Author: Douglas McLennan

Chicago’s Mayor Daley and the Chicago Sun-Times are feuding. Not about taxes or police or misdeeds. It’s about ping-pong tables. This summer, in a follow-up to last summer’s art cows, the city has placed ping pong tables through downtown. The newspaper called the project a flop and the mayor’s fuming; the city ordered the table in front of the Sun-Times building removed. – Chicago Sun-Times

In the ’80s architects and the buildings they created were reviled in Britain. But a whole new generation of buildings has made building the hot visual art of the moment. “Architecture is a profession that matures late, and there are innumerable young practices with potential. What follows are five to watch out for, architects who have already demonstrated their potential but have yet to achieve their best work. If they are not clearly established as household names by the end of the decade, then the fault will lie not in their own talents, but in Britain’s traditional failure of will when it comes to commissioning young architects.” – The Telegraph (UK)

What is it about being shocked that artists and viewers find so…invigorating? “Notoriously, ever since the dawn of Impressionism, modern art has delivered the shock of the new. Whether you find it a bracing blast of novelty or a dastardly attack on everything sacred is partly a matter of temperament – and taste.” – The Telegraph (UK)

The National Gallery of Canada has canceled two big shows planned for next year. The reason? Money. “The deficit for the 1998-99 fiscal year was $5.4 million, almost half of which can be attributed to a drop in funds from Parliament. Gallery officials earlier this year had predicted the 1999-2000 fiscal year deficit would be lower, but the figures have yet to be made public.” And to make it worse, the current “blockbuster” impressionist show only brought in 74 percent of expected attendance. – Ottawa Citizen

China’s Sichuan Academy of Fine Art – one of China’s three major art schools – says it intends to sue the Venice Biennale, curator Harald Szeeman, and artist Cai Guo Qiang, who won the Biennale’s 1999 International Prize, for violation of copyright. “Behind the suit are a group of elderly propaganda artists enraged at Cai’s appropriation of their work” in Cai Guo Qiang’s “Venice Rent Collector’s Courtyard.” – The Art Newspaper

British cultural institutions are increasingly looking to donors in the US for funding. “London’s Royal Academy was the first to break ground in the US in 1983. Since then they have received close to $32 million in donations. The Tate has followed, formally opening an office in Manhattan last September. The fact that their parent bodies are 3,000 miles away seems no impediment to raising millions of dollars in record time.” – The Art Newspaper

Who are the next YBA’s? That is to say – who are the next British art phenomena? “This year, the biggest buzz was at the Royal College of Art’s fine art MA show. Several of the painting students have since received studio visits from White Cube representatives, with many other galleries – from Beaux Arts to Percy Miller and Nylon – expressing interest in taking on certain artists.” – The Independent (UK)

The director of Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art defends contemporary art: “It seems to have escaped the attention of many media commentators in Australia that contemporary art is in fact a very wide discipline. There is no longer one school or type of art that prevails. Contemporary artists continue to make interesting work with traditional media while at the same time embracing new forms of artistic expression.” – Sydney Morning Herald