Category: visual

“Neil LaBute – visual artist? Well, sort of. The playwright-filmmaker known for his oft-disturbing and provocative works has applied his subversive wit to a new collaboration with photographer Gerald Slota.”

George Clooney will direct and co-star in “The Monuments Men, a look at the art historians who landed at Normandy to rescue art looted by Adolf Hitler.”

A small show in Cambridge, U.K., has been drawing record numbers to the Fitzwilliam Museum. “The exhibition’s success is nothing if not testimony to the almost cult appeal of this master of so few paintings, most on a small scale.”

“The problem that actual art curators have with everyone going around saying that they’re curating their spice racks is that it gives the impression … that curating is solely about arranging objects in some sort of grouping. This is simply not the case.”

Can reactions to public art be quantified – and indeed, should they be? “Some are of the opinion that even if significant time were spent on justifying public art’s existence by ‘proving’ its practical usefulness, this would still be a losing battle that could lead to the withdrawal of support for public art, the production of bad art that panders merely to public needs, or both. “

“Officially called Tiger and Turtle- Magic Mountain, this sculpture of zinc-plated steel and LED lights … reaches heights of 69 feet and stands atop a hill in Anger Park in Duisburg, Germany, with a magnificent view of the Rhine to be enjoyed at whatever speeds you can reach on your own two feet.”

Although much of Pompeii ­remains in good repair, the problems are numerous, including “inappropriate restoration ­methods and a general lack of qualified staff… restoration projects are outsourced and the quality of the work of the contractors is not being assessed. An efficient drainage system is lacking, ­leading to water infiltration and excessive moisture that gradually degrades the structural condition of the buildings as well as their decor. The mission was also concerned by the amount of plant growth, particularly ivy.”

“One of the oldest pieces of British pornographic art has just been discovered beside the river Thames. At first sight, the bronze disc found near Putney Bridge in London looks like an old coin – until you notice that it depicts a sex scene. This type of bronze token with its erotic imagery was specially made to spend in ancient Roman brothels.”

Andrej Sobiepan “told TV channel TVN24 that he could not “wait 30 or 40 years” for his work to be exhibited by a gallery. The portrait was on display for three days before it was noticed and is now hung inside the museum’s cafe.”

The republic’s slump has “evolved into a muse for Irish artists, who are both recording the crisis and finding opportunity in the wreckage left by a spree of reckless real-estate lending and toxic debts.”