Category: visual

“Many a critical stone has been cast since it opened last year, but this week the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum got a very big boost when Condé Nast Traveler magazine named architect Daniel Libeskind’s controversial creation one of the ‘new seven wonders of the world.'”

A San Francisco art gallery has canceled a show featuring video images of animals being bludgeoned to death because of “massive” protests from Northern California activists.

A pair of old masters by Francesco Guardi worth £10m have been seized by Scotland Yard after they were allegedly exported from Italy illegally.

“Graffiti and street art have been highly controversial forms of expression in New York for decades, disdained by art snobs and building superintendents alike. The people who disparage it the most, however, are the city officials who clash with artists and taggers over their creations. Interestingly, this battle has done nothing to diminish street art’s popularity. And now, some experts say, that popularity could do what city official couldn’t: threaten the very essence of this ephemeral work.”

Gehry describes the pavilion as “a wooden timber structure that acts as an urban street running from the park to the pavilion”, with terraced amphitheatre-like seating for events, five “elevated seating pods” and protection from the elements, of course.

The London museum’s new director has signaled that “he will abandon efforts by his predecessor to display works of modern and contemporary art. ‘It would not be a major part of my acquisition policy at present to buy 20th-century works of art’.”

Art Cologne appointed Los Angeles gallery owner Daniel Hug to be its new director, part of a drive to boost attendance and win back top collectors and dealers.

The recipients of Canada’s 9th Annual Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts were announced yesterday in Ottawa, and the winners represent a broad swath of the art world, including an infamous performance artist. Still, the list of winners “underlined the award’s increasing tendency to celebrate already established figures.”

“The report shows that visitor numbers for the 19 state-run museums decreased by 40% in 2007 compared with 2006, when entry was free. The report concludes that there are no other identifiable factors which would explain the drop.”

“Inuit artist Kenojuak Ashevak and Quebec filmmaker Serge Giguere are among this year’s winners of the Governor General’s Awards in visual and media arts.”