project documenting the work of aid groups in Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. He’s raising the money through IndieGoGo, and then giving the proceeds back to aid organizations. It’s a good thing to do for the world, and maybe you should help him out. [London Free Press]
- This week, AFC’s Paddy Johnson will be at the Toronto International Film Festival. In anticipation of TIFF, Indiewire have realised 25 films they are looking forward to. Are you excited about seeing Keira Knightley trying to do Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina justice? Us neither. We’re looking forward to The ABC’s of Death, comprised of short horror films by 26 directors. Each was assigned a letter of the alphabet and accompanying word, leaving it up to the director to come up with a short story of death. GNARLY. [Indiewire]
- Anyone going to TIFF must watch the premiere of Reincarnated, an Andy Capper documentary made about Snoop Dogg embracing rastafarian culture/smoking lots of weed in Jamaica. Anyone not going must watch this trailer. [YouTube]
- Wanna see Putin in a little white suit, hand-gliding over Siberia to “help endangered cranes begin their migration to wintering grounds in Iran and India”? Now you can! [Animal New York]
- The Walker had an Internet Cat Video Festival and we were really excited. The “people’s choice” cat video winner was revealed last week, and now we’re disappointed. Existential feline Henri 2, Paw De Deux won out of the thousands of entries, that included Keyboard Cat and Nyan Cat. AFC’s Paddy Johnson has something to say about the unexpected result. [Today]
- James Panero writes about how punk rock influenced Pussy Riot and Ai Weiwei. In a nutshell: “While at times misused within Western culture, … when employed against oppressive regimes [punk] can be potent.” [The Wall Street Journal]
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by Paddy Johnson on September 26, 2011
#OccupyWallStreet Invades Sotheby’s Auction in Solidarity with Locked-Out Art Handlers – Good to see Sotheby’s PR time is quick to report the best contemporary art sale in three years, while they also lock out their art handlers for demanding a living wage.
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by Paddy Johnson on September 26, 2011
Via Verde in South Bronx Rewrites Low-Income-Housing Rules – NYTimes.com – Via Verde gets a very positive review from Michael Kimmelman. This is his first review as the Times’ architectural critic.
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by Paddy Johnson on September 26, 2011
Lisa Oppenheim: Accidental Networks (MAP #25 Summer 2011) | MAP Magazine – I’m amazed by the flood of art pieces I’ve seen lately that consist of a photograph of a book that the artist finds interesting. Or a book in a showcase. Or sculptures that consist of a bookshelf on the wall with a number […]
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by Paddy Johnson on September 22, 2011
Lisa Oppenheim: Accidental Networks (MAP #25 Summer 2011) | MAP Magazine – I’m amazed by the flood of art pieces I’ve seen lately that consist of a photograph of a book that the artist finds interesting. Or a book in a showcase. Or sculptures that consist of a bookshelf on the wall with a number […]
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