Who could say it better than Philip Kennicott? “The old-fashioned, ceremonial unveiling of a statue is mostly extinct as a cultural spectacle. New art works are generally introduced quietly, amid white wine, canapés and polite chatter at exhibition openings. Now and then, perhaps a new museum may open with a ribbon-cutting. But Kehinde Wiley, the man who painted the portrait of Barack Obama that now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, tried to reinvent the unveiling Friday afternoon in Times Square, complete with a brass band, gawking crowds, speeches by a phalanx of political notables and, finally, a few tugs on a shimmery silver cloth draped over his latest work, a monumentally scaled bronze equestrian statue.” – The Washington Post
Category: visual
Women And Museums: It’s Not Just About Not Being Naked
True, the Guerrilla Girls famously asked if women had to be naked to get into the Met (the percentages are not great), but the unseen labor of women artists and women museum professionals is a much larger story. That is to say, the larger, and flatter, the artwork, the better the chance a woman artist might have of getting a show. – Hyperallergic
The Wild, Weird, Sometimes Gorgeous Designs Of Emergency Cash In Germany At The End Of WWI
As the end of WWI led to economic crises, many German towns and villages issued their own emergency cash, or “notgeld.” The designs range widely from local legends, including fairytales, to sharply pointed political printing. – The Guardian (UK)
French Billionaires Actually Hand Over €300 Million They Pledged For Notre-Dame Restoration
A few months after public concerns arose about their delay, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnualt has signed a formal agreement with the Fondation Notre-Dame for the €200 million he pledged toward the cathedral’s restoration after the April 15 fire. François Pinault and his son François-Henri Pinault of the luxury goods company Kering will execute a similar contract for their €100 million donation next Monday. – The Art Newspaper
Saying Its Mosaic Façade Is ‘Irreplaceable’, Judge Blocks Sale And Demolition Of Philadelphia’s Painted Bride Art Center
A Philadelphia Orphans’ Court judge ruled that the sale — The Bride, the nonprofit that owns the center, had sold it for $4.5 million to a developer who planned to build condos on the site — would “all but ensure the destruction of what many individuals consider to be a true treasure.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Massive New Zaha Hadid Airport – World’s Largest – Opens In Beijing
The new mega-airport, the second in Beijing, was designed by the late architect Zaha Hadid in the shape of a starfish with five connected concourses. It is said to be the world’s largest single-building airport terminal. At 700,000 sq metres, with four runways, it is expected to be able to handle 72 million passengers a year by 2025. By 2040, the airport is expected to expand to eight runways and accommodate 100 million passengers a year. – The Guardian
Orange County Museum Of Art Breaks Ground On New Home
OCMA’s new three-story, nearly 52,000-square-foot building will rise from a dirt lot next to the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. The project is slated for completion in 2021. – Los Angeles Times
The Troubling Symbiosis Between Museums And Their Rich Funders
The contradiction between the lofty stated values of the museum and the predatory exploits of its patrons would be great fodder for satire if it were not so deeply disturbing. – The New Republic
Homecoming: Marina Abramović Has Her First Show In Serbia In 44 Years
“The artist’s return to Belgrade after nearly a half-century has been an event. … On Saturday, the day the show opened, her face was on the front page of nearly every national newspaper in Serbia. When you turned on the TV news, there she was again, being picked over by pundits with a zest that locals generally reserve for soccer and stories about political corruption.” – The New York Times
After 20 Years And An Asbestos Crisis, A Josef Albers Mural Greets Manhattan Commuters Again
“Hundreds of interlocking panels — black, white and Coca-Cola red all over — made up Josef Albers’s Manhattan, a mural in which geometry and meticulous precision met modernist vivacity. It was undeniably busy, which was appropriate, given its home high above the commuters bustling to and from Grand Central Terminal through 200 Park Avenue, best known as the MetLife Building.” – The New York Times