Andrea Scott: “For months, looking at art became staring at screens, and a new three-letter acronym entered the lexicon: O.V.R., for “online viewing room.” If that sounds like an enticement to see artists envision new forms with digital means, downgrade your expectations to “slideshow.” Still, the art world has been luckier than other cultural sectors of New York City.” – The New Yorker
Category: visual
Using High Tech To Preserve Imagery Of India’s Ancient Cave Paintings
In the 1990s, art historian Benoy Behl developed his own low-light photography techniques to capture the famous Buddhist murals in the Ajanta caves. Since then, he’s been using digital technology to correct for the deterioration that time and the breath of visitors have caused in the paintings, so that we can see their imagery in something like its original state. – South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)
New York’s Grand New Train Station Is No Grand Central
Grand Central is inviting, harmonious, soothing even in moments of frenzy. Moynihan self-consciously tries to reconcile old-timey graciousness and contemporary cool, muted stone and garish screens. – Curbed
New York Gets A New Train Station Filled With Art
The 255,000-square-foot train hall is inside the James A. Farley postal building, the grandiose Beaux-Arts structure designed by McKim Mead & White in 1912, two years after the original Pennsylvania Station. – The New York Times
Alaska’s Capital Aims To Become A Hotbed Of Indigenous Art
Juneau already has a surprising number of galleries for an isolated town of 32,000 that can’t really be reached by road. In particular, the work of Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian artists is thriving. Now a nonprofit called Sealaska Heritage Institute aims “[to make] Juneau the Northwest Coast arts capital of the world.” – Smithsonian Magazine
After A Very Rough 2020, Can The Philadelphia Museum Of Art Make The Changes It Needs?
On top of the COVID shutdown and the consequent loss of income and layoff and furloughs, the museum faced the public revelation of abusive behavior by two former managers — and senior administration’s far too slow dismissal of the offenders. As the long-underway interior expansion of the PMA’s main building opens to the public, will the policies and employment culture there be improved as well? The president and board chair say they’re working on it. – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Are Museums An Education Or An Experience?
“It has made me unexpectedly nostalgic for an idea of museums as spaces where the individual can go and explore on their own without being told what to think; spaces to contemplate works of art which express and demonstrate a different set of ideas and beliefs from the present. I don’t want constantly to be badgered and made to feel guilty that my ancestors have travelled the world collecting objects in order better to understand and interpret the world. I don’t necessarily regard the ideas and beliefs of museums in the past as morally reprehensible, but, instead, believe that many of them were stimulated by curiosity and a passionate desire for the understanding of other cultures — a spirit not necessarily of plunder, but of awe.” – The Critic
What’s The Word Of The Year For 2020? In The U.S. Art World, It’s ‘Deaccession’
As the pandemic forced American museums to close their doors and give up all earned income, the Association of Art Museum Directors agreed to temporarily relax its strict rule that museums may sell their art only to fund the purchase of other art. A number of deaccessions (as the practice is euphemized) promptly ensued, followed swiftly by arguments over them and the cancellation of a few (notably in Baltimore). Matt Stromberg looks back at the year’s battles. – Los Angeles Times
The (Difficult) Public Art Of 2020
“Public artworks created in 2020 often took up urgent political and social issues, and the very notion of monuments—of which figures were being elevated and how they were rendered—figured in protest movements, opinion pages, and beyond.” – ARTnews
Nudged By COVID, Six Philadelphia Museums Move Toward Forming A Consortium
“What began as practical fund-raising talk in the midst of unprecedented disruption has now become a full-blown exploration of the possibilities to cooperate and even collaborate on everything from programming to technology to health insurance.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer