| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Thursday, February 18, 2021 |
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| | Russian scientists probe prehistoric viruses dug from permafrost | |
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The research in collaboration with the University of Yakutsk began with analysis of tissues extracted from a prehistoric horse believed to be at least 4,500 years old.
MOSCOW (AFP).- Russian state laboratory Vektor on Tuesday announced it was launching research into prehistoric viruses by analysing the remains of animals recovered from melted permafrost. The Siberia-based lab said in a statement that the aim of the project was to identify paleoviruses and conduct advanced research into virus evolution. The research in collaboration with the University of Yakutsk began with analysis of tissues extracted from a prehistoric horse believed to be at least 4,500 years old. Vektor said the remains were discovered in 2009 in Yakutia, a vast Siberian region where remains of Paleolithic animals including mammoths are regularly discovered. Researchers said they would probe too the remains of mammoths, elk, dogs, partridges, rodents, hares and other prehistoric animals. Maxim Cheprasov, head of the Mammoth Museum laboratory at Yakutsk University, said in a press release that the recovered animals had already been the subject of bacterial studies. But he added: "We are co ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day Immersive Van Gogh Chicago. Photo Credit Michael Brosilow.
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| Charles Venable resigns as head of Indianapolis Museum of Art | | Sotheby's Christo auction, part 1, nets $9.8 million | | Fraenkel Gallery announces Carrie Mae Weems representation | 
Charles Venable, then director and chief executive of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields, Jan. 16, 2019. Venable resigned on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021, after apologizing for an insensitive job posting. Lyndon French/The New York Times.
by Sarah Bahr
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- After editing and then apologizing for an insensitive job posting that appeared on a recruiting site, Charles L. Venable, the president of Newfields, the 152-acre campus that is home to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, has resigned. We are ashamed of Newfields leadership and of ourselves, the museums board of trustees and board of governors said in a statement on its website Wednesday, in which they said they had accepted Venables resignation. We have ignored, excluded, and disappointed members of our community and staff. We pledge to do better. We thank him for his service and agree that his resignation is necessary for Newfields to become the cultural institution our community needs and deserves, the statement said. Venable, 60, has led the museum as director and chief ... More | | 
Lucio Fontana, Concetto Spaziale, Attesa. Courtesy Sotheby's.
by Scott Reyburn
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Bulgarian-born artist Christo, who died this past May at 84, was famous for the spectacular ambition of the environmental projects he created in collaboration with his wife, Jeanne-Claude, who died in 2009. Over the decades, as they tirelessly battled (not always successfully) to bring celebrated temporary artworks like The Gates in New Yorks Central Park to fruition, Christo and Jeanne-Claude also acquired pieces by friends and contemporaries. These works are being auctioned this week by Sothebys in a two-part sale in Paris, the city in which the couple first met after Christo escaped from Communist Bulgaria in 1957, before moving to New York in 1964. Proceeds from the sale benefit the artists estates. They didnt consider themselves collectors, Matthias Koddenberg, an art historian and close friend of the couple, said in an interview. They only had works by artists they knew, or admired ... More | | 
Carrie Mae Weems, Thoughts on Marriage, 1989 © Carrie Mae Weems; Courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Fraenkel Gallery announced its representation of Carrie Mae Weems, whose groundbreaking work spanning photography, installation, video, and performance has expanded contemporary discourse for more than four decades. The gallery will work in collaboration with Jack Shainman in New York; Weemss relationship with Shainman and with Galerie Barbara Thumm in Berlin continues. In September 2021 Fraenkel Gallery will present an exhibition surveying Weemss career. Since the 1980s, Weemss work has been seen around the world, and she has inspired a generation of artists with her poetic and original approach to storytelling. Her photographs and video projects explore history, identity, and power, giving voice to people whose stories have been silenced or ignored. Throughout her career, Weems has exposed the belief systems that have maintained the status quo, often addressing both personal experience and larger political ... More |
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| Lehmann Maupin opens an exhibition of new work by Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña | | From Lagos to Los Angeles, an African art gallery arrives | | Guggenheim Museum reaches agreement with new union | 
Cecilia Vicuña: Quipu Girok (Knot Record). Installation view, Lehmann Maupin Seoul, February 18 April 24, 2021. Photo by OnArt Studio. Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, and London.
SEOUL.- Lehmann Maupin is presenting Quipu Girok, an exhibition of new work by Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña featuring her first painted quipu, a recent video, hand-painted prints, drawings, and an installation of precarios that will engage a dialogue between Korean and Andean textile traditions and techniques. An artist, filmmaker, poet, and activist based in New York, Vicuñas work ranges from performance, to painting, to poetry, to large-scale installations that address pressing concerns of the modern world, including ecological destruction, human rights, and cultural homogenization. The exhibition marks Vicuñas second with the gallery and is her first solo presentation in Asia. Quipu Girok will coincide with the Gwangju Biennale, which will feature a selection of Vicuñas paintings from the 1970s and a number of textile prints. These prints are a recreation of a series of paintings on fabric that the ar ... More | | 
Adenrele Sonariwo, a Nigerian art dealer, at her art gallery in Los Angeles, Feb. 6, 2021. Sonariwo has brought her Lagos gallery to Melrose Avenue, with a show focusing on new stories told by women. Phylicia J. L. Munn/The New York Times.
by Robin Pogrebin
LOS ANGELES (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- It certainly didnt feel like a gallery opening. There was no crowd. No wine and cheese. Only a few people were allowed in at a time because of COVID-19 restrictions. But despite the challenge of opening a new gallery devoted to largely-unknown African artists during a pandemic winter, Adenrele Sonariwo exuded an aura of serene resolve. She had succeeded in bringing to the United States a branch of the Rele Gallery that she founded six years ago in Nigeria, making it perhaps Los Angeles first contemporary gallery from the worlds second-largest continent. Were doing the artists a disservice by just being in Lagos, Sonariwo, 34, said at her compact gallery on a commercial stretch of Melrose Avenue. Its one thing to see the artwork on social media or online. But these artists have ... More | | 
Outside the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020. Paul Frangipane/The New York Times.
by Zachary Small
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- After nearly 18 months of negotiations, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum has signed an agreement with the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 30 that will provide new benefits to some of the cultural institutions workers. The three-year collective bargaining agreement covers 22 full-time employees and 145 on-call staffers who make up the museums facilities, maintenance and art handling crews. Under the terms of the agreement, salaries will increase by approximately 10% over the life of the contract; employees will not have to contribute to health insurance premiums; and scheduling practices and safety procedures will be improved, according to the museum. Union officials declined to release the exact terms of the contract, citing concerns for the privacy of their workers. We are pleased to have reached a contract agreement, Richard Armstrong, the Guggenheims ... More |
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| Abbey Road among London street signs on sale at auction | | New online auction platform gives resale royalty to artists | | American Craft Council unveils reimagined American Craft Magazine | 
Bidding for the unique piece of signage reached £1,110 within hours of the auction getting under way.
LONDON (AFP).- Anglophiles, collectors and Beatles fans began a bidding battle Wednesday as a bevy of original London street signs, including one of the iconic Abbey Road, went on sale at auction. The world-famous street, home to the studios where The Beatles recorded most of their albums, is the standout lot in the collection of around 270 used signs being offered at the two-week online sale. Abbey Road itself featured on the cover of the "Fab Four" album of the same name and the sign could fetch more than £5,000 ($6,930, 5,750 euros), according to auctioneer Catherine Southon, who is handling the offering. "Who knows? The sky's the limit," she told AFP, describing it as "the real king of the road signs". Bidding for the unique piece of signage reached £1,110 within hours of the auction getting under way. Other notable names going under the virtual hammer include Prince's Gate, which overlooks ... More | | 
Artfizz will share 50% of its commission with artists every time their works are sold on its
platform - the only platform of its kind to do so. Photo: Courtesy of Artfizz.
NEW YORK, NY.- Artfizz, a new community-driven online ecosystem for contemporary art, launches today. Artfizz will offer simple and empowering experiences for both sellers and buyers, working to lower the barriers to entry for collecting art and building an interactive community of artists, collectors and art lovers. Together, they will create a new ecosystem of buying, selling and appreciating art: sellers will curate their own auctions, buyers will follow their own eyes and hearts, and artists will always directly benefit from the resale of their work. For every aftermarket sale on the Artfizz platform, Artfizz will pay 50% of its commission to the artist - an unprecedented and unique model in the current art market landscape. Matthew Dipple, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Artfizz, who has worked closely with artists for over twenty years ... More | | 
Magazine to feature more visual storytelling and modern design.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN.- The American Craft Council announced that its launching its newly redesigned American Craft magazine. The magazines new editor, Karen Olson, helped reimagine the award-winning publication, which will be released in four issues per year, following the themes: Nourish, Flourish, Kinship, and Wonder. In addition to taking on a fresh, modern look, the magazines content will focus on telling the stories of the people, processes, and materials behind the craft community. The restyled magazine examines how craft and its artists shape American life with a focus on visual storytelling. The publication will include three main sections: (1) New + Noteworthy, (2) a series of feature articles, and (3) The Crafted Life, which highlights the voices of artists themselves offering insight, advice, and experiences both in and out of the studio. With the magazines 80th anniversary this fall, we felt ... More |
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| New exhibition at the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University presents Islamic art through time and place | | Sotheby's to auction one-of-a-kind bottle from The Macallan's newly launched 'Anecdotes of Ages' Collection | | He calls himself 'North Korea's poet laureate.' Two women call him a rapist. | 
Jobbana Covered Jar with Interlocking Ring Motifs. Morocco, late 18th early 20th century. Earthenware with white, blue, yellow and turquoise glazes. Newark Museum Purchase, The Members Fund 1978 78.5A,B. H: 11 in, Dia: 7 3/4 in.
ATLANTA, GA.- Wondrous Worlds: Art & Islam Through Time & Place explores the long history, vast geographic expanse, and remarkable diversity of works of art in the Islamic world. Organized by and drawn from the collections of The Newark Museum of Art, Wondrous Worlds features more than 100 works in nearly all media, including carpets, costumes, jewelry, ceramics, glassware, metalworks, prints, paintings, and photographs. Contemporary works from artists Rachid Koraichi and Victor Ekpuk, and calligrapher Hassan Massoudy are shown alongside works from as early as the ninth century. Highlights of the exhibition include dazzling lusterware from Iran and Spain, delicate prayer rugs from Turkey and India, a majestic pair of early-20th-century Egyptian applique tent hangings and Harem #1 by the Moroccan-American photographer Lalla Essaydi. ... More | | 
Legendary pop artist Sir Peter Blake unveils new artwork for label of one of the worlds rarest whiskies. Courtesy Sotheby's.
NEW YORK, NY.- For collectors of rare whisky, the mention of The Macallan in the same breath as the name Sir Peter Blake has for many decades proved an irresistible combination. Next month, Sothebys is set to offer a one-of-a-kind original bottle of 1967 whisky from The Macallans newly launched Anecdotes of Ages Collection, a limited-release whisky and art collection created in collaboration with the renowned pop artist. Estimated at $125,000-750,000, the extraordinary multi-component lot, including a print donated by Sir Peter as well as a bespoke VIP experience with The Macallan, will lead Sothebys first dedicated spirits sale in New York on 13 March. All of The Macallans proceeds from the sale will benefit the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Support from The Macallan will advance efforts underway at the Guggenheim to increase free access and develop engagement with a variety of audiences, in alignment with ... More | | 
Sung Sel-hyang, a defector from North Korea, at home in Seoul, South Korea, Feb. 16, 2021. Sung has accused Jang Jin-sung, the author of Dear Leader, of sexual assault. Woohae Cho/The New York Times.
SEOUL (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- He has lectured in European universities and appeared on the cover of a British magazine. His book was translated into a dozen languages. He was once a guest on CNN. Jang Jin-sung is one of the most internationally recognized defectors from North Korea. His 2014 memoir, Dear Leader, enthralled readers with what he said were firsthand descriptions of a private party held by Kim Jong Il, the former North Korean leader, and claims of what it was like to be one of the few poet laureates chosen to write propaganda about the Kim family. But two women say his heroic tale of escape from the authoritarian country masked a secret. Both have accused Jang of raping them in South Korea after he defected, and they said that he had used his celebrity status to prey on them. One woman, a North Korean defector, has filed a lawsuit accusing both Jang and one of his ... More |
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AMERICAN MASTERS | Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart - Preview | PBS
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| More News |
 Helsinki Biennial announces its principles and objectives for embracing a new eraHELSINKI.- The inaugural Helsinki Biennial 2021, The Same Sea, will be held on the Helsinki Archipelago, Vallisaari island, from 12 June 26 September 2021. Following a year which has challenged ways of being indefinitely, shifted the modus operandi, and renewed perspectives, Helsinki Biennial invites the global art community to rethink how the worlds major art events are staged. By establishing a responsible approach to exhibition making, advocating a commitment to the local whilst also promoting sustainable tourism, and working within the context of the City of Helsinki and its ambitious climate goals recently included in the A List of leading cities of climate work in 2020 Helsinki Biennial aims to offer an alternative framework for biennials in a post-pandemic world. Based on these considerations, it announces its guiding principles and objectives ... More  Converse Auctions announces highlights included in the East West Antique AuctionPAOLI, PA.- A beautiful hand-painted Chinese bottle vase, a painting of roses by the French fleuriste Raoul M. De Longpré (1843-1911), and an impressive African Dan Guere mask with cowrie shells and bronze bells are a few expected top lots in Converse Auctions online-only East West Antique Auction slated for Saturday, February 27th, starting at 12 oclock pm Eastern. While the event is Internet-only, with no in-person gallery bidding, online bidding is available at LiveAuctioneers.com, Invaluable.com and ConverseAuctions.com. Live previews will be held by appointment only in Converse Auctions gallery at 1 Spring Street in Paoli, Pa., just outside Philadelphia. The auction is packed with over 550 lots of fine American, European, African, Chinese and other Asian items a tantalizing blend of objects from the East alongside items from the ... More  Kehrer Verlag publishes 'The Pretend Villages' by Christopher SimsNEW YORK, NY.- The Pretend Villages documents the inhabitants and structures of imagined, fabricated Iraqi and Afghan villages on the training grounds of US military bases. Situated in the deep forests of North Carolina and Louisiana and in a great expanse of desert near Death Valley in California, these villages serve as strange and poignant way stations for soldiers headed off to war, and for those who have fled from it: American troops encounter actors, often recent immigrants from Iraq and Afghanistan, who are paid to be »cultural role-players.« Christopher Sims photographed in these surprising and fantastical realms over a fifteen-year period as US wars abroad fluctuated in intensity. With this book, he presents an archival record of »enemy« village life that is as convincingly accurate and comically misdirected as it is mundane and nightmarish. His recent exhibitions include sho ... More  The Cape Ann Museum welcomes four new hiresGLOUCESTER, MASS.- The Cape Ann Museum welcomed four new staff members: Rebecca Robison as Executive Assistant, Karla Kaneb as Collections Move Coordinator, Stacey Csaplar as Visitor Services Representative, and Anastasia Dennehy, also in Visitor Services. Robison brings 15 years of museum administrative experience to her role as Executive Assistant. Prior to joining the Cape Ann Museum, she skillfully managed administrative duties and board relations as the Executive Assistant and Board Liaison to both the Chief Philanthropy Officer and the Director and CEO at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM). Before working at PEM, she was the Project Manager for more than a decade at White Oak Associates, Museum Planners and Analysts. The Cape Ann Museum is truly a love letter to the beauty, history and cultural heritage ... More  Heroic Korean War George Cross fetches world record price of £280,000 at Dix Noonan WebbLONDON.- An extremely important George Cross for the Korean War - awarded posthumously to Lieutenant T. E. Waters of the West Yorkshire Regiment, who was attached to 1st Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment sold today (Wednesday, February 17, 2021) for a world record price of £280,000 (Hammer price) by Dix Noonan Webb in their auction of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria. It was being sold on behalf of the family, who are based in Bristol, and was expected to fetch £140,000-180,000. It was bought by a Private Collector on the phone after fierce competition between three telephone bidders. Terence Edward Waters was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire on 1 June 1929. After leaving Bristol Grammar School, where he held the rank of Sergeant in the Schools Cadet Force, Waters was accepted into the Royal Military College ... More  Abraham Lincoln's Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. recording included in exhibitionALBANY, NY.- The New York State Museum and the New York State Writers Institute have partnered to bring the First Step to Freedom exhibit to the University at Albany campus in honor of Black History Month, State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa announced today. The historically remarkable exhibit includes a display of the only surviving version of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation in President Abraham Lincolns handwriting. The First Step to Freedom also includes the only known audio recording of a speech written and delivered by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in New York City in September 1962 for the Proclamations centennial. The exhibit opened, appropriately, on Presidents Day ... More  The Phillips Collection appoints five new TrusteesWASHINGTON, DC.- The Phillips Collection has elected five new members to join its Board of Trustees. The new members bring a wealth of new perspectives to the Phillips and their range of expertise will provide the museum with additional tools to celebrate its centennial year in 2021 and continue its impact. We are thrilled to welcome Patty Alper, Barbara Brown, Jane Chu, Paul Killian, and Sala Elise Patterson to our Board of Trustees, said Vradenburg Director & CEO Dorothy Kosinski. These accomplished individuals bring insights, expertise, and diverse perspectives that will enhance all of our work at the Phillipsfrom education to communications and visitors experienceimportant capacities as we embark on our next 100 years. It has been a top institutional priority to expand our Board of Trustees, says Chief Diversity Officer Makeba ... More  Queer and feminist artists of the Asian diaspora in new exhibit at SF's Chinese Culture Center SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- WOMEN我們: From Her to Here is an art exhibition and series of public programs that explores agency and belonging in queer and feminist communities. On view at San Franciscos Chinese Culture Center February 19 - August 28, 2021, the group exhibition, centered on Asian diasporic perspectives, features video and film works, mixed media installation, photography, painting, and more by a diverse array of LGBTQ+ and women artists and art collectives from the Bay Area, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and beyond. Several new works have been commissioned for this exhibition. This is CCCs third iteration of WOMEN我們 (a Mandarin homophone meaning both women and we). The ongoing series is a platform to explore feminism, gender diversity, and sexual equality. Previous iterations explored feminist visual culture in China ... More  Carnegie Museum of Art presents Rokni Haerizadeh's 'Reign of Winter' for online exhibition seriesPITTSBURGH, PA.- Today, Carnegie Museum of Art presents Reign of Winter (2012-2013), an animated video work by Iranian artist Rokni Haerizadeh, as the next installment of its online exhibition series. Haerizadehs film is accessible to audiences worldwide now through May 16, 2021 on cmoa.org. The seven-minute silent video Reign of Winter uses rotoscope animation to transform thousands of still images taken from the televised 2011 British royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton into a fantastical moving dreamscape. Haerizadeh hand-painted footage of the nuptials frame-by-frame, altering one of the most highly televised events in recent history through surreal backdrops, textural detailing, and anthropomorphizing the wedding party into wild creatures. In this moment marked by the pandemic, intersecting social justice movements, ... More  Texas master James C. Watkins' lustrous ceramic vessels featured in solo exhibitionHOUSTON, TX.- Houston Center for Contemporary Craft is presenting a solo exhibition by outstanding Lubbock ceramicist and educator, James C. Watkins, who was recently named a Texas Master by HCCC. Watkins joins an impressive roster of other Texas Master awardeesincluding curator Clint Willour (Houston) and artists Harlan Butt (Denton), Cindy Hickok (Houston), Rachelle Thiewes (El Paso), Piero Fenci (Nacogdoches), and Sandie Zilker (Houston)recognized for their roles as career artists, professionals, or educators who have made a significant impact on the field of craft in Texas. James C. Watkins has built an extraordinary career as a ceramicist and an educator. He received his MFA from Indiana University and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. His work has been featured in 40 solo exhibitions and 164 group ... More |
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PhotoGalleries 
Mental Escapology, St. Moritz 
TIM VAN LAERE GALLERY 
Madelynn Green 
Patrick Angus
Flashback On a day like today, stained glass artist Louis Comfort Tiffany was born February 18, 1848. Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 - January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements. In this image: Tiffany Studios (New York), Dragonfly Library Lamp, ca. 1905 - 10 Leaded glass; cast bronze Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.
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