Category: visual

“‘There is a second world war kind of thing going on about “keeping the home fires burning” at the moment; a bit of “keep calm and carry on” art, if you like,’ said the Turner prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller.”

“Pollock still provokes heated debate about the very definition of art. Was a man who placed a canvas on the floor and dripped paint straight from the can actually creating a work of art?”

“Used to standing quietly in the shadows while the spotlight shines on a Leonardo or Caravaggio or Velázquez, the National Gallery’s warders – or assistants, as they are known these days – do not tend to draw attention to themselves. But, at the moment, that is exactly what they are doing. Last week’s two-hour stoppage, which saw between 30 and 40 assistants walk off the job, forced the temporary closure of around 35 rooms, though not the blockbuster Leonardo exhibition.”

“There are manifest deficiencies of understanding on the crucial relationship between the discoveries that are being made through advances of technical analysis, and the original painterly/artistic means by which the art-objects-under-investigation were produced by artists in the first place.”

“My-ArtMap is a social network exclusively for the art and art market. Like the Art World, it is populated by art professionals, including auction houses, galleries, museums and art collectors. The site just exited beta, shortly after acquiring many new members from Spain, Italy and Germany. It is heavily focused on Europe, at least for the time being.”

“The Nuovi Uffizi renovations are expected to more than double its exhibition space from 5,400 sq. m to 12,000 sq. m, allowing visitor numbers to also double, from 4,000 to 8,000 a day. The Nuovi Uffizi project was initially due for completion in 2006 and then delayed to 2009. It has now been scheduled for completion in 2014, but €30m is still needed to stay on track.”

“The real significance of the new American Wing transcends its role as the latest in the Met’s dramatic reinstallations. It shows us the flexibility with which modernism is responding to changing architectural tastes, times and needs. But it also redefines and re-evaluates American art and art history and documents the enormous evolution in its acceptance and understanding since the founding of the Met’s American Wing in 1924 as a collection of early American rooms saved from demolition.”

“The Louvre Abu Dhabi is now set to open in 2015, the Zayed National Museum will follow in 2016 and the Guggenheim branch after that, in 2017, according to the Tourism Development & Investment Company.”

“The executive council of Abu Dhabi announced through its website on Monday that it had approved construction plans for its multi-billion-dollar vision for a cultural tourist center to be constructed on an island just off the coast of the city, a hub that will include branches of the Guggenheim and the Louvre museums.”

There’s been a “flood of Occupy-related art that is pouring in, now that artists have had a chance to consider it and make the stuff. Your appreciation, or lack of it, will no doubt be clouded by your enthusiasm, or level of patience, for the protestors who camped out in town squares across the country starting last fall.”