Shifts in the LA gallery scene

It’s not often that I cite the Los Angeles Times (or update, for that matter), but this article speaks as to the obstacles and successes gallery owners face in LA:
Sales have all but dried up for many L.A. area dealers, quite a few galleries have closed and others have downsized. But in a period […]

Cariou v. Prince, et al.

The Art Newspaper, by Andrew Goldstein, has been covering the unfolding legal tête-à-tête between French photographer Patrick Cariou and Richard Prince over the latter’s appropriation of 30 photographs from the former for his Canal Zone (2008) exhibition at Gagosian Gallery.
First filed December 30, 2008, the complaint (.PDF link) alleges copyright infringement by Prince for the […]

Debate: Ethics in the Art Market on NPR

On February 3rd, 2009, Intelligence Squared (IQ2US) hosted an Oxford-style debate on the motion, “The Art Market Is Less Ethical Than the Stock Market.”  Panelists Richard Feigen, Michael Hue-Williams, and Adam Lindemann (”FOR”) and Chuck Close, Amy Cappellazzo, and Jerry Saltz (”AGAINST”) all presented their propositions, and what you get is a riveting exchange between […]

The murky future of LA MOCA

Thanks to Edward Wyatt’s astute reporting at the NYTimes stretching back at least a year, I’ve been able to follow the unfolding saga of the Los Angeles museum world, which will undoubtedly result in a marked change to the cultural landscape there. The culmination of the year’s events came with an institution on the brink […]

Thomas Campbell ascends to Met Director

Following last week’s news regarding several New York art institutions and their personnel shakeups, the NYTimes reports, both factually and critically, that “Thomas P. Campbell, 46-year-old English-born tapestries curator, [is] to succeed Philippe de Montebello as director and chief executive”of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
No one should be stunned or surprised that the Met’s selection […]

New Directors for everybody!

The NYTimes reports that The Museum of Modern Art has finally found a successor to John Elderfield, chief curator of sculpture and painting:
[Ann] Temkin assumes the curatorial post, considered the most prestigious in the field of Modern art, as MoMA gears up for its second growth spurt in less than a decade[…]
In addition to the […]

The 16th Annual New York City Outsider Art Fair

It’s Outsider Art Fair time again, and the Puck Building will be swarming with buyers, tourists, and other curious folk today through Sunday, January 27. This year there are 34 galleries exhibiting work by artists who are on the fringes of society and have no formal artistic training.
Having attended twice before, I recommend this fair […]

Damien Hirst at Lever House

Opening this weekend in the Lever House (Park Avenue and 54th Street) lobby is Damien Hirst’s latest, and quite ambitious, piece titled School: The Archaeology of Lost Desires, Comprehending Infinity, and the Search for Knowledge. The $10 million installation was purchased by the owner of Lever House, Aby Rosen, (who also owns the Seagram Building […]

ACAF NY: Asian Contemporary Art Fair

Surprisingly under the radar, New York’s first art fair dedicated entirely to Asian contemporary art opened quietly yesterday with the invite-only cocktail and performance by Sin Cha Hong and the band, Second Hand Rose. An event of this magnitude should have had a more intense marketing blitz, and I’m still scratching my head over why […]

Prankster Banksy’s Work Breaks Records At Auction

Eleven originals created by the cheeky, sneaky graffiti artist Banksy sold for over £540,000 at Bonham’s auction house in London last Wednesday. The Bristol-born artist, who has managed to keep his identity a secret despite worldwide notoriety, is a divisive figure in the art world, at once infuriating the establishment with his bold stunts and […]