Matthew Westphal – Page 787 – ArtsJournal Wayback

After 50-Year Run, Andy Warhol’s ‘Interview’ Magazine Collapses Amidst Lawsuits And Resignations

“The magazine was owned by Peter Brant, a billionaire art collector, who acquired the magazine in 1989. Its closure comes after months of turmoil, including staff being locked out as part of rent dispute, a lawsuit brought by a former editorial director over back pay and the resignation of a fashion director accused of sexual misconduct.”

Robert Indiana, Pop Artist Who Created ‘LOVE’ Sculpture, Dead At 85

“Robert Indiana stands as one of the very few artists in history to make a work of art that got away from its maker and took on an incredible, even improbable, life of its own. His iconic presentation of the word ‘LOVE,’ which he created in 1964, ranks as one of the most popular artworks of the 20th-century — an utter crowd-pleaser that is instantly recognizable to millions, whether rendered as a giant metal sculpture or emblazoned across a T-shirt. Such omnipresence could be the signal achievement for any artist, but Indiana was also one of the cornerstones of the Pop art movement of the 1960s.”

Robert Indiana’s Caretaker And Publisher Sued For Putting Out Flood Of Counterfeits

“In a federal lawsuit filed Friday, a day before Mr. Indiana’s death at 89, a company that says it has long held the rights to several of Mr. Indiana’s best-known works proposed an answer, arguing in court papers that [caretaker Jamie Thomas] and New York art publisher [Michael McKenzie] had tucked the artist away [in his island home in Maine] while they churned out unauthorized or adulterated versions of his work.”

Rothko Chapel In Houston Vandalized With Paint And ‘It’s Okay To Be White’ Leaflets

In the early hours of Friday morning, “white paint was spilled near the chapel’s entrance and in the reflection pool surrounding the Barnett Newman sculpture, The Broken Obelisk, which is dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. [There were also] ‘handbills’ strewn around the grounds and the pool that read, ‘It’s okay to be white.'”

Patricia Morison, 103, Stage And Screen Star Of 1930s, ’40s and ’50s

“An actress who combined ravishing beauty with cool sophistication, [Morison] was promoted as the ‘Fire and Ice Girl’ when she landed in Hollywood in the late 1930s. She appeared opposite some of the most popular stars of the era — from Spencer Tracy to Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller — but her career stalled from typecasting as a well-coiffed vamp. [She] did not emerge to public recognition until returning to her Broadway roots in 1948 to perform in Cole Porter’s Kiss Me, Kate, which became one of the most popular stage musicals of all time.”

Germany To Boost Arts Funding By $353 Million

Saying that the move would send “a strong signal that culture is the foundation for our open and democratic society,” culture minister Monika Grütters announced that Angela Merkel’s government plans to increase the arts budget by 23%. In the five years that Grütters has been in office, the national culture budget has grown by 38%, roughly $548 million.

Zhao Kangmin, Who Restored Xi’an’s Ancient Terra-Cotta Warriors, Dead At 81

The long-serving archaeologist “was not the first person to see the pottery fragments, nor did he order the partial excavation of the complex, which became a national treasure.” But he was the first one to reassemble the statues from the broken fragments that were first discovered. “Decades later he was still signing his name with a grand title: ‘Zhao Kangmin, the first discoverer, restorer, appreciator, name-giver and excavator of the terra-cotta warriors.'”

Him, Too: Chief Of Cape Town’s Contemporary Art Museum Resigned After Accusations Of Harassment

When Mark Coetzee resigned as the first executive director and chief curator of Zeitz MOCAA on Cape Town’s waterfront, and the museum’s trustees said they were investigating his “professional conduct” and the museum’s “institutional practices,” reporting suggested that the concerns were about a too-close relationship with a group of collectors. But the problem was nothing so highbrow: “Numerous high flyers in the art world, who did not wish to be named, said they had witnessed Coetzee making lewd and sexually suggestive comments at work and inappropriate advances and suggestions of a sexual nature towards men in public.”

Is It Really ‘The Age Of The Twink’? And What Does That Actually Mean?

Spencer Kornhaber: “The New York Times article, ‘Welcome to the Age of the Twink,’ that Twitter has gleefully torn apart this week is a bit too slight to sustain a full reckoning with the very real questions it raises. … Certainly, if it’s the age of the twink now, it’s been the age of the twink all along. Slender, smooth types have achieved dreamy superstar status at a pretty steady pace over the years … Yet there’s something poetic in the otherwise risible idea that the ’emo boy’ of 2006 is the hetero ‘twink’ of 2018. Because if anything has shifted with regards to straight men’s bodies, it’s that they have slowly begun to be subjected to the same scrutiny women’s and gay men’s have.”

Author: Matthew Westphal