Category: visual

Maybe technology has led to some self-indulgence in modern architecture. But: “historians will surely draw parallels between the computer-driven proliferation of architectural forms at the end of the millennium, and the formal cornucopia that followed the advent of representational tools such as perspective during the Renaissance and projective geometry during the baroque era.”  Architecture Magazine

How to explain the proliferation of internet sites dedicated to the dissemination of bad art?  National Post (Canada)

Twenty-five years after Vermeer’s “Guitar Player” was stolen from London’s Kenwood House, the mystery of its theft and mysterious return still remains unresolved.  London Evening Standard

The applied arts are thriving in Kyrgyzstan, when traditional crafts are incorporating new Western ideas.  New York Times

That’s how reclusive 80-year-old artist Prunella Clough was described. Earlier this year she won the prestigious £30,000 Jerwood Prize for Painting, and Clough described it as a reward “for a lifetime’s grafting.” True to her nature, she promptly gave the money away to struggling artists. She died Sunday.  BBC

University of Sydney collection is one of the best in Australia, rich in the history of Australian art. Yet, most of its 2,500 pieces of art are hidden away or distributed among buildings the public never gets to see. Is this any way to treat a national treasure?  Sydney Morning Herald

French artists fuel a new craze in artistic tombstones – they’re not just granite anymore.  (Reuters) Chicago Tribune

On January 20 the British culture secretary will launch what’s claimed to be the biggest program of museum and gallery openings in British history. Over £400m has been invested in creating new cultural venues, designed by some of Europe’s best architects. “These new cultural attractions,” says the press release, “will transform the country and confirm London’s position as the leading cultural capital of the world.” Okay, but how about some housing?  The Guardian

The Biennale may have been a bust, but Venice does matter in the world of art. “Renaissance Venice and the North” is one of those great exhibitions that you are lucky to see once or twice a decade, if you travel frequently.  San Francisco Examiner

Berlin Gallery – modern art museum, homeless since 1998 caught in political paralysis over financing new home.  Die Welt (Germany)