“Yes, ‘the Blacksonian,’ because no one is going say that whole name” – the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African-American History and Culture – “and no one’s going to say ‘NMAAHC,’ either, because no one wants to hear ‘God bless you’ every time somebody does.” Wesley Morris, after throwing his bits of shade, describes the experience, both ridiculous and sublime, of his first visit.”
Category: visual
There’s Another Most-_________ Artistic Material That Only Anish Kapoor Is Forbidden To Buy
This one is (allegedly) the world’s most glittery glitter, it’s called Diamond Dust, and it’s created by the same artist who created the world’s pinkest pink – and barred Anish Kapoor from using it, too. (All because of that damned blacker-than-black.)
The Staging Of A ‘Foto-Novela’ In L.A.’s Rapidly Gentrifying Arts District
As Los Angeles demolishes the 6th Street Bridge, artist Harry Gamboa Jr. saves its memories and relevance through a series of staged photos. His fotonovela practice “has the effect of connecting art world professionals with neophytes, master’s candidates from the graduate fine arts program at CalArts with first-year students from Northridge — most of them Chicano, like Gamboa.”
The Antiques Business Is Shrinking, And Dealers Try To Adapt
Many of the well-known storefronts in New York and London have moved or closed, and some estimates say that the entire industry has shrunk by half. (Sotheby’s income in the category has shrunk by more than 80% since 2007.)
Tapestry Of Sabra And Shatila Massacres Could Hang Next To Picasso’s ‘Guernica’
“Ramzi Dalloul, a Palestinian businessman and collector of Arab art, has commissioned the Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid to transform Iraqi artist Dia al-Azzawi’s drawing of the atrocity into a 21-sq.-m wall hanging. … On a visit to the 300-year-old factory when work on the tapestry started, the Spanish culture minister asked Dalloul if the finished piece could be displayed alongside Picasso’s Guernica” at the Reina Sofia Museum.
What’s Happening To The Subway Post-It Note Art By New Yorkers Mourning Trump’s Election?
There were at least 20,000 Post-It notes after the election. “The New York Historical Society removed approximately 4,000 notes from the subway station for preservation. Archivists are slated to stick 12 notes at a time between sheets of mylar for protection. There is, as of yet, no plans to display them further.”
We Know We’re In A New Gilded Age, But We’re Also In A New Age Of Gilt
“Gilt – gold’s application to metal, whether powder, leaf or plate – is the assertive surface of self-importance. We seem to be having a Midas moment. With the election of the commercial Sun King Donald J. Trump to the presidency, and the pedestrian aristocracy of gold sneakers walking the street … there is again the gleam of gilt in the public eye.”
Why Courbet’s ‘Origin Of The World’ Still Has So Much Power After 150 Years
It’s not just because it’s a picture of a naked lady, because there are plenty of those.
How Did Red And Green Become The Colors Of Christmas? You Can Thank Coke For That
In 1931 “Coca-Cola hired an artist to create a Santa Claus. They had done this before, but this particular artist created a Santa Claus that we associate with the Santa Claus today in many ways: He was fat and jolly — whereas before he was often thin and elf-like — and he had red robes. … And so the fact that all these things came together — this friendly, fat Santa in these bright red robes, which, I don’t think is a coincidence, match the color of the Coke logo — this really took hold in American culture.”
Leading Antiquities Dealer Arrested, Charged For Selling Looted Items
“The dealer, Nancy Wiener, has sold illicit Asian objects to Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction houses, according to the criminal complaint filed in Manhattan Criminal Court. The case is likely to revive questions about the auction house’s due diligence procedures before they sell antiquities.”