Political artists, abstract artists – all artists who aren’t strictly supportive of Bashar al-Assad’s government are under tremendous pressure in Syria these days. Yet a group of them has managed to smuggle their work to a gallery in Beirut – where it sold.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Roll Over For Beethoven: Detroit Symphony’s Kid Rock Concert Breaks A Few Barriers
“You can’t witness thousands of rabid Kid Rock fans rewarding the first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with a roaring standing ovation and breaking into chants of ‘DSO! DSO!’ without recognizing elitist stereotypes about classical music being put out to pasture.”
Former English National Ballet Star Charged With Fraud
“35-year-old former English National Ballet dancer Stephen Moonesamy has been arrested and charged with fraud after allegedly falsely convincing some 75 children from a dance company … that they would get to take part in the closing ceremony of the forthcoming Olympics in London.”
Logic Is Not Neutral (Contrary To Popular Belief)
Many laypeople, and more than a few logicians, consider logic “an umpire, a neutral arbitrator between opposing theories, imposing some basic rules on all sides in a dispute. The picture is that logic has no substantive content, for otherwise the correctness of that content could itself be debated, which would impugn the neutrality of logic.” Oxford philosopher Timothy Williamson explains why this is – illogical.
Australian Art Fraud Expert Has No Sense Of Humour
“The leader of the University of Melbourne’s art fraud unit has cancelled her attendance at an art forgery forum organised by Melbourne’s Art Series Hotels following hotel management’s decision to offer guests prizes of fake Andy Warhol pictures.”
Ai Weiwei’s Tax Lawsuit Can Proceed After All
“A Chinese court has made an unusual decision to hear a lawsuit by dissident artist Ai Weiwei who accuses the government of violating the law by imposing a 15 million yuan ($2.4 million) tax evasion penalty on the company that markets his work.”
Oldest Known Mayan Calendar Found In Guatemala
“In the remote northeastern corner of Guatemala, archaeologists have found what appears to be the 9th century workplace of a city scribe, an unusual dwelling adorned with magnificent pictures of the king and other royals and the oldest known Maya calendar.”
Edmund White On Obama And Same-Sex Marriage
“I was interested that the president said he discussed the subject of same-sex marriage with his daughters. Their acceptance of the same-sex parents of some of their classmates was so automatic and total that their very ease convinced him that same-sex marriage was inevitable … Which shows something that anthropologists have known a long time: That innovative behavior comes from children, is passed to their mothers and recognized by their fathers last of all. This rule of innovation holds true throughout the primate world.”
Who Was García Lorca’s Lover? After 70 Years, We Finally Know
“The identity of the lover to whom Federico García Lorca wrote passionate verse in his final year has been a mystery ever since the poet’s assassination during the Spanish civil war. But now, more than 70 years later, his name has finally emerged.
Publishers Are Losing Patience With Multi-Year, Multi-Volume Biographies
“It’s an ever-shrinking group, the authors who are given the real estate between multiple sets of hardcovers to chronicle the life and times of their subjects. ‘I don’t know of anyone who has gotten a contract for a multivolume biography in the last five years,’ said [historian] David Nasaw … ‘God bless Bob Caro, but it’s over.'”