| | Kennedy Center in Washington Showcases India's Arts, Precious Gems and Diverse Culture
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Artist Reena Saini Kallat poses with a piece made of rubber stamps bearing addresses of missing monuments and fragments of poems and phrases on architecture and loss from her "Falling Fables" series as part of the Kennedy Center's "Maximum India" exhibit in Washington, Wednesday, March 2, 2011. AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt.
By: Brett Zongker, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP).- The Kennedy Center in Washington has been converted into a palace to showcase India's arts, precious gems and diverse culture over the next three weeks. The $7 million "Maximum India" festival opened Tuesday night and runs through March 20. With nearly 100 performances, films and events, organizers say it is one of the largest U.S. festivals ever devoted to the south Asian country of 1.2 billion people. Exhibits opened Wednesday in the Kennedy Center's main halls, including a collection of traditional saris, an installation featuring words from a historic speech by Mahatma Gandhi, and colorful crafts from various Indian streets. "I hope it gets the people who have never been to India to have a sense of what it is — to have a feeling of what it is to walk in the streets of a large urban city in India," said Adrien Gardere, who curated the art exhibits. ... More |
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Polish Artist Anna Ostoya Exhibits 28 Works Made in February at Bortolami Gallery
Anna Ostoya, Exposures: 4.02.2011, 2011. Papier maché, gold leaf, acrylic and newspaper on canvas, 24 x 20 inches, 61 x 50.8 cm. Signed and dated on verso in pencil.
NEW YORK, NY.- Bortolami Gallery presents the first New York solo exhibition of works by the Polish artist Anna Ostoya. The show features a series of new collages on canvas entitled Exposures that were all made during February 2011. For this series, Ostoya staged a durational performance. Each day, she began a new work with the aim of finishing 28 canvases-as many as there are days in February-by the time of the opening on March 1st. Conceived in response to the Bortolami Gallery’s invitation, Exposures depends on pre-determined limits. They were realized not only through the temporal restrictions of her daily regimen, but also through the physical restrictions of the 20 x 24-inch canvases on which she worked. Other materials included newspaper and internet images, papier-mâché, gold leaf, and acrylic paint. Moving between her kitchen and studio, Ostoya made papier-mâché from unused papers creating compositions ... More | | Trial Begins for Rhode Island Art Dealer, Rocco DeSimone, Accused of $6 Million Con
Rocco DeSimone, a Rhode Island native and former art dealer convicted of tax evasion after selling a painting by impressionist Claude Monet. AP Photo//U.S. Marshals.
By: Ian MacDougall, Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, RI (AP).- A former art dealer earlier convicted of tax fraud duped investors out of $6 million and used the money to buy cars, antique Japanese swords and valuable works of art, a prosecutor said as the man's trial began in federal court Wednesday. Rocco DeSimone has pleaded not guilty to mail fraud and other charges in the case. His defense attorneys declined to deliver an opening statement. But they wrote in a pre-trial court filing that they plan to argue that DeSimone's business dealings relied on information provided by his accountant, Ronald Rodrigues, who they say also had a financial interest in those dealings. John McAdams, an assistant U.S. Attorney, told a jury in U.S. District Court in Providence that DeSimone convinced acquaintances ... More | | Exhibition of New Work by Lebanese Artist Mona Hatoum at White Cube Mason's Yard
Mona Hatoum, 'Bunker', White Cube Mason's Yard, London, 24 February - 2 April 2011 © the artist. Photo: Ben Westoby. Courtesy White Cube.
LONDON.- White Cube Mason's Yard presents an exhibition of new work by Mona Hatoum. For this exhibition, entitled 'Bunker', Hatoum has transformed the gallery spaces into sites of heightened tension, where global geographies are abstracted and condensed, and themes of mobility, belonging and displacement are explored through three new artworks. On entering the ground floor gallery, visitors are confronted with Suspended, a room densely packed with red and black wooden swings, appearing like a floating archipelago of islands chained to the ceiling. On closer inspection, each of these 35 swings has the street map of a capital city carved into its seat, randomly chosen from six of the seven continents of the world. Each swing is hung at an oblique angle to its neighbour, creating a sense of geographical dislocation rather than connection, alluding perhaps to the constant flux of ... More |
 | El Tajin Columns to Be Exhibited for the First Time at National Museum of Anthropology
Eighteen sandstone discs formed the middle part of 3 columns that must have supported the palace of an ancient ruler of El Tajin more than 1,000 years ago. Photo: DMC INAH/M. Tapia.
MEXICO CITY.- Shafts of the pilasters at the Building of the Columns, where one of the most enigmatic moments of El Tajin history is carved in bas-relief, will gather for the first time at the National Museum of Anthropology (MNA) in the great exhibition Seis ciudades antiguas de Mesoamérica. Sociedad y Medio Ambiente (Six Ancient Cities of Mesoamerica. Society and Environment), to be opened in March 2011. Eighteen sandstone discs with a diameter of 108 centimeters, which juxtaposed reach a height of 100 centimeters, formed the middle part of 3 columns that must have supported the palace of an ancient ruler of El Tajin more than 1,000 years ago, in the area that today is the Mexican state of Veracruz. The exhibition organized by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), is being mounted at the Temporary Exhibition Hall of the National Museum ... More | | Gagosian Gallery Paris Presents an Exhibition of Unique Precious Objects by Victoire de Castellane
Opium Velourosa Purpra, 2010. Rubies, lacquered silver, white gold, rhyolite. Dimensions: Entire work: L 22 x L 21.5 x H 13 cm. Necklace L 19 x L 19.
PARIS.- Gagosian Gallery Paris presents an exhibition of unique precious objects by Victoire de Castellane. The exhibition is on view from March 2 through 22, 2011. I start with a story, a world, never with the material. I find my stories in everything I observe and experience -- rebellion, love, sexuality, pleasure, violence, protection, psychoanalysis, and my taste for fairy tales…--Victoire de Castellane. De Castellane’s highly original collections for Dior have redefined and revivified haute joaillerie for a new generation. With Fleurs d’excès, she has gone further to create ten works that recall the jeweled obsessions of times past, such as the mechanical nightingale of Hans Christian Andersen’s children’s tale, Fabergé eggs, and the fabulous “bestiaries” of animals real and mythic. De Castellane’s intricately made hybrids each contain a wearable element, becoming “jewelry at ... More | | 1942 Archie Comics #1 Brings $167,300 World Record Price at Heritage Auctions
The Heritage event realized a total of $4,270,483, with more than 2,375 bidders vying for 1,262 lots, which translated into an almost unheard of 99.6% sell-through by both lot value and lot total.
DALLAS, TX.- Archie Andrews, everyone's favorite carrot-top, has proved that he can hold his own with, and even exceed, the likes of Spider-Man, The Hulk and The Fantastic Four. This was no epic fight to save the planet, or even Riverdale, for that matter. The arena was Heritage Auctions' Feb. 24-25 Signature Vintage Comics & Comics Art Auction and the battleground was firmly one of price. When a CGC-certified 8.5 copy of Archie Comics #1 brought a world record price of $167,300 (including 19.5% Buyer's Premium), it was clear that Archie is now capable of occupying the same rarified air as the most valuable of silver age books. "Archie may have a ways to go to catch the likes of Superman and Batman, his Golden Age counterparts," said Lon Allen, Managing Director of Comics at Heritage, "but you can bet that collectors sat up and ... More |
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Times Square Alliance Presents a Major Public Art Exhibition at the Crossroads of the World
A view of the art installation 'Counting Sheep', by artist Kyu Seok Oh, in Times Square. EPA/JUSTIN LANE.
TIMES SQUARE, NY.- As part of an ongoing commitment to bring the best of contemporary art to Times Square, the Times Square Alliance presents a major public art exhibition at the Crossroads of the World as part of Armory Arts Week. The Times Square Show 2011, comprised of five whimsical and thought-provoking world-class sculptures, began on Tuesday, March 1. The outdoor exhibition features four sculptures presented in partnership with the Armory Art Show -- artists include: Tom Otterness, Niki de Saint Phalle, Grimanesa Amorós, David Kennedy Cutler -- and a site specific installation by Kyu Seok Oh, produced in collaboration with the West Harlem Arts Fund. “We are thrilled to present our first public art exhibition to highlight Armory Arts Week,” said Tim Tompkins, President of the Times Square Alliance. “Each day hundreds of thousands of vis ... More | | Bergen Kunsthall Presents Artist Joan Jonas, a Pioneer of Performance and Video Art
Joan Jonas, Reading Dante III, Bergen Kunsthall Feb 25 - Mar 27 2011. Photo: Thor Brodreskift.
BERGEN.- At Bergen Kunsthall, Joan Jonas presents a new version of an ongoing series of installations under the title Reading Dante. The series, on view until March 27, 2011, began in 2007 and each new version incorporates elements from the preceding ones. In Reading Dante Jonas reinterprets the journey of the soul through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven – following Dante Alighieri’s epic The Divine Comedy. By way of her distinctive ‘shamanistic’ visual language Jonas offers an idiosyncratic approach to one of the most important works of world literature. The project is not an attempt to illustrate the text; it is rather a personal translation of Dante into a visual language where central elements and symbols from Jonas’ visual vocabulary (mirrors, masks, dogs, cones etc.) enter into and shape their own narrative in the light of the artist’s overall oeuvre. In an earlier grand-scale series of this ty ... More | | Naples International Art & Antique Fair Closes with Major Sales and Rave Attendee Reviews
Mark and Joanne Stahlman.
NAPLES, FL.- “All I can say is “Wow!” said Naples resident Keith Davison. This sentiment was echoed by more than 15,000 attendees of the inaugural Naples International Art and Antique Fair held February 24 – March 1, 2011 at the newly remodeled Naples International Pavilion located at Immokalee Rd and Livingston Road in Naples. “Now Naples has a truly quality international fine art fair,” said local collector and museum board member Bob Edwards. “We needed a major fine art fair,” said Thomas Davidson. “New York has the Winter Antiques Show, Palm Beach has the American International Fine Art Fair, and now Naples has its own fair of equivalent quality and stature.” “It was inconceivable that just a few short weeks ago this was a run-down empty supermarket” said Quail West resident and local realtor Steve Levitan "When we came to the opening evening it was as if we had been transported to an entirely new, spectacular, eleg ... More |
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Exhibition Offers a Survey of Developments in Sri Lankan Art at Asia House in London
Prageeth Manohansa, Horse, Scrap Metal, 55 x 22 x 62.
LONDON.- Contemporary Art from Sri Lanka 2011 is the first international showcase of Sri Lanka's leading contemporary artists since the end of the civil war in 2009. The definitive exhibitions offer a survey of current developments in Sri Lankan art and an overview of the country's most prominent artists working today. As the first of its kind in the UK, the exhibition presents approximately 25 diverse examples of Sri Lankan artwork. Contemporary Sri Lankan art is set against a complex cultural history. In the modern era, popular acclaim has largely rested on artworks and movements of the last century such as the highly renowned and influential 43 Group. this is partly due to scant criticism, literature and exhibitions of Sri Lanka's creative output. Nevertheless, Sri Lanka has a radical and energetic contemporary art scene, which is traced in the timely exhibition. Participating artists include more established figures in Sri Lanka such as Muhanned Cader, Druvinka, Kingley Guna ... More | | Acclaimed Curators and Museum Leaders to Serve as Jurors for 2011 No Dead Artists Exhibition
Founded in 1995 by former investment banker turned gallerist, Jonathan Ferrara, No Dead Artists was established as a response to the old adage that artists never achieve success until they die.
NEW ORLEANS, LA.- Three renowned arts professionals, Toby Devan Lewis, William Morrow and Susan Taylor comprise this year’s juror panel of the 15th Annual No Dead Artists National Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Art. All three have extensive curatorial experience and close ties to American museums. A presentation of ArtDaily.org and the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, this year’s No Dead Artists exhibition runs from September 1 through Sept 24, 2011 at the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans. Submissions are open to American artists from all fifty states working in all media, and must be entered by June 15, 2010. Founded in 1995 by former investment banker turned gallerist, Jonathan Ferrara, No Dead Artists was established as a response to the old adage that artists never achieve success until they die. Traditionally high operating costs ... More | | First Institutional One-Man Show to Present Ouyang Chun Outside of China Opens in Vienna
Ouyang Chun © me Collectors Room, Berlin, Photo: Achim Kleuker.
VIENNA.- Ouyang Chun's Painting The King is the first institutional one-man show to present the artist, who was born in Beijing in 1974, outside of China. The exhibition is on view from March 2, 2011 and runs June 12, 2011 at Augarten Contemporary. His cycle King, consisting of thirty paintings, some of which are more than five metres long, relates episodes from the life of a king in a breathtakingly painterly diversity, telling about his victories and defeats, about love and death. The pictures, which are partly crowded with figures and rendered in minute detail and partly feature an expressive and impasto brushwork, amalgamate history and fiction, as well as the search for beauty and the description of moral failure. Exhibition curator Margrit Brehm: “The artist additionally augments the tension that arises from differences in the painterly rhythm and which marks the hybrid character of his art through the use of gold ... More |
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 Sotheby's Announces Spring Sale of Important Watches in Hong KongHONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong Important Watches Spring Sale 2011 will be held on 7 April at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. Highlights include an array of highly coveted complications including Patek Philippe timepieces with unique custom-made dials, extremely limited editions of creations by renowned independent watchmakers and a fine selection of enamel and complicated pocket watches spanning the late 18th to early 20th centuries. The sale brings together a total of over 300 lots estimated over HK$46 million / US$5.9 million*. Vanessa Herrera, Head of Watches, Sotheby’s China and Southeast Asia, says, “Last season’s sale led by complicated independent timepieces proved a great success achieving the highest total of its kind at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, This season we are thrilled to present a broad spectrum of fine timepieces, from Patek Philippe complications with custom- ... More Dawn Barrett Selected as President of Massachusetts College of Art and DesignBOSTON, MA.- Dawn Barrett, Dean of the Architecture and Design Division at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, has been selected as president of Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Richard Shea, Chairman of the MassArt board of trustees announced. Barrett has been tapped to succeed Dr. Kay Sloan, who will retire after fifteen years as president. Dr. Sloan recently launched the largest fundraising campaign in MassArt's history—a $140 million investment that will continue to transform the college both physically and programmatically. A hallmark of her presidency was the creation of The New Partnership for MassArt, a pioneering financial and governance model which leverages strengths of both public and private higher education. Sloan has been named President Emerita by the board of trustees. “Massachusetts College of Art and Design has been very fortunate ... More High Names Scholar Valerie Cassel Oliver as 2011 Recipient of the David C. Driskell PrizeATLANTA, GA.- The High Museum of Art has named scholar Valerie Cassel Oliver as the 2011 recipient of The David C. Driskell Prize. Named for the renowned African American artist and art scholar, the Driskell Prize is an annual award that recognizes a scholar or artist in the beginning or middle of his or her career whose work makes an original and important contribution to the field of African American art or art history. As the seventh Driskell Prize recipient, Cassel Oliver will be honored at the Driskell Prize Dinner in Atlanta on Saturday, April 16, 2011. “Valerie Cassel Oliver represents the new generation of innovation and influence in the field of African Diaspora and African American art,” said Michael E. Shapiro, Nancy and Holcombe T. Green, Jr. Director of the High. “Her work as a curator, writer and lecturer qualifies her as an important voice in this group and makes her an exemplary recipient of the 201 ... More Historic Table from Brightling Park, Sussex, Makes £216,000 at BonhamsLONDON.- An important carved and painted, marble-topped George II side table, which has been at Brightling Park in East Sussex for over 250 years, fetched an astonishing £216,000 today (2 March 2011) at Bonhams, New Bond Street, as part of the Fine English Furniture and Works of Art sale. Believed to have been designed by the celebrated cabinet maker, William Hallett (1701-1781), it had attracted a pre-sale estimate of £40,000 – 60,000. The table was commissioned by John Fuller (1707-1755) for the drawing room at Brightling Park (then known as Rosehill House), Sussex, circa 1747. From him, it passed by descent until 1879, when the house was purchased by Percy Tew (and renamed Brightling Park). The house (and the table with it) has stayed within the Tew family until the present day. According to family photographs, as well as photographs published in The Sussex County Magazine in 1955, ... More Pirate Henry Morgan's Cannons Found in Panama?PANAMA CITY (AP).- Archaeologists say six cannons recovered from a river in Panama that could have belonged to legendary pirate Henry Morgan are being studied and could eventually be displayed. The group of Panamanian and foreign archaeologists say the cannons were found at the mouth of Panama's Chagres River, the site where Morgan's flagship, the Satisfaction, wrecked in 1671 while carrying him and his pirates to raid Panama City. The team said Monday that the size and shape of the pieces looks very similar to the characteristics of small iron guns of the 17th century. The cannons were detected in 2008 and rescued in 2010. The archaeological survey was coordinated by the Waitt Institute with collaboration with Panama's National Culture Institute. ... More Graphic Novelists Shake Up World of Indian ComicsBy: Atish Patel
NEW DELHI (REUTERS).- Characters from centuries-old myths and folktales have adorned the covers of children's comic books in India for decades, but a new wave of graphic novelists has emerged to shake up the art form. Their quest for ultra-Indian superheroes has created new crossover comics aimed at both children and adults, while others have boldly gone further, tackling issues such as suicide and homosexuality -- taboo topics in much of India. "We are the new recorders of history. That's how I consider myself," said Sarnath Banerjee, whose graphic novel "Corridor" is set in New Delhi and delves into politics and sex. "I write, I see through my own eyes and I put it out." Generations of young Indians have grown up with the Amar Chitra Katha series based on Hindu epics and mythology, and it remains one of India's best-selling comic books series. But the success of Banerjee and others, such as the pione ... MoreMajor Research Project Documents for First Time all Ancient Inscriptions from Jerusalem and Surrounding AreaJERUSALEM.- The first installment of a major international research project gathering all the inscriptions ever found in Israel and the Palestinian Authority from the period of Alexander the Great (4th century C.E) until Mohammed (beginning of the 7th century A.D.) has recently appeared. The Corpus Inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palestine (CIIP), as the collection is called, will eventually encompass nine volumes, and promises to become one of the most important tools of research into this period. The first volume of the collection includes more than 700 inscriptions from Jerusalem and surrounding areas up until the destruction of the Second Temple. The project began in 1999 and includes researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, (Hannah Cotton, Leah di Segni, Haggai Misgav and Ada Yardeni), Tel Aviv University (Benjamin Isaac, Alla Kushnir-Stein, Jonathan Price and the la ... More |
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