Category: visual

Israel’s new Holocaust Museum takes a decidedly personal approach to one of the 20th century’s great human tragedies. “Rather than relying on dry histories and photographs, the new museum uses more modern techniques of film and recreation of reality through artifacts, concentrating on the stories of individuals caught up in the horror of a previously unimaginable world.”

“Members of [New York’s] Landmarks Preservation Commission suggested at a public hearing yesterday that the Whitney Museum of American Art had so far failed to persuade them of the need to demolish two Madison Avenue brownstones to make way for a museum expansion designed by the architect Renzo Piano.” The commission wants the Whitney to go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that doesn’t require any demolition; the architect is apoplectic.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has announced a $156 million expansion. “About $130 million will be spent for the first phase of the project, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, to expand, upgrade and unify the sprawling facility.”

World leaders are gathering in Israel for the opening of the new Holocaust Museum. “Over 40 heads of state and ministers will attend the opening of the museum which details the annihilation of six million Jews during World War II and also aims to reinforce Israel’s message that its existence is essential to prevent a repeat.”

What’s the best art you can buy for £500? “My first port of call is that of any lazy bargain hunter – eBay. At the rock bottom end of the price list are an awful lot of paintings of dogs and tulips. Indeed, should I so wish, my budget could get me 50 portraits of golden Labradors; but I suspect my walls would then be petrifying, rather than powerful. At the £500 mark, there are more exotic animals; a family of elephants drinking by a lake; a tiger with a soul-piercing gaze.”

“Since at least 1992, Christo and Jeanne- Claude have pursued “Over the River,” a project to cover 6.7 miles of the Arkansas River between Cañon City and Salida with translucent fabric panels 10 to 23 feet above the water. But the controversial husband-and-wife artistic duo set it aside several years ago to focus on “The Gates.” After a three-week display that New York City officials estimated drew 4 million people, including 1.5 million from outside the five boroughs, a question arises: Will the couple shift their focus back to Over the River?”

“Since 2000, Dennis Hwang has marked events and holidays–American and international–with drawings on, around and through the Google icon on the site’s home page. That’s five Valentine’s Days. Four Christmases. Four 4ths of July. Four Thanksgivings. The Olympics. The holidays repeat each year; Hwang’s drawings never do. His work has reached cult status. There are Web sites and blogs devoted to Hwang and his work.”

The Cleveland Museum had a big week of life-changing announcements. “First came the awe: After a decade of planning, the museum’s 26 voting trustees agreed unanimously on Monday to go ahead with a visually stunning, $258 million expansion and renovation designed by Rafael Vinoly of New York. Now comes the shock: The six-year construction process, which will start in September, means that the museum’s spectacular permanent collection will be off-limits and out of sight for at least several years.”

London’s Institute of Contemporary Art has changed leaders as well as leadership models. But observers say that what ICA needs is a complete change of direction, if it is to survive and compete in an increasingly competitive environment. “Caught between the huge ambitions of its founders, its limited resources, its militant amateurism and a vast expansion in the number of arts institutions competing for ideas, attention and resources, [ICA’s new leadership team] faces quite a task.”

“The era from the Renaissance through to the mid-19th century was one of patronage. But then the capitalist intermediary, the dealer, took over. And as early as 1871 the prestigious periodical the Art Journal was lamenting their part: ‘The influence of the dealer is one of the chief characteristics of modern art… to him has been owing… the immense increase in the prices of pictures.’ The pervasive influence of the dealers hasn’t stopped since.”