Category: visual

“I miss being an elitist and not having to talk to idiots,” Hickey said in a recent interview. Art, he contends, is made for a bunch of extremely rich people for whom the critic acts as “intellectual head waiter”.

“The fiscal cliff has been good for this season. People are putting their money into art rather than taxes. It’s having a direct impact on the fair, in a good way.”

“In case you’re curious: The videogames MoMA is jumpstarting its collection with are Pac-Man, Tetris, SimCity, Myst. It will soon include Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Zork, and Super Mario Brothers … among others.”

“The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has announced it will construct a new building to house Michal and Renata Hornstein’s recent donation of Old Masters paintings valued at $75 million – the largest private art donation in Quebec’s history.”

“At first glance it’s a typical high-end rococo desk, its swanlike cabriole legs and paneled sides aglitter with gilt-bronze mounts, its surfaces alive with delicately painted scenes of temples [which are actually inlay, not paint] … Everywhere, hidden buttons, levers and key-operated mechanisms trigger hidden side trays, pop-up easels, secret drawers concealing further secret drawers.”

“Today, the noise around the market has amplified, while independent critical debate is diminishing.”

“The tree, named ‘Xmas 3’, is described as a “contemporary and artistic Christmas tree” by the Brussels city website.”

“Los Angeles’ Museum of Contemporary Art and the University of Southern California are in talks about a possible partnership that would link the ambitious private university with the fiscally struggling downtown museum.”

“The museum, formally called the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, has over the years become an internationally renowned treasure trove for scholars researching ancient civilizations. Now to mark its 125th anniversary, and its founding on Dec. 6, 1887, the museum is undertaking an ambitious effort to become more accessible to the public.”

“That earthquake, in April 2009, killed hundreds and left tens of thousands of L’Aquilans homeless, shuttering the city’s graceful and extensive historic center … Since then Italian officials have kept promising to restore the city to its former self, but fewer than a dozen buildings have so far been repaired … These days, tourists arrive to gawk at the rubble. Ruin porn has become the new local industry.”