| | A New Cultural Landmark Opens in Doha: Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art
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Visitors walk past a painting by Mohammed El-Melehi at the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha December 30, 2010. REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous.
DOHA.- For its inauguration, Mathaf presents three exhibitions featuring historic works of Arab modernism and many newly commissioned works, which will be on view at two sites in Doha, Qatar. Mathaf opens its new building with Sajjil: A Century of Modern Art, the first in an ongoing series of exhibitions that will survey its unparalleled permanent collection, on view from December 30, 2010 (closing date to be announced). Sajjil, an Arabic word meaning the art of recording, features more than 240 paintings, sculptures and mixed-media works made by more than 100 artists, representing pivotal moments in the development of Arab modernism throughout the 20th century. Arranged thematically across twelve galleries, the historical exhibition makes its own contribution to rethinking the position of Arab artists toward modernism and within the modernist movement. The exhibition is organized by guest curator and consultant Dr. Nada Sha ... More |
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Geraldine Doyle, the Woman Who Said She was "Rosie" in World War II Poster, Dies
'WE CAN DO IT': The head-scarfed wearing woman flexing her bicep encouraged women to enter the work force.
LANSING (AP).- When a photographer snapped Geraldine Doyle's picture in an Ann Arbor factory during World War II, the 17-year-old had no idea she would inspire others to contribute to the country's war effort. Doyle said it took more than 40 years for her to learn that her image from that photo was placed on the illustrated "We Can Do It!" poster urging women to take on jobs traditionally held by the men fighting battles in Europe and the Pacific. Doyle died Sunday in Lansing at age 86. A memorial service is scheduled for Jan. 8. "She was definitely one of the Rosies," said Sandy Soifer, , executive director of the Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame, in referring to the fictional "Rosie the Riveter." That was the name given to women working in plants during WWII. The image of the headscarf-wearing woman with the flexed bicep beneath a rolled-up shirt sleeve helped prompt scores of daughters, sisters and mothers to trade in the tools of ... More | | Polish Court Sentences Swede to Nearly Three Years in Prison Over Auschwitz Theft
The main gate of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz I. AP Photo/File.
KRAKOW (REUTERS).- A Polish court sentenced a Swedish man on Thursday to nearly three years in prison for masterminding the theft of the infamous "Arbeit macht frei" sign from the entry gate of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz. The sign -- an enduring symbol of the Holocaust whose English meaning is "Work sets you free" -- was stolen last December, triggering international outrage, especially in Israel and among Jewish groups, but was soon recovered. The court in Krakow, southern Poland, sentenced Anders Hogstrom, 34, to two years and eight months in jail for orchestrating the theft. When the court announced its decision, Hogstrom said calmly: "Yes, I accept the verdict." Hogstrom, caught in Sweden in February, will shortly be extradited back home to serve out the remainder of his sentence. The Krakow court also handed down jail sentences of up to 2-1/2 years to two Poles who stole the metal sign and cut it into three pieces to fit into their car. The sign has been repair ... More | | Fifty Years of Chair Design on View at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg
Stefan Wewerka (1928*), Stuhl ”Classroom Chair“, Berlin, 1970. Holz (lackiert), 70 x 68 x 40 cm. Eigentum der Stiftung zur Förderung der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen. Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, © VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2010. Foto: Jörg Arend/Maria Thrun.
HAMBURG.- With ”Ideen sitzen. 50 Years of Chair Design“ the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe present the first large exhibition on recent seat design dating from 1960 to the present day. The exhibition is on view until 13th March 2011. One hundred exceptional exhibits selected from the high-calibre collection held by the MKG, among them chairs, arm chairs, chaise longues and stools, offer an insight into the most diverse approaches and motivations of design during five eventful decades. The focus lies on the chair as contemporary witness be it as expression of a utopian idea or instrument in political protest, a reaction to ecological changes or a calculated business idea, an experiment with the most recent technologies or a sculptural art object, where the chair – divorced from its function – can only just be recognised ... More |
 | Denver Art Museum Exhibition Highlights Contemporary Western Landscapes
T. Allen Lawson, Hibernation, 2008. Denver Art Museum; funds from the Contemporary Realism Group.
DENVER, CO.- The Denver Art Museum (DAM) celebrates nearly 20 years of collecting contemporary western art in the new exhibition, Western Horizons: Landscapes from the Contemporary Realism Collection. Currently on view, Western Horizons looks at the American West through the eyes of artists working today. Revealing the unique landscapes and scenery that still exist, the show features a selection of 25 paintings, purchased with funds raised by the museum’s Contemporary Realism Group. The exhibition will be on view through the summer of 2011 in the Hamilton Building’s Dietler Gallery of Western American Art. “The diverse landscapes of the American West continue to inspire artists today as they choose many different ways to depict both its grandeur and intimacy,” said Thomas Smith, the exhibition’s curator and director of the DAM’s Petrie Institute of Western American Art. “We’re ... More | | Cecily Brown's First Ever Solo Exhibition in the Netherlands at GEM Museum of Contemporary Art
Cecily Brown, Lady with a Little Dog, 2009 – 2010, olieverf op doek, 246,38 x 226,06 cm, Particuliere collectie, Courtesy Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin; Gagosian Gallery, New York, Foto Jochen Littkemann.
THE HAGUE.- The new work of New York-based artist Cecily Brown (b.1969) features a medley of grey, red, orange and earth colours applied with vigorous gestures to canvases of many different sizes. Initially, the explicitly sexual content of her pictures attracted attention; more recently, she has increasingly reduced the image to its essentials. Shifting between figuration and abstraction, she uses each approach to reinforce the other, viewing them not as two separate worlds, but as closely interrelated facets of the art of painting. Although this winter’s show at the GEM museum of contemporary art is Cecily Brown’s first ever solo exhibition in the Netherlands, in America she has for years been regarded as a leading artist of our day. Her work features in top collections like those of the Guggenheim ... More | | Staatsgalerie Stuttgart Pays Tribute to Innovative Architect James Stirling with Exhibition
James Stirling.
STUTTGART.- James Frazer Stirling (1926–1992) is considered one of the most influential and innovative architects of the second half of the twentieth century. With a selection of models and plans as well as theoretical writings and hitherto unpublished archive material, the show offers a new perspective on James Stirling. The presentation encompasses more than three hundred architectural drawings, large-scale models and photographs shedding light on Stirling’s realized and unrealized work. Such famous designs as those for the Neue Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (1977–84), the Engineering Building of the University of Leicester (1959–63), the History Faculty in Cambridge (1964–67), museums in London (Clore Gallery der Tate, 1980–86) and Harvard (Arthur M. Sackler Museum 1979–84), the Wissenschaftszentrum in Berlin (1979–1987), and the Bibliothèque de France competition (1989) will be featured, along with projects completely unknown or only rarely ... More |
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Works Acquired by the Friends of the Collection on View at the Portland Museum of Art
John Calvin Stevens, Joe Pie Weed (Delano Park), 1908, oil on canvas, 14 1/16 x 18 1/16 in. Portland Museum of Art, 1997.20
PORTLAND, ME.- The Lay of the Land: A Celebration of Art Acquired by the Friends of the Collection (1983—2010), on view January 15 through May 8, 2011, at the Portland Museum of Art, will feature a special selection of approximately 25 works of art acquired by the Museum with the generous support of the Friends of the Collection. The Friends of the Collection group was established in 1983 on the occasion of the opening of the Museum’s Charles Shipman Payson Building. The Lay of the Land will focus on landscapes in particular, and will include paintings, watercolors, and prints by a diverse group of artists, many native to Maine. Featuring masterworks by such artists as Charles Codman, Harrison Bird Brown, John Calvin Stevens, Robert Henri, John Walker, and Jules Olitski among others, the ... More | | Miami International Art Fair Announces New Features, Previewing January 13th, 2011
Giovanny Sanchez, 1978, Sin titulo, 2010. O/L, 100x100 cms. Colombia. Photo: Courtesy Galeria Baobab.
MIAMI, FL.- From Beijing to Buenos Aires to New York, the MIA- Miami International Art Fair will showcase prestigious galleries from over 15 countries. A major contribution of the Fair is its support of the Miami art scene. Unlike any other Miami art fair, over 25 local galleries are participating and partnerships have been formed with important Miami museums and emerging art organizations, such as the Miami Art Museum, the Lowe Art Museum, the Robert and Patricia Frost Museum, the Bass Museum, Auguari, The End/Spring Break; the Fair will also feature special student and alumni exhibitions from Miami-Dade College, FIU- Florida International University and the University of Miami Art School. In addition MIA will introduce appropriate technology for the 21st century art fair, including an interactive iphone app for fair attendees and a live blog broadcast ... More | | Carnegie Museum Announces Acquisitions in Neoclassical and Contemporary Art
Antonio Canova, Terpsichore.
PITTSBURGH, PA.- Carnegie Museum of Art announce two major acquisitions representing the museum’s strengths in 19th century neoclassical art and contemporary art. The works are Terpsichore, Muse of Lyric Poetry, 1812, an exceptionally rare sculpture by Antonio Canova, a leading artist of 19th century Europe; and five works, which together comprise a single installation, by one of the most provocative American artists to emerge in the last decade, Gedi Sibony. “While Canova’s Terpsichore and Sibony’s five pieces were made in different time periods and from different materials, they each contribute to strengthening the breadth and depth of Carnegie Museum of Art’s collection and illustrate our commitment to collecting diverse and important works,” said Lynn Zelevansky, The Henry J. Heinz II Director of Carnegie Museum of Art. “Terpsichore is one of those great works that has the ability to elevat ... More |
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Leo Kandl's Free Portraits and Susi Krautgartner's Uncanny Valley at Fotohof
Susi Krautgartner, aus der Serie “Gender Tuppets”, 2010, C-Print, 70 x 50 cm
SALZBURG.- Leo Kandl has immersed himself in the genre of portrait photography for several decades, whereby he unites the conceptual documentary process with the subjectivity and individuality of the object. In „Free Portraits“ Kandl made contact with his models through newspaper advertisements. Cities such as Vienna, London, New York, Tehran, Moscow and Havana became the public backdrop for works that at times give the impression of being snapshots from the streets, or private photographs. Kandl’s style allows the observer to engage with the subject emotionally as the potentially tense meeting of two strangers in role play, the subject and photographer, produces images characterized by curiosity and an occasionally subtle, erotically charged atmosphere. “Uncanny Valley” is named after a well-known hypothesis of roboticist Masahiro Mori. Mori’s theory describes the empirically measureable effect of an emotional response to non-human entities. Essent ... More | | 80 Years On, Cuba's Iconic Hotel Nacional Still Shines with Elegance and Pride
Tourists walk through Salon 1930 at Hotel Nacional in Havana. AP Photo/Franklin Reyes.
By: Jenny Barchfield, Associated Press
HAVANA (AP).- The carpets are worn and the rooms have a musty feel. Yet Havana's iconic Hotel Nacional, which marked its 80th birthday Thursday, wears its slightly shabby elegance with pride, an aging beauty a bit past its prime. The hotel has welcomed movie stars and mobsters, but today's visitors are mostly flip-flop-wearing tourists from Britain and Spain hoping to get a taste of the past at the apricot-colored monolith on Havana's seaside Malecon boulevard. The hotel's story reads like a parable of recent Cuban history, chronicling the island's evolution from naughty tropical playground to communism's Caribbean enclave. "The strength of the hotel lies in its history, in everything it's lived through and remained standing," said general manager Antonio Martinez Rodriguez. "Its fissures are like wrinkles on the face of an old and wise person who's seen it all." ... More | | First Major Solo Exhibition in Germany for Elmgreen & Dragset at ZKM Museum
Elmgreen & Dragset, Celebrity – The One & The Many. Eine Ausstellung im ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst. Ausstellungsansicht © Elmgreen & Dragset, VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2010. Foto: Fidelis Fuchs.
KARLSRUHE.- Scandinavian artist duo Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset have been among the most innovative positions in the international scene for several years, investigating various behavioral and perception patterns as well as the parameters of exhibiting art through sculptures, installations, and performances. They have become known to a broader audience through spectacular projects, such as a reconstructed Prada boutique in the Texan desert, or the bottom of a mobile home breaking through the ground in the middle of a noble Milan shopping center. Their project “The Collectors” at the Venice Biennale was not only a great success with the audience in 2009, but was also celebrated by art critics throughout the world. ZKM | Museum of Contemporary Art hosts their first major solo exhibition in Germany, through 27 March 2011: “Elmgreen & Dragset. ... More |
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About Face: A Group Exhibition at Two Window Project in Berlin
BERLIN.- One subject and three artists; they all have their own story to tell and each has their own unique approach to this classic genre of art: portraiture. While all three artists have taken concepts from two different time periods and fused them together in a unique combination, it is the portrait that becomes the common thread for this exhibition. The media in which each artist creates covers a full and varied gamut and illustrates the complexity of the present by way of a vehicle of the past. Tilo Uischner from Germany presents his works titled, 'the disappearance of childhood' with a unique blending of the old world craft of intarsia or marquetry and the contemporary material of acrylics to bring his imagery to life. In each portrait, the subject’s garb is formed with dozens of carefully spliced wood veneers and their bodies are deftly painted; together they form a truly life like image. In every work, Tilo captures a moment that leaves the viewer open to interpret ... More
Ohio Auction House Launches Facebook Application: "beGifted by Garth's"
DELAWARE, OH.- Leading national auction house, Garth's Auctioneers and Appraisers, has rolled out a new Facebook application that allows users to send and receive virtual gifts of art, antiques and collectibles. beGifted by Garth's was the brainchild of company President, Amelia Jeffers. "Not everyone can afford a $30,000 antique cupboard, a $4,000 autographed Babe Ruth baseball, or even a $470 bouquet of vintage glass tulips. That kind of purchase can be intimidating - or even unrealistic - for many folks. By providing a virtual inventory of these and other unique objects, we are giving anyone who is interested a way to explore the world of collecting," Jeffers explained. Graphic design and brand creation for the app was completed in-house, by Garth's Marketing Director, Kellie Seltzer. Program functionality was developed by Brent Halsey, a Columbu ... More
Japanese American National Museum Unveils Zen Garage Concept Show, Giant Robot
LOS ANGELES, CA.- As part of its continuing "Salon Pop" series, Giant Robot and the Japanese American National Museum unveil the concept exhibition, Zen Garage, developed in collaboration between the National Museum and Eric Nakamura of Giant Robot, on view through February 13, 2011. The display is open at the National Museum in Little Tokyo in downtown Los Angeles. The organizers summarized their inspiration for the show as follow: "The concept of Zen has been thwarted by popular culture in the form of awkward connotations and new ‘urban’ meanings. Its basic meaning in our new world is essentially a 'pure focus.' Likewise, a garage is no longer just a place where one parks their vehicle. Today’s garage can also function as a place of inspiration, development, and creation. With these words together, we bring you Zen Garage.' Zen Garage features three innovative creations illustrating various facets of contemporar ... More
Baltimore Museum of Art Launches Search for Maryland Architect for Major Renovation
BALTIMORE, MD.- The Baltimore Museum of Art is entering a new phase of its $24 million renovation by issuing a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) to Maryland architectural firms interested in being considered for the Museum’s ambitious capital renovation. The RFQ is available on the BMA’s website. Responses are due by noon, Friday, January 14, 2011. The architectural contract will be awarded in mid April after a comprehensive review process. "This unprecedented physical transformation is vital to the BMA’s future," said BMA Director Doreen Bolger. "We want to ensure the Museum is relevant to future generations of museum goers and an even greater cultural magnet for the region." The BMA’s three-year phased capital renovation will bring significant improvements for visitors, including the enhancements of galleries housing three major art collections—Contemporary, American, and African; improvements to the ... More
Serbia Police Find Modigliani Photo in Search
By: Dusan Stojanovic, Associated Press
BELGRADE, SERBIA (AP).- Serbian police searching for a war-crimes fugitive on Thursday instead found photographs of a stolen Modigliani painting they suspect is in his possession. The war crimes prosecutor's office said the police searched a house in the northern city of Novi Sad belonging to a close friend of Goran Hadzic, a former Croatian Serb rebel leader wanted by a U.N. tribunal over atrocities during Croatia's 1991-95 war for independence. Prosecutors say they found photographs of an oil painting by the Italian master worth more than 1 million euros ($1.3 million) that they believe Hadzic has. The prosecutors said in a statement "we suspect that the painting was intended for sale to collect funds for his hiding." The statement gave no name or description of the painting shown on the photographs. Hadzic and wartime Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic are the last two suspects want ... More
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