art2news:: News and events in the Visual Arts: Featured

Artists tranform rundown building into art gallery

caavino — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:15 GMT

Matthew Bakkom is the curator of the newest (and one of the few) art galleries in downtown Minneapolis. The old Shinders building was transformed into the gallery by artists such as Ralph Burnett. "It's been sitting empty for a year and a half and a group of artists and i thought we should do something," says Bakkom. The art in Bakkom's gallery is not traditional, but contains more contemporary and locally inspired pieces that pushes boundaries and makes politcal statements. Bakkom, Burnet, and the whole team that transformed this old building into an art gallery hope that this will help clean up 8th and Hennepin and the surrounding neighborhoods.

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Do It Yourself: Pop-up Galleries

MarySageE — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:15 GMT

In London, little known artists with small budgets are setting up galleries to show their art. Since property values are low, artists can get great venues for their artwork at little to no cost. Many places are donated or sponsored and if you just ask the right person you might even get the place for free.

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Warhol's Soup Cans... in real life!

abbeyofarrell — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:15 GMT

Even though famous artist Andy Warhol has been dead for twenty years, people seem to be continuously (if not increasingly) interested in his work. Campbell's Soup issued a limited edition soup label featuring the famous Warhol-style pop-art colours, which have become known as a symbol of wealth and power. A supermarket in a small rural Ohio town sold the cans for $2 each, but two years later a ritzy store in New York sold each individual can for $12. Around the same time, Warhol's prints of the famous soup cans sold for about $11.8 million. Is the interest in Andy Warhol being resurrected, or is it just a trend that will fade?

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Art of the Samurai

NatWong — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:15 GMT

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is currently hosting the exhibit “Art of the Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armor, 1156-1868." This exhibit is the decade-long project of Morihiro Ogawa, the Met's consultant for Japanese arms and armor. Most of the pieces included in the exhibit are designated National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties. Several, such as the 12th century cavalry armor, will only be on display for two weeks of the months long show. The show includes every piece of Japanese arms and armor: the helmet, the body armor, the sword, and the sheath. Some designs are simple and elegant; others are pure ostentatious and showy. The exhibit emphasizes the cultural and aesthetic extremes of Japanese culture, permitting the public access to a rare artistic treat. The exhibit runs through January 10.

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Painting features 'oldest watch'

johnnestler — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:15 GMT

A portrait, painted around 1560 is believed to be the oldest painting featuring a depiction of a modern watch. The painting has the Medici coat of arms on the back, and the subject is thought to be of Cosimo I de Medici, Duke of Florence. The painting was sent to the Uffizi to undergo a thorough inspection.

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Fire destroys 2000 works of art by Hélio Oiticica

Jack_Miller — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:15 GMT

Hélio Oiticica, one of the most influential and famous contemporary Latin American painters, lost around 2,000 pieces and an estimated $200 million in a fire while in storage in Rio de Janeiro. The storage facility was owned by Hélio's brother, César Oiticica, who was unable to save the paintings before 90% of them were destroyed. Hélio had been storing his work there since 2007 when the Centro de Arte in Rio forced him to remove his collection due to improper storage conditions and an argument over unpaid exhibition fees. The only major Hélio Oiticica pieces remaining are those currently with the Museum of Modern Art and Tate Modern among other museums and private collections. Among the lost, uninsured, works were original pieces by Hélio's father, a famous photographer in his own right. Sufficient to say, it seriously sucks for Oiticica family right about now.

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The Perfect Crime: The Mystery of the Warhol Art Heist

rpanko — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:15 GMT

In mid-September, eleven priceless Andy Warhol paintings were stolen clean from the home of philanthropist Richard Weisman. After reporting the crime, Weisman is choosing to not collect the twenty-five million dollar insurance policy he had placed on the paintings. Weisman claims that he doesn't want the police prying into his and his family's personal life for the next three to five years, and that he is wealthy enough to go without the money. But people are now wondering why he placed the insurance policy to begin with. The whole fiasco has turned the supposed victim into a prime suspect for the crime.

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Chinese Copies Cause Controversy

c_judson — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:15 GMT

As American art museums are accepting copies of paintings made in China on glass, people are debating whether that is okay. Specifically, portraits of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart are causing this debate. 200 years ago, when Stuart's original painting was created, Chinese artists were using a process of making reverse painting on glass to recreate that piece. This was an issue that Stuart attempted to fight but was not very successful at, since today there are still a number of these copies floating around. The quality of these pieces are debated, as well as the idea that each piece has different "nuances" other than those intended in the original. Some portray him more accurately, as a middle aged man, while others tend to edge on a more idealized version of Washington (fewer wrinkles, ect.) A copy of a Stuart painting has recently been donated to the New Britain Museum of American Art (the oldest museum of American art in the U.S.), which they have accepted. This also raises the question, if a foreign copy of an American painting is created, does that copy belong in an American art museum?

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Slash: Paper Under The Knife with Anne-Karin Furunes

JessieWheeler — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:15 GMT

Paper Under the Knife explores the international phenomenon of cut paper in contemporary art—showcasing the work of artists who reach beyond the traditional role of paper as a neutral surface to consider its potential as a medium for provocative, expressive, and visually striking sculpture, installation, and video animation. On view from October 7, 2009, through April 4, 2010, the exhibition will also feature 12 new site-specific commissions and installations.

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Boy Sticks Gum on $1.5 Million Painting

hmbarth — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 09:19:15 GMT

In the Detroit Institute of Art, a 12-year-old boy stuck a wad of chewed gum on an abstract painting by Helen Frankenthaler. The painting, called "The Bay" has been left with a small stain, but according to the curator of the Detroit Institute of Art, it will not be permanently damaged.

Read more... | Original story | Votes so far: 8 / 0