“As starchitects have attained the fame of rock stars and Hollywood celebrities in recent decades, what harm is there in having them enlighten the body politic about today’s most smashing architectural icons?” Here’s why.
Category: visual
Detroit’s Workers In Diego Rivera’s Murals
“The complexity of this mural effort cannot be overstated, and began with the commission from Edsel Ford, Henry Ford’s son, who was a leading arts patron as well as Ford Motor Co.’s head.”
So Who Really Owns Looted Art?
“Over the past two decades, globalization, changing attitudes, and the spread of both international law and civil lawsuits have emboldened aggrieved nations to demand the return of cultural property seized by enemy forces decades or even centuries ago, and a few holders of these spoils have complied.”
Latest British Art Sensation? An 8-Year-Old
“Paintbrush prodigy Kieron – dubbed “mini Monet” by the British press – is a global sensation. All 33 of the pastels, watercolors and oil paintings in his latest exhibition sold, within half an hour, for a total of 150,000 pounds ($235,000).”
The Painter Who Messed With Mao Takes On More Chinese Icons
Chinese-American artist Zhang Hongtu made his name by painting portraits of the Chairman in the style of Picasso, Lichtenstein, the Quaker Oats box and the like. Now he’s re-creating the masterpieces of Chinese landscape painting to highlight China’s pollution crisis.
Moscow’s Constructivist Buildings Are Crumbling
“Any sightseers embarking on a tour of Moscow’s avant-garde architecture from the early 20th century had better brace themselves for a catalogue of degradation.” Can anyone save them from rampant Russian capitalism? The new oligarchs’ wives might.
The Carbuncle Cup: What’s Britain’s Ugliest New Building?
“It was hailed a breakthrough in urban wind power: a 42-storey tower with built-in turbines to deliver 8% of its electricity needs.” It’s the Strata tower in London – the one that looks like a giant electric razor.
What Worked For “Reality” Art Show Might Doom It
“This may be the internal paradox that dooms Work of Art: The very qualities that make for entertaining reality-TV – excessiveness, stupid obviousness, gracelessness under pressure – work against the creation of good art, unless you’re Andy Warhol or Jeff Koons or Julian Schnabel.”
To Whom (Or What) Does Britain Owe Its Modern Art Boom?
“If we agree, as apparently everyone does, that Britain’s modern art boom is a national glory, then we have to acknowledge the place of public generosity in making it possible. Above all, the authority of Tate has made it modern art’s Bank of England. And all the Tate galleries are free.”
Is A Shift In Demographics Working Against American Museums?
Elizabeth Merritt, the director of the Center for the Future of Museums, said the shift in demographics “paints a troubling picture of the ‘probable future’–a future in which, if trends continue, museum audiences are radically less diverse than the American public, and museums will serve an ever shrinking fragment of society”.