“Receiving it [in 2013] at the age I received it – I definitely felt that I didn’t deserve it. And that became a distraction from the work – I was thinking about so many of my mentors and idols who don’t have that award and asking, ‘Why do I have this and they didn’t have it?’ I allowed that to play a part in the work I was trying to make. And that’s tricky.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Whatever Happened To That Big Miró Tapestry That Used To Hang At The Entrance To The National Gallery’s East Wing In DC?
The 20-by-35-foot fabric work, titled Woman, was one of four that the National Gallery commissioned for its new extension in 1978. But not everyone loved it (certain critics in particular had harsh words for it), and it was replaced in 2003. But quite a few visitors were very fond of it, and one, a fledgling journalist, tried to find out where the piece went and why. Peggy McGlone writes about what her young colleague found.
Russia’s Most Notorious Protest Artist Granted Political Asylum In France
Pyotr Pavlensky – the man who sewed his lips shut in solidarity with Pussy Riot, nailed his scrotum to Red Square, and set fire to the headquarters of the successor to the KGB – fled Russia earlier this year following sexual assault charges that may or may not have been trumped up.
Midgette And Kennicott Dish The Met Opera 50th Anniversary Gala (And The House Itself, And The State Of Singing)
Also dished: “Anna Netrebko single-handedly upholding the grand tradition of opera as camp” and the evening as “a symbolic passing of the torch.”
Watch Dmitri Hvorostovsky’s Surprise Appearance At The Met Opera Gala
The beloved Russian baritone, undergoing long-term treatment for brain cancer, has cancelled all future staged opera performances and recently had to call off a recital tour. So when Peter Gelb had the idea to invite him to sing at the gala, he kept the plan secret, in case Hvorostovsky was too ill to make it. But make it he did, and sang up a storm. (video)
Man Slashes $3 Million Painting In Aspen Gallery
In an apparently pre-planned attack following several suspicious phone calls, an individual wearing a hat, sunglasses and one glove entered the Opera Gallery, went right up to Christopher Wool’s Untitled 2004, cut it twice, and jogged out – all in about 15 seconds. (includes security video)
Stradivarius Violins Lose Yet Another Blind Test To New Instruments
The last major published study asked ten well-known soloists to play a selection of Strads and new violins, and the players solidly preferred the new ones. The latest test happened in Paris, just after the previous one, and was repeated in New York; it focused on the impressions of listeners in the concert hall. And once again …
Sydney Morning Herald And Melbourne’s The Age Axe All Arts Writers
The elimination of all staff positions for arts writers and deputy arts editors is part of a recently announced layoff of a quarter of all newsroom employees at the Fairfax Media chain’s print papers. In response, all journalists at the papers have gone on a weeklong strike.
French Arts World ‘Breathes A Sigh Of Relief’ At Macron’s Election
The fact that the new president-elect chose to give his victory speech in front of the Louvre has been taken as a hopeful sign of his attitude toward culture (and its funding), as has the fact that he studied piano for ten years in his youth. There may be a bit of wishful thinking going on, however.
Amazon And EU Settle E-Book Antitrust Case
“Amazon, the biggest e-book distributor in Europe, proposed to drop some clauses in its contracts so publishers would not be forced to give it terms as good as those for rivals. Such clauses relate to business models, release dates, catalogs of e-books, features of e-books, promotions, agency prices, agency commissions and wholesale prices.”