Vancouver

Seminal B.C. artists win Governor General's Awards  Michael Morris, one of the cofounders of the Image Bank, an analog precursor to today's social media that put Vancouver on the artistic map in the 1960s, is one of eight winners of the 2011 Governor General's Awards in visual and media arts. David Rimmer, a Vancouver-based experimental filmmaker, is also a recipient of this year’s award. Vancouver Sun, February 23, 2011 

Michael Morris: GG Award Winner Who Helped Create Analog Social Media.  Kevin Griffin’s conversation with Michael Morris, a recipient of this year’s Governor General’s award for visual arts. Vancouver Sun, February 23, 2011

G-G’s honour visual artists from coast to coast Artists from Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia received cheques for $25,000 each Tuesday in Toronto as the 2011 laureates for the Governor-General’s Awards for excellence in visual and media arts. Globe & Mail, February 22, 2011

New Westminster

Painting a war -a visual legacy   When former soldier Chris Hennebery heads to an Afghanistan patrol base next month, he'll be wearing his body armour and Kevlar helmet, but will be armed only with pencils and paintbrushes. Vancouver Sun, February 23, 2011

Comox

Remembering Margaretha Bootsma  On February 9, 2011 Margaretha passed away peacefully surrounded by her brushes, paints, photographs and drawing supplies in the studio that she built near the ocean in Comox, BC. Vancouver Sun, Feb. 20, 2011

Toronto

Luminato feels the fallout from Egypt’s upheaval.  While Luminato has commissioned about 40 original works in its five-year history, there’s never been anything quite like One Thousand and One Nights. Rehearsals meant to start in Alexandria, Egypt this week are being moved to Morocco. Globe & Mail, February 23, 2011

Iowa City

Iowa Legislator Drops Idea To Force University To Sell Jackson Pollock "The idea to force the University of Iowa to sell its $150 million Jackson Pollock painting has officially died in the legislature. The reason: The issue has become so cumbersomely emotional that reaching consensus is unlikely, the legislator pushing for the sale said today." Des Moines Register, February 22, 2011

New Haven, Connecticut

Kevin Roche Is Featured in Yale Exhibition - Review   An exhibition at Yale considers the Modernist work of the architect Kevin Roche.   New York Times, February 23, 2011

New York

‘Kasper Collection’ at Morgan Library & Museum - Review   “Mannerism and Modernism: The Kasper Collection of Drawings and Photographs,” at the Morgan Library & Museum, is really three collections in one.  New York Times, February 23, 2011  

London

Why Do People Obsess Over the Mona Lisa's Identity? Germaine Greer Wants to Know "Mona Lisa has been securely identified by Vasari as Lisa Gherardini, wife of the Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo … There is therefore no call for further speculation about who the original of the Mona Lisa might be, and yet it goes on." The Guardian (UK), February 22, 2011

St. Petersburg

Radical Russian Artists Behaving Very, Very Badly "Over the past three years, the group's installations and performances have included organising the mock execution of migrant workers in a Moscow supermarket, an impromptu expletive-filled punk rock performance in a courtroom, throwing live cats at McDonald's cashiers and painting an enormous penis on a bridge in St Petersburg." The Independent (UK), February 23, 2011

Sala Bolognese, Italy

Blind sculptor recreates untouchable masterpiece.  When blind sculptor Felice Tagliaferri was forbidden to touch one of Italy's most famous statues, he decided revenge was best served not just cold but stone cold.  Los Angeles Times, February 21, 2011