Blog

Alaskan Museum Counting On “Bilbao Effect”

Fairbanks, Alaska’s Museum of the North is expanding, hoping to generate some Bilbao-type publicity in the hopes of becoming a tourist destination. “Other museums that have created what we call signature buildings have experienced the same ‘Bilbao effect,’ where the building becomes a destination. I said, ‘We really need to do this because we need to get tourists here in the summer to help us pay our bills.”‘

The New Women Conductors

Three women conductors lead orchestras in New York this weekend. “These artists represent a new wave of female conductors in their late 20’s through early 40’s. Others are Joana Carneiro, Sara Jobin, Sarah Ioannides, Sarah Hicks, Keri-Lynn Wilson and Anne Manson. They confront significantly less prejudice than did their counterparts who are only a few years older: Gisèle Ben-Dor, Catherine Comet, Rachel Worby, JoAnn Falletta, Marin Alsop and others, performers who have made women a familiar presence on the orchestra podium.”

The Psycho-bio Problem

Why do we feel the need to pass artists such as Shakespeare under a magnifying glass for clues to their work? Such psycho-bios often sell better than the actual artist’s work. “The explanations of literary activity which are required by the market for literary biography tend to be made up from a dash of Freud, a handful of social aspiration, a scratching from Foucault’s armpit, and a willingness to entertain simple-one-to- one correspondences between fiction and life.”

Physicist: Hockney Theory Is Wrong

A California physicist says he has proof that David Hockney’s controversial theory that Renaissance artists traced their work is wrong. “David Stork used computer imaging of a 1645 painting, Christ in the Carpenter’s Studio, by Georges de la Tour, to show that the only source of light in the work was a candle shown in Christ’s hand. It means the image could not have been projected, he said.”

Four-Year-Old Wows Artworld

Marla Olmstead is making an impression with her art. She’s had a gallery show, and the critics were impressed. Of course, Marla is only 4 years old. “She builds her paintings in layers. Children don’t do that. She starts with big swatches of colours and then adds details and accents onto that. That’s what is so impressive and beyond what other children do. She paints with emotion.”

Guggenheim Update: Expanding Into What?

It’s been a while since the Guggenheim generated much heat with its global outpost strategy. So where do the various Guggenheim satellite projects stand? “At present, four additional satellite facilities are in their early stages: Rio de Janeiro, Taichung, Hong Kong and Gaudalajara. The projects all face a certain amount of local opposition, and the Gugg’s current strategy is to leave the local politics to the local politicians.”

Springer On National Tour

After attracting a huge audience for a BBC broadcast, Jerry Springer, The Opera is set to close down in London. But it will be showing up on stages around the UK. “The show will end its West End run on 19 February and head to regional theatres around the country. Its broadcast on BBC Two on Saturday prompted 47,000 complaints to the corporation ahead of broadcast from people who saw it as blasphemous. And a motion has been tabled in the House of Commons condemning the BBC for the “mocking portrayal of Jesus”.