It used to be the most controversial art prizein Britain. But “it is clear that the protectionism implied in the rule that the artist must live or work in the U.K. needs an overhaul or the prize will just swim in ever-shrinking circles. English artists no longer need protection; they are among the best known and highest earning in the world. The Turner should open the door and let a few surprises in.”
Tag: 10.08.07
Foundation To Contest Decision In Canadian Art Dispute
The Beaverbrook Foundation says it will contest a judge’s decision against it in a dispute with a Canadian Gallery. “The award in costs was granted to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery by retired Supreme Court justice Peter Cory in a decision released on Friday. It forces the foundation to pay the gallery $4.55-million to $4.89-million.”
Cleaners Mistake Art For Graffiti (It’s Gone)
A slogan created by an artist who famously burned £1 million has been scrubbed off the wall of a Sussex art gallery by cleaners who mistook it for graffiti.
NY Philharmonic – The Dullness Factor
“The New York Philharmonic has a problem, which is that it doesn’t believe it has any problems. The accountants are content; the seats are almost full. The New York Philharmonic brand is intact, even aglow. But the New York Philharmonic exists, or should exist, to reflect today’s creative musical life and to continually reinvigorate the past. On many nights, it gives perfectionist executions, pedantically ‘great’ interpretations of certifiably great works–but not performances full of the feverish urgency that comes from an encounter with mind-altering music.”
Lisa Dennison On Leaving The Guggenheim For Auctions
Dennison is at pains to describe how similar her previous job is to her current one. “I’ve been someone who’s always come to auctions,” she says, “which is not typical for museum directors. And I did because I thought it told us a lot about our time, the market, about what collectors were thinking about.”
Is Sleep Deprivation Stunting Our Kids’ Brains?
“Half of all adolescents get less than seven hours of sleep on weeknights. Using newly developed technological and statistical tools, sleep scientists have recently been able to isolate and measure the impact of this single lost hour. Because children’s brains are a work-in-progress until the age of 21, and because much of that work is done while a child is asleep, this lost hour appears to have an exponential impact on children that it simply doesn’t have on adults.”
Money Vs. Art
“A large chunk of the art world seems to have drunk the Kool-Aid, too. Megacollectors suppose they can enter art history by spending astronomical amounts. They’re P.T. Barnums, showmen and -women who have become part of the show. Art magazines, once left on coffee tables, are fat enough to be coffee tables. Ten years ago this month, Artforum had 124 pages. This month, it has more than that many pages of ads, and 412 pages overall.”
Michael Govan To The Met?
The LA County Museum director was in New York last week and was asked if he might succeed Philippe de Montebello as director. “Why would I leave? This is the most exciting project going on. The Met has one of the most amazing collections on Earth, but it was set up with a Eurocentric eighteenth-century model.”
Will High Rents Push Art Out Of Chelsea?
“The dealer who paid $35 per square foot for a ground-floor space on a prime block three years ago will now pay $80 to $100. Major dealers who own their own galleries, like Paula Cooper, Matthew Marks, and Barbara Gladstone, are insulated. But the number of art galleries this will affect could be in the hundreds: There are now 360 galleries in Chelsea, up from 124 eight years ago.”
TV’s New Wonder-Boss
Stephen McPherson, 42, “runs the Walt Disney’s broadcast television empire. As president of ABC Entertainment, he woos Hollywood divas and indulges advertisers, tweaks prime-time schedules and manages affiliates. Most important, he identifies hit scripts while balancing huge budgets, exhibiting what colleagues and competitors describe as an unusual combination of creative and business acumen. Still, Mr. McPherson finds himself on perpetual thin ice.”