Category: visual

“The work, a rumpled bed surrounded by the intimate debris of empty bottles of vodka, cigarette packets and condoms, attracted controversy when it was shortlisted for the 1999 Turner Prize, prompting a debate about the state of contemporary art.”

The newly-formed Saudi Art Council is organizing shows in disused buildings and installing outdoor art in Jeddah and working on a new space in Medina.

“The tapestry, chronicling the Norman conquest of England and that battle in 1066, is regarded as a marvel of medieval Europe. However, since it was ‘rediscovered’ by scholars in the 18th Century, its original final scene has been missing. … Now, a team of embroiderers on Alderney, a small island just off the coast of William’s native Normandy, have ‘finished’ the job.”

“New York City’s population is 33% white, but 74% of people in the city with arts degrees are white and 74% of people who make a living as artists are white.”

“A painting that was ‘targeted for removal’ from the collection of the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh won a last-minute reprieve after a technical examination determined that it was not a ‘modern fake’, but a 16th-century Florentine portrait that was significantly ‘tarted up’ in the 19th century.”

“U.S. copyright law protects ‘published’ works, and a work of art is not ‘published,’ simply made and sold – so once a work of art is out of an artist’s hands, the future profits, too, are gone. … In the music world, a minor scandal arose when Chuck Berry was cheated out of part of his royalty rights for ‘Maybellene.’ In the art world, everybody is Chuck Berry.”

“The venerated New York art magazine that has had a tough time in recent years adapting to digital media … will become part of Abbey House Group, a Polish art and media company. Abbey House will take on the name ARTnews starting July 1.”

“There is now anger after it was revealed that Ms Hadid personally signed the contract to design the complex last month at the Iraqi embassy in London – with some in Iraq upset they have been unable to see the plans.”

“Early critics … complained that his previous sample was younger, more diverse, and more pervasively bespectacled than an accurate cross-section of the profession would reflect.”

“In Hopi tradition, the masks don’t merely represent spirits, but embody them, making it a sacrilege to collect and display them, or otherwise use them outside the ceremonies for which they were made.”