Vancouver

Surrealist masters arrive at the Vancouver Art Gallery.  “The Surrealist masters of the 20th century held the public in its thrall with their strange and wonderful dreamscapes.”  The work of 80 leading Surrealist artists can be seen in The Colour of My Dreams: The Surrealist Revolution in Art, opening at the Vancouver Art Gallery, May 28. The Province, May 25, 2011

Martin Creed: Collected Works is evidence of a keen mind. “I would never call myself a conceptual artist,” Martin Creed stresses, in a thick Glaswegian accent. “I don’t particularly like the idea.…I don’t think it’s possible to separate ideas from feelings, from what you experience—it’s all like a big soup. So the idea that there is a type of experience which is just conceptual or just this or just that is just not right.” Georgia Straight, May 24, 2011

Portrait of an Artist: Suzo Hickey.  A collection of new works from established Vancouver painter Suzo Hickey are on display at Rhizome Café to July 17.  The exhibition of acrylic-on-canvas works, Everything that is in front of me: East Van Landscapes, continues Hickey’s study of the neighbourhood.  Georgia Straight, May 24, 2011

Handful of Vancouver arts groups receive gaming grant money.  A May 17 news release from the Liberal government caucus lists 13 organizations who will share $254,600 in grant money from gambling revenues. Georgia Straight, May 19, 2011

Toronto

Gordon Lebredt: A Life, Condensed.  Gordon Lebredt, a Canadian conceptual artist and writer who also fixed and raced motorcycles, died on February 26, 2011, at age 62. A monograph on unrealized projects, Gordon Lebredt: Nonworks 1975–2008, was published earlier this year. Canadian Art, May 15, 2011

Shinan: Nobody puts ‘Mrs. Pollock’ in the corner.  “A morning full of scale-collisions it was, Wednesday, at the sneak peek of “Abstract Expressionist New York: Masterpieces from The Museum of Modern Art”. Inception’ed in from New York for a monumental exclusive at the Art Gallery of Ontario was Glenn Lowry, who’d once run Toronto’s joint but has long been at the helm of the MOMA, appeared in the flesh — and in purple socks — to put it all in context. Among those sharing the stage was AGO au courant Matthew Teitelbaum, in leg-wear that was dark and less expressionistic, but perhaps, come to think of it, more abstract.” National Post, May 25, 2011

CanCon art up for admiration, then auction.  The 1916 Tom Thomson painting, titled Early Snow, Algonquin Park, was among about 200 lots to go for auction Thursday evening in Toronto. The works had stopped in five cities and in the days before the sale, a trickle of dealers, collectors and admirers visited the Royal Ontario Museum to see the art which in many cases, was on display for the first time in generations. National Post, May 25, 2011

How culture guru paved way for miracle at City Hall. “A report called Creative Capital Gains, making a strong business case for the city to invest in the arts, and calling for an increase in per-capita funding from $18 to $25 by 2013 — was cheered and unanimously endorsed by Toronto City Council. At last week’s meeting, a dozen councillors took turns praising the report and urging its implementation. Then came the vote, with not a single nay.  The report made it clear it would be suicidal for Toronto not to invest in the arts.”  Toronto Star, May 25, 2011

New York

Whitney Breaks Ground On New Home "Today, we begin to create the Whitney of the future, an aspirational space where contemporary artists can realize their visions and audiences can connect deeply with art." New York Times, May 25, 2011

Scene City: The Whitney Heads Downtown - Slide Show  The Whitney Museum tries hard to show off a younger, hipper side. New York Times, May 26, 2011

 United States

Graffiti Artists Having Tough Time With The Law "Law-enforcement officials around the country are prosecuting graffiti artists with harsher sentences than ever, pushing for felony charges, real prison time and restitution payments as they seek to wipe graffiti from the streets. At the same time, the art world and corporations are embracing the form like never before." The Wall Street Journal, May 26, 2011

US Museums Scramble As Russia Bans Art Loans "Russia's actions are the result of a ruling in a U.S. District Court last summer that Russia must restore a trove of religious books and manuscripts to Chabad, a prominent international ministry based in New York City. Despite a U.S. law and diplomatic assurances to the contrary, Russian officials have said they fear art shipped to American museums could be seized as collateral." Los Angeles Times, May 26, 2011 

Madrid

Big Fight Over Two Paintings "One of Europe's wealthiest and most fractious families has returned to feuding mode after the son of the Spanish art collector Baroness Carmen Thyssen took her to court in a battle over two paintings - valued at €6m (£5.2m) - by Goya and Giaquinto." The Guardian (UK) May 25, 2011

London

Tracey Emin The enfant terrible's first London retrospective. “Tracy Emin’s [retrospective] is sex, birth and the messy business of living. Through the semblance of full personal disclosure, her works engage and enrage a wider, more socially diverse audience than, before her, contemporary art ever enjoyed in Britain.” Slate, May 21, 2011

Rome

Pope John Paul II Statue Gets Thumbs Down — Rome Journal  A Pope John Paul II statue at the Termini train station in Rome has been criticized to the point that a city commission has been named to rule on it.  New York Times, May 26, 2011

Venice

The Venice Biennale Has A Record Year "With a budget of E1m less than the 2007 edition, the 53rd Venice Biennale has attracted a record number of visitors, 375,702 in total (with a daily average of 2,223), 56,370 more than the 52nd biennale--an increase of 18%." The Art Newspaper, May 26, 2011

Hong Kong

Hong Kong Art Fair Reaches Out Into the World  With 260 participating galleries, the annual fair is larger than ever, and it's now owned by the group that runs Art Basel.  New York Times, May 26, 2011

International

Study: People Who Attend Cultural Events Are Less Stressed "People who go to museums and concerts or create art or play an instrument are more satisfied with their lives, regardless of how educated or rich they are, according to a study. But the link between culture and feeling good about oneself is not quite the same in both sexes, according to the study, published in the British Medical Association's Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health." Discovery, May 24, 2011 

What, Exactly Are Museums? "It has become a cliché to say that museums are today's churches--special places for contemplation, separate from day-to-day concerns; conversely, there's an argument that museums should aim to be commonplace, part of normal life. It is intriguing that museums were once talked of as places that reinforced cultural hegemonies, but now they are more often seen as democratising access to art." The Art Newspaper, May 26, 2011