Category: visual

London’s Commonwealth Institute, one of the UK’s leading buildings, has been placed on a protected list of historic structures by the country’s culture secretary, over the protests of the Institute’s trustees, who wanted to sell the building to raise money for education programs. “The pre-stressed concrete building in Holland Park, west London, was designed by the British architect Sir Robert Matthew, and was given a Grade II listing by English Heritage within 30 years of being opened by the Queen in 1962.”

“In the vast pageant of Chicago architecture, Holabird & Root is in every scene. From the Beaux Arts to Art Deco, from the era of Louis Sullivan to that of Mies van der Rohe and beyond, Chicago’s most venerable architecture firm has been continually onstage, often in a leading role — rarely flashy but always rock-solid, durable and reliable… Although Holabird & Root was rarely an innovator (except in its pioneering use of materials such as steel skeletons and pre-cast concrete), it had a way of adapting to the prevailing styles of the day successfully enough to produce memorable, even iconic structures — such as the original Soldier Field — that defined Chicagoans’ ideas of what civic architecture ought to look like.”

The acting director and chief curator at L.A.’s J. Paul Getty Museum, who took his name out of the running for that museum’s permanent directorship three months ago, has been snapped up by the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts. William Griswold will take over as president and director of the MIA this fall. “The Minneapolis job is considered to be a plum because the museum, although smaller and less well-endowed than its counterparts in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, has an enviable collection of paintings, drawings and decorative arts that are often sought for loan exhibitions around the world.”

Supporters of President George Bush are protesting the display of a painting on display in California’s Department of Justice building in Sacramento depicting “a star-spangled map of United States being flushed down a toilet. The piece, titled “T’anks to Mr. Bush,” is part of an exhibit sponsored by California Lawyers for the Arts. The California Arts Council presented the show in conjunction with the attorney general’s office, and the paintings hang in the building’s cafeteria.”

“Frank Gehry and his one-time competitor Renzo Piano are not the house architects of New York City. That distinction belongs to Skidmore Owings and Merrill, the lofty developer to Manhattan’s biggest guns in business and real estate. But the new New York that is taking shape—with its ambitious towers, its cities within a city like the far West Side, Ground Zero and the Atlantic Yards—belongs to these two. So far, the two émigrés seem to be splitting the pie like a couple of New York old-timers.”

The Smithsonian’s 18 museums, 10 science centres and zoos, and other facilities are in bad disrepair, and many of have suffered “structural deterioration” and “chronic leaks” so severe that they have limited access to their collections. “Naturally, it all comes down to money. The Smithsonian spent $184.4 million for its facilities in fiscal year 2004, nearly 20% of its annual operating budget of $904 million which comes from federal appropriations and endowment revenues. But the Smithsonian estimates it needs $2.3 billion for revitalisation, construction, and maintenance of its buildings between 2005 and 2013.”

Newfoundland’s arts community has been shocked by the sudden dismissal of Gordon Laurin as director of the provincial art gallery just two weeks after the gallery officially opened the doors of its new home. “Speculation is rampant that Laurin’s departure is linked to disagreements over what art the new gallery should show. Said one observer of the local scene: “One of the problems the art gallery has had in general is a lack of understanding by the government and others about the nature of contemporary art spaces, which are by definition vibrant, vocal, ever-changing places.”

Italy has announced heightened plans to protect cultural sites from terrorist attack. “Measures will include placing metal detectors in museums, a complete ban on backpacks and bags, the cordoning-off of areas adjacent to monuments, and monitoring of queues. Florence, Venice, Rome and Palermo, as well as Assisi and Pompei are likely to top of the list of cities where the anti-terror measures will be deployed.”

“Disgracefully, Britain can boast no buildings by most of the great modern architects. Where are the UK masterpieces by Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe? Not on our mean-minded little islands, that’s for sure. London was once offered a distinguished late work by Mies, and Peter Palumbo struggled hard for permission to build it. But eventually, after an epic battle, the city fathers turned it down.”

“Maurizio Cattelan is Italy’s most successful contemporary artist. In 2004 after his sculpture of a hanging horse, The Ballad of Trotsky, was auctioned for $1.2m (now £686,000), ArtReview magazine put him at number four on a list of the art world’s VIPs. It was the highest ranking for any artist. But the Genoa-born artist Vanessa Beecroft – best known for her disturbing installations of living, almost nude, models – said she had had an affair with Cattelan before either became famous and that she was the source for many of his ideas.”