Vancouver

Kananginak Pootoogook: Such a Long Journey. “Kananginak Pootoogook who died in 2010, is commemorated in this fine exhibition of drawings at Marion Scott Gallery. The work on view, executed in ink and coloured pencil on paper, serves as a sequel to a retrospective of the artist that the gallery mounted two years ago as a complement to Vancouver’s Cultural Olympiad.” Canadian Art (Online), January 5, 2012

Victoria

Artist values freedom over $$. “It isn't surprising that the title of a retrospective of Richard Raxlen's works that opens Friday at Open Space is Introspective, punctuated by typographic symbols, rather than the more commonly used term.” Times Colonist, January 10, 2012

Calgary

Multimedia icon Laurie Anderson occupies Calgary.  “It turns out the Occupy movement occupies a substantial chunk of Anderson’s current imaginative energy.  “I’m (actually) doing a huge amount with Occupy Wall Street,” she says. “I’ve started a group called Occupy Art and it’s really thrilling.” Calgary Herald, January 10, 2012

Toronto

Nicole Collins: Glimpses of Renewal. “As the title of Nicole Collin’s current exhibition of paintings in Toronto, one gets a similar sense of “reconstruction” as repaired trauma, both material and metaphorical.”  Canadian Art (Online), January 5, 2012

AGO lands Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera show.  “A major retrospective of 75 works by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera will open at the AGO on Oct 20, the Star has learned. Drawn mainly from the collection of Mexico’s Museo Dolores Olmedo, the exhibition will remain at the Grange until Jan. 20, 2013.” Toronto Star, January 11, 2012

Toronto dancing book video delights online viewers. A  video shot inside Type Books's Queen Street West location, uses stop-motion to make the books move to music seconds after the owner locks the door and leaves for the night, is delighting viewers. CBC Arts, January 11, 2012

Ottawa

Sentimental journey. “I cringed when I read the news release for Crystal Beshara's exhibition of new paintings at Orange Art Gallery in Ottawa. The release says, "It is with this brand new body of work that she shares a cosy slice of nostalgia."  When I read the words "new paintings" on the same page with the words "cosy slice of nostalgia" I wanted to run away, fast and far. I'm glad I didn't…”  Ottawa Citizen, January 11, 2012

North America

Occupy art: pièces de résistance. “After the Occupy Wall Street movement started in New York this past September, hundreds of similar camps sprung up across the world — and along with them, a wealth of “Occupy art” in the form of posters, installations and sculptures.”  National Post, January 11, 2012

New York

Met Hires Tate Modern Curator, Gearing Up to Be Major Player in Contemporary Art The chief curator at Tate Modern in London is to join the Metropolitan to raise its profile in contemporary art.   New York Times, January 11, 2012

United States

Why Is It So Hard To Find Good Arts Managers? "The past two years, so many arts groups in North Texas have had to find new directors, managing directors and CEOs that people have wondered if there was something wrong -- with the Arts District? With Dallas in general?" Turns out it's not just in Texas... Art & Seek (KERA Dallas) January 10, 2012

France

Photographer Jan Groover, 68 "Among the first photographers to be embraced in the late '70s and early '80s by New York galleries (Sonnabend and Robert Miller) previously more disposed toward painters and sculptors, she also became in 1987 one of a handful of women to ever receive a solo show of her photographs at the Museum of Modern Art." The Wall Street Journal, January 10, 2012

Nigeria

Rare Piece Of Ancient African Clay Sculpture Discovered "If they exist at all, most unglazed clay objects from ancient times are now rubble, mere fragments of their former glory. This terracotta head, at around 2000 years old, is a rare exception. Excavated from a village in Nigeria, this is one of the best-preserved examples of its kind ever discovered." New Scientist, January 6, 2012