The First Art Newspaper on the Net | | Established in 1996 | Saturday, May 26, 2018 |
| World's most prestigious architecture festival shows human face of architecture | |
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In Plain Sight by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Laura Kurgan, Robert Gerard Pietrusko with Columbia Center for Spatial Research at the 2018 U.S. Pavilion. Photo © Tom Harris. Courtesy of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago. by Kelly Velasquez VENICE (AFP).- In an era when many countries are putting up border walls and barbed wire fences, the International Architecture Exhibition in Venice aims to showcase a "sense of humanity" through its displays, organisers said ahead of its opening Saturday. The world's most prestigious architecture festival -- which is part of the Venice Biennale -- has chosen the title "Freespace" for its 16th edition in the picturesque Italian city. "The architect's creativity must be at the service of the community," Irish architect Shelley McNamara -- who curated the vast exhibition with colleague Yvonne Farrell -- told AFP. McNamara said "Freespace" aims to highlight collective spaces, "generosity of spirit" and the "sense of humanity" that architecture must place at the heart of its agenda. Sixty-five different countries and one hundred architecture studios have been invited to display their interpretation of the theme in the vast 3000 square metre Venetian Arsenal and gardens. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Austrian artist collective OMAi uses their Tagtool app to transform the North Carolina Museum of Artâ??s East Building into an underwater scene as part of their residency for You Are Here: Light, Color, and Sound Experiences. Asheville, NC-based artist Ursula Gullow designed the artwork.
Photographer Erwin Olaf donates his core collection to the Rijksmuseum | | V&A acquires Mae West Lips sofa by Salvador Dalà and Edward James | | MoMA opens retrospective of visionary Congolese artist Bodys Isek Kingelez | Erwin Olaf and Taco Dibbits. Photo: Olivier Middendorp. AMSTERDAM.- The photographer Erwin Olaf this week donated to the Rijksmuseum his core collection, the fully representative range of work spanning his entire career. The Rijksmuseum will be the recipient of a total of 500 objects, comprising prints, portfolios, videos, magazines, books and posters. The vast majority are donations; 60 photographs and three videos have been acquired with the support of the BankGiro Loterij. Taco Dibbits, director of the Rijksmuseum: Erwin Olaf is one of the most important photographers of the final quarter of the 20th century, and his work is deeply rooted in the visual traditions of Dutch art and history. We are therefore delighted and honoured to be able to add his work to the Rijksmuseum collection. Erwin Olafs decision to transfer his core collection to the Rijksmuseum is motivated by his long relationship with the museum and the inspiration he draws from its collection, particularly the Old Masters. ... More | | The Mae West Lips sofa was the joint creation of artist Salvador Dalà (1904-1989) and his most important British patron, Edward James (1907-1984). LONDON.- The V&A announces it has acquired one of the most important examples of British Surrealist furniture ever produced. Purchased with support from Art Fund, the V&A members and a bequest from Derek Woodman, the Mae West Lips sofa was the joint creation of artist Salvador Dalà (1904-1989) and his most important British patron, Edward James (1907-1984). Dalà and James collaborated on the design after James suggested that they should create a sofa based on DalÃs gouache (or drawing) Mae Wests Face which May be Used as a Surrealist Apartment (1934-35). James had five Mae West Lips sofas produced in 1938 in different fabrics. A pink satin version has previously been on long-term loan to the V&A, appearing as a star object in the 2007 major exhibition Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design. The version that the ... More | | Bodys Isek Kingelez (Congolese, 1948-2015). Untitled (detail). c. 1980. Paper, paperboard, and other various materials, 32 15/16 à 14 7/8 à 9 5/8″ (83.6 à 37.8 à 24.5 cm). Private collection, Paris. Photograph by Kleinefenn. NEW YORK, NY.- Spanning the three-decade career of visionary Congolese artist Bodys Isek Kingelez (19482015), The Museum of Modern Art presents Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams, featuring more than 30 of the artists extreme maquettes, as he called them, in which he transformed paper, commercial packaging, and other everyday materials into dazzling, intricate sculptures that suggest utopian possibilities for global urban sites. On view from May 26, 2018, through January 1, 2019, City Dreams is the artists first retrospective and the first substantial monographic presentation of his work in the US. The exhibition includes works from each of the key periods of his career, from early sculptures that take the shape ... More |
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Exhibition inspired by Virginia Woolf's writings opens at Pallant House Gallery | | Why birds don't have teeth | | Moderna Museet Malmo presents photographs from the latter half of the nineteenth century | Gwen John, Self-portrait, 1902, oil on canvas Tate. Purchased 1942 © Tate, London 2018. CHICHESTER.- This major touring exhibition, featuring 80 female artists from 1854 to the present day, has at its heart the pioneering writings of novelist Virginia Woolf. It seeks to show how her perspectives on feminism and creativity have remained relevant to a community of creative women across time: visual artists working in photography, painting, sculpture and film who have sought to record the vast scope of female experience and to shape alternative ways for women to be. Virginia Woolf: an exhibition inspired by her writings acts as a lens through which ideas around landscape, domesticity and identity recurring ideas in Woolfs writing have been dealt with across a century of art. The exhibition is divided into four key themes: Landscape and place explores how landscape and nature have been used by artists including Laura Knight, Winifred Nicholson, ... More | | In this file photo taken on May 12, 2017 Two crow nestlings open their beaks on the nest in Moscow on May 12, 2017. Yuri KADOBNOV / AFP. PARIS (AFP).- Why did birds lose their teeth? Was it so they would be lighter in the air? Or are pointy beaks better for worm-eating than the jagged jaws of dinosaur ancestors? Actually, birds gave up teeth to speed up egg hatching, a research paper published Wednesday suggests, challenging long-held scientific views on the evolution of the toothless beak. Compared to an incubation period of several months for dinosaur eggs, modern birds hatch after just a few days or weeks. This is because there is no need to wait for the embryo to develop teeth -- a process that can consume 60 percent of egg incubation time, said researchers Tzu-Ruei Yang and Martin Sander from the University of Bonn. While in the egg, the embryo is vulnerable to predators and natural disasters, and faster hatching boosts survival odds. This would ... More | | Julia Margaret Cameron, Henry Taylor, 1867. MALMO.- Starting this spring, Moderna Museet Malmö will be featuring the art of photography in its earliest years in a presentation of works from the latter half of the nineteenth century. The exhibition Written in Light - Early Photography features some of the most prominent and fascinating international photographers from this period, including Julia Margaret Cameron, Nils Strindberg, Carleton E. Watkins, and many others. It also includes a contemporary work related to Nils Strindbergs photographs: Joachim Koesters Message from Andrée. Simultaneously with the opening of Written in Light, a presentation of Akram Zaataris acclaimed film installation Letter to a Refusing Pilot will open in the New Gallery. Ever since its invention, the medium of photography has been developing, changing, and taking on many different functions and roles. Portraits, nature, landscapes, and architecture were common motifs for th ... More |
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Russian Pavilion in Venice explores the past, present and future of the Russian railways | | Marcel Proust's unpublished archives achieve €750,000 at Sotheby's Paris | | Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art debuts 'The Beyond: Georgia O'Keeffe and Contemporary Art' | Dichotomy of Free Space Model, Station Russia, Venice Architecture Biennale 2018, courtesy the Russian Pavilion, Venice. VENICE.- The Russian Pavilion is presenting present Station Russia, which explores the past, present and future of the Russian railways. In an environment which is in parts uninhabitable, to the extent that roads cannot be built, railways have become the lifeblood of the largest country in the world. Station Russia explores how they, and the people who use them, negotiate the vast and often empty expanse of the Russian landscape. In a new exhibition conceived and created for the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale, the national pavilion has been transformed into a train station. Within its five Halls, contemporary Russian architects, designers and artists use sound and multimedia installations, as well as photographs, models and artefacts, to explore the past of the network and to present their vision of its future. The exhibition is supported by JSC Russian Railways, whose involvement reflects its pivotal role in maintaining the strategic importance of the ... More | | Marcel Proust, Sources du Loir à Illiers, Important brouillon de Du côté de chez Swann, 1907-1908. Estimate: EUR30,000 - 50,000. Sold for: EUR132,500 (154,834 USD). Courtesy Sotheby's. PARIS.- A cache of passionate letters and works documenting a once-secret love between one of the greatest novelists of his time, Marcel Proust (1871-1922), and the eminent composer Reynaldo Hahn (1874- 1947), have realised 750,000 at Sothebys Paris. Largely unseen, they have impeccable provenance, having coming to sale direct from Prousts family. Highlights included unpublished proof copies of his greatest works, Prousts famous footnotes describing his disagreements with Ruskin and the large collection of 138 letters from the publisher Gaston Gallimard to Proust. The collection shed a new light on Proust through 70 lots of literary manuscripts, letters and books with envois, constituting a genuine biography. The top lot of the archive was a very early draft of one of the finest passages from Côté de chez Swann, describing the hero's walk along the Vivonne (lot 160, 132,500). One of the great discoveries of thi ... More | | Georgia O'Keeffe, Radiator BuildingNight, New York, 1927. Oil on canvas, 48 à 30 in. Alfred Stieglitz Collection, Co-owned by Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas. Photography by Edward C. Robison III. BENTONVILLE, ARK.- Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art presents the debut of The Beyond: Georgia OKeeffe and Contemporary Art on view May 26 through September 3, 2018. Created by Crystal Bridges, The Beyond brings together sculptures, murals, photographs, paintings, and more by Georgia OKeeffe and 20 contemporary artists working in similar themes. Building on works from the museums collection and borrowing from public and private collections, the exhibition features 36 OKeeffe works spanning her career. Works include Radiator BuildingNight, New York (1927), Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 (1932), Flying Backbone (1944), and a 1972 painting The Beyond, which inspired the exhibitions title and was one of the last works she completed unassisted as her eyesight began ... More |
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Major survey of the German artist Günther Förg opens at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam | | The Czech and Slovak Pavilion features a fictitious company founded by the artist Kateřina Šeda | | Natural History Museum launches app to help children get outdoors and connect to nature | Günther Förg, Ohne Titel, 1994. Collectie Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam © Estate Günther Förg, Suisse c/o Pictoright Amsterdam 2017. AMSTERDAM.- This spring the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam illuminates the rich oeuvre of the German artist Günther Förg. The survey features no fewer than 100 works, including some pieces never seen before in a museum. A major survey of the German artist Günther Förg (19522013) opens at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam on 26 May 2018. Under the title A Fragile Beauty, the show reveals the full breadth and scope of Förgs oeuvre. Taking its cue from the artist himself who presented his work in installations conceived with exquisite precision each room is individual in nature. Included are Förgs early monochrome paintings, together with his color studies, (architectural) photographs, sculptures, and late spot paintings. A Fragile Beauty traces the entire trajectory of Förgs career. This comprehensive survey offers audiences a chance to engage with the complexity of his themes and fascinations, and ... More | | The first town that edá has chosen to make more livable (by adding the warmth of human life) is Český Krumlov, a small town of 13,000 inhabitants in the southern part of the Czech Republic. VENICE.- For the 16th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Kateřina edá has prepared a project that explores the absence of normal life in the centers of popular tourist destinations. The Czech and Slovak Pavilion becomes the headquarters of the fictional UNES-CO company, whose aim is to return normal life to the deserted centers of historical cities. Buildings in which nobody lives. Shops that nobody needs. Streets where people dont meet but avoid one another. This description could apply to socially excluded localities as much as to the most beautiful cities of the world inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. These similarities between otherwise diametrically contrasting places inspired me to create a project that calls attention to the problems associated with increased ... More | | Dippys Naturenauts is a web app which uses mobile technology to create an interactive experience for children. LONDON.- The Natural History Museum, in partnership with Dell EMC and in association with Intel and Microsoft, today launched Dippys Naturenauts, to encourage children to venture outdoors and interact with the natural world. Designed with the concerns of parents in mind, the new technology means data usage will be limited, the app will work in areas of low internet connectivity and users privacy is fully protected. The educational app has been created to support the Museums two-year, UK-wide tour of its iconic Diplodocus dinosaur cast, Dippy on Tour: A Natural History Adventure. The tour aims to instil a passion for nature in children and encourage families to explore green spaces wherever they live - in countryside or urban environments. Designed for children aged four and above, characters Dippy and Fern the fox lead the user through a series of fun exploratory games created to encourage them to interact with ... More |
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href=' href=' Jasper Sharp talks about the exhibition "The Shape of Time"
More News | Flowers Gallery exhibits Michael Wolf's very first complete photographic series: Bottrop-Ebel 76 LONDON.- Flowers Gallery is presenting an exhibition by Hong Kong-based German photographer Michael Wolf, revisiting his very first complete photographic series. Bottrop-Ebel 76 is a series of photographs taken by Wolf in a small coal mining village in the Ruhr District, Germany in 1976, while he was still a student at the Folkswangschule für Gestaltung. Wolf sought to capture the collective identity of the community, documenting their way of life in a changing industrial region, where the future was looking uncertain and unemployment was on the rise. He returned often to the district during a year of intensive research, even living there for a time, in order to get closer to his subject matter. The project marked the beginning of Wolfs interest in socially engaged documentary photography, which has centred throughout his work on the lives of people drawn ... More Victoria and Albert Museum presents a special project at La Biennale di Venezia VENICE.- For the third consecutive year, the collaboration between La Biennale di Venezia and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London has made it possible to present a Special Project jointly organised by the two institutions. Robin Hood Gardens: A Ruin in Reverse is the title of the exhibition curated by Christopher Turner and Olivia Horsfall Turner at the Applied Arts Pavilion in the Sale dArmi Arsenale. Responding to this year Architecture Biennales theme of FREESPACE, the exhibition Robin Hood Gardens: A Ruin in Reverse presents a 9m-high salvaged section of the façade of Robin Hood Gardens, the Brutalist housing estate by Alison and Peter Smithson currently under demolition. A specially commissioned installation by Do Ho Suh shows a panoramic portrait of the architecture and interiors of the condemned 1972 estate. Through archival film and images, the ... More Singapore Pavilion asks if there is no more free space in the island state VENICE.- The Singapore Pavilion asks if there is indeed No More Free Space? in the island state, in response to the overarching theme Freespace conceptualised by curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara. No More Free Space? tells the story of how, in spite of the lack of free space, Singapore-based architects, urban planners and place-makers have creatively found ways to bring delightful free spaces to the citys everyday life. The exhibition, which marks the countrys sixth showcase at the International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, since 2004, celebrates how architects and planners have innovated and borrowed from nature to create useful and delightful spaces and places. Set against the backdrop of Singapores compact urban environment, the exhibition features 12 Singapore-based projects that showcase the ... More Nobel Foundation says literature prize may be delayed again STOCKHOLM (AFP).- The Nobel Foundation on Friday said this year's literature prize, already postponed until 2019 due to a sexual assault scandal, may be delayed further. Lars Heikensten, executive director of the foundation said the 2018 prize would be "awarded when the Swedish Academy has regained confidence or is in the process of doing so to a sufficient extent". "This means that there is no 2019 deadline," he told the public Swedish Radio.The body has been in turmoil since November when Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter -- in the wake of the global #MeToo campaign -- published the testimonies of 18 women who claimed to have been raped, sexually assaulted or harassed by an influential figure with long-standing ties to the Academy. Disagreements within the prestigious institution on how to deal with the issue sowed deep discord among its 18 members ... More Japanese American artist Chiura Obata exhibition opens at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts SALT LAKE CITY, UT.- Chiura Obata, a Japanese American artist whose life story is as captivating as his art, is the subject of a major retrospective on view at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts. Chiura Obata: An American Modern, the first internationally traveling survey of the artists work, features more than 150 watercolors, paintings, prints, and screens, from intimate ikebana studies to grand landscapes of the American West. The exhibition includes more than 30 drawings and paintings documenting his forced internment during World War II, including many scenes from the Topaz Relocation Center near Delta, Utah, where he was held 19421943. Many images have never been on public display. Obatas faith in the power of art, his devotion to preserving the myriad grandeur of what he called Great Nature, and his compelling personal story as an immigrant ... More Record Royère leads Sotheby's $25.1 million Design Sales in New York NEW YORK, NY.- Sothebys spring auctions of 20th Century Design concluded yesterday in New York with an impressive total of $25.1 million surpassing the series high estimate of $21.6 million. Nearly 400 lots were offered over the course of two days, with an outstanding 87.2% of lots sold overall. The series began Wednesday with a sale dedicated to the largest single offering of Thomas Molesworth furniture in more than 20 years. Strong demand for these rare designs drove three-quarters of all lots to sell above their high estimates. That evening, Sothebys held an auction of art and design from the celebrated homes of Delphine and Reed Krakoff, with an $8.7 million result that was propelled by intense competition for the iconic work of Les Lalannes. And Thursdays various-owner auction of Important Design was led by an extraordinary ensemble of Jean ... More Cabinets of Curiosities in France and Hong Kong: A fascinating journey into the past HONG KONG.- City University of Hong Kong invites visitors on a journey through time and space into the world of mysterious discoveries that reveal European collectors fascination with exotic animals, plants, minerals and art objects unknown in the West until a few hundred years ago. The Cabinets of Curiosities. From the Natural Sciences to the Art of Nature. Collections from France and Hong Kong exhibition from 25 May to 19 August is presented by CityU Exhibition Gallery in partnership with Le French May Arts Festival. The event introduces Hong Kong audiences to over 250 natural and artificial artefacts from 10 museums, galleries and private collections. Thanks to the exceptional generosity of La Maison Deyrolle, founded in 1831 and itself a living repository of the French cabinets, and of the Musée du Vivant AgroParisTech, whose collectio ... More National Gallery of Jamaica unveils unseen works by John Dunkley KINGSTON.- Five previously publicly unseen works by Jamaicas first and finest intuitive artist, John Dunkley (1891-1947), were revealed at the opening of John Dunkley: Neither Day nor Night at the National Gallery of Jamaica. It is quite a coup for the National Gallery to have secured these Dunkley works for the exhibition and were very grateful to the collectors for sharing them, says Dr Jonathan Greenland, acting executive director of the National Gallery. One work, Deliverance, was believed to be lost. Created by Dunkley in response to the announcement of World War II, it channels serenity (and a) seeming connection to a higher power, perhaps a plea for peace, or deliverance, in the face of the onslaught of war. Its owner, who wishes to remain anonymous, contacted the Gallery after seeing the show in Miami and generously offered it to our local ... More Visually striking vintage petroliana and advertising signs at Route 32 Auctions, June 8-9 CRAWFORDSVILLE, IND.- Route 32 Auctions will hold their inaugural Gas & Advertising Show on Friday, June 8th, followed the next day June 9th, by their Grand Opening Auction. Both events will be held in the new auction facility located at 3097 East State Rd. 32 in Crawfordsville. The auction catalog is currently available online, at Route32auctions.hibid.com and on the bidding platform Proxibid.com. Phone and absentee bids will also be taken. The preferred hotel is the Hampton Inn in Crawfordsville. For reservations call (855) 516-1090. Crawfordsville is located approximately 35 miles northwest of Indianapolis, Indianas largest city. The first annual Gas & Advertising Show will be held from 6 am to 4 pm Eastern time and will feature a large variety of vintage advertising vendors. Doors for the June 9th auction will open at 8 am Eastern. Uncataloged items ... More Amy Torbert joins the Saint Louis Art Museum as assistant curator of American art ST. LOUIS, MO.- Amy Torbert recently joined the Saint Louis Art Museum as assistant curator of American art. Amy brings a great deal of scholarship, enthusiasm, and networking within the broader American art community, said Melissa Wolfe, curator of American art. She has already made significant discoveries about objects from the 18th and 19th centuries, and I suspect we will soon be hearing about future exhibitions that will grow out of her research. Torbert has held curatorial fellowships in American art at the Harvard Art Museums, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Yale University Art Gallery. Research for Torberts dissertation, which studied depictions of the American Revolution, was supported by fellowships from the American Antiquarian Society, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Huntington Library, John Carter Brown Library, Lewis Walpole ... More A good day for fine French furniture and design at Freeman's PHILADELPHIA, PA.- This week, Freemans British & European Furniture & Decorative Arts auction brought to market 640 lots, offering buyers a broad selection of objects, artwork, and furnishings. The sale totaled over $1,290,375 and achieved a 90% sell-through rate, with 95% sold by value. Of the two days successful buyers, 14% were new. It was a good day for fine French furniture and design, said Nick Nicholson, Department Head. Interest in the intact 19th century collection of George Lucas also prompted vigorous international bidding and performed exceptionally well. Notable lots from Tuesdays sale of British & European Furniture & Decorative Arts included Lot 56, a rare and possibly unique Louis XV Vincennes hand-painted porcelain rouet de salon which sold for $26,250 against an estimate of $3,000-5,000. Lot 54, A Louis XV ormolu-mounted ... More
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| href=' Flashback On a day like today, American photographer Dorothea Lange was born May 26, 1895. Dorothea Lange (May 26, 1895 - October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange's photographs humanized the consequences of the Great Depression and influenced the development of documentary photography. In this image: Dorothea Lange (1895-1965), Couple Seated on Porch, Gunlock, Utah, 1953, Gelatin silver print, Brigham Young University Museum of Art, purchased with funds donated by Jack and Mary Lois Wheatley. ©Dorothea Lange Collection, Oakland Museum of California, City of Oakland. Gift of Paul S. Taylor
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