Ofelia Esparza, an 86-year-old artist who has been making Day of the Dead altars for much of her life, became a National Heritage Fellow last week. She says “that for her, altar making goes beyond tradition. It’s an obligation, a show of respect for the loved ones who are no longer with us.”
Category: visual
When A Show Called ‘Narcissus Garden’ Is Great For Selfies, What Does That Mean?
Yayoi Kusama’s newest exhibit brings attention to Hurricane Sandy-damaged Rockaway Beach, but also attracts the very people it’s (perhaps) making fun of.
The Philadelphia History Museum Is Closing, Perhaps Never To Open Again
Could this have been different if Lin-Manuel Miranda had set Hamilton in Philadelphia instead of New York? (That’s … sort of … a joke.) In reality, the city of Philadelphia was blindsided by a decision from Temple: “City officials were in talks with Temple University to form a partnership that might keep the institution afloat. But this week, they learned that the university had abruptly pulled out of the partnership discussions, leaving the museum’s future uncertain.”
What Does The Met Museum’s New ‘Social Practice’ Initiative Mean For The Artists It Supports?
One of the artists: “Part of me has always thought of the Met, as an institution that is very traditional, Eurocentric, very much one of the elite/elitist institutions in the city, and it holds up that history. It has for a very long time. I think that is dramatically shifting right now.”
Art Gallery Of Ontario Puts Indigenous Art At The Center Of The Conversation
The centre has doubled the number of gallery spaces dedicated to Inuit art to four, and contemporary indigenous art fills a large new gallery of its own. Labels in the McLean Centre are now written in indigenous languages (either the local Anishinaabemowin language or Inuktitut), as well as English and French.
How Chelsea Became A New York Art Power Neighborhood
The vogue for new art from the present was revving up, such that Chelsea’s rise as a commercial gallery district in the mid-’90s coincided with the arrival of “contemporary art” as a dominant category in the art world.
Glasgow School Of Art Will Have To Be Partly Demolished – And Fast
Contrary to reports last week that the landmark building by Charles Rennie Mackintosh remained “structurally solid” following the fire that raged through it earlier this month, “Glasgow City Council officials said that their surveys … have shown that there has been substantial movement in the building, meaning a sudden collapse of certain parts of it was ‘likely’.”
Founder Of Museum Of Russian Impressionism Flees Russia
“The real estate developer Boris Mints opened the Museum of Russian Impressionism in the former Bolshevik confectionery plant [in Moscow] in 2016. At the end of May, news emerged that Mints and his family had fled to London, reportedly to avoid possible criminal investigation in Russia over bank dealings.”
Stealing Art Is Easy – Doing Anything With It Afterward Is What’s Hard
“‘The main rule is that it’s not that hard to steal art, even from museums, but it’s almost impossible to translate that art into cash,’ says Noah Charney, a scholar and author who’s published multiple books on art theft. Paintings can be quickly cut out of frames, and small sculptures can be tucked into bags — even jewelry can be secreted away — but finding a buyer for your art or diamonds is often impossible. ‘Criminals don’t understand that, because their knowledge of art crime is based on fiction and films,’ Charney says.”
When A Museum Sells Off Some Of Its Art To Become More Diverse
The Baltimore Museum of Art‘s decision to sell off seven works by white male artists to create a war chest to fund acquisitions of art by women and artists of color drove a traditionally hermetic discussion about museum practices into the mainstream. Now, the museum’s closely watched decision is beginning to bear fruit.