Category: visual

“The central bank, a staid building in many countries, is coated in bright red candy cane stripes. Multicolored fluorescent lights cover one of the city’s bridges, creating a Hawaiian luau effect. Blast walls and security checkpoints stick out because they are often painted in hot pink.” (They say this like it’s a bad thing …)

The Smithsonian, he wrote, “will be able to reshape the workforce to meet current and future programming needs as we continue to move forward in implementing the Strategic Plan. This will also help us address critical Federal budgetary issues.”

“The Getty and other American museums over the last decades have justified the acquisition of these things under questionable circumstances by saying that these poor orphan objects have been separated from their archaeological context already, and that we have a duty to rescue them from the market and to preserve them and display them publicly.”

“The Getty Museum has improved immensely over the years, but nobody would say it has improved as much as it might have. The primary obstacle is that the director has full responsibility for the museum, but the president has final authority over it. And the president also has other obligations.”

“Nothing has been done to rebuild its historic centre, which is still out of bounds to its residents and property owners. All powers are still in the hands of the civil defence commission, which should by now have finished its work, but in fact has had its mandate extended until December.”

“Five years into his stewardship of LACMA, having just signed a contract for five more, Govan, 47, has transformed the museum and its reputation. He has overseen the completion of two sleek new exhibition halls by renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano, grown the collection by about 12,000 objects and helped boost annual attendance by some 40%. But LACMA also has transformed Govan.”

“Despite the art world’s concern over the fate of Ai Weiwei, it remains to be seen if any galleries pull out of the Chinese fair which has just been bought by MCH Swiss Exhibition Ltd, the company which organizes the two most prestigious modern and contemporary art fairs in the world, Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach.”

“Greece is currently deep in crisis, a crisis that is not just financial but also cultural and spiritual. With many of its most successful sons and daughters living abroad and stringent public-sector cuts, Greece is under siege. Curiously, however, for Greek contemporary art this seems to be a moment of remarkable energy.”

“Until this week, Contemporary art had to be big and colorful to hit the roof. Not any more.”