Category: visual

“The Maison Centrale de Poissy holds 230 convicts, 80% of whom are serving terms longer than twenty years. The paintings are reproductions, made for outdoor display but of high photographic quality and backed with aluminum. The ten paintings were chosen by ten inmates, selected from those with an interest in art.”

What if they gave up on the neutral, bland captions they tend to use and put beneath each picture a really directive set of commands telling us, for example, “look at this image and remember to be patient”. Or “use this sculpture to meditate on what you too could do to bring about a fairer world”.

“A sandbar in Biscayne Bay seems to be Miami’s latest hot spot for staging an illicit rendezvous. Just after one mystery affair wrapped up — a grand piano that appeared on a sandbar about 200 metres offshore was removed last week — a new one blossomed.”

“Soldiers detained about 50 men trying to break into the Egyptian National Museum in a fresh attempt to loot some of the country’s archaeological treasures, the military said Monday.”

“Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough, the point man in the controversy that has rocked the Smithsonian Institution for the last two months, received enthusiastic support from his board.”

“The Smithsonian Institution Monday recommended new procedures to preview and provide an opportunity for public comment about future exhibitions that could prove sensitive.”

“The Jersey City Museum, the anchor for a once-vibrant city arts district and owner of what may be the best contemporary art collection in the state, is so strapped for cash that it can’t keep the lights on.”

“If the Steelers win, Carnegie Museum will be on the receiving end of “Boating on the Yerres,” an 1877 painting by Gustave Caillebotte owned by the Milwaukee Art Museum. But really, isn’t it just a little un-American to bet two French Impressionists in the Super Bowl?”

“According to reports, two mummies have been ruined. The worrying question is which mummies, for at the heart of this museum is a collection of resin-coated bodies removed from the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. These are, as they say in Sicily, excellent cadavers – the mummies of some of ancient Egypt’s greatest rulers.”

“A study by Museums and Galleries NSW showed art institutions attract people from all walks of life. The survey, showed that more than 40 per cent of visitors came from households with annual incomes below $40,000. Only 14 per cent had incomes of more than $100,000.”