Vancouver  

Artist Rodney Graham honoured for his body of work.  Vancouver artist Rodney Graham will be awarded the prestigious Audain Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Visual Arts Thursday at the Vancouver Art Gallery.  The Province, May 4, 2011

B.C. artist's painting may crack the million mark.  A record may be shattered May 17 for paintings by E.J. Hughes, when the 1948 painting Coastal Boats Near Sidney, BC goes up for sale at the Heffel Auction of Canadian Post-War and Contemporary Art.  The painting is on the cover of the publication by VAG curator Ian Thom that accompanied the exhibition held at the Vancouver Art Gallery in 2003. Vancouver Sun, April 30, 2011

Robertson outlines new proposal for site next to B.C. Place at downtown business luncheon. At a Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association lunch, the mayor said other areas of the city earmarked for development include the parking lot at Georgia and Cambie Streets, the site of the proposed $300 million relocation of the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the surrounding neighbourhood around the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, as well as the waterfront at the north end of Granville Street. Robertson said the stepped-up development plans speak to Vancouver’s future as a vibrant and energetic city. The Province, April 28, 2011

Barrie Mowatt, Vancouver pioneer of visual arts, closes his gallery after 30 years. Buschlen Mowatt incorporated in 1979, operating at first out of Barrie Mowatt and Don Buschlen’s home. Eight years later, they opened the space on West Georgia Street, ultimately representing international artists such as Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Rauschenberg and Canadians including Bill Reid and Sorel Etrog. Globe & Mail, April 30, 2011

Edmonton

Art makes a statement without saying a word.  “Art can also make a cultural statement or even a political one depending on the piece.” Edmonton Journal, May 2, 2011

Toronto

New kind of beauty in bloom. The bloom is far from being off the rose for senior Canadian artist Suzy Lake. With international showings surging and a big survey about to open in Toronto, the Detroit-raised artist talks with Leah Sandals about art scars, avatars and the advantages of age. National Post, April 29, 2011

Ontario to amend legislation governing McMichael gallery.  Ontario’s McGuinty government is introducing legislation this week that will free the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg from some of the constraints it’s been operating under for more than 10 years. Globe & Mail, May 3, 2011

A Canadian masterpiece, from a U.S. bungalow.  Authenticity is a big deal in the art market, along with rarity. The small Tom Thomson sketch Early Snow, Algonquin Park has both. Vancouver Sun, May 3, 2011

Competition gives artists chance to get noticed. In 2008, artist Amanda Reeves submitted her work to the RBC Painting Competition with no real expectations. The now 36-year-old painter just wanted to get noticed.  But when her painting was selected as one of three finalists from nearly 600 submissions, things started to change. Vancouver Sun, April 30, 2011

Ryerson Gallery: An inner-city university dreams big.  The lectures, discussions and the May 6 screening of Jennifer Baichwal’s Manufactured Landscapes (2006), a look at Burtynsky looking at China, represent one step in Ryerson’s long march to ramp up interest in its Sept. 2012 opening of its $40.9 million Ryerson Gallery and Research Centre, design ned by Diamond and Schmitt Architects. Toronto Star, May 3, 2011

Iain Baxter&raisonne York University and Adam Lauder are developing an electronic catalogue raisonné and virtual exhibition devoted to the work of IAIN BAXTER&.  Research Curator David Bellman was recently awarded a micro-grant to curate the prototype online exhibition. York University, April 27, 2011

Ottawa

Straddling the world of Louise bourgeois.  Exhibit showcases 60 years of work by the artist beloved for her spider sculpture at the National Gallery.  Ottawa Citizen, May 2, 2011

West Texas

Land Arts of the American West, a Texas Tech Program A program at Texas Tech takes artists and architects out of the classroom and onto the road for months, across 7,000 miles of the West, to use art as a way of thinking about land, environment and politics. New York Times, May 4, 2011

New York

Sotheby’s bosses get 125% pay rise.  Sotheby’s is seeking approval from its shareholders for a $15.3m pay package for five of its executive officers for 2010.  Details are given in the firm’s proxy statement, issued in advance of its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 5 May. The Art Newspaper, May 4, 2011

44 Works Sell for $170 Million at Sotheby’s Auction  While a Picasso painting sold for $21.3 million, the overall sale was tepid, with owners choosing to hold back their best properties.  New York Times, May 4, 2011

Chief Photography Curator Retiring From MoMA  Peter Galassi, the chief curator of photography at the Museum of Modern Art, will retire in July, the museum announced.  New York Times, May 4, 2011

Amsterdam

Amsterdam's New Canal Museum "'The history of the canals had never been told,' said Piet van Winden, the head of the 'Grachtenhuis' private museum which has just opened to the public. 'They are probably the best conceived urban extension project in the world,' he said. 'Here, we set the scene, we explain the how and why'." Agence France-Presse, May 2, 2011

Beijing

The Beijing Intelligentsia's Anti-Ai Weiwei? "One of China's most famous public intellectuals, Chen [Danqing] is not so much an activist as an eloquent and ambivalent dissenter. He criticizes the party's grasp on history and expression and belittles China's other artists for refusing to speak out." Los Angeles Times, May 1, 2011

Translating Ai Weiwei.  A conversation with Lee Ambrozy, the translator of Ai Weiwei’s Blog published by MIT Press.  The Economist, April 28, 2011

International

Where Psychology Meets Building Design  "Recently, scientists have begun to focus on how architecture and design can influence our moods, thoughts and health. They've discovered that everything - from the quality of a view to the height of a ceiling, from the wall color to the furniture - shapes how we think." Wall Street Journal, April 30, 2011