“Jack Vettriano is not even an artist. He just happens to be popular, with ‘ordinary people’ who buy reproductions of his pseudo-1930s scenes of high-heeled women and monkey-suited men, and celebrities who fork out for the originals of these toneless, textureless, brainless slick corpses of paintings. I urge you to visit the National Gallery. Look at great paintings for a few hours. Now take a look at Vettriano. I’m not arguing with you; I’m telling you. I look at art every day and I know what I don’t like. There I go – being elitist. Art critics are, in the game Vettriano plays, snobbish patsies. Critical disdain is part of Vettriano’s success, making him ‘controversial’.”
Tag: 10.05.04
Off Off Broadway Missing From Revamped Times
“The redesign of the Arts & Leisure section at the Sunday New York Times won no raves from Off Off Broadway. The small-print column known as the Guide used to provide a comprehensive listing of all legit shows, even those playing the tiniest venues. But as of Oct. 3, the Guide is gone.”
There’s A Downside To Winning A Nobel?
“Winning the Nobel prize turns writers into icons and takes best sellers far beyond their own culture, but there is a price to pay for often reclusive people whose work requires solitude; the media spotlight. Thursday, a writer somewhere who may be unknown to most of the planet or almost a household name will get a call from the Swedish Academy which has awarded the top accolade in the world of letters since 1901. The phone will not stop ringing.”
Art Rises On Taiwan-China Battlegrounds
What with having to persuade the Taiwan military and get approval from China’s Culture Ministry, an artist’s vision for an exhibition that examines the legacy of war between Taiwan and mainland China took 13 years to be realized. But now, in the abandoned bunkers and minefields of Quemoy, Taiwan, the show has finally taken shape.
Congratulations, You Almost Have The Job
A principal dancer with New York City Ballet has been named as the “lead candidate” to become artistic director of Seattle-based Pacific Northwest Ballet. PNB is stressing that 39-year-old Peter Boal does not have the job yet, and will return to Seattle later this fall for another round of meetings with the company’s board members and dancers. Barring any unforeseen hitches in those interviews, Boal is expected to sign a contract by early 2005.
Victoria & Albert Museum Robbed
Thieves smashed a cabinet at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum on Monday, and made off with the nine antique jade objects it contained. The pieces are estimated to be collectively worth over $100,000. The museum has launched an internal investigation into its security.
Minor Orchestra, Major Discord
Canada’s Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra made headlines a few months back with a pitched internal battle over a decision to terminate its music director. The orchestra has been trying to put the incident behind it, but much bitterness remains. Three members of the board of directors have resigned in the last month, and the remaining members are still sharply divided, with the minority side pushing for conductor Martin Fischer-Dieskau to be rehired.
Art That Aims To Stop A Killer
Over the last decade, 380 young women have been brutally raped, tortured, murdered, and dumped along a remote stretch of the Texas-Mexico border. 800 more women are missing, with no real attempt being made to find them. “But now, a proliferation of art is emerging from the tragedies amid the blood and sand of the dusty industrial border town across from El Paso, produced by artists and performers fuelled by moral outrage and responding to what has become a human rights crisis and a bi-national scandal.”
San Francisco Jazzer Vernon Alley Dies
“Vernon Alley, the most distinguished jazz musician in San Francisco history, died Sunday after a long illness. He was 89. A man who broke down many racial barriers in his lifetime and played with the greatest musicians of his generation, Alley could have become one of the most famous names in jazz, but the bassist chose instead to spend his career in his beloved hometown.”
Nixon Nixed in Norway
Three portraits of former U.S. President Richard Nixon have been removed from the walls of the Norwegian parliament, after MPs complained that they were inappropriate, disquieting, and generally “shocking.” The head of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee insists that he’s all for freedom of expression, but doesn’t feel that the disgraced former president is an appropriate symbol for a governmental institution.