That’s what Los Angeles has become, claims Christopher Knight: “Los Angeles has emerged as America’s most interesting and exciting production center for new art. Meanwhile, New York has consolidated its position as art’s primary consumption center. What this dichotomy means for art museums is significant. New York’s museums are ruled by patterns of consumption. Because of it, their contemporary art programming is a shambles — mostly safe, conservative, star-driven, geared toward cultural tourists, oriented toward the bottom line. It’s the art equivalent of popular entertainment, with the museum as Hollywood movie studio. By contrast the most consistently vivifying contemporary art programming will be found in LA, which reflects the city’s prominence as a production center.”
Tag: 02.07.06
Read The Book, See The Movie (Together)
Publishers are experimenting with pairing classic books with DVD copies of the movies. So far sales have been mixed (and for various reasons). Still, putting books and movie together seems like a smart idea. “Academics used to heap disdain on movie versions of great literature, but no longer. In contrast to their predecessors, many college literature professors today routinely bring films into the classroom to complement the reading of the classics.”
Hermitage Working On $100 Million Expansion
The Hermitage Museum says it will complete a $100 million expansion within three years. The new complex “is a state-of- the-art museum space that will allow us to experiment with different methods of exhibiting art works.”
Oda Named Canada’s New Culture Minister
Canada’s new Conservative government has named Beverley Oda, the first Japanese Canadian elected to parliament as the country’s new minister of culture. “In addition to working at Global Television and CTV, Oda helped launch Canada’s First Multilingual Television station (CFMT), which is now Omni 1. A winner of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, Oda was also inducted into Canada’s Broadcast Hall of Fame in 2003.”
Belgian Town Bans Saddam Picture
Officials in a Belgian town have banned an artwork depicting Saddam Hussein. “The piece, called Saddam Hussein Shark, shows the handcuffed ex-Iraqi ruler suspended in liquid and wearing nothing more than underpants. The mayor of Middlekerke, Michel Landuyt, said the work could ‘shock people’, including Muslims.”
Ottawa Orchestra Says Missing Zukerman Will Return
Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra announced its next season Monday, saying that wayward music director Pinchas Zukerman will return to lead the orchestra. Zukerman mysteriously bolted from the orchestra part way through this season, claiming need for a break. Orchestra manager Christopher Deacon said the NAC is working on a suggestion by Zukerman to bring in a facilitator to ‘improve communication and better the working atmosphere’.”
Canadian Artists Worry About Promised Funding Increases
The Canadian arts community is pleased by the selection of Bev Oda as the new culture minister. But “some suggest that the concern isn’t about Oda, but the new drive to make the path of money through federal agencies more transparent and accountable. The worry is that this could slow down promised funding increases, particularly the past Liberal government’s pre-election promise in November to double the budget of the Canada Council for the Arts, the umbrella arts funding agency, in three years to $301-million.”
Can 5 Million Austrians Buy Back A Klimt?
An Austrian publisher, Hubertus Czermin, is tryin to mount a public campaign to save a Gustav Klimt painting that was recently awarded to the family of a victim of the Nazis. He’s urging “5 million Austrians – 60% of the population – to each donate €20 (about £14) to raise the estimated €100m needed to buy back the work.”
The Man Buying Up London’s Art
A low-key collector is making waves in London, buying up entire shows of work before they even hit galleries. “A genial Rory Bremner look-alike with a facility for imitating accents, David Roberts doesn’t flaunt his wealth. But he is rapidly becoming one of the most sought-after clients by contemporary-art galleries in the UK.”
The Man Who Saved The Audubon’s Instruments
The donor who stepped in to save two members of the Audubon String Quartet from having to surrender their instruments in a legal dispute has come forward. “Those instruments are part of their musical personality, their musical identity. I thought this was an opportunity to address this one aspect of the situation.”