Category: visual

“At the height of his popularity, Jackson bent the music industry toward an androgynous, perpetually childlike model of superstardom. He managed a similar trick in transforming the architecture of this classic Santa Barbara County ranch property.”

“It’s the latest success for Italy in its campaign to recover artifacts stolen from ancient sites and smuggled out of the country to be sold. The Cleveland Museum had bought the artifacts in the 1970s and 1980s and said it had no knowledge about the tainted past of the artifacts until contacted by Italian authorities.”

“I wanted to be able to represent normal, everyday stay-at-home mums who aren’t normally a feature of major artworks – to show my kids now, and when they’re older, that you can do, and be part of anything, no matter how ordinary you are or feel. I never expected to get a place so hadn’t thought about what to do and I never expected to be first.”

“By opening pop up shops we are making a high streets more appealing to shoppers and visitors. And it’s not just happening in London. Many of the UK’s towns and cities are seeing their own high street galleries.”

“Like those brand-new ghost towns in Nevada and Arizona, the Spertus’s acclaimed building will stand mostly unpopulated, its distinctive, faceted glass facade a taunting portal to a locked vault. Treasures and programs that were easily accessible at its former location–a building of the same height, right next door–will now be available to the public a total of about 12 hours a month.”

“Ms. Baumann, who is presently the museum’s deputy director, has worked at the Cooper-Hewitt since 2001, where she has also served as director of development and director of external affairs. … [She] will succeed Paul Warwick Thompson, who is leaving to become the rector of the Royal College of Art in London.”

“The city council has announced plans to redesign the Accademia Bridge, next to the eponymous art gallery, to provide access for the disabled. But architects and construction firms bidding to undertake the project will also have to prove they can raise the sponsorship to finance the work; the council will not make any contribution to the estimated €5m costs.”

“The restoration of frescoes by Michelangelo in the Vatican has revealed what is believed to be a self-portrait of the artist. The face is in a wall mural in the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel or Cappella Paolina, according to Maurizio De Luca, the Vatican’s chief restorer. The chapel, which is used by the Pope and not open to the public, was unveiled this week after a restoration costing €3.2 million (£2.7 million).”

While Timothy Rub, incoming director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, “brings to his new job a resume strong on all the essential art-world skills, one of the qualities that surely impressed the Philadelphia trustees is his ability to manage a big construction project and a big architectural ego.” This is key as the museum embarks on a $500 million expansion designed by Frank Gehry.

“Gap founder Donald Fisher and his family have decided to abandon their efforts to build a contemporary art museum at the Main Post of San Francisco’s Presidio…. The question now is whether the Fishers will invest additional time and money on a local proposal, trusting the word of critics who have said they would like to see the renowned collection stay in the city as long as a museum was built at a less sensitive location.”