What does the state fair’s Crop Art exhibit have for the New York-based actor/singer/writer/famous person? Well, a blue-ribbon winning seed art portrait, of course. – The Pioneer Press (St. Paul)
Category: visual
The Wall That Broke An Art Handler’s Back (And A Lot Of Other Dangers)
“The gallery wall that broke Michael Pajón’s body crashed into the art handler with the force of a grand piano. He remembers the precise moment when the movable partition collapsed upon him, puncturing his ribs and snapping his leg backward.” If you haven’t been reading Hyperallergic’s entire “The Danger Epidemic in Art Handling” series, consider starting with this one and working your way through. – Hyperallergic
Are Galleries Finally Welcoming People With Disabilities?
After a massive online protest of the Tate Modern in the recent weeks (“It’s an older work,” the museum first protested when met with the facts that one of its 2002 – so old, who knew people used wheelchairs 17 years ago, ahem – pieces didn’t have a ramp for wheelchair users) – it’s clear that places like the Wellcome Collection stand out from the crowd, and are pushing other galleries and museums to consider their accessibility as well. – The Guardian (UK)
Public Statues Aren’t Used To Commemorate History. They’re Used To Craft It. Consider The Age Of Statuomania.
Dozens of statues went up in western European cities in the decades between the revolutions of 1848 and the outbreak of World War I. Nowhere were they used more deliberately to craft a national history and identity than in Belgium, which had become an independent country only in 1830. – History Today
At 93, Betye Saar Is Finally Achieving Mainstream Art-World Stardom
“After a latish start as an artist — she was in her 30s — she made steady initial headway in a male-dominated Black Power movement and a white-dominated feminist movement. And she has held her own in a mainstream art market that has been, until very recently, unwelcoming to African-American art.” Now she has solo shows at flagship museums on both coasts: MoMA and LACMA. Why now? “Because,” she says, “it’s about time!” – The New York Times
LAPD Finds Trove Of Artworks Stolen From Homes 25 Years Ago
In 1993, there was a series of break-ins across the more expensive neighborhoods of Los Angeles in which dozens of paintings, antiques, and historic documents were taken. Two perps were captured year ago, but the art was lost until an auctioneer tipped off police this summer. More than 100 items have been recovered, and the issue now is finding their owners. – Los Angeles Times
Italy Welcomed Foreign-Born Directors To Run Museums. Well, That’s Over
Museum boards are being abolished, and the contracts of foreign-born directors seem unlikely to be renewed as Italy’s government rolls back many of the game-changing reforms introduced four years ago. – artnet
Is Art Facing A Crisis Of Beauty?
“I realize that the various arts councils see art as a communications strategy, a way of encoding statements of moral good in visual form. Long ago they surrendered any faith in the aesthetic. What’s so much worse is that many artists seem to share this. But I think I understand. Adorno believed that aesthetic experience was rooted in experiences of natural beauty. If nature is threatened, so too is aesthetic experience. Hence the looming loss of faith.” – Momus
University In Baghdad Survives For 800 Years. Will It Outlive A Planned Restoration?
Now that Baghdad is once more clambering back to its feet after ISIS’s territorial defeat, observers wonder: Can the school regain anything of its past glory or will it – and the city around it – continue their long, slow decay? – Smithsonian
The Diminished State Of Art Criticism
“The six most influential art critics, according to the respondents, were all white, mostly men and mostly older. They included one woman, Roberta Smith (The New York Times), Holland Cotter (also NYT), Jerry Saltz (New York magazine), Peter Schjeldahl (The New Yorker), Ben Davis (artnet News) and Christopher Knight (Los Angeles Times). The titles producing the best art criticism, the respondents said, included The New York Times, Hyperallergic, The New Yorker, Artforum, Art in America and ARTnews, all except one based in New York. European writers would maybe have added a few others: Frieze magazine, Art Review, the Financial Times and—for German speakers—the critics in influential papers like the Frankfurter Allgemeine and Die Welt.” – ArtAgency Partners