Ned Rifkin is giving up directorship of the Hirshhorn Museum to concentrate on running the Smithsonian. Taking for the Hirshhorn is deputy director Olga Viso. “Viso, 38, a Florida native whose parents emigrated from Cuba, joined the museum’s curatorial department 10 years ago as an expert on contemporary Latin American art. She became curator of contemporary art five years later, and stepped up to the role of deputy director of the Hirshhorn in 2003. She previously worked for the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Fla., and holds a master’s degree from Emory University.”
Blog
Vilar Fails Bail, Stays In Jail
Alberto Vilar, the man who gave away millions to the arts, apparently can’t make bail to spring himself from jail. “His attorneys asked a federal judge Tuesday to delay a bail hearing that might have sprung their client from jail. That hearing has been rescheduled for Friday. Until then, a man once reputed to be among the country’s richest men — in 2004 his personal fortune was pegged at $950 million by Forbes magazine — will reside in the Metropolitan Correction Center in Manhattan.”
Fogel: Why Orchestras Need To Change
Orchestras need to change their image, says Henry Fogel, head of the American Symphony Orchestra League: “It’s for the fur coat crowd. It’s stuffy. It’s too formal. I don’t know enough about music. It’s intellectual, not emotional. I might applaud at the wrong time. I’m, sorry to say that – particularly in the first half to two-thirds of the 20th century – orchestras kind of cultivated that image. Now it’s biting them in the behind.”
Men Stick With Men
A study of what people read reveals that men are more likely to read male authors. “Four out of five men said the last novel they read was by a man, whereas women were almost as likely to have read a book by a male author as a female. When asked what novel by a woman they had read most recently, a majority of men found it hard to recall or could not answer. Women, however, often gave several titles. The report said: ‘Men who read fiction tend to read fiction by men, while women read fiction by both women and men.”
Where Are the Women Conductors?
Well into her career, Marin Alsop looks around and sees few female conductors as colleagues. “I assumed 20 years ago when I got into the profession and looked around that there would be an influx of women on to the podium. It never happened.”
Gilbert And George In Venice
Gilbert and George are no longer young. They still think of themselves as outsiders, even as they represent the UK at this summer’s Venice Biennale. “They claim to have sold only two pieces to British collectors in the past 15 years. Saatchi wasn’t having any. They complain that the Tate won’t hang the little they’ve got. But in Venice, one of the most important Italian collectors will be hosting a dinner in honour of the duo.”
Gadafi Opera Delayed
A new opera about Libyan dictator Moammar Gadafi, a co-production between English National Opera and Asian Dub Foundation, has been delayed. It will now open ENO’s 2006/07 season. “The most important thing is to absolutely get this right the first time it goes out. If we continued with the current timetable, we could make the deadlines, but we’ve given ourselves no space to step back and revisit sections.”
Taking Tap Back To The Streets
Tap is big again, but it’s not the tap we remember from Fred Astaire movies. It’s rougher street dance. “In its early years, tap boasted the same macho profile as early hip-hop, with dancers holding regular “battles” on street corners. Dancing on makeshift wooden platforms to amplify the sound of their feet, they competed to produce the sharpest, most original rhythms, with the judges sitting under the platform so they could listen without being distracted (or threatened).”
A groundbreaking British Play
The first-ever play by a British-born black playwright has hit London’s West End. “That the play should be a groundbreaking event in London may strike Americans as odd, given the longer tradition of African-American playwrights dramatizing the black experience. But subjects like the lives of West Indians, former colonials, in Britain have rarely been given such a platform here, not to mention plays that examine the pressures on young black Londoners today to live outside the law.”
Racy DVDs Outsell Their G-Versions
“Often racier or more violent than their big-screen counterparts, unrated DVDs usually outperform the less-explicit version. Pouring new life into a movie franchise, they’re a valuable marketing tool — particularly effective with the 18-to-34-year-old demographic, the heaviest home video users.”