Category: visual

“Galleries with international ambitions have sprouted to recruit and exhibit local talents. Artists’ profiles have steadily surged, to say nothing of their prices. The only major restriction is that artists must be careful to avoid political subjects in this police state.”

“It is an audacious experiment: two small, oil-rich countries in the Middle East are using architecture and art to reshape their national identities virtually overnight, and in the process to redeem the tarnished image of Arabs abroad while showing the way toward a modern society within the boundaries of Islam.”

“A quiet evolution is taking place here inside a vast warehouse near the Bosporus and at an inland convention center where rarely seen Saudi Arabian art – including some with feminist themes – is on display.”

“For 16 minutes, a series of cinematic projections and an accompanying original soundtrack will play over a copy of the painting that, through the use of high-resolution 3-D scanners, faithfully reproduces the original. … Through the artist’s manipulation of light, at various times the figures in The Last Supper can appear three-dimensional, and the time of day seems to change.”

“[The] sometimes heart-rending tales or even just simple sentences accompanying each item bring it all to life. For example, alongside a French identity card a Slovene has written: ‘The only thing left of a great love was citizenship.’ … From Switzerland someone has donated an unopened packet containing a candy G-string. ‘He turned out to be as cheap and shabby as his presents’.”

Leading international museum directors have restated their opposition to the financially motivated sale of works of art from public collections when the proceeds are used for “anything other than acquisitions or the direct care of the collection”.

“A growing number of art programs are making studio safety an integral part of the both curriculum and facilities. They are improving the air quality, reducing exposure to potentially hazardous materials, and increasing the safety training that students and faculty receive.”

“Even as financially strapped UC Berkeley is preparing to raise tuition 8 percent next fall, it has pledged to spend as much as $20 million in campus funds to help build a $96 million art museum.”

“[A] bankruptcy court [has] paved the way for a $19.35 million sale of the museum’s building to a New York developer. The sale would allow the museum to continue operating at its West 22nd street site, rent-free, until the end of 2011.”

“Rumours of his departure have been circulating since the Abu Dhabi Art fair last month after Krens, whose profile had been high in the region, was not present.”