The new “queens of Venice” are Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell of Grafton Architects, a practice that’s been doing the work without getting starchitect status – but that could change now. Their philosophy: “The unsolicited ‘spatial gifts’ that architecture can add could be at the scale of city – a free public garden, for example – or at the scale of a surface you touch. It may not involve construction – ‘sitting under a cherry blossom is as happy an architectural space as you’ll find’ – but these ’emotional components’ are what make architecture worth doing.
Category: visual
The New Lynching Memorial Is ‘Gut-Wrenching And Beautiful’
“That’s the genius of the museum’s design. It neither shies away from nor revels in the horrors it asks you to contemplate. … It grabs you by the throat but makes sure not to choke you. It confronts without condemning. It provides hope through the sculptures, and footprints, of brave women in Montgomery who were the catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. They overcame and so can we.”
A Museum Devoted To One French Artist Just Discovered That More Than Half Of Its Collection Is Made Of Fakes
Étienne Terrus was a friend of Henri Matisse, and the museum devoted to his works had gotten the help of the town of Elne to buy many works over two decades. Then an art historian came to town – and alerted the museum staff to the fakes. “In interviews on Friday, the mayor of the Pyrenees town, Yves Barniol, said the situation was ‘a disaster’ and apologised to those who had visited the museum in good faith.”
One Of World’s Biggest Gallerists Proposes ‘Tax’ On Large Galleries At Art Fairs
“David Zwirner, whose namesake art gallery is one of the world’s largest, said he was prepared to pay more for space rental at art fairs if the extra money could help smaller galleries take part as well.”
Documenta Names Its Third Director In Less Than A Year
“On 1 November [Sabine] Schormann will replace Wolfgang Orthmayr, a producer of musicals who was appointed interim managing director in April. His beleaguered predecessor, Annette Kulenkampff, left her post before her contract ended as the result of a budget deficit of €5.4m following the 2017 edition.”
This Year’s Turner Prize Finalists
Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson, who chairs the jury, said the judges had chosen “an outstanding group of artists, all of whom are tackling the most pressing political and humanitarian issues of today”.
Art History Gets The TED-Talks Treatment
“The [Heni Talks] website currently has 25 videos and plans to post new films once every two weeks. Many are presented by high-profile artists and art-world figures such as Damien Hirst, Jeremy Deller and The Art Newspaper‘s new editor, Alison Cole. … The video subjects range from important works such as the Mona Lisa, and the oeuvre of masters such as Cézanne, to art movements like Pop art and Modernism.”
They’ve Found Winslow Homer’s Camera, And It May Change The Way We Look At His Art
“Little did the Bowdoin College Museum of Art know that an unsolicited phone call it received in 2014 would lead to an exhibition this summer that may change the way Winslow Homer is viewed in art history.” Judith H. Dobrzynski reports.
Lending Libraries For Art Are Catching On
“Art lending libraries function like traditional book libraries: individuals can borrow an artwork, enjoy it in their own home, and return it by a due date with little to no fee. They have a decades-long history on university campuses, but they seem to be gaining popularity among museums, public libraries, and nonprofits.”
Artists May Want To Sell Their Work In New York, London, Or Shanghai, But They Want To Live In Berlin
It may not be a new development at this point, but it remains true. “No matter where they are from originally, they like to live and work in the German capital, producing art even if they don’t show it there. Having solid galleries and museums certainly helps, but it may be more a function of cheap space, the city’s embrace of offbeat behavior and a hard-to-quantify ability to channel the creative spirit.”