April 2005

Re-do the Du!

Re-do the Du!

Unlike Grandma's pearls, those that fill the cache of art history can, and regularly should be, replaced. The repeated pawning of seminal gestures perpetuates the value of their originals and the virility of their legacies. Thus the tradition of the readymade transplanted to the internet re-seeds the disjunctive potential of Duchamp's creations, but in projects that are more easily reblogged. For their current online exhibition, 'The New Readymades,' UK net art collective low-fi has selected eight net-based works by some of the masters of creative copy-and-paste, each of which investigates the effects of artistic replacements. Substituting human performers with computers (MTAA's '1 year performance video' and Darrel O'Pry's 'On Kawara Generator'), the appropriate owner of a website with an appropriator of the same website (Vuk Cosic's 'Documenta X'), or authentic net.art technologies with a Blogger.com diary (Abe Linkoln's 'My Boyfriend Came Back from the War'), these projects engage the online manifestation of the readymade as a migration that revitalizes the transformational potential of out of place art. - Kevin McGarry

http://www.low-fi.org.uk/?session=lowfi_list&lid=19

Maxfield Parrish: Master of Make-Believe

Nevada Museum of Art: April 30, 2005 - June 26, 2005

Maxfield Parrish, Daybreak, 1922, Oil on Board, Private Collection, Photo Credit: Archives of Alma Gilbert.

The Nevada Museum of Art will be the venue for the west coast premiere of Maxfield Parrish: Master of Make-Believe, a retrospective of Parrish’s work touring the United States through 2005-2006. Featuring more than 80 works from American museums and private collections, Maxfield Parrish: Master of Make-Believe examines Parrish’s career as a painter and illustrator and why he is one of the best-known and beloved American artists of the 20th Century. The exhibition and tour is organized by the Trust for Museum Exhibitions, Washington, D.C. ...

http://www.nevadaart.org

Bill Traylor, William Edmondson, and the Modernist Impulse

The Studio Museum in Harlen: April 27 – July 3, 2005

Bill Traylor Female Drinker circa 1939-1942 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Bill Traylor, William Edmondson, and the Modernist Impulse is the first large-scale exhibition focusing on the works of two major figures in American and African-American art history: Bill Traylor (1854-1949), a draftsman, and William Edmondson (1874-1951), a sculptor. Although Traylor and Edmondson are often defined as “folk” or “outsider” artists that reflect the roots of African-American culture, their work was actually discovered and first discussed in the broader context of modernism. This exhibition includes over fifty drawings and paintings made by Traylor, and twenty-five sculptures by Edmondson, along with photographs of them by their contemporaries, drawn from private collections and museums across the country. Bill Traylor,William Edmondson, and the Modernist Impulse opened at Krannert Art Museum before traveling to the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama and The Studio Museum in Harlem, and will be on view at The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas from July 22—October 2, 2005.

http://www.studiomuseum.org

Ideas into Objects: Reinterpreting the Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci

Cincinnati Arts Association’s Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery: April 22 - June 12, 2005

Stephanie Cooper: "Male Anatomy," 2005

The Cincinnati Arts Association’s Alice F. and Harris K. Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts celebrates its tenth exhibition season with a reunion of artists for the exhibition Ideas into Objects: Reinterpreting the Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. After ten years of presenting nearly 600 Cincinnati and regional artists, the Weston Art Gallery has invited back a select group to create new work inspired by the most revered artist of all time, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). The exhibition spans both levels, and all three Gallery exhibition spaces, with an ambitious representation of work reflecting the multiplicity of Leonardo’s talent and interests. ...

http://www.cincinnatiarts.org

Audacious Capitalist Realism

Fresno Metropolitan Museum: April 28 - May 22, 2005

Fresno State Artist-in-Residence Maria Melgar

In collaboration with California State University, Fresno, the Met has provided a year-long Artists-in-Residence program for Fresno State junior and senior art majors. The internship allows the artists to develop original work in a studio space provided to them by the Museum. Audacious Capitalist Realism, a special exhibition presenting the work of the California State University, Fresno Artists-in-Residence will be on view from April 28 through May 22nd at the gallery space at 1522 Fulton Street, behind the Met. The Opening Reception for the artists will be on Thursday, April 28th from 5:00 - 8:00 pm in the exhibition space. The Artists-in-Residence for this year, Maria Melgar and Chris Scharnick, will host workshops for students detailing art concepts in a fun and educational format. ...

http://www.fresnomet.org

Body Movin'

Body Movin'

The 2005 Boston Cyberarts Festival began April 22 and encompasses more than 70 exhibitions, performances, and workshops in the Greater Boston Area. Since 1999, the biennial festival has brought together artists who work with cutting-edge technologies to show work, discuss the ways new technologies are impacting art practice, and share skills with each other. This year marks the addition of a new conference to the Cyberarts Festival: Ideas in Motion: Innovations in Dance, Movement, and Technology. As means of real-time interactivity between the body and computers become more accessible, many dancers and choreographers have embraced these innovations, creating complex multi-media performances. Highlighting these novel intersections between the body and various media, the Ideas in Motion conference will feature a keynote address from John D. Mitchell, a professor of the Department of Dance at Arizona State University and an early innovator in the use of computers in dance, as well as performances from a number of dance companies including Troika Ranch (NYC), Mei Be Whatever (NYC), Fico Balet (Slovenia), and Kinodance (Boston). Other highlights of the Cyberarts festival include an exhibition of work incorporating GPS and Satellite Imaging and an interactive installation by Scott Snibbe. - Matt Boch

http://bostoncyberarts.org/

Robert Mallet-Stevens

Centre Pompidou: April 27 2005 - August 29 2005

Hôtel Martel, 8 rue Mallet-Stevens, Paris. © Photo : Marc Vaux, 1927 - Adagp, Paris 2005

Mallet-Stevens is recognized for his many talents: as an architect, from various buildings such as Villa Noailles in Hyères, the hotels in the street named after him in Paris, and Villa Cavrois in Croix near Lille; as a decorator, for his window dressing for Bally; as an aficionado of the 7th art, for his work with Marcel L'Herbier; for his commitment to the Modern Movement, for his role in the U.A.M. (Union of Modern Artists), etc. This exhibition enables viewers to discover this work in all its glory: his projects in Paris and all over France, as well as his numerous unfinished projects.

http://www.cnac-gp.fr

Fourth International Moscow Festival: Fashion and Style in Photography - 2005

MOSCOW • Moscow House of Photography • Until 14 May 2005

The Fourth International Moscow Festival comprises a series of exhibitions devoted to fashion and style including an exhibition of photographs by Horst P. Horst. Another major event is the exhibition Hollywood Celebrities: Edward Steichen's Vanity Fair' Portraits, drawn from the collection of the International Museum of Photography and Cinema George Eastman House, USA.

Sol LeWitt on the Roof: Splotches, Whirls and Twirls

MET: April 26, 2005–October 30, 2005 (weather permitting)

This summer’s installation by Conceptual artist Sol LeWitt includes five sculptures and one wall drawing. A prolific artist since his emergence in the mid-1960s, LeWitt is showing recent sculptures, called Splotches. With a palette of bold colors, LeWitt has created large-scale, painted fiberglass works. Their undulating, curvilinear shapes and vibrant hues brilliantly engage with the natural landscape of Central Park. LeWitt’s wall drawing, Whirls and Twirls, echoes the abstract forms and vivid color of the Splotches. Taken together, these works represent a bright complement to the unique setting of The Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Roof Garden, which offers a spectacular view of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline. Beverage and sandwich service is available from 10:00 a.m. until closing, including Friday and Saturday evenings. The installation is made possible by a grant from Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky.

http://www.metmuseum.org

One Foot in Front of the Other

One Foot in Front of the Other

With all the attention that 'locative media' seems to be getting within new media communities, it only makes sense that the actual process of moving bodies through space and place should be seen as a site worth investigating. The history of artists exploring the performative nature of walking--from Richard Long to Yayoi Kusama--provides one starting point for many contemporary practitioners. To give this developing history some context, the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is hosting a symposium called 'Walking as Knowing as Making: a Peripatetic Investigation of Place.' About to start it's fourth, and final, session, the symposium has already delved into the social, environmental and aesthetic dimensions of walking with talks and guided walks by such notables as long time 'walking artist' Hamish Fulton. The upcoming fourth installment, beginning on 28 April, includes presentations by artist Walid Raad (of the Atlas Group) and architectural theorist Jane Rendell among others. If you're too far to walk to the events, you can find discussions and documentation from the symposium online. - Ryan Griffis

http://www.walkinginplace.org/

Roy Lichtenstein: A New Gift of Drawings

National Gallery of Art: April 23 - July 24, 2005

Roy Lichtenstein Study for "Razzmatazz," 1978 graphite and colored pencils on paper 527 x 756 cm (20 3/4 x 29 inches) National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Dorothy Lichtenstein and David and Mitchell Lichtenstein in memory of Jane B. Meyerhoff

Roy Lichtenstein's widow and sons, Dorothy, David and Mitchell, and the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation have donated to the National Gallery of Art thirteen drawings that are directly related to eleven of the artist's paintings in the Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Collection. The gift was made in memory of Jane Meyerhoff, who died October 16, 2004, and who, with her husband, in 1987 promised their entire collection of late 20th-century art to the National Gallery of Art. The Lichtenstein drawings, which span two decades, ranging in date from 1973 to 1992, have been rarely exhibited.

http://www.nga.gov

Damián Ortega

Tate Modern: 23 April – 12 June 2005

Damián Ortega Spirit and Matter 2004 Photo: Stephen White

The sixth in a series of eight-week displays exploring The Public World of the Private Space has been undertaken by the Mexican artist Damián Ortega. Ortega often takes commonplace objects and then deconstructs or reconfigures them, forcing the viewer to reconsider their perception of the object and it’s original function. In the recent installation, Spirit and Matter, Ortega constructed a labyrinth of rooms and passages from reclaimed materials. The true meaning of the labyrinth could only be deciphered when an aerial view, from the adjacent first floor gallery, revealed that the labyrinth formed the word ‘Spirit’ in the style of a popular Mexican comic’s logo. Ortega has created a new installation for Tate Modern’s Untitled space.

http://www.tate.org.uk

Sir Eduardo Paolozzi Dies at 81

Scottish sculptor Sir Eduardo Paolozzi stands next to his sculpture of Isaac Newton outside the British Library in London in this Sept. 10, 1997 file photo. Paolozzi, a pioneer of Pop Art in Britain, has died aged 81 at a hospital in London, his family said Friday April 22, 2005. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, PA)

http://story.news.yahoo.com

You Can Feel It in the Air

You Can Feel It in the Air

At some point in our lives, we notice ourselves lugging around an overload of ideas and information. How is it that we continually play the role of unwitting receiver to a barrage of loaded transmissions? 'Transmission' is a series of exhibitions presented by the New Museum of Contemporary Art, which profiles artists and scholars exploring the concept of 'transmission' in and through new media, radio, sound and broadcast media. 'Airborne,' the second show in the series, takes on the 'aesthetic, sonic and socio-political' aspects of these cunningly concealed wireless transmissions. Curated by Anne Barlow and Defne Ayas, in collaboration with www.free103point9.com, the exhibition features seven works by New York-based artists that aim to give substance to intangible electronic signals and to the interests they power. Take Paul Davies 'Prayer Antenna,' which wittingly transforms viewers into supplicants as they kneel to insert their head into an ordained helmet covered with antennas; or Mendi and Keith Obadike's '4-1-9,' which invites one to compose an individualized email money transfer scam. Airborne will be at the New Museum until June 4, with performances on May 4 at 6:30PM. - Ophra Wolf

http://www.newmuseum.org/airborne/

Valley Kids 2005

Aspen Art Museum: April 22 - May 15, 2005

Since its inception, the art museum has traditionally showcased the artwork of area school children. This spring, we will present the 25th annual Valley Kids exhibition featuring more than one thousand colorful works of art by young people from over forty schools and youth organizations from Aspen to Eagle, Marble, and Parachute. This annual tradition is a valley favorite. ...

http://www.aspenartmuseum.org

33rd Annual National Photography Exhibition

Larson Gallery: April 3 - 30

Juried competition with $3500 in awards and well-known regional jurors.

http://www.yvcc.edu

Annibale Carracci. Venus, Adonis and Cupid

Museo Nacional del Prado: 19 April - 17 July 2005

In line with its aim of focusing visitor attention on its greatest masterpieces, the Museo del Prado is presenting an exhibition devoted to Venus, Adonis and Cupid by Annibale Carracci. Following its recent restoration, this celebrated canvas by the great Bolognese painter once more reveals a wealth of nuances covered up over time by old repainting and oxidised varnish. The painting depicts the moment when Venus and Adonis meet and fall in love, and will be shown alongside the two paintings by Titian and Veronese that depict other episodes in the same myth narrated by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. Also on display will be four prints and two drawings, whose presence helps to explain the creative process behind this masterpiece. ...

http://museoprado.mcu.es

ISLAND TO EMPIRE - 300 Years of British Art 1550-1850

Art Gallery of South Australia: 11 March - 13 June 2005

In mid-sixteenth century Britain, as the legendary reign of Henry VIII neared its end, a new era was emerging, placing the British Isles firmly at the centre of the ‘civilised’ world. Britannia was expanding her reach across the seas, exploring the four corners of the earth and commanding an empire like no other. An artistic tradition was also evolving, one which would see British art develop over the next three centuries beyond its mainstay of portraiture to become known for maritime paintings, animal pictures, watercolours, satire, and finally and triumphantly, for landscape painting. The magnificent exhibition, Island to Empire: 300 Years of British Art, traces these advances in British art from 1550 to 1850, through around 150 important oil paintings, miniatures, watercolours, drawings, prints, sculptures and decorative arts taken from the collection of decorative arts taken from the collection of the Art Gallery of South Australia – the most comprehensive British art collection outside the United Kingdom. ...

http://www.artgallery.sa.gov.au

An Ancient Masterpiece or a Master's Forgery?

The sculpture "Laocoön," at the Vatican Museums, was unearthed in 1506, but a new theory says it is a forgery by Michelangelo. (Photo: Lynn Catterson)

By KATHRYN SHATTUCK

A scholar has suggested that "Laocoön," a fabled sculpture whose unearthing in 1506 has deeply influenced thinking about the ancient Greeks and the nature of the visual arts, may well be a Renaissance forgery - possibly by Michelangelo himself. Her contention has stirred some excitement and considerable exasperation among art historians in the Classical and Renaissance fields. Many other challenges to accepted attributions have faded quickly into oblivion. The scholar advancing the theory, Lynn Catterson, a summer lecturer in art history at Columbia University, presented her argument in a talk at the university's Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America on April 6. Maneuvering through a wealth of material - including Michelangelo's drawings, records of his banking activity and his acknowledged reputation as an avid seeker of renown and wealth - she said, "He had the motives and the means." ...

http://www.nytimes.com

German Artist to "Exhibit" His Child's Birth

Birth as performance art

A German artist has invited 30 people to attend the birth of his first child in an art gallery in Berlin as part of an exhibition entitled "Birth." The spectators, who registered for the exhibition via the Internet, will participate in "an exceptional experience," said the artist Winfried Witt for whom "man, because he is unique, is an existential object of art." The artist wants to "show living people, perceived at the same time as object and subject through a kind of magnifying glass and to expose man in the situations of his personal life." ...

http://www.dw-world.de

Retratos: 2,000 Years of Latin American Portraits

San Diego Museum of Art: April 16-June 12, 2005

Madre María Encarnación Regalado, Artist unknown (Quito School), oil on canvas, 1860. 60 cm x 45 cm. Monasterio de la Concepción, Quito, Ecuador.

Retratos: 2,000 Years of Latin American Portraits marks the first time that a comprehensive exhibition of Latin American portraiture has toured the United States. Coming to the San Diego Museum of Art this spring, the exhibition brings together 114 objects from museums across Latin America, Europe, the United States, and private collections, most of which have never before been shown publicly in this country. The objects, which include paintings, sculpture, photography, and work in mixed media, reveal the richness of Latin America's portrait tradition, from pre-Columbian times to the present day. ...

http://www.sdmart.org

Naomi Fisher: Clear Cut

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art: April 15–July 10, 2005

Naomi Fisher, Untitled (ocean), 2004 Cibachrome, 50 x 60 inches Private Collection, Miami

Miami-based Naomi Fisher creates psychologically and sexually charged drawings and photographs in which tropical landscape, decorative pattern, and fairytale figures collide in nightmarish scenarios. Her brilliantly hued images of women in menacing nature scenes are drawn from characters imagined or inspired by horror films, feminist literature, music, and art history. Fierce yet beguiling, Fisher's works occupy the shifting terrain between beauty and repulsion. Naomi Fisher is a visiting artist at the Kemper Museum.

http://www.kemperart.org

2005 Portland Museum of Art Biennial

April 6, 2005 - June 5, 2005

Courtney Brecht, Me Apetce Ese Labio,200.

This ongoing series of juried exhibitions, presented in alternate years, highlights work by both emerging and established artists associated with the state of Maine. Every other year, more than 800 artists submit applications, with approximately 65 accepted by a jury of three leading figures in the contemporary art world. Jurors for the 2005 Biennial are: John Cheim, of Cheim & Read Gallery in New York; Yvonne Jacquette, nationally recognized artist; and Judith Tannenbaum, Curator of Contemporary Art at the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design. The Biennial is open to works in all media, and works selected may include paintings, photographs, works on paper, furniture, sculpture, video, and installation art. ...

http://www.portlandmuseum.org

Wild Things: The Art of Maurice Sendak

Jewish Museum: April 15, 2005 - August 14, 2005

Maurice Sendak (American, b. 1928) Final illustration for “and made him king of the wild things” From Where The Wild Things Are, 1963 Watercolor on paper From the Maurice Sendak Collection at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, Philadelphia

This exhibition will explore the 50-year career of illustrator and author Maurice Sendak. Best known for children’s classics such as Where the Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen, Sendak is a multi-faceted artist whose work also includes stage sets and costume design for both opera and ballet. Born in Brooklyn in 1928 to Eastern European Jewish immigrants, Sendak grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust, during which many members of his family were lost. Three main themes pervade his oeuvre: the Old World of East European Jewry; Brooklyn/New York and American popular culture; and Germanic culture, embodied by the Grimm Brothers and Mozart, which Sendak eventually embraces in an attempt to work through the trauma of the Holocaust. ...

http://www.thejewishmuseum.org

Alexander Archipenko Exhibition to Inaugurate New Ukrainian Museum Building

T h e U k r a i n i a n M u s e u m: April 3 through September 4, 2005

Alexander Archipenko Cleopatra 1957, wood, bakelite and found objects 38 in. x 84 in. (96.5 x 213.3 cm) On loan from Frances Archipenko Gray

New York City — The new facility of The Ukrainian Museum in New York City will open on April 3, 2005, with the inaugural exhibition Alexander Archipenko: Vision and Continuity, consisting of some 65 sculptures and sculpto-paintings of one of the 20th century's most innovative and influential artists. The majority of the works are from the collection of Frances Archipenko Gray, the artist's widow. Other works come from a number of private collections and museums, including the Brooklyn Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery. ...

http://www.ukrainianmuseum.org

Feds probe politically charged art exhibit

Secret Service focuses interest on provocative image of Bush

M. Spencer Green / AP

Secret Service agents scrutinized this piece at a Chicago gallery, part of an exhibit called "Axis of Evil, the Secret History of Sin."

CHICAGO - The Secret Service sent agents to investigate a college art gallery exhibit of mock postage stamps, one depicting President Bush with a gun pointed at his head. The exhibit, called “Axis of Evil: The Secret History of Sin,” opened last week at Columbia College in Chicago. It features stamps designed by 47 artists addressing issues such as the Roman Catholic sex abuse scandal, racism and the war in Iraq. None of the artists is tied to the college. ...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com

"Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art From the Victoria and Albert Museum."

Kimbell Art Museum: April3 - September 4, 2005

Candlestick. Brass inlaid with silver. Egypt, late 13th or early 14th century; the inlay renewed at a later date. V&A: M.716–1910. Bequest of George Salting

FORT WORTH—The Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in London has one of the most important and renowned Islamic art collections in the world. Palace and Mosque: Islamic Art from the Victoria and Albert Museum includes over 100 of the V&A’s finest masterpieces, many exhibited for the first time outside the museum. They convey the richness of Islamic art on a scale unrivaled for its quality and depth outside the Middle East. This extraordinary loan is on view at the Kimbell from April 3 to September 4, 2005. Commented Dr. Timothy Potts, director of the Kimbell Art Museum, “The refurbishing of the V&A’s Islamic galleries has provided a unique opportunity to bring a broad selection of the museum’s most beautiful and important works to the United States, where they are being shown only at the Kimbell and the National Gallery, Washington (where the exhibition ran July 18, 2004–February 6, 2005). The result is a spectacular panorama of an exotic and still underappreciated civilization that has had long-standing artistic and political relations with Europe and the rest of the world, each culture greatly enriching the other. ...

http://www.kimbellart.org

Rene Magritte

BA-CA Kunstforum: 06.04.05-24.07.05

L’Homme au chapeau melon, 1964, oil on canvas, private collection, New York, © VBK Wien 2005

This exhibition, the first Magritte retrospective in Austria, gives an overview of the entire oeuvre of the great Belgian surrealist. Magritte’s magical-conceptual images from the 1920s through to the 1960s are used to illustrate both his dialogue with Dada and his key role as an inexhaustible source of inspiration for art after 1945, including Pop-Art and Concept Art. Major works from international museums and numerous private collections shed new light on the artist, whose continuing importance is underlined by contemporary artistic trends. ...

http://www.kunstforum-wien.at

Arrest made in Munch heist

One of Edvard Munch's 'Scream' paintings was stolen last August. (CP file photo)

OSLO - Police in Norway made an arrest on Friday in the theft of two paintings by Edvard Munch. "A man in his 30s was arrested Friday afternoon ... and charged with participating in the armed theft of the Munch Museum on Aug. 24, 2004," Oslo police said in a statement. One of Edvard Munch's 'Scream' paintings was stolen last August. (CP file photo) Police added that the two works in question, The Scream and Madonna, have not been recovered, but they remain "optimistic" about their chances of finding them. Friday's arrest is the first one directly tied to the case, although officials have said that four arrests made earlier this week in Spain and Holland may help them find the paintings. ...

http://www.cbc.ca

A Gift of the Self

A Gift of the Self

Tamara Lai's (FR) previous provocations include 'Art-Death,' asking 'How beautiful are we?' and proposing 'To make a portrait of God.' Now, Lai is offering a gift of herself with 'Sacrifice.' Everyone who contributes online work to 'Sacrifice'--classified as either a 'gift of the self' or 'a gift of the other'--before May 31st will receive a signed slice of the artist's virtual body. Gifts so far include portraits of artists as martyrs, meditations on the state of the world, a broken doll on the street, a broken child in a morgue, a paper boat on a wire mesh, two men debating on the choice of the sacrificial lamb--texts, images, animations and interactive works. Lai's own contribution employs explosive pop-up windows and links to sites discussing terrorism and free media. The collected offerings invite contemplation of all aspects of the concept of 'sacrifice;' who is making the sacrifice, what is being sacrificed, and why? A blog, 'BLOG HOST 'pour petits & grands sacrifices / for little & big sacrifices' is 'coming back soon' (I hope it hasn't been sacrificed! ) - Helen Varley Jamieson.

http://www.imal.org/tamara_lai/sacrifice/sacrifice.htm

Student Engineer Finds 'Structural Art' In 19th Century Bridges

Civil engineering major Christina Terpeluk is studying 19th century American bridges, such as this Bollman truss structure in Savage, Md. (Photo by Will Kirk)

To most people, a bridge is simply an assembly that allows travelers to move safely across a river or gorge. But to Christina Terpeluk, a Johns Hopkins senior from Chestertown, Md., a bridge can be a piece of structural art. Supported by an undergraduate research grant from the university, Terpeluk has spent months studying 19th century American iron truss bridges, trying to determine whether they fit the definition of structural art, a concept championed by David P. Billington, a civil engineering scholar at Princeton. To qualify, a structure must be a work of elegance and efficiency that showcases its designer's engineering goals in a way that appeals to the eye. ...

http://www.sciencedaily.com

Spain in the Age of Exploration 1492-1819

Norton Museum of Art: February 2 - May 1, 2005

Diego Rodriguez de Silva y Valázquez (1599-1660): Philip IV, King of Spain, ca. 1625-28. Oil on Canvas, 80 by 46 1/8 inches (205-207 cm).

Spain in the Age of Exploration 1492-1819, featuring masterpieces from the collections of the Patrimonio Nacional of Spain, is on view at the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida, through May 1, 2005. The Norton is the only east coast venue for this spectacular exhibition of 130 objects, many leaving Spain for the first time, including masterworks by artists such as Bosch, Titian, El Greco, Velázquez, and Goya, among others. Also included are sculptures, Bernini's great Crucifix from the Escorial, decorative arts, armor, tapestries, scientific instruments, early maps, manuscripts and books, including a rare 1494 edition of Columbus's First Report of his voyage to America. The exhibition was organized by the Seattle Art Museum in collaboration with Patrimonio Nacional, Spain; supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Lead funding provided by Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc. and The Boeing Company. Generous support provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, Iberia Airlines of Spain, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Local support is provided by Anne and Harold Smith. Additional support provided by The Private Bank of Bank of America, the State of Florida, the Liman Foundation, the Laurence Levine Charitable Fund and Sir Thomas Moore, The Embassy of Spain, the Spanish Ministry of Culture and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and The Starbucks Coffee Company. Local media support provided by the Palm Beach Post, La Palma, Palm Beach Daily News, WPTV News Channel 5 and WXEL Radio 90.7FM. ...

http://www.norton.org

Max Ernst: A Retrospective

MET: April 7, 2005–July 10, 2005

Max Ernst (French, born Germany, 1891–1976) Ambiguous Figures (1 Copper Plate, 1 Zinc Plate, 1 Rubber Cloth...), ca. 1919/20 Collage, gouache, India ink, pencil and painting over a print; 10 x 7 3/8 in. (25.4 x 18.5 cm) Collection of Judy and Michael Steinhardt, New York © 2004 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris

Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum, stated: "While the importance of Max Ernst in the history of Dada and Surrealism has been recognized worldwide, the spectrum of Ernst's work—along with its inventiveness—has been less well known in the United States in recent years. The Metropolitan's upcoming exhibition should redress this. As the first major survey of the artist's career in this country in three decades, 'Max Ernst: A Retrospective' mirrors the extraordinary variety of Ernst's oeuvre and will include some of his most celebrated works from the different periods of his life."

http://www.metmuseum.org

THE NAZARENES

THE NAZARENES RELIGION POWER ART: 15. APRIL - 24. JULY 2005

In a time that sees a renaissance of religiosity and a new impact of an undercurrent religion without faith, this exhibition uses the example of the artists’ movement of the Nazarenes to explore the concepts, phenomena, and strategies of modernity. The German-Austrian-Swiss brotherhood around Johann Friedrich Overbeck, Franz Pforr, and Philipp Veit came together at the beginning of the nineteenth century with the goal of using artistic means to revive a Christian-influenced society. Its modernity lies in its attitude to religious matters and in its protest against society as well as in its conceptual idea of art. The exhibition attempts to shed new light on an artists’ group that has been considered anti-Enlightenment because of its advocacy of a monastic lifestyle and a formal language based on Raphael and Dürer. The postmodern focus of the exhibition seeks to contribute to a new evaluation of the Nazarenes as the first movement of aesthetic modernism.

http://www.schirn-kunsthalle.de

Organic Plan

Organic Plan a mixed media installation

Jack Straw Productions' New Media Gallery was opened in 1999 to support artists working with visual and installation art, with an emphasis on sound. Gallery residencies of up to 3 months are a combination of applicants from our annual call for applicants, and exhibits by invited artists. As part of their residency, gallery artists receive up to 20 hours of studio assistance with one of our engineers. (...)

http://www.jackstraw.org

Mona Lisa gains new Louvre home

The Mona Lisa now has its own wall in the Louvre

Leonardo da Vinci's 500-year-old masterpiece now hangs alone on a wall in the museum's Salle des Etats. It will give the millions of people who come to see the Mona Lisa every year a better view of the painting. The Salle des Etats has had a 4.8m euro (£3.29m) renovation to provide a suitable home for the masterpiece. It will allow visitors more room to gaze in comfort on the Mona Lisa, which will be hung alone on a false wall in an area dedicated to 16th-century Italian paintings. ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk

Helmut Newton : A gun for hire

Monaco (Espace Diaghilev): 2 to 24 April 2005

Yves-Saint-Laurent/Kate Moss/ 1993 - Helmut Newton

“Some people’s photography is an art. Mine is not, if they happen to be exhibited in a gallery or a museum, that’s fine. But that’s not why I do them. I’m a gun for hire” Helmut Newton – Newsweek, 2004. For this exhibition June Newton has chosen a selection of Helmut’s commercial work that he did for fashion catalogues and some of his late editorial fashion photographs that he did for magazines. The same creative process and energy imbued all aspects of his work. He welcomed and respected the restrictions and requirements of his clients. The commercial work enabled him to become financially independent to do the work that made him famous. ...

http://www.visitmonaco.com

Interfacing the City

Interfacing the City

For the most part, 'ubiquitous computing'--the growing trend of imbedding computers in our everyday surroundings--seems to encourage connecting with things we enjoy or need (or the things marketers think we enjoy and need) and avoiding pretty much anything else. iPods allow us to walk around in our own imaginary music video and GPS navigation systems in cars take you directly from point A to point B on the most direct and efficient route. But this tendency to isolate social experience within the known and familiar is not going unchallenged. Many designers, engineers and artists are creating other uses for the ubiquitous networks of communications devices being built around us--uses that attempt to focus attention outward rather than inward. 'The Interactive City,' one component of next year's ISEA and Zero One festival, will feature projects that expand participants' knowledge and experiences of their surroundings. Set in San Jose, CA--the 'Spirit of Silicon Valley'--organizers are currently looking for submissions for 'urban-scale' works that foster novel relationships between the city and its inhabitants. The deadline for proposals is 22 April. - Ryan Griffis

http://www.urban-atmospheres.net/ISEA2006/

DAMIEN HIRST : The Elusive Truth

Gagosian Gallery: Mar 11 - Apr 23, 2005

Hospital Corridor, 2004 Oil on canvas 78 x 136-1/2 inches (198.1 x 346.7 cm)

Gagosian Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition of new work by Damien Hirst. Entitled "The Elusive Truth," the show will be comprised of approximately thirty paintings, which have been completed over the past three years. This exhibition, Hirst’s first in New York since 2000, signals a new direction in his work. Hirst’s 2004 exhibitions include his first survey exhibition, "The Agony and the Ecstacy," at Museo Archelogico Nazionale, Naples, and "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida: Fairhurst, Hirst and Lucas," at Tate Britain, London. "Damien Hirst: From the Cradle to the Grave, Selected Drawings" was also published in 2004. It presents an important selection of drawings and sketches spanning Hirst’s entire career. ...

http://www.gagosian.com

Thom Mayne Pritzker Prize

The Dr. Theodore T. Alexander, Jr. Science Center School in Los Angeles. Photo: Benny Chan

This year's choice for Pritzker Prize laureate is Los Angeles architect Thom Mayne. He is known for breaking through traditional bounds of forms and materials, and his work has been chosen for numerous awards during his three-decade career. Mayne is principal of Morphosis, meaning "manner of formation." The firm's recent built works to capture media attention include the Diamond Ranch High School, the Caltrans District 7 Headquarters, and the Dr. Theodore T. Alexander, Jr. Science Center School. He is currently working on a project in association with New York City's bid for the 2012 Olympics. ...

http://www.architectureweek.com

Right (Click) to Die

Right (Click) to Die

'Should digital euthanasia be applied in this case?' asks the gateway page of Eugenio Tisselli's recently-launched 'degenerative' project. Not afraid to push a hot button issue into new territory, the artist is here refering to the mindless text-noise yielded by the logic that he has built into his project: the 'degenerative' page--a field of text featuring such questions as, 'is visual culture a ritual of cannibalism and rebirth?' and 'does everything contain the seed of its own destruction?'--is programmed to atrophy by one character each time a visitor views it. The site offers the option of seeing the current state of the project or reviewing a log that charts the decay yielded by traffic to the site on each day subsequent to its launch. Already, the process has progressed to the point where the excitement is essentially past. Finally, whereas the state of ambiguous mental stasis that makes 'non-digital' euthenasia cases so agonizing provokes hard, human questions, the swift and predictable logic of 'degenerative' seems more to allegorize how digital efficiency saps such questions of their gravity. - Ben Davis

http://www.motorhueso.net/degenerative/

«Carnal Visions»

GERTSEV GALLERY: 01.04 — 21.05.2005

An exhibition of figural expression, featuring Oleg Dzubenko, Kako, Nalbi Bugdashev, Kristaps Zarins, and Paulis Postazs, will present an outlook unto the human body, as expression of form and emotion. Each of these Eastern European painters has a different artistic technique and a differing manner of presentation of the subject. With each of these subjects, the viewer is able to hold a dialogue; a dialogue in which the role of the painted subject is as strong as that of the viewer. Thus, the viewer is able to discover parts of his or her self through this communication with a room of painted strangers. ...

http://gertsevgallery.ru