Denver’s recently completed contemporary art museum, designed by Daniel Libeskind, has been causing quite a stir in the city, and some observers see it as an entirely new way to look at art and the space that surrounds it. But others have wondered whether Libeskind’s design overwhelms the art it’s supposed to be highlighting. Marilynne Mason writes that “the controversy surrounding the Hamilton seems misplaced. So much of modern and contemporary art defies the eye and preconceived notions about beauty and truth, and demands that the viewer learn to question, think, and see anew. And so does this new building.”
Tag: 02.01.07
NYC Funding Changes May Not Be Good For All
There was much rejoicing last month when New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced an overhaul of the city’s arts funding system, under which the constant need for arts groups to grovel at the feet of local politicians would be eliminated. But “while some arts groups are likely to benefit from [the change], those that fared well under the old system may face significant losses.”
An Arts Island Rises In The Gulf
Abu Dhabi isn’t messing around with its plans to become the culture capital of the Persian Gulf: it has signed up several starchitects to design its signature buildings, and all of them will be built on a single undeveloped island off the coast. From Zaha Hadid’s swooping performing arts center to Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim, the designs reflect the truly unusual opportunity that has arisen from a city wishing to build a cultural district entirely from scratch.
Rijksmuseum Reopening Pushed Back
Amsterdam’s world-famous Rijksmuseum, which is undergoing a major restoration, will not reopen until 2010, two years later than originally planned. “Delays had arisen due to the need for extra building permits after some initial designs had been modified… During the renovation, works by Rembrandt and other Dutch masters such as Frans Hals and Vermeer have remained on view in a side wing.”
Vermeer To Hang It Up
The members of the Vermeer Quartet have decided to disband after nearly forty years as an ensemble. The group “was founded in 1969 at the Marlboro Festival and has since appeared at virtually all the prestigious music venues and music festivals. Its discography includes the complete quartets of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bartok and additional works by Schubert, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Verdi, Shostakovich, Haydn, Schnittke, and Brahms.”
Art That Gets Right In Your Face
Tino Sehgal is a difficult artist to pigeonhole, with much of his work falling somewhere between human sculpture and performance art. But even hardened art cynics frequently find themselves at least intrigued by Sehgal’s bizarre output. “What gets seasoned gallerygoers talking is not the form or content of Sehgal’s pieces but the discomfort of interaction with unusual living, breathing human behaviour. A bit like the weird thrill of speed-dating or arguing with a Jehovah’s Witness on the doorstep.”
Taking Nostalgia To A Whole New Level
’80s rock legends The Police are getting back together to perform at the Grammy Awards, and no one is more excited than the record companies that own their music. “The music industry is usually obsessed with looking for the next new thing, but this year it is throwing its weight behind the next old thing. In an increasingly fragmented market, executives are turning to the tried and trusted to bolster sales, with so many bands announcing reformations that the music scene in 2007 is starting to look a lot like it did 20 years ago.”
Scottish Bank To Fund New UK Films
“Royal Bank of Scotland is lending its financial muscle to Time Warner’s attempts to improve its performance at the box office by backing a £178m push to produce potential blockbusters… The Edinburgh-based bank has joined the world’s biggest media group in a co-funding deal which will give Time Warner’s New Line Cinema division the wherewithal to make around 20 films over the next two years.”
Leapin’ Leipzig!
The city of Leipzig, Germany might seem an unlikely hot spot for the art world. It’s been mired in economic depression for years, a victim of the malaise that settled over so much of the former East Germany after reunification. But in recent years, “the new Leipzig School has coalesced into what Joachim Pissarro of the Museum of Modern Art described… as ‘suddenly the hottest thing on earth.'”
Is UK Classical In Danger?
Julian Lloyd Webber warns that, if current trends continue in the UK, classical music will be driven out of schools and eventually abandoned altogether. “Already 2007 has convinced me that all of us who love and play classical music are far too nice and polite. For the art that we cherish is under attack, and unless we stand up to be counted it will shortly disappear.”