Category: visual

The New York Times’ special section on the art and state of the modern museum. – New York Times

The Colossus of Rhodes was built in about 300 BC and came to be one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Now Rhodes has decided to rebuild and is commissioning a new modern Colossus, which it hopes will be completed by the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. – CBC

The proposed new $450 million Frank Gehry Guggenheim Museum for Lower Manhattan is staggering in its ambitions. It would “transform” the city’s cultural life (if that’s truly possible in New York). But will it ever get built. There are plenty of doubters. – Los Angeles Times

Vancouver’s art community is furious about the resignation of the Vancouver Art Gallery director and elevation of a board member as temporary director. The man appointed to the job says he’d rather be out playing golf. But: “We have really tough business decisions we have to address,” he says. “They haven’t got time to say we’ll put it all on hold.” So the board decided: “Let somebody handle the business side. Let’s go ask old Joe.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)

Critics call the design for Beijing’s new opera house “extravagant” and culturally insensitive, like a “medieval castle,” or a “glass submarine” which could become a “tomb like the Titanic.” Nonetheless, the French architect who conceived the project predicts his design will get official approval in a few weeks. – China Times

Grappling with making up a budget shortfall, the Vancouver Art Gallery worries about the affect its fight with its former director will have on fundraising. “There is concern the public dispute could prompt the gallery’s major funding agencies to hold back money, forcing cuts to programs and staff,” says the museum’s board president. – Vancouver Sun

Europe’s museums and monuments have become so clogged in recent years it’s difficult to get near them in tourist season. So Italy has announced that starting this summer it is extending hours hours of admission on Sundays to 11 pm. – MSNBC (Reuters)

London’s National Portrait Gallery now has a dramatic new extension – including a top-floor atrium with panoramic views of the city – designed by Jeremy Dixon and Edward Jones, architects of the remodeled Royal Opera House. – The Guardian

— has won this year’s Pritzker Prize for architecture. – New York Times

• “The leader of a spectacularly irreverent generation of Dutch architects” – Washington Post
  
  
• “Designer and guru, engineer and visionary.” – Dallas Morning News
  
  
• A new Seattle library: “Koolhaas’ contribution will be a honeycombed, wire/mesh and glass building that will extend 12 stories high in a series of sliding platforms.” – Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  
  
• “Most revolutionary urban thinker.” – Los Angeles Times

The Museum of Modern Art and the Tate Museum team up on a commercial website for art. Plans include selling commissioned design products and offering educational programs such as live webcasts of lectures and concerts. It will also carry archival material on art. Profits from the site will help pay the museums’ operating expenses.  – New York Times