Category: visual

Peter Eisenman’s Holocaust Memorial in Berlin is nearing completion. “Germany’s largest memorial to the Holocaust into position, certainly had his problems. But despite everything, his design, spreading over nearly five acres of central Berlin, promises to be one of Europe’s most extraordinary pieces of architecture. A spectacle that defies the spectacular.”

Artist Chris Savido is pondering his new fame. Since his portrait of George W. Bush composed of monkeys offended a Bush supporter who shut down the New York show, the artist has become famous. “Bush Monkeys,” a portrait of the president made up of dozens of primates swimming in a marsh, enraged the manager of a upscale market with gallery space in lower Manhattan, pushing him to shut down the entire 60-piece show last weekend.

Canada’s Heritiage Minister says Canadian museums are in need of major help. “Hundreds of buildings have not been renovated in 30 years. Their roofs are starting to leak and there are cracks in the foundations. Federal funding levels have been stalled since 1972. Ottawa offers about $200 million a year in direct funding for a handful of major sites in the capital region, compared to $9 million for 2,500 sites in the rest of the country.”

“In 2002, the J. Paul Getty Trust sold Eli Broad a Brentwood property for $2 million. Two years earlier, an appraisal had said it was worth $2.7 million. Getty Chief Executive Barry Munitz, a close friend and professional associate of Broad, personally directed the early stages of the deal, Getty documents show. Experts say the deal raises legal and ethical questions.”

All the fuss about whether or not the Barnes Collection would be allowed to move to Philadelphia has affected the Barnes’ school enrollment. If the number of applicants doesn’t increase, three of the four new classes may have to be cancelled…

Afghanistan’s greatest treasure – the Bactrian Gold -survived the Taliban and looting when the Taliban were deposed. Now “Afghan ministers, desperate to earn prestige and money for the country, want to send the collection abroad. Exhibiting it would be a coup for any museum, and a publicity triumph for a nation better known for narcotics and unrest. Major museums in America, France and Austria have asked to put the hoard on display. Officials in Afghanistan believe the money raised could pay for the restoration of Kabul’s museum. But some experts believe that, with corruption and crime rampant in Afghanistan, it would be dangerous to move the treasure out of the vault.”

Groups of artists creating elaborate sand sculptures on the beaches of Durbin, South Africa have become an attraction. “Foreign tourists, in particular, have been blown away by the beachfront artists who earn a humble living from the tips they get for shaping everything from sharks and mermaids to lounging lions.” But the artists say some of them have been arrested by police. “The city bylaws view sand sculptors in the same way as they do beggars and loiterers – as law breakers.”

“The new Museum of Modern Art is a $425 million bore that will excite purists but put many others to sleep. Not because of the art, which looks even more spectacular now for having been in storage for four years, but because the galleries and public spaces are so cold and cavernous, as if put together from a collection of drive-in movie screens.”

So the Barnes is moving to Philadelphia, where it’s said opportunity awaits. But the plan is to replicate the Barnes’ current galleries and limit visitors to 100 ata time. “If the replicated galleries are going to be the same size and if entrance is going to be restricted, as it is now, one wonders if the expected gain is great enough to be worth the effort. The foundation’s Merion galleries are much too small for large crowds; the 100-visitor limit acknowledges that. So why replicate the problem as part of the solution?”

“Construction workers accidentally drilled a hole through a 17th-century painting worth €250,000 ($420,000 Canadian) while renovating the Dutch upper house of parliament, officials said Friday.”