| | The First Art Newspaper on the Net |   | Established in 1996 | Tuesday, April 14, 2020 |
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| | Tom Blackwell, pioneering Photorealist painter, dies at 82 | |
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White Lightning, 1973, oil on canvas, 48 1/4 x 72 1/2 inches. Collection of The Smithsonian Institute National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C.
NEW YORK, NY.- Thomas "Tom" Leo Blackwell, a founding artist of the Photorealist movement whose iconic paintings of motorcycles and city storefronts revived the New York art sceneÂs interest in realism, died on April 8 in a hospital near his home in Rhinebeck, NY. He was 82. His death on Wednesday was confirmed by his wife, Linda Chase. The cause was complications from the coronavirus. For more than a half-century, Tom Blackwell has been regarded as one of the original pioneers and innovators in Photorealist painting. Self-taught, he was one of the first artists in the late 60s to fully immerse himself in a style that was initially dubbed ÂNew Realism. By the early 70s, BlackwellÂs iconic large-scale paintings of highly chromed motorcycles and car engines put him at the forefront and propelled his success as a Photorealist, garnering praise from curators and collectors. ... More |
The Best Photos of the Day An art installation, part of the "Balconies, Life, Art, Pandemic, and Proximity" exhibition is seen in Berlin on April 12, 2020, amid a new coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Over 30 artists are taking part in the two-day exhibition which calls on "the artistic community living in [Berlin's district of] Prenzlauer Berg to activate / exhibit / inhabit / their windows and balconies on Easter Sunday and Monday". Curated by Ovul Durmusoglu and Joanna Warsza, the exhibition boasts "zero budget, no openings, no crowds, just a proposition of a stroll that would connect dots in solidarity and togetherness". John MACDOUGALL / AFP
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 | | Peterson Rich Office shares design details about Perrotin New York | | How the 'greatest rock and roll band in the world' got its logo | | 'Balconies, life, art': Berlin's shut-in artists show their work | 
Innovative illuminated interior by Peterson Rich Office.
NEW YORK, NY.- Brooklyn-based architecture firm Peterson Rich Office's first public art gallery the New York flagship for Perrotin involves the complete adaptive reuse and redesign of The Beckenstein Building. Constructed in 1890 and located at 130 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side, the building has evolved from residential lofts to commercial use, and now functions as an open, flexible contemporary art gallery and workspace. Because of its scale and varied uses, the building functions more like an institution than a commercial art gallery. Over the past decade, art galleries have played a central role in the changing character of the Lower East Side. There are fifteen times as many galleries in the neighborhood today as there were ten years ago. Where as the vast majority of these spaces occupy small 300-500 ft2 tenement storefronts, Perrotin has the largest exhibition space, representing a dramatic shift in the neighborhood f ... More | | 
The logo was to be displayed later this month in Revolutions: Records and Rebels 1966 1970, an exhibition at the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris.
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- It began life as a tiny emblem, something to adorn a 45 rpm single or the bands letterhead. It quickly became ubiquitous and, ultimately, the most famous logo in rock n roll. Over 50 years, the legendary tongue and lips of the Rolling Stones has been emblazoned on everything from T-shirts and lighters to stage sets, appearing in countless variations throughout the decades. And while many who love it are fans of the band, the logo has in many ways transcended the Stones. But when it was commissioned in April 1970 its designer, John Pasche, had little idea how popular and lucrative it would become. The logo was to be displayed later this month in Revolutions: Records and Rebels 1966 1970, an exhibition at the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris that has been postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. But I caught ... More | | 
An art installation featuring a strip of fabric hanging from a balcony, part of the "Balconies, Life, Art, Pandemic, and Proximity" exhibition, is seen in Berlin on April 12, 2020, amid a new coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. John MACDOUGALL / AFP.
BERLIN (AFP).- Berlin's art galleries are closed, but the art scene is rising to the occasion as around 50 artists join a community exhibition from their balconies. "While our freedom of mobility is on hold, (balconies) become unique sites of everyday performance," organisers said as they launched the project in the trendy Prenzlauer Berg district of east Berlin. Balconies are "emergency exits to take a breath of fresh air, catch a moment of sunshine or a smoke", said Ovul Durmusoglu and Joanna Warsza, whose project "Balconies, Life, Art, Pandemic and Proximity" gives artists a 48-hour showcase for their work. The rules of isolation in the face of the coronavirus pandemic are less strict in Berlin than elsewhere in Germany, allowing people a chance to admire the ... More |
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| | A dream deferred, for now | | Howard Greenberg Gallery presents online exhibition, One-Third of a Nation | | Porsche and RM Sotheby's to auction last 911 to pass down the serial production line for charitable COVID-19 fundraiser | 
Deborah Roberts was born in Austin, Texas, USA in 1962 where she continues to live and work. Image courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.
by Robin Pogrebin
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Deborah Roberts could have given up long ago. With a mother who worked as a maid and a father who worked as an electrical lineman for the city of Austin, Texas, she grew up trading her drawings of cars, horses, dolls and airplanes for her classmates fat red pencils. It meant nothing to them, but it was everything to me, she said. I did not know what an artist was. I just knew that I wanted to do this. Her parents did not understand her passion. My daddy hated art and said it was never going to be nothing, Roberts said. He would say, What are you doing that for? I learned to get a thick skin when I was about 25, she added. Nothing anyone can tell you is ever going to make you stop doing it. That resolve is finally ... More | | 
Walker Evans, Construction worker, Louisiana, 1936. Gelatin silver print; printed, c.1936, 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in.
NEW YORK, NY.- One Third of a Nation: The Photographs of the Farm Security Administration, with iconic photographs from 1935-1946, is on view in Howard Greenberg Gallerys online viewing room from April 10 through 30, 2020. Depicting challenges impoverished Americans were enduring at the time, with photographs by Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Gordon Parks, among others, the exhibition demonstrates the extraordinary power of photography to define an era and inspire social change. Although the exhibition was planned months before the current pandemic situation, the images now take on a new relevance. As the consequences of the Great Depression, unemployment, poverty and the effects of the Dust Bowl ravaged the country in the 1930s, government programs such as the Farm Security Administration (FSA) were ... More | | 
Porsche 911 Speedster, front. Courtesy of Porsche Cars North America.
ATLANTA, GA.- Porsche Cars North America, Inc. and RM Sothebys will host a unique charitable auction with a money-cant-buy package for Porsche enthusiasts. With proceeds, excluding taxes and fees, being donated to United Way Worldwides COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Fund, the auctions sole lot will be the last-ever 991 generation 911 to enter and pass down the serial production line within serial production at the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen factory. The one-week auction in the U.S. will be held via RM Sothebys Online Only auction platform to adhere to social distancing guidelines without delaying the charitable fundraiser. We are all profoundly affected by the current situation and the immediate impact its having on those most at risk in our communities, said Klaus Zellmer, President and CEO of PCNA. United Way continues to step up to the plate and their response to this crisis has been ... More |
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| | Millions watch Andrea Bocelli sing in empty Milan cathedral | | Avant Gallery offers avatar robot experience to connect with collectors | | Thierry Goldberg Gallery presents an online solo exhibition of paintings by Bony Ramirez | 
Italian tenor and opera singer Andrea Bocelli sings during a rehearsal on a deserted Piazza del Duomo in central Milan on April 12, 2020, prior to an evening performance without public for the world wounded by the pandemic, during the country's lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. Piero Cruciatti / AFP.
MILAN (AFP).- Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli performed a solo Easter concert from an empty Milan Cathedral streamed live to millions of people around the world in coronavirus lockdown. The "Music for Hope" performance, which was streamed on YouTube from Milan's Duomo cathedral, has been watched more than 22 million times so far. Accompanied by an organist, Bocelli sang four songs inside the magnificent Gothic building and ended with a rendition of "Amazing Grace" from the cathedral steps with a montage of images showing the empty streets of Paris, London and New York. "On the day in which we celebrate the trust in a life that triumphs, I'm honoured and happy to ... More | | 
Telepresence robot, the robots human height and 13MB camera enables the user an immersive, ultra-wide field of view without sacrificing visual detail.
NEW YORK, NY.- Last week Avant Gallery has started to test-pilot a telepresence robot, allowing collectors to visit the gallery remotely by taking complete control of the robot as an avatar, or Avantar as one client began to playfully refer to it, from the comfort of their home. Essentially this allows the client to feel like theyre at the gallery in real time, walking around, browsing, approaching a work of art, getting up-close-and-personal, whether its a painting on a wall, or circling around a sculpture atop a pedestal and viewing it from all angles. Using this technology weve just sold a sculpture and a commission ($80,000) by Will Kurtz, and a pair of paintings ($70,000) by Skyler Grey. The robots human height and 13MB camera enables the user an immersive, ultra-wide field of view without sacrificing visual detail. Client is granted access by setting an appointment with the gallery, and ... More | | 
Bony Ramirez, Will The Sun Shine Over Me, 2019. Acrylic, colored pencil, oil pastel, paper on board, 39 x 27 inches.
NEW YORK, NY.- Thierry Goldberg Gallery presents Grass Under The Wood, an online solo exhibition of paintings by Bony Ramirez. Born in a small town in the Dominican Republic, before moving to the States as an early teen, Bony Ramirez retains a connection to his Dominican heritage through his art, incorporating elements of the Caribbean with his distinctive figures and details. It was during his early education in the Dominican Republic that the artist was first exposed to local iconography, with the easily identifiable symbols and motifs still making appearances in his current work, acting as a common visual language across cultures. In addition to perspectives from his own immigrant experience, Ramirez pulls inspiration from a number of sources, including the Early Renaissance and Italian Manneristsincorporating idealism into ... More |
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| | UK School Charity Secret Postcard Art Auction includes artwork from Sir Quentin Blake, Axel Scheffler and others | | New book presents François-Marie Banier's portraits of Moroccan construction workers sleeping | | Un negocio de afecto y aversion: Galeria Curro opens a group exhibition | 
Auction on eBay with all proceeds going to charity. All artists welcome!
BEXHILL-ON-SEA.- Two years ago, St Richard's Catholic College raised almost £15,000 from 570 original artworks for The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in memory of a former pupil, Sophie Maria Taylor. To commemorate what would have been Sophies final year at the school, they are again running the Secret Postcard auction. This time they have set themselves a target of 1000 wonderful original postcard works of art. The auction will run for 10 days on eBay and end on Saturday 27th June 2020. #sophiespostcard2020 has got off to an incredible start with over 350 wonderful postcards already received from artists from all over the world, including some very famous childrens illustrators. Sir Quentin Blake, Axel Scheffler, Jacqueline Wilson and Thomas Taylor have all already sent artwork. But you dont need to be famous ... More | | 
François-Marie Banier: Dreamers. Text by Erri De Luca, translation from Italian to English: Jim Hicks. Book Design: Duncan Whyte and Gerhard Steidl, 64 pages, 32 images, 7 x 9.5 in. / 23.7 x 33 cm. Black and white. Open-spine softcover in a sleeve. US$ 35.00 / 30.00 ISBN 978-3-95829-507-0
NEW YORK, NY.- This book presents François-Marie Baniers portraits of Moroccan construction workers sleeping or at rest in their places of work. Caught in moments of dreaming and escape from their labor, Baniers subjects blend into the soft grey atmosphere of his pictures and seem, if but for a moment, to have escaped the harsher facts of reality. These are candid and tender portraits which continue Baniers practice of photographing strangers he meets in small and large cities. In his words: To photograph workers asleep on the very ground of their construction site was, once again, to follow the paradoxical lines of being, a solitude embodied in movie heroes ... More | | 
Installation view.
by Francisco Borrego Vergara
GUADALAJARA.- Somehow, my interest in art has always favored those practices whose aesthetic decisions and theoretical background serve as a response to the impossibility of verbalizing their own thesis. What do I mean by this? That there is no other alternative for doing justice to the philosophical vision of the artist than through the plastic strategies implemented in the work of art. By witnessing this kind of pieces, the spectator partakes in an unusual experience that balances the visceral and the emotional with the intellect and that serves as the guiding thread of Un negocio de afecto y aversion (Inebriate of air am I). The title proposes a complicated relationship between the spectator and the work of art. The derealization that a sublime experience is capable of imposing can arise ... More |
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How CITYarts Transformed Alexander Hamilton Playground with Community Youth
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 The New Art Dealers Alliance announces fundraising partnership with Kinkade Family FoundationNEW YORK, NY.- The New Art Dealers Alliance, the definitive non-profit arts organization dedicated to the cultivation, support, and advancement of new voices in contemporary art, partnered with The Kinkade Family Foundation to release prints based on a never-before-seen artwork by American painter Thomas Kinkade in support of NADAs Members and art galleries nationally. For a limited time, 100% of the net proceeds of the sale of Untitled (Toilet Paper) will be donated to NADAs fund to support those galleries most impacted by COVID-19. NADAs application and guidelines will be released in the coming weeks. The safety and security of our community is our top priority during this unprecedented period, and we are grateful to be partnering with The Kinkade Family Foundation to support some of those who have been hit hardest ... More P.D.S.A. Dickin Medal for Gallantry awarded to the cock-pigeon will be offered by Dix Noonan Webb LONDON.- The emotive P.D.S.A. Dickin Medal for Gallantry - The Animals V.C. - awarded to the cockpigeon Duke of Normandy for his gallantry on D-Day, 6 June 1944 will be offered by Dix Noonan Webb in their online/ live auction of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria on Thursday, April 16, 2020 on their website www.dnw.co.uk. It is estimated to fetch £6,000-8,000. Owned by Gaston Noterman, a naturalised Belgian and master organ builder living and working in Shepherds Bush, London. Duke of Normandy was the first bird to arrive home with vital intelligence from behind enemy lines after an epic 26 hours and 50 minutes flight. Auctioneer, Oliver Pepys, Associate Director, Dix Noonan Webb commented: This Dickin Medal is extremely important - it is the Animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross, and very few have been awarded. ... More NYU Abu Dhabi launches virtual tour of exhibit featuring emerging UAE artistsABU DHABI.- The NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery is offering an online experience of its last Project Space exhibition, Intimaa: Belonging. In the new video, The Art Gallerys inaugural David Webb Museum Fellow, Tala Nassar, gives a tour of the exhibition. The video showcases the commissioned artworks on display, and features excerpts of poems being recited by the exhibitions four Emirati poets. This marks the sixth in a series of annual exhibitions organized by UAE Unlimited throughout the UAE, this time in collaboration with The NYUAD Art Gallery, and supported by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development. This exhibition unveils a number of works and four new commissions by UAE-based emerging artists who question their place in an era of globalization and how, through the rise of technological advancements, society ... More London Transport Museum brings its collection to life online for digital visitors to enjoy at homeLONDON.- From curating virtual galleries and building an online hub for its much-loved family fun activities to compiling transport-themed Spotify playlists, London Transport Museum is open online and sharing its collection to help people feel inspired and uplifted while they settle into staying indoors. For families who were looking forward to visiting the Museum in Covent Garden over the Easter holidays, a new online activity hub will offer fun problem-solving games, word searches, quizzes and colouring-in pages to help recreate the experience at home. Available to download from today (Monday 6 April) these activities are inspired by Billy Brown of London Town - a vintage cartoon character who used playful rhymes to keep passengers on their best behaviour when using public transport during the Second World War. Families looking for additional ... More Galleria d'Arte Moderna in Bergamo confirms its participation in prestigious video-art networkBERGAMO.- GAMeC confirms and continues its participation in the Artists Film International, the prestigious video-art network that since 2008 has involved some of the most important international contemporary art institutions, along with artists from all around the world. While museums and institutions must remain closed in compliance with the Government Regulations adopted to contrast the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the websites and social network pages of the over twenty partner organisations joining this initiative are hosting an online international exhibition presenting this years video works: a message of solidarity and international collaboration against a historical background imposing social distancing on us all. For the twelfth edition of the event whose theme is language, curators Sara Fumagalli and Valentina Gervasoni selected ... More Dortmunder Kunstverein announces Rebekka Seubert as new artistic directorDORTMUND.- While Dortmunder Kunstverein is currently closed until further notice due to the city's recommendation, the museum digitally introduces you to their new director Rebekka Seubert. The cultural scientist has taken her new position in March 2020 and is expected to start her program from this fall. Rebekka Seubert succeeds former director Oriane Durand, who has gained international attention for her outstanding program in the past five years. The new director will build on these achievements and continue exciting our members and visitors for young contemporary art from Germany and around the world with a strong art mediation and a selection of experimental projects linked to social and artistic discourse. In her work she will be supported by curator Linda Schröer. Rebekka Seubert (b. 1985 in Frankfurt am Main) started ... More Chicago Artists Coalition enhances unrestricted funding to artistsCHICAGO, IL.- On April 27, 2020, Chicago Artists Coalition will unveil the 25 awardees of its annual SPARK Grant program, along with two recipients of the MAKER Grant and one recipient of the Coney Family Fund Award. Now in its second cycle of grantmaking, the SPARK Grant program supports the creative endeavors of visual artists who identify as ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American), an artist with acute financial need, an artist with a disability, or as a self-taught artist whose art practice is a primary vocation. Celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, CAC has a strong history of supporting emerging Chicago-based visual artists through unrestricted grant funds. Beginning in 2013, CACs MAKER Grant has since awarded 14 Chicago-based visual artists unrestricted grants, totaling $31,600 to date, to support the advancement ... More RSA announces the launch of a new award to support artists working in response to the current pandemicEDINBURGH.- The Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture announced the launch of a new award to support artists working in response to the current Coronavirus pandemic. The RSA Award Pandemic: A personal response to COVID-19 (£2,500) has been set up in response to the COVID-19 outbreak to assist artists with the creation of new work at this difficult time. Eight artists will each receive a monetary award of £2,500 to research, develop and produce new work which reflects their personal response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Selected artists will also be invited to exhibit the resulting work at the Academy in Edinburgh at a future date. The Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture is a self-funding charity which supports artists through a range of exhibition and bursary opportunities. Funding for this new award has been drawn from other ... More France's Avignon theatre festival cancelled due to epidemicPARIS (AFP).- The annual theatre festival in the French city of Avignon, the world's most famous celebration of drama, has been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak, organisers said Monday. "The conditions have not been met to allow the 74th edition to take place," organisers said in a statement. The festival had been set for July 3-23. The organisers said that they had taken note of an address to the nation by President Emmanuel Macron earlier Monday on the coronavirus pandemic. He said a gradual easing of France's lockdown could be allowed from May 11 but the big festivals could not take place until mid-July at the earliest, while cinemas and theatres must remain closed for now. The virus outbreak has ravaged France's glittering spring and summer cultural calender, with the Cannes film festival also not taking place as planned in May. ... More NASA's 'worm' logo will return to spaceNEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- It was designed for NASA in the 1970s, and it hasnt been back to space since the 1990s. But in 2020, it will head to orbit once more. Were talking about the worm. Its a logo that a generation grew up with a minimalist twisting of red letters that is nicknamed after terrestrial invertebrates. NASA used it from 1975, when it was introduced as part of a cleaner visual redesign for the space agency, to 1992, when it was kicked to the side. But the familiar yet long unused modern symbol will be seen on the side of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket when two NASA astronauts, Douglas G. Hurley and Robert L. Behnken, head to the International Space Station, a mission scheduled for the second half of May. They will be the first to launch to orbit from American soil since 2011, and the new old logo was dusted off to commemorate ... More Sam Clayton Jr., sound engineer with a global ear, dies at 58NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Sam Clayton Jr. made sure the world heard real reggae, even when the people making it came from countries far away from its birthplace, Jamaica. Clayton, who was born and raised there, was a musical jack-of-all-trades. He was a producer and sound engineer at Kingstons famous Harry J. Studio, where he contributed to music by Jamaican roots reggae artists like Horace Andy and Ernest Ranglin. He also worked with many foreign artists, including Americans, like Harrison Stafford, and Germans, like Sebastian Sturm. He lived in France for some time, spoke fluent French, and worked with many French artists, including the groups Danakil, Dub Inc., Brain Damage and Broussaï. He also served as a sound engineer for the Jamaican band Toots and the Maytals and the British group Steel Pulse. Clayton died on March 31 ... More |
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Flashback On a day like today, French photographer Robert Doisneau was born April 14, 1912. Robert Doisneau (14 April 1912 - 1 April 1994) was a French photographer. In the 1930s he made photographs on the streets of Paris. He was a champion of humanist photography and with Henri Cartier-Bresson a pioneer of photojournalism. In this image: French photographer Robert Doisneau photographed by Bracha L. Ettinger in his studio in Montrouge, 1992. Photo © Bracha L. Ettinger.
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