Vancouver

Art in the City: A New Vancouver Art Gallery as a Means of Re-affirming Culture and Vitalizing the Urban Realm. This thesis explores the possibility that a well designed and situated urban art gallery might improve a problematic urban condition in Vancouver. Link to pdf of Colin Harper’s MA Thesis, Dept. of Architecture, Dalhousie University, April 2011.

 An era ends as Farris gallery closes doors to go online. “Gallerist's rule was to only represent artists she would 'like to bring home to dinner'.”  Vancouver Sun, April 16, 2011

Taking it to the streets.  “Political protests have been big news this year, a phenomenon that makes New York artist Sharon Hayes' work In the Near Future opening in Vancouver all the more compelling.” National Post, April 15, 2011

Toronto

Is the brilliant, troubling Edward Burtynsky too easy to admire?  “To write about Edward Burtynsky’s celebrated photography in anything less than celebratory terms is a daunting task.” Globe & Mail, April 15, 2011

Montreal

'I want to find what's behind their face'. “Five years after he left Montreal's advertising world to become an artist, André Monet will present Prince William and Kate Middleton with portraits commissioned by one of London's most prestigious art galleries.”  Montreal Gazette, April 19, 2011

In Quebec, culture is fundamental: Duceppe.  “Bloc Québécois pledges to protect artists' contributions to province's way of life.”  Montreal Gazette, April 19, 2011

New York

Andy Warhol’s self-portrait to be sold in NYC.  “A 1986 self-portrait by Andy Warhol that was among the last of his paintings to be exhibited while he was alive is going on sale in New York City.”  Globe & Mail, April 19, 2011

Washington

Economy down, museum attendance up in U.S. "A report being released today by the American Association of Museums shows more than 70 percent of the nation's museums were under financial distress last year because most saw government and corporate funding reduced from an already bad year in 2009.  St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 18, 2011

London

British 20th-century art? Phooey.  "It seems we choose the art history we want, or need. Since Damien Hirst broke the ice at the start of the 1990s, British artists have succeeded and become fashionable at home and abroad. The generation who grew up with this art have now had time to do their PhDs and become curators or lecturers, and the official picture of Britain's art history is changing before our eyes." The Guardian (UK), April 20, 2011

Dangerous Arts.  “Art can be dangerous. Very often artistic fame has proved dangerous to artists themselves. Mr. Ai’s work is not polemical — it tends towards the mysterious. But his immense prominence as an artist as allowed him to take up human rights cases and to draw attention to China’s often inadequate responses to disasters. The authorities have embarrassed and harassed him before, but now they have gone on a dangerous new offensive.” – commentary by Salman Rushdie. New York Times, April 19, 2011

Paris

Venerable Art Dealer Is Enmeshed in Lawsuits.  “At the center of the current wave of troubles is Guy Wildenstein, 65, the president of Wildenstein & Company, an operation with spaces in New York, Tokyo and Paris. The family has faced controversies in the past, and lawsuits, too, but never in the number or magnitude of those on the docket now." New York Times, April 19, 2011

Avignon

Attack on 'blasphemous' art work fires debate on role of religion in France.  Controversy has followed Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ, but reached an unprecedented peak on Palm Sunday when it was attacked with hammers and destroyed after an "anti-blasphemy" campaign by French Catholic fundamentalists in the southern city of Avignon." The Guardian, April 18, 2011

Trondheim

Architect Hopes to Revitalize Norwegian City with Oil Platform. Extreme recycling…  By redesigning an oil rig platform with apartments and other facilities, architect Sverre Max Stenersen would like to remind Norwegians where their wealth comes from and revitalize a blighted neighbourhood. De Spiegel, April 19, 2011

Barcelona

Gaudí's Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona evacuated as arsonist strikes.  “Local man reportedly walked into the sacristy, sprayed it with flammable liquid and set fire to priest's robes stored there.”  The Guardian (UK), April 19, 2011

Australia

Law paints indigenous art into a corner. "These well-intentioned interventions into Aboriginal art have had a mixed effect. In fact, there is increasing evidence they are contributing to the deep malaise afflicting the entire indigenous art market. The Australian, April 17, 2011