Vancouver

Vancouver's Stan Douglas wins $50K award for photography Douglas was selected from a group of three finalists by a jury of experts including curators William Ewing, Karen Love of the Vancouver Art Gallery and Ann Thomas of the National Gallery of Canada.  CBC. May 17, 2013

Stan Douglas wins Scotiabank Photography Award “He's looking at visual culture in its widest sense,” said juror William Ewing, the celebrated Canadian-born curator who, with National Gallery of Canada curator Ann Thomas and Vancouver Art Gallery administrator Karen Love, chose Douglas.  Globe and Mail, May 16, 2013

Not enough cash or cultural capital for mega-gallery in Vancouver: Condo king ...While he made sure not to single out the Vancouver Art Gallery's estimated $300-million plan to build a new facility – if it can raise enough cash by April 2015 – Rennie laid out his arguments why Vancouver can't support a mega-project.  Metro News, May 16, 2013

Winnipeg

WAG's 100 Masters exhibit drawing more than art aficionados "You're seeing more than just art," said Borys. "You're seeing history, contemporary culture. You're seeing landscapes, geography, politics, religion. You're going to see humanity in front of you documented by artists." The WAG was opened in 1912 -- as Canada's first civic art gallery -- by a group of Winnipeg businessmen. After moving several times, the WAG settled at its current location at 300 Memorial Blvd.  Winnipeg Free Press, May 21, 2013

Regina

MacKenzie Art Gallery cracks open the vault This year, the Regina gallery reached a milestone, and to celebrate it's cracking open the vault. The MacKenzie's new exhibit is titled How We Filled the Vault: Sixty Years of Collecting. Each Saturday at 2 p.m. until Sept. 1 (except May 25), free public tours of the exhibit will conclude with a trip down to the vault.  Leader-Post, May 18, 2013

Toronto

ROM and AGO improve their attendance  Art Newspaper report says ROM passed the million mark, AGO just under 800,000 visitors.  Toronto Star, May 17, 2013

Ottawa

Sakahan exhibit aims to ‘explode the box’ of aboriginal art in Canada  The NGC has big plans for Sakahan, not least its intention to mount an exhibition under its banner every five years from hereon. “This year we wanted to set the poles as wide as possible, change people’s expectations of what indigenous art is,” said Hopkins, “so that perhaps future exhibitions might focus on a specific area or region.” For NGC CEO/director Marc Mayer, it’s also about “giving the National Gallery a role in the pantheon of quinquennials. So you could call it the indigenous dOCUMENTA, if you want” – a reference to the now-famous international art fair, started in 1955, which runs every five years in Kassel, Germany.  Globe and Mail, May 17, 2013

New York

Rodney Graham The Vancouver artist Rodney Graham ponders middle age humorously in four giant photographs at 303 Gallery. New York Times, May 17, 2013  

Helly Nahmad Gallery Owner Indicted in Gambling Case Hillel Nahmad, owner of Helly Nahmad Gallery, has been accused of playing a leadership role in a gambling and money-laundering network. New York Times, May 17, 2013

‘A Different Kind of Order: The ICP Triennial’  Well over half the artists in the International Center of Photography’s fourth triennial use ever-changing digital technology in their work or mimic its properties.  New York Times, May 17, 2013  

'Something Monumental Has Been Happening': The Met's New European Art Galleries Peter Schjeldahl: "I had an eerie sense, while surveying the results the other day, that here was a brand new major institution which, somehow, had plundered the holdings of the Met." The New Yorker, May 20 2013

Michele Abeles: ‘English for Secretaries’  “English for Secretaries,” Michele Abeles’s second show at 47 Canal, focuses on photo-based works, appropriation and rephotography that are mostly assembled on a computer.  New York Times, May 17, 2013

‘The Roof Garden Commission: Imran Qureshi,’ at the Met  The artist Imran Qureshi has splattered the roof terrace of the Metropolitan Museum of Art with red paint in a work that suggests the potential for hope amid bloody violence. New York Times, May 17, 2013

London

Walrus that wowed Queen Victoria leaves museum for stint at art gallery A Hudson Bay walrus that was shot, stuffed and became one of Canada's star attractions at an 1886 colonial exhibition in Britain - winning admiration, it's said, from Queen Victoria herself - has been moved from its fake-ice pedestal at a London museum for the first time in more than a century to headline a contemporary art show exploring the culture-shaping power of "curiosity."  Vancouver Sun, May 21, 2013

Monaco

The prince, Picasso and a gambling scandal Now, however, the tiny principality could be on the point of pulling the plug on the event because of a $100 million money laundering and illegal gambling scandal that allegedly involves Russia's mafia and has engulfed the main contributors' family.  Vancouver Sun, May 18, 2013

Venice

The Venice Biennale: Shary Boyle meets the world Over the past decade, Shary Boyle has become Toronto's best-known artist. At this year's Venice Biennale, hopes are high she can work the same magic on the international stage.  Toronto Star, May 18, 2013

International

'Muslima', A New Online Exhibition Of Female Muslim Creativity   (online exhibition) Co-founder Samina Ali: "The impression many have of Muslim women is that they have no voice, no freedom - not even a face because they move around behind burqas! ... We wanted to help reverse the stereotypes and the best way to do that seemed to present Muslim women speaking to the complex realities of their own lives, through interviews and art." The Guardian (UK) May 20, 2013 

The Elite Absorbs the Rebellion The art world's rebels of 50 years ago are now attracting huge prices from the ultra-rich.  New York Times, May 18, 2013