Vancouver

HEALTHY ARTS: City-based global artist Rodney Graham collared the $30,000 Audain Prize for lifetime achievement at a Vancouver Art Gallery ceremony Thursday. Reece Terris and Althea Thauberger each received $10,000 VIVA awards, which are esteemed for being endowed by late working artist Jack Shadbolt and curator-wife Doris. Building contractor Terris much enlivened the gallery in 2009 with an installation of six stacked living spaces composed of materials, fixtures and furnishings recycled from 1950s-to-2000s residences.  (Malcolm Parry)  Vancouver Sun, May 7, 2011

public art in the classroom  The Vancouver Biennale is coming to a close this summer, but its impact will live on for students and staff in a number of Metro Vancouver schools. The two-year biannual art exhibition brought more than 30 sculptures and installations by international artists.  Vancouver Sun, May 7, 2011   Biennale in Vancouver   A Map of the locations of works featured in the Biennale.  Vancouver Sun, May 7, 2011

Polygon chairman took part in dangerous Freedom Rides This month marks the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Freedom Riders, courageous and principled men and women – both black and white – who, through non-violent activism, challenged repressive segregation laws in the American Deep South.  Vancouver Sun, May 7, 2011

Toronto

Brian Jungen on art and Canadian politics

Sculptor Brian Jungen sheds light on the realities of art and politics in the days after the federal election.  Globe and Mail, May 7, 2011

Ten Contact shows to see  All artists at this year’s Toronto-wide photography show are working on the theme of ‘figure and ground’   Globe and Mail, May 7, 2011

Ottawa

Donors buy stake in ‘The Clock’ on museum’s behalf  Move means the National Gallery of Canada can co-own famous movie without dipping into acquisition fund.   Globe and Mail, May 7, 2011

Nevada

Restorers Try To Save Ancient Nevada Rock Art After Vandals Spray Paint "The art, left by American Indians thousands of years ago, was the target of graffiti vandals in November. Areas as large as 9 feet wide were covered with maroon spray paint, apparently for the shock value of the damage, police said." Las Vegas Sun, May 6, 2011  

Denver

Denver's New Clyfford Still Museum Set To Open November 18 "The first of the museum's rotating exhibitions will feature about 108 selections by the famed abstract expressionist artist, including 60 canvases, 45 works on paper and all three of his sculptures. Also on view will be letters and other highlights from Still's archives." Denver Post, May 8, 2011

New York

'Collecting Matisse' at Jewish Museum - Review -   “Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore,” at the Jewish Museum, samples the extraordinary trove of European art amassed by two American spinsters in the first half of the 20th century.  Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore is organized by The Baltimore Museum of Art, The Jewish Museum, New York, and the Vancouver Art Gallery.  New York Times, May 6, 2011

Alexander McQueen Show at the Met - Review  A Metropolitan Museum exhibition of work by Alexander McQueen, who committed suicide last year, surveys the career of a designer who used shock to challenge preconceptions.   New York Times, May 7, 2011

Sotheby's Proposes 125 Percent Pay Raises For Its Top Execs "The total compensation, up 125% from $6.8m in 2009, includes base salaries, plus other annual remunerations such as cash incentive bonuses and awards of Sotheby's shares. These additional perks take the total level of pay to at least five times these executives' base salary, and nearly nine times for the chief executive William Ruprecht." The Art Newspaper, May 6, 2011

John Chamberlain, the Crushed-Car Sculptor John Chamberlain, 84, has almost singlehandedly given automotive metal a place in the history of sculpture, and now has a new gallery and two new shows.   New York Times, May 9, 2011

London

Warning: Today's Digital Art Will Be Lost Without Better Conservation "A team of experts is warning that some of Britain's contemporary artistic landmarks will be no more than memories within a decade unless conservationists can effectively archive digital works and stop them degrading." The Observer (UK) May 8, 2011

The World's Richest Art Prize "Called simply the Gulbenkian, the £175,000 award is worth more than four times the Turner Prize and outstrips the US-based ArtPrize, previously the world's largest, at $250,000 (£153,000)."  The Independent (UK) May 8, 2011

Basel

Art Basel Buys Hong Kong's ArtHK Art Fair
The owners of Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach have "bought a 60% stake in Asian Art Fairs, the owner of the Hong Kong fair ArtHK (which opens its fourth edition in three weeks on 26 May), for an undisclosed price." The Art Newspaper, May 7, 2011

Beijing

A Look At Ai Weiwei's Art "What about his art? Is it even any good? Well, though Weiwei himself came to denounce the Beijing Olympics as a "PR sham" hiding China's "disgusting" political reality, his stadium was a big hit, its twirling trusses suggestive of a bird's nest or woven basket of Chinese yore." The Telegraph (UK) May 8, 2011

Cheryl Siegel, Librarian/Archivist

Vancouver Art Gallery

750 Hornby Street Vancouver BC, V6Z 2H7

604-662-4709