Vancouver

Laughter to stay in English Bay.  The Vancouver Park Board has agreed to allow the popular A-maze-ing Laughter sculptures to remain at English Bay and to work with community groups to try to raise the funds to buy it. The sculpture, originally priced at $5 million, was installed temporarily at Morton Park in 2009 for the Vancouver Biennale. Artist Yue Minjun reduced the price to $1.5 million, which the Biennale Foundation is now trying to raise. Vancouver Sun, April 19, 2012

National Dance Week descends on Vancouver.  In a partnership with the Vancouver Biennale, dance artists will be interacting with public sculptures around the city in daily performances. Georgia Straight, April 19, 2012

Vancouver Draw Down.  An annual, daylong celebration of drawing that challenges Vancouverites to dispel their preconceptions about drawing, touch a pen to a piece of paper, and make a mark on June 9.  Draw down events will be held throughout the city, including at the Vancouver Art Gallery.  Vancouver Draw Down, April 13, 2012

Victoria

Two-sided project puts beauty into focus Photographer Christine Redmond asked each of her models to pose twice: once in her "home clothes" and again in the outfit that made her feel most attractive. The result is In Real Life, showing at Xchanges Gallery through April 29. Times Colonist, April 18, 2012

Calgary

East Village unveils public art of ‘movement’. “If you were passing through the East Village Wednesday, or, perhaps crossing the flyover by the Calgary Drop In Centre, chances are you noticed the strange animated figures who are newcomers to the neighbourhood. The installation is the work of Julian Opie, an internationally acclaimed British artist associated with the New British Sculpture movement.” Calgary Herald, April 18, 2012

Toronto

Women on top. Germany’s Ellen von Unwerth brings her playfully provoking photos to Toronto.  National Post, April 19, 2012

Ottawa

National Gallery attendance is up but still lower than expected.  “The National Gallery which received a parliamentary appropriation of more than $45-million last year, recorded 346,890 visitors for the 2011-12 fiscal year ending March 31. While representing a 10 per cent increase in attendance from the last fiscal year, it’s known the NGC was anticipating a higher total” for NGC’s summer exhibition, Caravaggio and His Followers in Rome.   Globe & Mail, April 19, 2012

CAFÉ L'ENTRÉE: Grim food in the Great Hall. Despite the involvement of a top chef, National Gallery's café is an embarrassment.  Ottawa Citizen, April 17, 2012

Cleveland

Report: What The Cleveland Museum Contributes To The Local Economy "By spending $40 million a year on its operations, the museum triggers a total of $60 million in economic impact. The other $80 million in impact comes from spending by 109,000 visitors a year who come to the museum from outside Ohio, or roughly one-third of the audience." The Plain Dealer, April 18, 2012

New York

Occupy Wall Street joins protests against Frieze New York  New York’s Carpenters’ Union has already complained about the fair’s labour standards (An inflatable rat, a familiar symbol of union protests, on Randall's Island)  Art Newspaper, April 18, 2012

John Golding, Critic and Scholar of the Abstract, Dies at 82 Mr. Golding, a British critic, scholar and painter, was an authority on Cubism.  New York Times, April 19, 2012

London

London, England shines spotlight on Vancouver's Stan Douglas. Renowned Vancouver photographic artist Stan Douglas is being spotlighted in a special solo exhibition running April 18 to May 26, at the Victoria Miro gallery in London, England. Georgia Straight, April 16, 2012

Naples

Italian Museum Director Burns Art To Protest Funding Cuts On Tuesday evening, he launched what he termed "an art war to prevent the destruction of culture" by setting light to a painting by a French artist, Séverine Bourguignon, worth up to €10,000 (£8,200). "This is a war. This is a revolution," Antonio Manfredi said. "And in a revolution, there are winners and losers." He vowed to continue destroying works from the permanent collection at the rate of one a day until someone took notice of Cam's plight." The Guardian (UK) April 18, 2012

International

Has Art Exhausted Its Ability To Offend? "The larger question is whether bad taste is even a consideration anymore. And if so, what might it mean?" ArtNews, April 2012