Vancouver

Present borne into past in photographs  A multiple work of photography by artist Song Dong that was recently acquired by the Vancouver Art Gallery is one of the high-lights of new exhibition on art that explores seriality and repetition.  The exhibition is called Again and Again and Again ... Serial Formats and Repetitive Actions. Although the exhibition is composed mostly of art chosen from the gallery's permanent collection of more than 10,000 works, several works are being shown for the first time.  Vancouver Sun, May 31, 2012

Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters unfolds in a generous and gratifying way  Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters, the Vancouver Art Gallery's blockbuster summer show, unfolds in a generous and gratifying way. Subtitled “The Cone Sisters of Baltimore”, it reveals the impulses behind a great collection.  Georgia Straight, May 29, 2012 

Local designer Dahlia Drive takes "wearable art" to new lengths during VAG show  It appears that art fans are so taken with the works on display at the new Vancouver Art Gallery Show Collecting Matisse and the Modern Masters that they want to wear them out the doors.  Georgia Straight, May 31, 2012

Victoria

Victoria’s Royal B.C. Museum takes an intimate look at the royal family in new exhibit

With festivities to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee in full swing in Britain this weekend, it’s only fitting that Victoria, B.C., gets in on the fun.  CBC, May 31, 2012

Nanaimo

Dual influences of culture shape artists' work Sonny Assu and Rande Cook draw from their experiences of both modern pop culture and traditional aboriginal ways to help create engaging and intriguing artwork. The two artists have their work on display at the Nanaimo Art Gallery at Vancouver Island University throughout the summer.  Nanaimo News Bulletin, May 31, 2012

Kelowna

Kelowna Art Gallery gets ready for summer camp  This year's main exhibit, Bearing Witness, is here on display from the Vancouver Art Gallery and looks at social justice issues. The images will make good fodder for the older students' camps, like ART-Rageous. Kelowna Capital News, May 31, 2012

Calgary

Glenbow Museum For more than 40 years, the Glenbow Museum has attracted and displayed some of the world’s most acclaimed artists. That tradition continues this summer. Starting June 2, the Glenbow will present its summer exhibition season that includes Charlie Russell and the First Calgary Stampede alongside The West.  Calgary Herald, May 30, 2012

Winnipeg

Winnipeg Art Gallery's Rockwell exhibit attracted 30,000  The Winnipeg Art Gallery's Norman Rockwell exhibit was one of its most successful ever. More than 30,000 visitors saw the show, well more than previous successes like the Andy Warhol and Rodin shows.  CBC, May 31, 2012

Montreal

Montreal downpour floods museum basement, damages hundreds of artworks Between 50 and 75 millimetres of rain fell on Montreal in a half-hour.  “We have one to three feet of water in our basements,” Paulette Gagnon, director of the Montreal museum of contemporary art, said Wednesday. “Part of the basement holds our reserves so of course some of our reserves were damaged.”  Globe and Mail, May 31, 2012

Los Angeles

A Major New Museum For Movies In LA Renzo Piano and L.A architect Zoltan Pali, the academy announced Wednesday, will team up to turn the 1939 May Co. structure, one of L.A.'s classic Art Deco landmarks, into a museum celebrating the history of the film industry. Los Angeles Times, May 30, 2012

Philadelphia

The New Barnes - Tribute To A Past "The new Barnes cannot revive the old. That ship has sailed. Meanwhile, Philadelphia can take ownership of a major institution with a $14m budget, a budding $50m endowment and a vastly expanded scope of functions, not to mention public access befitting its popularity." The Art Newspaper, May 31, 2012

Cuba

An exile’s return to Cuba Ella Cisneros Fontanals fled the revolution at 15. Now she’s taken her collection to show in Havana.  The Art Newspaper, May 30, 2012

Kabakovs’ Cuban project provokes US government in election year  American children allowed to travel to Havana only after last-minute appeal  The Art Newspaper, May 31, 2012

Spain

Spanish Artist Faces Jail On Blasphemy Charges "Javier Krahe, who has been a popular and provocative figure in Spain for nearly half a century, ... faces up to a year in prison after being prosecuted for 'offending religious feelings' in relation to a short film he made more than 30 years ago that claimed to show 'how to cook Jesus Christ'." The Guardian (UK) May 28, 2012

Johannesburg

South Africa Painting Removed After Raising Tensions  Controversy erupted after a painting depicting South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, with his genitals exposed was exhibited at a Johannesburg gallery.  New York Times, May 31, 2012

Kiev

Kiev Gets Its First Biennale Arsenale 2012 "takes place in an old weapons arsenal on a pretty hilltop street that overlooks a sea of apartment blocks typical of cities of former Soviet states. Peace and quiet is broken only by the solemn chime of church bells from the adjacent monastery ... Unsurprisingly, the locals are not over the moon about their new neighbour, which aims to attract some 30,000 globetrotting art pilgrims in its debut summer." The Telegraph (UK) May 30, 2012

Iran

Iranian Customs Returns Seized Jackson Pollock Canvas To Tehran Museum "Mural on Indian Red Ground was seized by the country's customs service on 11 May after being on loan to Japan. The service said it confiscated the work over money owed by the Ministry of Culture," which operates the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. BBC May 29, 2012

Afghanistan

The victory of the void, a defeat for the Taliban  The Bamiyan Buddhas will not be rebuilt, says Unesco. The architect Andrea Bruno proposes a scheme that focuses reverently on their absence.  The Art Newspaper, May 31, 2012

Beijing

Ai Weiwei Versus The Chinese Government "When the police interrogate me," he says, "they say I am a pawn of the West. They say they only buy my work because they want to give me money. And they say I am trying to use politics to promote myself and become more famous. And there is some truth here. But the police forget what the purpose of all this fame and status is. I do not need it personally. They never understand the content of my message." The Telegraph (UK) May 31, 2012

Art Birthdays, May 31 - Ellsworth Kelly, 1923; Walter Richard Sickert, 1860.