Vancouver

Proposed new Vancouver Art Gallery far from done deal

“The Vancouver city councillor tasked with taking the lead on the Vancouver Art Gallery’s proposed move to a purpose-built gallery says approval for the project is likely to be a long way off.” Georgia Straight, December 16, 2010

Several Circles finds links between times

“Several Circles by Mark Soo is deceptively simple and straightforward in structure but rich and evocative in meaning.” Vancouver Sun, December 16, 2010

Contemporary Art Gallery announces Nigel Prince as new executive director

“Vancouver’s Contemporary Art Gallery has reached across the pond and appointed Nigel Prince, curator of the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, UK, as its new executive director.” Georgia Straight, December 13, 2010

Alliance for Arts and Culture feeling the financial pinch

“Gaming-grant cuts coupled with lacklustre donations and cancelled memberships have placed the Alliance for Arts and Culture in a tight financial squeeze. Executive director Amir Ali Alibhai says the organization is struggling to meet payroll and will be consulting with its bank to discuss options, including increasing its line of credit or securing bridge financing to tide it over until its operating grants arrive in the new year.”  Georgia Straight, December 16, 2010

Advance instalments of cultural operating grants go to council on Tuesday

“Vancouver city council is being advised by city staff to approve $1,044,480 in advance cultural operating grants to 83 organizations, ahead of their 2011 annual operating review.”  Georgia Straight, December 13, 2010

Vancouver Foundation survey highlights arts and culture sector's pain

“A new survey released by the Vancouver Foundation highlights the financial pressures being felt by arts and culture groups across B.C.” Georgia Straight, December 13, 2010

Vancouver 2010 Legacy Collection going to Museum of Vancouver

“A collection of approximately 2,000 objects, memorabilia, and ephemera from the Vancouver 2010 Games is being entrusted to the care of the Museum of Vancouver.” Georgia Straight, December 13, 2010

Toronto

Masterpieces by Chagall, Rothko and more coming to AGO in 2 blockbuster shows

Blockbuster is a lavish and overused term in today’s frenzied art world. But how else to describe the double-barrelled blast of masterpieces the Art Gallery of Ontario announced it’s presenting in Toronto next spring and fall?  Globe & Mail, December 16, 2010

Montreal

Candid revelations figure prominently

Nina Arsenault isn't just a performance artist. She's the object of her own art, preoccupied with sculpting her body into an extreme brand of femininity, through plastic surgery. Montreal Gazette, December 16, 2010

Boston

Museums Around The US To Show Wojnarowicz Video That Smithsonian Removed

"The ICA and other museums around the country, which have responded to the decision by displaying Wojnarowicz's work in their galleries, have done the public a much bigger service. They have made it easier for us to make up our own minds." Boston Globe, December 16, 2010

Washington, D.C.

Video outcry flares anew

"It was clear that neither Ward nor Katz wants the Portrait Gallery to suffer the weight of the controversy, which is looking more and more like a referendum on Clough's tenure." Washington Post, December 16, 2010

Curators Criticize Controversial Art’s Removal

"Of the roughly 150 people who attended the talk, most seemed sympathetic to the National Portrait Gallery's position, having taken on a potentially controversial show and then had to endure the wrath of both conservative and liberal critics. A few people, however, sharply criticized the decision to remove the artwork." The New York Times, December 16, 2010

New York

Why Edward Hopper Is Confusing

Despite being in Europe in the 1920s, as the great revolutions in modern art were happening, "[his] mind was not blown by Cubism. He did not succumb to the excitement of any avant-garde. … Was he an ugly American, so wedded to simplistic imagery that the finer points of Cubism or abstract painting would have been over his head? Did Hopper rely on cliché because that was all he understood?" (Review of the exhibition at the Whitney Museum) The Smart Set, December 14, 2010

Paris

A New Stock Market For Art In Paris

"Based on a stock market model, Art Exchange will offer collectors the chance jointly to own works of art with shares available from between €10 and €100." The Art Newspaper, December 16, 2010

Europe

Europe Rules Dan Flavin, Bill Viola Work Is "Not Art"
"In an astonishing move, the European Com­mis­sion (EC) has reversed a decision made in a UK tax tribunal, and refused to classify works by Dan Flavin and Bill Viola as "art". This means that UK galleries and auction houses will have to pay full VAT (value added tax, which goes up to 20% next year) and customs dues on video and light works, when they are imported from outside the EU." The Art Newspaper, December 16, 2010

Istanbul

Istanbul's Capital Of Culture Year - Why So Underwhelming?

"Declaring a millennia-old city that had been a capital of both Christian and Islamic empires as a European Capital of Culture (Ecoc) is akin to calling Venice a place with good water features or commending Paris for its decent museums. So why, as its tenure draws to a close, has the city's year seemed so much less than it might have been." The Art Newspaper, December 16, 2010

Turkish Artist Comes Full Circle With Retrospective

With "The Enemy Inside Me" at the Istanbul Modern, the video artist Kutlug Ataman has returned to the city of his birth, showing 11 of his works.  New York Times, December 16, 2010