Vancouver

Yang Fudong's Fifth Night is a homage to Shanghai’s Golden Age. “Fifth Night, a multichannel video installation, mystifies, absorbs, and unsettles us—as dreams often do. Directed by Yang Fudong, an internationally acclaimed film and video artist, and shot on a movie backlot in Shanghai, it asks us to immerse ourselves in a vision that is deeply emotional, even romantic, and intentionally ambiguous.”  Georgia Straight, May 15, 2012

Garage sale Tom Thomson painting sells for $126,500 at Vancouver auction.  A Tom Thomson painting bought at a garage sale in east Vancouver sold for $126,500 at a Maynard’s auction of Canadian art Wednesday night.  Vancouver Sun, May 17, 2012

Garage-sale painting believed to be Tom Thomson sells for $126,500. The painting bought for under $100 on a whim a few years ago at an East Vancouver garage sale.  Globe & Mail, May 16, 2012

Christian Woo crafts sleek new furniture collection. In his studio, Christian Woo’s two sides—the tradesman who constructs modern kitchens and the artist who crafts cantilevered block tables—exist side by side. Georgia Straight, May 17, 2012

Victoria

Landscapes explore the in-between. Rick Leong's solo exhibition, The Phenomenology of Dusk, opens Friday at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. It will be his first solo exhibition at a public gallery in Canada, although he drew national attention as a finalist in the 2008 RBC Canadian Painting Competition.  There's nothing stereotypical about the Victoria-based artist's landscapes - no horizon line or seascapes…   Times Colonist, May 17, 2012

Calgary

What's the best and worst public art in Calgary? (with gallery). The issue of public art has rarely been as discussed in Calgary as it is now. Calgary Herald, May 16, 2012

Edmonton

Alberta artist dives into N.Y.’s ‘cultural melting pot’ Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Tim Okamura’s second solo show with the Douglas Udell Gallery, honours the women of New York City, a gloriously diverse collection of his “friends and friends of friends.” Edmonton Journal, May 16, 2012

Toronto

Michael Cho explores back alleys and urban landscapes. Back Alleys and Urban Landscapes, Cho’s newly-published collection of sketches, is exactly what the name implies: drawings of Toronto’s back alleys and urban landscapes, which he completed over a six-year period, mostly around his home in Toronto’s west end, a neighbourhood filled with century-old semi-detached homes and labyrinthine hidden passageways.  National Post, May 16, 2012

Twins specialize in Indian miniatures with a modern twist.  Sisters to unveil a ROM-commissioned painting called Sikhs in Canada.  Globe & Mail, May 17, 2012

Ottawa

Museum’s sex exhibit has Heritage Minister hot and bothered  Despite success during its stints in Montreal and Regina, the exhibition has resulted in 50 complaints even before its opening day at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Globe & Mail, May 16, 2012

Nuit Blanche loses first guest curator, Stefan St. Laurent.  Ottawa’s first Nuit Blanche has lost its first curator. Stefan St. Laurent, who was announced as guest curator a few months ago, has stepped down. Ottawa Citizen, May 17, 2012

New York

Art’s Turn on the Catwalk The artist K8 Hardy is preparing a fashion show for the Whitney that aims to provoke questions.  New York Times, May 17, 2012

London

Credit card investigation shows art market open to international fraud  Criminal charges brought after London and regional UK auction houses are targeted (Items are often collected in person before credit card transactions have cleared)  The Art Newspaper, May 17, 2012

Margate, England

‘In a Rodin/Turner Sandwich’ Tracey Emin finds common ground with two unlikely predecessors in an erotic exhibition.  ArtNews, May 17, 2012

Norwich, England

What Made Bill Viola Into A Video Artist? "Falling into a lake aged six, when I was on holiday in the mountains. I went straight to the bottom and saw the most beautiful world I'd ever seen: fish, shafts of light, plants waving in the breeze. I thought I was in heaven. I'd have stayed there had my uncle not pulled me up. That's why my art has so much to do with water - because I dream about going back to that place." The Guardian (UK) May 15, 2012

Belgium

René Magritte's Art Deco Sheet Music Covers (Who Knew?) The Belgian Surrealist "may have carved his place in art history as a master of mind-bending, advertising-influenced imagery at the intersection of aesthetics and philosophy, but he also had a little-known early commercial career." Brain Pickings, May 14, 2012

Hong Kong

Better, Not Bigger: Hong Kong Revs Up for International Art Fair Two hundred galleries are participating in Hong Kong's international art fair, which has become a key part of the territory's cultural calendar. New York Times, May 17, 2012

Tasmania

Which Is Australia's Artiest State? "It has no world-famous Opera House, let alone an opera company. It misses out on most touring music acts and exhibitions. ... [Yet] Tasmania has the highest per capita rate of people working in the arts sector and attending arts events, based on figures provided by the Australia Council." Sydney Morning Herald, May 14, 2012

Melbourne

A Banksy Goes Down The Drainpipe (Actually, It's The Reverse) "A Melbourne builder has inadvertently destroyed a valuable piece of street art by British graffiti artist Banksy, by drilling a hole through it to put in a bathroom pipe." The Telegraph (UK) May 12, 2012  (includes video)

International

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Preserving Outdoor Murals? "Art preservation is tricky even under ideal circumstances, which generally involve close controls for light, temperature, humidity and other hazards. Eliminate those and you have some idea of the challenge that street-mural preservation faces." The Wall Street Journal, May 17, 2012