Author: Douglas McLennan

THE CORPORATE GRAIL

Time was when American artists looked longingly at government funding for the arts in Canada, which was traditionally higher than in the US. Now government support for the arts has slipped in both countries and Canada, which never established as extensive a tradition of corporate and individual support for the arts, is wondering how to do that. – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

A NEW ARTS PRIZE

Amid the current buzz over the Turner Prize shortlist’s inclusion of three artists who aren’t British, a new European arts prize – the Vincent – is being launched by Holland’s Bonnefanten Museum to honor a European artist, regardless of country of origin. “In a world of global culture, individual countries no longer set the standards,” writes the Bonnefanten’s director, “and although there is no other continent that demonstrates so many views and self-inflicted differences, the Vincent is not designed to celebrate Europe’s pre-eminent status, but rather to celebrate diversity.” The winner will be announced in September. – The Guardian

DOING BATTLE WITH THE PAST

Over the last 30 years, the Italian government has been cleaning and restoring some of the most famous frescoes of the Renaissance. “Apart from carrying out the essential work of cleaning, repairing structural damage, and protecting the frescoes from damp, restorers have also used the latest technology to try to determine the exact nature of the original painting; and have used that analysis to offer a definitive image of the work for future generations.” That’s where the controversy begins. – The Independent (UK)

HERE MOOSIE MOOSIE

Several North American cities have been overrun this summer with painted fiberglass animals. Toronto has 300 moose distributed around its downtown streets. “The Toronto moose are clearly about urban boosterism, corporate publicity, civic high spirits, tourist marketing.”  And not about art. Shouldn’t the things we put up in our urban landscape aim for a little more? – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

SEX AND THE CITY

The Venice Biennale’s International Architecture Exhibition poses questions about how we live. “It prompts the myriad architects, landscape architects and urban designers featured here to say where they stand in the ‘disorder affecting a society in rapid transformation’ and ‘the turmoil of globalization.’ It asks them to use information and technology to improve the human condition, and ‘make forecasts about the future once again.'” – National Post (Canada)

FROM THE OUTSIDE IN

The New Republic‘s art critic Jed Perl has a new book purporting to sort out the ills of the artworld. “Perl belongs to that strange tradition of art critics who are at odds with the art world at large — something for which there is no precise parallel, certainly not in the worlds of mass-circulation film or music criticism, for example. In a way Perl seems to be arguing for a culture and for artists who are no more accomplished, brilliant, or relevant than Perl himself. It’s a middlebrow context that makes him look good.” – Artforum

THE BALLOON EFFECT

After years of design delays and budgetary haggling, Berlin’s Jewish Museum is finally on schedule to open in September 2001. Originally conceived as a department within a Berlin history museum, “the concept ballooned to meet the space available. With over 4,000 square meters of exhibition space to fill, the existing Berlin collection was dwarfed: bit by bit the Jewish Museum took it on itself to document the history of the Jews in the whole German-speaking world.” – Die Welt (Germany)

RAGS TO RICHES

Scottish painter Jack Vettriano’s life story reads like Horatio Alger: a miner’s son, he only started painting at 21 and was rejected from art school repeatedly. But now he’s Britain’s most commercially popular artist, with original work selling for up to £40,000 and posters of his work outselling those of  Monet. – The Telegraph (UK)

MORRIS MAJOR

Mark Morris Dance Group celebrates its 20th anniversary next year. Still as flamboyant and opinionated as ever, Morris is one of the most sought after choreographers in the business and continues to churn out dazzling new dances. “Over the years his choreography has changed along with his taste in music. In the beginning it was provocative but playful, howling with a homosexual humour and sticking two fingers up at the more ascetic work of his contemporaries. Later, that sense of fun was allied to [his] talent for making jubilantly musical dance that could be as profound as it was frisky.” – The Sunday Times (London)