Vancouver

Waiting amid windy rooms and mirror images in Waiting For.   “Centre A’s theme finds its ultimate symbol in the old tram depot that’s home to the gallery and the inspiration for several works.” Georgia Straight, February 2, 2012

Art studios removed from Rize high-rise development. “City of Vancouver staff have instructed the developer of a proposed multi-use high-rise development at East Broadway and Kingsway to pay a community-amenity contribution instead of building 10,000 square feet of artist studios.”  Georgia Straight, February 2, 2012

Edmonton

Q&A: Montreal-trained artist Emanuel Licha’s visions of violence.  “Montreal-trained artist Emanuel Licha knows there’s many more ways to look at war. Lately, he’s become known for his War Tourist series — films that present real-life tour guides of battle-stricken areas. Now, with exhibitions on in Edmonton and Saskatoon, Licha talks with Leah Sandals about Sarajevo, Syria and battling self-criticism.” National Post, February 2, 2012

Black-history exhibit grows with bigger lineup, move to AGA. The multidisciplinary event now in its fifth year, showcases local artists and honours Black History Month. While early years’ attendance was largely driven by friends and family, the dynamic happening, featuring visual arts, music, spoken-word poetry and culinary delights, has grown into a popular affair. Edmonton Journal, February 2, 2012

Los Angeles

Mike Kelley, California Artist, An Apparent Suicide at 57.  “Mike Kelley, the multi-media post-Conceptual artist with a punk rocker sensibility, was found dead on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, the Gagosian gallery, which represents him, confirmed.” New York Times, February 1, 2012

New York

New Museum Lowers Entry Fee After Raising It. “Museums often make news by raising their admission prices. It’s much rarer – in fact, almost unheard of – for a museum to get attention by reducing its prices.”  New York Times, January 30, 2012

Dorothea Tanning, Surrealist Painter, Dies at 101.  “Dorothea Tanning, a leading Surrealist painter of the 1930s whose path had led her from the small town of Galesburg, Ill., to a whirlwind life in the international art world, died on Tuesday at her home in Manhattan. She was 101.” New York Times, February 1, 2012

Miami

An Artist Who Literally Throws Herself At Men.  ““Do you mind if I literally throw myself at you?” This is the opening line that Lilly McElroy tries with men whom she has deemed suitably solid to catch her. They usually laugh and then say no. But about a quarter of the time they say yes.” Slate, February 1, 2012

London

Unseen masterpieces by Lucian Freud unveiled for the first time.  A major new exhibition of Lucien Freud’s drawings and watercolours will feature rare, previously unseen works, including intimate portraits of his parents, children, self-portraits and childhood etchings. Telegraph, January 31, 2012

Sydney

Capon succession a still life as deputy fills in. “Deputy director Anne Flanagan was yesterday elevated to acting director -- she has been in the role since Capon left last month -- as the search for a new chief appears to have stalled. The Australian understands the gallery has been unable to hook its preferred candidates.”  The Australian, January 30, 2012

Victoria

Jim Swain's art is for enjoyment, not investment. “Jim Swain's latest show will likely be sold out by the end of its run. The Martin Batchelor Gallery is lined with 55 vigorously expressive paintings, identical in size and painted on flattened-out fruit boxes.” Times Colonist, January 28, 2012

Saskatoon

Picasso dealer returns to Prairie roots with gifts in hand.  Frederick Mulder has gone from selling Christmas cards door to door in the small Prairie town of Eston, Sask., to dealing in original Picasso prints, worth upwards of $3 million, around the world. And now the University of Saskatchewan grad has donated six Picasso prints to his alma mater. Ottawa Citizen, January 31, 2012

Ottawa

B.C. artwork among tributes to commemorate Queen's Jubilee.  A stained-glass homage to the jubilees of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria, erected in the foyer of Canada's Senate was dedicated on Tuesday. “The translucent panels - designed by B.C. artists Christopher Goodman and Angela Zis-soff - feature profile portraits of the two queens and then-and-now images of the Parliament Buildings.”  Vancouver Sun, February 1, 2012

Toronto

Will Munro: Ecstatic Legacies.  “Now that the AGYU retrospective has opened, it is abundantly apparent that Munro was, in fact, a prolifically talented craftsperson and conceptualist.” Canadian Art (Online), January 26, 2012

New auction venture puts spotlight on contemporary Canadian art.  “Concrete Contemporary Auctions and Projects is putting an unfiltered, and unabashedly commercial, spotlight on current Canadian artists. A partnership between long-running Waddington’s and its recently appointed vice-president of business development, Stephen Ranger, Concrete is hosting its first live sale March 8 in Toronto.” Globe & Mail, January 31, 2012

Montreal

A Stake in the Ground: When Language Wounds. “What if our relationship to land and language has been fundamentally disrupted? What if our ability to give meaning to the world around us has been lost or denied? These are some of the key questions raised in “A Stake in the Ground,” a group exhibition of works by 25 First Nations artists currently at Montreal gallery Art Mur.” Canadian Art (Online), January 26, 2012

Los Angeles

Frank Gehry is working for free as architect of new Jazz Bakery.  “Having designed L.A.’s signature space for classical music, Frank Gehry is on board to do the same for jazz -– although his pro bono work on a new Culver City home for the Jazz Bakery would be on a much smaller scale than his downtown Walt Disney Concert Hall.” Los Angeles Times, January 31, 2012

Cleveland

Departure of trustee Michael Horvitz from Cleveland Museum of Art board raises questions about the institution's future.  “Michael Horvitz's departure was a rare sign of discord at an institution with a reputation for solid management. The loss of a generous donor, Horvitz and his family, have contributed more than $5 million to the museum's expansion and renovation - also raises questions about how the museum could have alienated someone with the potential to do more for it in the future." The Plain Dealer, January 29, 2012

Greenwich, Conn.

David Altmejd: In the Belly of the Beast.  “An immaculately designed, by appointment only, barn-like private museum on paper and publishing magnate Peter Brant’s very one-percent horse farm in tony Greenwich, Connecticut. The artist has filled a series of spaces on two floors, deftly installing his work to form an expansive sequence of immersive interiors.” Canadian Art (Online), January 26, 2012

London

Painting Canada: Artistry in the UK.  “By the time the Dulwich Picture Gallery in London closed its exhibition Painting Canada: Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, the show had drawn some 41,000 visitors, the second-largest exhibition turnout for that venerable old dowager of the British museum world.” Canadian Art (Online), January 26, 2012

Madrid

Earliest copy of Mona Lisa found in Prado.  "What is most exciting about the Prado replica is what it reveals about Leonardo's original. In the Madrid copy there are areas that are better preserved than in the Louvre painting." The Art Newspaper, February 1, 2012

Florence

In Italy, Art As A Window Into Modern Banking. “As Italy and much of Europe struggle with their finances, the city of Florence has staged an art exhibition looking at the critical — and controversial — role that financial institutions have played for centuries.”  (Audio + Slides) NPR, January 31, 2012

Moscow

Moscow's Banksy: the street art of P183 – in pictures. “A Russian street artist who created a giant pair of spectacles from a streetlamp has been dubbed 'the Russian Banksy'. The mysterious figure, known only as P183, creates eye-catching works around Moscow. P183 reveals little about himself except that his name is Pavel, he is 28 and that he studied 'communicative design'.” Guardian, January 31, 2012

International

Auction Houses Clean Up as Investors Vie for Art.  “Art prices swelled last year, lifting sales at Christie's International PLC to $5.7 billion last year, up 14% from the year before. Christie's auction sales matched those of its chief rival, Sotheby's, which said it auctioned off $4.9 billion of art last year, up 14.5% from the year before." Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2012

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The Art News will appear only on Wednesday and Thursday until February 14

Vancouver Vancouver Art Gallery announces Desire: Art Auction 2012 taking place February ...How do you raise nearly one million dollars in a single night to fund exhibitions and educational programs at the Vancouver Art Gallery ? Through the tremendous generosity of distinguished artists, private galleries and top collectors across Canada and the United States, who have donated more than 70 outstanding works of art to the Gallery for DESIRE: Art Auction 2012.  Art Daily, January 27, 2012-01-30

'Guided Tour' at the VAG is not about the art – it is the art  At the Vancouver Art Gallery this week as part of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, British performance artist Peter Reder is offering a guided tour of his own. But his Guided Tour is not about the art; it is the art: a tailored-for-Vancouver version of a site-specific work he has taken to institutions around the world.  Globe and Mail, January 27, 2012  

Jeff Wall photos expected to fetch up to $ 1.5 million A 32- year- old photograph of a British Columbia cemetery and two other large- scale images created by renowned B. C. photographer Jeff Wall are expected to sell at auction next month in Britain for up to $ 1.5 million in total.  Vancouver Sun, January 27, 2012

The ‘anti-neon crusade,’ Vancouver’s light-pollution battle from another era  Aesthetics-driven opposition, and a 1974 bylaw, eventually saw the plug pulled on the once-dominant glowing lights.  Globe and Mail, January 28, 2012

Morrisseau children reach out-of-court settlement over artist’s estate  Seven offspring of famed Ojibwa artist will ‘share in’ their father’s estate and ‘artistic legacy’ after settling lawsuit against his long-time caregiver.  Globe and Mail, January 27, 2012

Calgary Art gallery strengthens education mandate The Art Gallery of Calgary announced Thursday it will be stepping up its art education component in a big way in the next three to four years, with the introduction of more programs and the construction of a new teaching studio that will focus on business education for the city’s artists.  Calgary Herald, January 27, 2012

Toronto A hyper-conceptualist confronts the Apocalypse  A Review of exhibitions by artists Dagmara Genda, Jay Wilson and Nestor Kruger.   Globe and Mail, January 28, 2012

Ken Montague: art collector, curator  With a 10,000-square-foot exhibition this weekend at the Interior Design Show, the renowned Toronto dentist-cum-curator talks about the best local galleries, his collaboration with Stephen Burks and why New York no longer looms large on the horizon. Globe and Mail, January 28, 2012  

New York Vermeer’s ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’ to Visit Frick in 2013 Vermeer’s portrait “Girl With a Pearl Earring” will visit the Frick Collection in late 2013, on loan from Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in The Hague.   New York Times, January 27, 2012

Fu Baoshi, China’s Master Modernist, at Metropolitan Museum This exhibition of brush-and-ink works by Fu Baoshi is the first full-dress retrospective of a 20th-century Chinese artist to be seen at the Met.   New York Times, January 27, 2012

Reinstallation Of Met Museum's American Wing Tells A Lot About Changing Tastes
"The real significance of the new American Wing transcends its role as the latest in the Met's dramatic reinstallations. It shows us the flexibility with which modernism is responding to changing architectural tastes, times and needs. But it also redefines and re-evaluates American art and art history and documents the enormous evolution in its acceptance and understanding since the founding of the Met's American Wing in 1924 as a collection of early American rooms saved from demolition." The Wall Street Journal, January 26, 2012  

A Century Of Jackson Pollock, And The (Annoying) Debate Still Rages
"Pollock still provokes heated debate about the very definition of art. Was a man who placed a canvas on the floor and dripped paint straight from the can actually creating a work of art?" NPR, January 28, 2012  

London London's National Gallery Assistants Stage Work Actions "Used to standing quietly in the shadows while the spotlight shines on a Leonardo or Caravaggio or Velazquez, the National Gallery's warders - or assistants, as they are known these days - do not tend to draw attention to themselves. But, at the moment, that is exactly what they are doing. Last week's two-hour stoppage, which saw between 30 and 40 assistants walk off the job, forced the temporary closure of around 35 rooms, though not the blockbuster Leonardo exhibition."  The Guardian (UK) January 27, 2012

Inventing The Modern Blockbuster - Picasso At The Tate In 1960
The 1960 Picasso show at the Tate not only sold record numbers of catalogues and saw record numbers of patrons through the turnstiles; it reinvented what Britain thought of its place on the world stage - and changed the lives of artists like David Hockney, who's now got a blockbuster of his own. Thank god the "ladies' committee" pulled off the sangria. The Observer (UK) January 28, 2012  

Feelgood Art Floods Economically Depressed Great Britain "'There is a second world war kind of thing going on about "keeping the home fires burning" at the moment; a bit of "keep calm and carry on" art, if you like,' said the Turner prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller." The Guardian (UK) January 28, 2012  

CopenhagenDanish queen’s paintings mark 40 years on throne Denmark’s Queen Margrethe II said that painting landscapes helps to recharge her batteries.   Vancouver Sun, January 27, 2012  

FlorenceUffizi Renovations Stagger On "The Nuovi Uffizi renovations are expected to more than double its exhibition space from 5,400 sq. m to 12,000 sq. m, allowing visitor numbers to also double, from 4,000 to 8,000 a day. The Nuovi Uffizi project was initially due for completion in 2006 and then delayed to 2009. It has now been scheduled for completion in 2014, but 30m is still needed to stay on track." The Art Newspaper, January 25, 2010

Delhi Animal Rights Group To Indian Artist: Let The Pigeons Fly Free "Live and 'hand-raised' pigeons are confined in a room filled with copper wires and transistor radios emitting white noise from unused frequencies." It's all part of an exhibition - and animal rights activists are not amused. Hindustan Times, January 28, 2012

Cheryl Siegel, Librarian/Archivist

Vancouver Art Gallery

750 Hornby Street Vancouver BC, V6Z 2H7

604-662-4709

Vancouver

The wild card... This proposal by Chris Doray Studio Inc, entered as a wild card into the reCONNECT Vancouver Competition, aims to diminish the mental divide between the west end and the east side of the city.  Another bold aspect to this new ‘Urban-Pluralism’ is mapping the intangible through the act of annulment and reconstituting this disordered east side through the introduction of three new geometries: a 40ha Aquatic Landscape - Water Town, Aqua Towers, Reed Bed Natural Reserve, Marina; a 90ha Natural Landscape - Park Residences, Beach; and a 30ha Urban Landscape - Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver Art Gallery + Residences, VAG Sculpture Garden.  World Architecture News, January 26, 2012 (online)

Babak Golkar’s Persian carpets rise in 3-D at the Charles H. Scott Gallery. “Babak Golkar’s installation at the Charles H. Scott Gallery bases its small and large architectural forms on the geometric and organic patterns found in Persian carpets. Meaning is woven into Middle Eastern carpets, and so, by extension, is place.” Georgia Straight, January 25, 2012

Victoria

Artists 'throw down' works.  Five B.C. artists are "throwing down" at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in a new contemporary exhibition opening Friday. Times Colonist, January 26, 2012

Kamloops

ARTS BRIEFS “Bearing Witness is a show of socially engaged works of art from around the world. Drawn from Vancouver Art Gallery’s permanent collection, the artworks offer perspectives on political violence, unjust social realities and man’s inhumanity to man.”  Kamloops Daily News, January 26, 2012

Edmonton

Escape into Chris Millar’s wondrous fantasy world at AGA. “There is a titillating buzz surrounding Chris Millar’s exhibition, The Untimely Transmogrification of the Problem, opening at the Art Gallery of Albertaon Saturday. When I confided to guest-curator Nancy Tousley “that I had never quite seen anything like it,” she concurred.” Edmonton Journal, January 26, 2012

Winnipeg

Reasons to visit Winnipeg in winter: Starchitect Frank Gehry and a spray-on igloo.” A contest to build the best warming hut along the river at Winnipeg’s The Forks inspired the Canadian version of a spray-on tan — a spray-on igloo, or ice shell. Architect Frank Gehry even sent over a team.” Toronto Star, January 26, 2012

Kleinberg, Ontario

Art shows take root in Vaughan  “The McMichael Canadian Art Collection launches a new project that finds the gallery “branching out” in new directions while maintaining a strong connection to its roots. Dubbed The McMichael Tree Project, it features two new exhibitions: The Tree: Form and Substance and The Tree: From the Sublime to the Social, by the Vancouver Art Gallery.” YorkRegion.com, January 25, 2012

Toronto

A bow to the original Architourist  “Meet the woman who nurtured an early love of Toronto’s built environment.”  Globe and Mail, January 26, 2012

Montreal

No place inspires like home.  “After studying art in Montreal and Paris, Frederick William Hutchison tried to establish himself in Montreal by opening a small studio downtown in 1901. However, at the time, the greatest opportunities in art were in New York, and in 1905, he made the fateful decision to move there.”  Montreal Gazette, January 21, 2012

Park City, Utah

HBO Hosts Silent Party for Abramovic at Sundance — Scene City “HBO holds an event for the Marina Abramovic documentary at which silence is required.”  New York Times, January 26, 2012

Lombard, Illinois

Montini Catholic High School “Every year the Montini Catholic High School Hall of Fame Selection Committee inducts well-regarded alumni into its Hall of Fame. The Montini Catholic High School Hall of Fame was established to recognize Montini Catholic graduates who have demonstrated outstanding achievement.  Kathleen S. Bartels, Class of 1974, will be recognized for her tremendous achievement in the field of art as the director of the Vancouver Art Gallery.”  The Doings La Grange, January 25, 2012

New York

‘Folk Tales’ Opens at the New York Design Center “A show at the 1stdibs gallery at the New York Design Center includes items for sale like painted furniture, a 1920s game wheel and a circa 1890 goat sculpture.” New York Times, January 26, 2012

Frans Hals painting that Liz Taylor once owned sells for $2M at NYC auction  ‘Portrait of a Man’ once hung in California home of famed movie star.  Globe and Mail, January 26, 2012

International

LEAD OR FOLLOW “A special debate on ArtsJournal, Jan. 23-27, 2012, with 15 Bloggers, and you. Increasingly, audiences have more visibility for their opinions about the culture they consume. Cultural institutions know more and more about their audiences and their wants. Some suggest this new transparency argues for a different relationship between artists and audience.  So the question: In this age of self expression and information overload, do our artists and arts organizations need to lead more or learn to follow their communities more?”  Link to discussion here.  Arts Journal Blogs, January 23-27, 2012

Calgary

Laurie Anderson: Down the Rabbit Hole. “The Gray Rabbit invokes memory as a process of forgetting and editing, as well as remembering; it’s in a large dark room with a 40-foot-long rectangle of shining light projected onto the floor.”  Canadian Art Online, January 19, 2012

Saskatoon

Emanuel Licha: The Fog of War.  “How do we know what we know about war? That’s a central question raised by Montreal- and Paris-based artist Emanuel Licha  in his two-part exhibition “Striking a Pose” at Latitude 53 in Edmonton and PAVED Arts in Saskatoon.” Canadian Art Online, January 19, 2012

Mendel CEO hurt in fall  The executive director and CEO of the Mendel Art Gallery is recovering from a neck injury after he fell outside his home last week. Vincent Varga broke three vertebrae in his neck and was hospitalized briefly before he was released.  The StarPhoenix, January 25, 2012

Winnipeg

Wildlife painter Tillenius dies at 98.  “Clarence Tillenius suffered an artist's greatest loss — the amputation of his painting arm in an accident — but still went on to become the dean of Canadian wildlife painters. Tillenius, who was the creator of dioramas at museums across Canada, died on Sunday. He was 98.” Vancouver Sun, January 24, 2012

Toronto

Christian Eckart: Beyond the Wall.  “Anyone who frequents downtown Toronto will soon have the chance to see a dramatically new, beautiful and challenging work by the Calgary-born artist Christian Eckart.”  Canadian Art Online, January 19, 2012

Washington

Annie Leibovitz refocuses in her latest exhibit. “Annie Leibovitz speaks to AFPTV about her new exhibition at the Smithsonian, which represents a departure from her well-known portraits of celebrities.” (Video) Globe & Mail, January 25, 2012

United States

The Art Of "Occupy" There's been a "flood of Occupy-related art that is pouring in, now that artists have had a chance to consider it and make the stuff. Your appreciation, or lack of it, will no doubt be clouded by your enthusiasm, or level of patience, for the protestors who camped out in town squares across the country starting last fall." Denver Post, January 25, 2012

London

Picture of the day/news/39 Sir Terence Conran was dwarfed yesterday by the site of his new Design Museum as he announced plans to rejuvenate a grade Ii-listed London landmark that has lain empty for more than a decade.  The Independent (UK) January 25, 2012

Dublin

‘Billion-euro home’ built out of shredded bills in Ireland. “An unemployed Irish artist has built a home from the shredded remains of 1.4-billion euros ($1.82 billion), a monument to the “madness” he says has been wrought on Ireland by the single currency, from a spectacular construction boom to a wrenching bust.” National Post, January 25, 2012

Norfolk

Unusual Winged Roman Building Discovered In England Those wings are architectural, not angelic. "Built around 1,800 years ago, the structure was discovered in Norfolk, in eastern England, just to the south of the ancient town of Venta Icenorum. The structure has two wings radiating out from a rectangular room that in turn leads to a central room. ... The winged shape of the building appears to be unique in the Roman Empire." Live Science, January 23, 2012

Paris

1962 Fire Breaks Out in Louvre  A fire of undetermined origin broke out shortly before midnight tonight [Jan. 24] in an attic of the Pavilion de Flore wing of the Louvre Museum. Firemen, alerted by passers-by who noticed the flames leaping from the roof overlooking the Rue de Rivoli. The Independent (UK) January 25, 2012

Istanbul

Entire Ancient Town Discovered On Lakeshore Near Istanbul "The find is Bathonea, a substantial harbor town dating from the second century B.C. Discovered in 2007 after a drought lowered the lake's water table, it has been yielding a trove of relics from the fourth to the sixth centuries A.D., a period that parallels Istanbul's founding and its rise as Constantinople." New York Times, January 24, 2012

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Approves Mega-Museum Projects "The executive council of Abu Dhabi announced through its website on Monday that it had approved construction plans for its multi-billion-dollar vision for a cultural tourist center to be constructed on an island just off the coast of the city, a hub that will include branches of the Guggenheim and the Louvre museums." New York Times, January 25, 2012

China

Upholding Classic Chinese Painting Styles Through Cultural Upheaval Fu Baoshi (1904-1965) practiced and developed the art of traditional Chinese landscape painting through war, occupation, revolution and the reign of Mao Zedong, when merely putting brush to paper was a political act. The Wall Street Journal, January 25, 2012

Vancouver

Peter Reder: Unofficial History at the VAG  Artist Peter Reder is creating a site-specfic work at the Vancouver Art Gallery called Guided Tour that runs from Jan. 25 to Jan. 29. He's shown here in one of the original court rooms in the building which was originally a Provincial Court House.  Vancouver sun, January 21, 2012

Hot Ticket: PuSh Festival  Highlights next week include Boca del Lupo’s Guided Tour, which takes festival-goers on a theatrical after-hours tour of the Vancouver Art Gallery.  Globe and Mail, January 21, 2012

THIS DAY IN HISTORY: JANUARY 23, 1939 Sculptor Charles Marega’s concrete lions were installed at the south side of the Lions Gate Bridge.  Vancouver Sun, January 23, 2012

Mildred Valley Thornton: a sadly forgotten artist   Thornton’s words foretold the future “obscurity” of her own art following her death in 1967. When publisher Mona Fertig collected names for Mother Tongue Publishing’s Unheralded Artists of B.C. series, Thornton’s name rose to the top of her list.  Vancouver Sun, January 21, 2012

Story brings painter to life in bold strokes In Playhouse Theatre’s new production of Red, Mark Rothko is a painter of grand themes on massive canvases, as he was in life.  Vancouver Sun, January 21, 2012

Toronto

Team Macho: Artists’ collective  As the collaborative posse prepares to open an interactive installation at the AGO, its members talk about their unique process, studio space and why they won’t be moving into the Bohemian Embassy any time soon.  Globe and Mail, January 21, 2012

Why aren’t more art shows this fun?  Review of Toronto exhibitions by Arthur Desmarteaux, Allison Moore, Jean Bridge, Marc Audette and others.  Globe and Mail, January 21, 2012

The Mystery Of Canadian Artist Jack Chambers' Unfinished Masterpiece "Why was Lunch left unfinished? Woodman believes it comes down to chronology. Chambers began the painting before he was diagnosed with acute leukemia. Once he was sick, he felt it would take on a life of its own." The Walrus, January 2012

Berkeley

Magnes Judaica Museum Joins Berkeley Library - Review The Judah L. Magnes Museum has reopened as the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, and is now part of the library at the University of California, Berkeley.  New York Times, January 23, 2012

New York

At the National Arts Club, Power, Ego, Hoarding and Real Estate At the genteel National Arts Club, under investigation over nonprofit irregularities, a president has been ousted, friendships have been torn and litigation has ensued.   New York Times, January 22, 2012

Ellsworth Kelly, Explorer of Shape, Line and Color The artist Ellsworth Kelly, 88, continues to pursue color, line and shape in their purest forms. New York Times, January 22, 2012

‘The Woodstock Story Told in Paintings, Photography, Sculpture and Ceramic’  “The Woodstock Story Told in Paintings, Photography, Sculpture and Ceramics” is at D. Wigmore Fine Art through Jan. 28.  New York Times, January 20, 2012

‘Rembrandt’s World,’ at the Morgan Library & Museum - Review  “Rembrandt’s World” at the Morgan Library & Museum has very few Rembrandts, but the show makes up for what it lacks in star power.   New York Times, January 20, 2012  

London

Francis Bacon’s ‘Portrait of Henrietta Moraes’ at Christie’s Francis Bacon’s 1963 “Portrait of Henrietta Moraes” is expected to go for $23 million to $30 million at Christie’s Feb. 14 London sale of postwar and contemporary art.  New York Times, January 20, 2012  

The Painter Alberto Burri's Mad Rush to Destruction Those who scrutinize contemporary art in its most nihilistic pranks and wonder how it all got to that point will be fascinated by the show “Alberto Burri: Form and Matter” at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art here.  New York Times, January 21, 2012

The Shard May Kill Heritage At The Tower Of London "Unesco may soon strip London's two most prominent tourist sites, Westminster's Parliament Square and the Tower of London in the City of their world heritage status. Chief reason is the towering Shard, which will be western Europe's tallest building, now looming over both of them from its launch pad on the south side of London Bridge." The Guardian (UK) January 20, 2012

Hockney Exhibit Moves Mountains (Of People) In London "We're still smiling. Everybody is coming out with a smile on their face. It's fantastic, far better than Leonardo, sorry Leonardo, but all that colour. Yorkshire is going to get a lot of tourists after this." The Observer (UK) January 21, 2012

Seville

Speaking Of Towers, Seville's In Trouble As Well London's sites aren't the only ones in danger of losing their heritage: In Seville, "the half-built Pelli tower is casting a growing shadow across one of the country's most-visited cities and over a cluster of 13th-century buildings which have been designated a world heritage site by Unesco." The Guardian (UK) January 20, 2012

New Delhi

An Edgy Art Haven in India Gains Momentum The indie Khoj International Artists' Association was established in 1997 as a nonprofit visual arts incubator and has since grown to become one of India's most vibrant and talked-about art hubs.  New York Times, January 20, 2012

Vancouver

Equinox Gallery: Massive New Exhibition Space to Open. “Equinox Gallery is about to open a brand new massive exhibition space in one of the former industrial buildings on the former Finning Lands in east Vancouver. Equinox Project Space is being inaugurated with Fred Herzog: A Retrospective. The exhibition will contain all the photographs [Herzog has] editioned since 1953 – upwards of 180 works.”  Vancouver Sun, January 18, 2012

Artist Annika Rixen's Sciences of Observation explores colour and light. “Sciences of Observation, an exhibition of mixed-media work by Berlin-based Annika Rixen, demonstrates the ways in which she marries historical approaches to physics to her own experiments in light and colour.” Georgia Straight, January 18, 2012

Beat Nation Live melds hip-hop and art at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.  Half-Cree cellist Cris Derksen, will join vocalist Kinnie Starr, video collagist Jackson 2Bears, visual artist Corey Bulpitt, muralist Gurl 23, and others as part of the festival’s cabaret series, Club PuSh. “Although we have really strong roots in hip-hop, in concert we also delve a lot more into art music and electronics—and I think that’s a good thing.” Georgia Straight, January 19, 2012

Vancouver City Council approves live-work-studio awards.  “Vancouver City Council has named the artists who have won space in its live-work-studio program for 2012-2015. It’s also approved $2 million in advance operating grants to cultural organizations and major exhibiting institutions.” Georgia Straight, January 19, 2012

Douglas Coupland and Graham Roumieu’s ‘Highly Inappropriate’ collaboration. The entire book “project was completed in a matter of months, and the pair, who have christened their creative partnership Box of Pain (“We have tattoos and everything,” Roumieu deadpans) are planning a sequel.” National Post, January 19, 2012

Edmonton

Vast public collection tells Alberta’s artistic story. At 8,250 items and growing, the provincial foundation’s archive is one of the biggest in Canada.  Edmonton Journal, January 19, 2012

Toronto

The Pick: Mercer Union’s Diane Arbus retrospective, a glimpse at the birth of the modern magazine. “A new exhibit opening on Friday at Mercer Union, curated by French artist Pierre Leguillon, showcases a number of Arbus’s most iconic works in their original contexts—as fashion spreads, photo essays and, most notably, visual complements to long-form journalism.” Toronto Life, January 18, 2012

Ottawa

Big Beat: Moving images of memory. Carl Stewart’s exhibition includes approximately 20 weavings and needlepoints that are all based on one photograph of his brother Owen, taken a year or so before he died in September 1970.  Ottawa Citizen, January 19, 2012

Los Angeles

Museum of Contemporary Art to Create Original Programming for ... Joining its hometown industry and betting on the success of YouTube’s new initiative to promote original content, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles announced that it would start an online video channel in July featuring news and talk-show programming, among other art-focused shows. New York Times, January 19, 2012

Houston

Re-setting The Place Of Latin American Art In Art History Mari Carmen Ramírez "wants to shake up the politics of art history, to prove that Latin American art, far from being derivative, has had its own identity, its own breakthroughs." The Wall Street Journal, January 18, 2012

Salem, Massachusetts

Artifacts to Artworks  The paradigm-shifting "Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art," at the Peabody Essex Museum, begins with a rude surprise: The first wall text that visitors encounter is a parental warning—breaking the mold of customarily child-friendly displays of totem poles and headdresses.  The exhibition includes works by Brian Jungen and Kent Monkman.  Wall Street Journal, January 20, 2012

New York

Alanna Heiss - Up Close Alanna Heiss, the founder of the gallery that became MoMA PS1, wants to recreate the collaborative art spirit of ’70s New York. New York Times, January 19, 2012

Sydney, Australia

Former Top Sydney Art Dealer Charged With 87 Counts Of Fraud "One of Australia's former leading art dealers, Ronald Coles, faces up to 10 years in jail after being charged today with 87 offences relating to an alleged multimillion-dollar investment art fraud scheme." Sydney Morning Herald, January 16, 2012

Dubai

Contemporary Artists Rock the Boat Gently in Saudi Arabia The challenge for Saudi artists has been at home, starting with a restricted and limited exposure to art.  New York Times, January 19, 2012

Vancouver

East Vancouver thief takes bronze beaver statue. “Police are looking for a thief who stole a massive bronze beaver sculpture from the back of a truck in east Vancouver. The beaver was made by Saltspring Island artist Nicola Prinsen.” Vancouver Sun, January 17, 2012

Reece Terris: The Contractor. “Originally trained as a carpenter, Terris co-owns a small company that specializes in residential renovations. And although that business makes brutal demands on his time and energy, it has provided him with insights, skills and even materials that well serve his distinctive art.”  Canadian Art (online), January 12, 2012

Burnaby

Lawrence Weiner: A Selection from the Vancouver Art Gallery Archive of Lawrence Weiner Posters. The current exhibition at SFU Gallery explores this concept through a selection of Lawrence Weiner posters collected from various shows and installations throughout the span of his almost five-decade career.  11 Stations (Tourism Burnaby), January 17, 2012

Victoria 

Tax credit helps families whose kids like arts, culture. “Families with children in art programs will see the same tax benefits as those in sports, National Revenue Minister Gail Shea told a Victoria audience Tuesday.” Times Colonist, January 17, 2012

Arts should form an essential part of every child's education.  "Arts education aids students in skills needed in the workplace: flexibility, the ability to solve problems and communicate, the ability to learn new skills, to be creative and innovative, and to strive for excellence." Vancouver Sun, January 18, 2012

Toronto

Artists in the GTA: Faisal Anwar profile at Yonge Street Media. “Faisal Anwar is the kind of person who likes to connect the dots—whether those dots are nations in conflict, disparate art genres, or strangers on the same Toronto street. The whiteboard of his home office in Oakville is filled with a diagram linking words like "Nuit Blanche," "mcluhan100," "urban spaces" and "geolocation.” Yonge Street Media, January 11, 2012

Power Plant to exhibit The Clock Christian Marclay’s The Clock, a world-renowned video installation that runs for 24 hours and acts as a fully functioning, accurate timepiece, is coming to Toronto. The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery announced Tuesday its plans to exhibit the work.  Toronto Star, January 18, 2012

Owen Sound, Ontario

Art donated to gallery  Twenty pieces of art have been donated to the Tom Thomson Art Gallery’s permanent collection, including two paintings by Group of Seven artist Franz Johnston. The art is from five different private collections in Ontario and Manitoba.  The Sun Times, January 18, 2012

Montreal

Steve Bates: On the Sound of Time.  “Montreal artist Steve Bates taps into this awkward balance between the speed of everyday life and our ability to absorb its often-chaotic signals in “For me the noise of time is not sad,” currently on view at Maison de la culture Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.” Canadian Art (online), January 12, 2012

New York

Out of Nowhere: Winnipeg Wonders. “A strong sense of place and a tendency towards self-examination mark this group show of Winnipeg artists at New York’s Julie Saul Gallery.” Canadian Art (online), January 12, 2012

London

Enough Of Pickled Sharks And Unmade Beds! Meet The New Young British Artists "Few young artists are producing work with the in-your-face iconoclasm of classic YBA works such as Hirst's shark in formaldehyde or Tracey Emin's My Bed." And they're far less concerned with fame and money (for now). But they're out there ... The Guardian (UK) January 17, 2012

Arab Spring Jump-Starts Market For Arab Art "The perception of Arab art has changed. Before the uprisings people either saw it as exotic and innocuous or steeped in the Islamic tradition; artists were wary of showing work that might be seen as too political. But now there's an appetite to understand the context of the uprisings, and there's a real flourishing of work that's more edgy." The Guardian (UK) January 18, 2012

International

Annals Of Design: The Chinese Take-Out Container "On Nov. 13, 1894, in Chicago, the inventor Frederick Weeks Wilcox patented a version of what he called a 'paper pail,' which was a single piece of paper, creased into segments and folded into a (more or less) leakproof container secured with a dainty wire handle on top. The supportive folds on the outside, fastened with that same wire, created a flat interior surface over which food could slide smoothly onto a plate." The New York Times Magazine< January 15, 2012

Have Museums Lost Their Ability To Be Creative? "It might be worth asking whether museums are the best places for people who are both creative and caring. Are museums supportive platforms from which to envision and enact social change? Can "we win" at creating a better future from within traditional museums? How could museums nurture more interesting, connective, transformative curators? Do museums even want to?" The Stranger, January 16, 2012

Victoria Royal B.C. Museum picks new boss The director of the Museum of London has been chosen to take over the reins of the Royal B.C. Museum. Jack Lohman will take on his new role on March 26. He succeeds retiring chief executive officer Pauline Rafferty.  Times Colonist, January 14, 2012

Kamloops She has the eye and the iphone   Historians may one day judge the impact of the smart phone to be greater than that of the digital photo revolution that preceded it.  Sarah Jules can count two firsts with her new exhibition in The Cube at Kamloops Art Gallery: her first art show and the gallery’s first show of iphoneography.  Kamloops Daily News, January 17, 2012  

Timmins  Message sent via beads The Timmins Museum has just opened a new exhibit, which features detailed beadwork crafted by the Iroquois people. Through the Voices of Beads (O’y ya’h ohdiwena goh) opened on Jan. 7 and runs to Feb. 24.  The Daily Press (Timmins) January 14, 2012

Owen Sound, Ontario STONES SPEAK Artist Barbara Todd holds a photo of her father and cousins enjoying summer at Southampton in front of a piece she created that’s in her show, Teaching a Stone to Talk, which opens at the Tom Thomson Art Gallery Sunday.  The Sun Times, January 14, 2012

Toronto Toronto City Council Votes Not To Cut Arts Funding "After four months of fear and anxiety, on Thursday Toronto's arts community got some news from City Hall that calls for a victory celebration. The executive committee of city council voted in favour of sustaining arts funding levels at the same level that prevailed in 2011." Toronto Star, January 13, 2012  

New York Painting Absence With Lights: Artist Doug Wheeler Finally Gets His Way In N.Y.
Doug Wheeler "has said no to major museum exhibitions, because of his doubts that the works would be shown in the way they were intended. In a career of more than four decades he has never had a full-time American gallery represent him except for a brief, troubled turn with the Los Angeles dealer Doug Chrismas. He even once turned down Leo Castelli." The New York Times, January 15, 2012

Paris  Rosamond Bernier's Charmed Life Beats 'Midnight in Paris' To Pieces "In 1947, Vogue magazine sent Rosamond Bernier to Paris to cover European cultural life as it recovered after World War II. She met everyone who was anybody -- Pablo Picasso befriended her, Henri Matisse wooed her, Alice B. Toklas baked for her." And Aaron Copland gave her away at her wedding. NPR, January 17, 2012

Hobart, Tasmania AT THE MUSEUM A controversial year-old museum has become one of Tasmania’s hottest tourist attractions. Hobart’s Museum of New and Old Art is privately owned by gambling millionaire David Walsh. Among its latest exhibits are X-rays of people having sex.  The Globe and Mail, January 17, 2012

Cheryl Siegel, Librarian/Archivist

Vancouver Art Gallery

750 Hornby Street Vancouver BC, V6Z 2H7

604-662-4709

Vancouver Vancouver Art Gallery adds 156 works to its permanent collection  The Vancouver Art Gallery expanded its permanent collection by 156 in 2011, with pieces by artists including Robert Davidson, Gathie Falk, Rodney Graham, Angela Grossman, Lawren Harris, Brian Jungen.  Georgia Straight, January 12, 2012

New Wave revisited Ian Wallace, one of the fathers of photo-conceptualism, has an exhibition at Catriona Jeffries Gallery.  Vancouver Sun, January 14, 2012

Teacher job action hurts Space Centre Rosemary Pulice, group bookings coordinator for the Vancouver Art Gallery, said teachers are confused about collecting money, noting the VAG can collect money directly from children. She noted a reduction in field trips, as did the executive director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum, but neither could quantify the hit.  Vancouver Courier, January 13, 2012

Vancouver Codes, by Douglas Coupland launches January 16 on the Canada Line subway video screens and on www.youtube.com/offonmain & www.facebook.com/pages/On-Main/2007124999695.  A new work is featured each month on the Canada Line through March 2012, playing every 2 minutes to an audience of over 100,000 commuters per day.  See previous projects Hippie Chick by Dana Claxton, Slash Forward by Michael Turner, One Percent by James Yan, Movement For Two Grannies by Laiwan, An Ode To Vancouver Hockey Fans by Jeff Chiba Stearns, Escape Velocity by Chelsea O’Brien, and Polar Bear: Native to Vancouver by Tony Pantages on YouTube or at www.onmaingallery.com  10 Seconds is curated by Paul Wong and presented by On Main in partnership with InTransitBC. Commissioned by the City of Vancouver Public Art Program with the support of Vancouver 125 and the participation of the Government of Canada.  City of Vancouver Public Art Program Information Bulletin, January 13, 2012

Kamloops ‘I really hope parents and teachers don’t shy away’  Bearing Witness, drawn from the collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, opens on January 14. The expression “bearing witness” means to show, by one’s existence, that something is true.  Kamloops Daily News, January 14, 2012  

Toronto THE creative process  “I was trying to impress a girl.” “A big part of our process is we don’t believe in too much process,” explains Stephen Appleby-barr, 30, of Team Macho, a collective of four artists well known on the Toronto scene.  National Post, January 14, 2012

The zen of post-conceptual art  Liss Platt, Martha Eleen, Mary Catherine Newccomb, Max Dean and Anastasia Taylor-Lind in Toronto galleries.   Globe and Mail, January 14, 2012  

Boston To Be A Museum Director At The Gardner, Be Patient And Mix In A Lot Of Feedback As the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum opens its new wing after much discussion and controversy, director Anne Hawley steps briefly into the spotlight. Boston Globe, January 15, 2012

Salem, Massachusetts  Change & Renewal When Native American clothes, war clubs and masks are displayed in museums, they are usually grouped in categories drawn from anthropology and archaeology.  In “Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art,” which opens tomorrow, the Peabody Essex Museum has organized a show of indigenous artwork according to a concept common to many Native American cultures.  The Daily News of Newburyport (Newburyport, MA) January 13, 2012

New York JEFF WALL For his latest gallery solo at Marian Goodman Mr. Wall has re-created, among other happenings, a sparsely attended rock show; a lecture by a costume historian; and a pair of boys boxing in a pristine midcentury-modern living room. Subjectwise, these scenes seem to have little to do with one another, but you can tell, somehow, that they are drawn from the same well. New York Times, January 15, 2012

Metropolitan Museum of Art’s New American Wing Galleries - Review After a four-year renovation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art reveals its smartly updated New American Wing Galleries for Paintings, Sculpture and Decorative Arts.   New York Times, January 16, 2012

‘Pop Objects’ and ‘1960s Monochrome’ at Guggenheim - Review  Two Guggenheim shows draw on 1960s paintings and art objects from the museum’s collections.  New York Times, January 13, 2012

Building An Artist's Utopia In Brooklyn, One Huge Warehouse At A Time Dustin Yellin, a 36-year-old sculptor, just bought a 24,000-square foot warehouse in Red Hook, Brooklyn, with plans to create a large arts center. "He sees Red Hook as a kind of anti-Chelsea, its relatively cheap rents and remoteness from Manhattan making it a prime setting for a grass-roots cultural operation." The New York Times, January 15, 2012

Damien Hirst Spot Paintings at Gagosian in 8 Cities - Review A show of Damien Hirst’s spot paintings is spread out over 11 Gagosian galleries in 8 cities on 3 continents. Parts of it are very bad, but parts are not bad at all.  New York Times, January 13, 2012

Photographing Photographers A photographer turned the camera on celebrated subjects who were usually behind it. New York Times, January 15, 2012

Doug Wheeler Builds ‘Infinity Environment’ at David Zwirner  Doug Wheeler, a founder of the so-called Light and Space movement, constructs his first Manhattan “infinity environment” at the David Zwirner gallery in Chelsea. New York Times, January 15, 2012

London A Prize For Art That Wasn't Made For Art's Sake Forget eternally art-focused art. Here's Visible 2011. "The prize is dedicated to artists and collectives who aim to bring about responsible social change through their artistic practices. This idea is rooted in the mission behind Pistoletto's foundation, that art should not be self-referential.  Pistoletto and Zegna foundations presented the €25,000 award at Serpentine Gallery.  The Art Newspaper, January 15, 2012

Madrid The work of Antoni Muntadas defies artistic boundaries, merging realism and Surrealism. Muntadas was eagerly painting while officially studying engineering in Barcelona in the 1960s. The events of 1968, he recalls, were a turning point for him. "I started to see painting as very passive," he says. He began to move into what he calls "dynamic actions," which led to his so-called "subsensory" works, like "Experiencia 1 A" (1971), which produced eerie, sensual images of hands rubbing various surfaces. By invoking physical pleasure in Francoist Spain, these works were "risky," says Daina Augaitis, the Vancouver Art Gallery's associate director, who curated the Madrid show.  Condensed versions will later travel to Lisbon's Museu Calouste Gulbenkian and the Jeu de Paume in Paris, and finally to the Vancouver Art Gallery.  Wall Street Journal, January 13, 2012

Conegliano, Italy Finding Bellotto: The Artist Behind the Doppelgänger A new exhibition at the Palazzo Sarcinelli in Conegliano, Italy, separates Belloto from his uncle, Canaletto, whose name Belloto signed on most of his paintings.   New York times, January 14, 2012

Beijing  How Chinese Collectors Are Transforming The High-End Art Market "The art market is being transformed by Chinese collectors willing to pay top dollar for everything from Ming vases to contemporary Chinese abstracts. In some cases, these works are outstripping prices paid for blue-chip Western artists like René Magritte and Clyfford Still. Three of the 10 most expensive art works sold at auction last year were by Chinese artists, according to art-market analyst Artprice. Last year's priciest painting." The Wall Street Journal, January 13, 201

Cheryl Siegel, Librarian/Archivist

Vancouver Art Gallery

750 Hornby Street Vancouver BC, V6Z 2H7

604-662-4709