— Mandela Tribute Art Rebuked: Last
Thursday, a giant pair of stainless steel Ray Bans by artist Michael Elion made
their debut on Cape Town’s Sea Point promenade. Titled “Perceiving Freedom,”
the statue is noted on its plaque as a tribute to Nelson Mandela —
because, in the words of the artist, the lenses “symbolize the invisible
barriers and prejudices that exist in our perceptions and shape the way we view
the world.” This week, however, a slew of critical articles have emerged,
decrying the apparent disingenuousness of this “corporate advertising
masquerading as public art,” in the words of Daily Maverick reporter Rebecca
Hodges. [CityLab, Daily Maverick, Rand Daily Mail]
— Gehry’s Latest Design
Complete: The University
of Technology Sydney laid
down $180 million for a building by Frank
Gehry — the architect’s first in Australia — which is now
all set to open in February 2015. “As with most Frank-designed buildings, there
is a degree of trepidation when one goes into these projects as to how they can
be built,” said UTS deputy vice-chancellor Patrick Woods, likely referring to
the intermittently rippling facade rendered in five types of custom-designed
brick, 320,000 of which were laid by hand. [Guardian, Vogue]
— Palestine Biennial Opens: Palestine’s
biennial festival, Qalandiya
International, went up as planned, despite the military
activity in the region. “It is a celebration of continuity, of life, of
steadfastness and, if I may, resistance. There was no doubt we should go on,”
said Jack
Persekian, director of the Palestinian Museum. Still, the
festivities were not immune to intermittent intervention by plainclothes
police: “Sometimes art is more political than politics itself. In a way it
became part of the show,” explained Palestinian artist and organizer Khaled Hourani.
[NYT]
— Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize
Awarded: Britain’s National Portrait Gallery has
recognized photographer David
Titlow with the £12,000 Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize for
an image of his infant son among friends at a midsummer party in Sweden:
“Everyone was a bit hazy from the previous day’s excess. My girlfriend passed
our son to the subdued revelers on the sofa — the composition and back light
was so perfect I had to capture the moment,” Titlow said of his winning
photograph. [Guardian]
— Meet Chris Marinello,
Nazi-Looted Art Expert: One of the lawyers involved in the
Gurlitt trove legislation, Marinello has recovered approximately $350 million
of stolen art in his 20-year career. [Vocativ]
— 650 Museums, 17 Years, One
Book: A new volume by Guido Guerzoni, project manager
on the M9 museum
currently under construction in Venice, breaks down the pertinent statistics of
the 650-plus institutions that have opened worldwide in the past 17 years —
e.g., 76 percent of designers were chosen by some sort of competition. [TAN]
—
Here’s a peek at 29 works to look forward to in upcoming auctions at Christie’s, Sotheby’s,
and Phillips.
[ARTnews]
— The
San Francisco theater scene hosted its first local award ceremony with
the Theatre
Bay Area Awards. [SF Chronicle]
—
Inspired by Sicilian nun Sister Cristina Scuccia,
who recently recorded a cover of Madonna’s
“Like a Virgin,” the BBC compiled this list of “rebel nuns” — including ’60s
Pop artist Sister Corita
Kent. [BBC]
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