Vancouver

Portraits go beyond celebrity.  “It's impossible to look at Elisabetta Fantone's artwork and not think Andy Warhol. Which the actor/painter happily takes as a compliment.” The Province, April 17, 2013

Friendly Cove

Muchalaht wrestle with emotions caused by loss of shrine For more than a century, a unique and expansive First Nations shrine to whalers from Vancouver Island has remained hidden away in the basement of a New York museum, rarely visited by its former tribal owners and never fully displayed. But a talk being given later this month on the Yuquot Whalers' Shrine is raising questions again about whether and how the artifact should be repatriated to the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Friendly Cove on Vancouver Island.  Vancouver Sun, April 15, 2013

Toronto

Marco Cibola Marks Time and Labour at the Gladstone. Hotel hallways are not usually venues for art exhibitions. Toronto-area artist Marco Cibola has fun with this idiosyncrasy in his first Canadian solo show, “It’s About Time,” at the Gladstone Hotel, a venue that has made it a priority to integrate artists into its operations. Canadian Art, April 16, 2013

RBC CPC Jurors to Include Ian Wallace, Dan Faria.  RBC, with the support of the Canadian Art Foundation, today announced the jury panel members for the 15th anniversary of the RBC Canadian Painting Competition.The nine-member jury panel will help determine the winner and two honourable mentions of the prize, and it will award $115,000 in total prize money to artists in early stages of their careers. Canadian Art, April 17, 2013

Luminato Festival turns a spotlight on the audience.  An all-star tribute to Joni Mitchell and a Marina Abramovic opera are among the highlights at Luminato, June 14 to 23. Toronto Star, April 16, 2013

Stefan Sagmeister’s The Happy Show shows the designer in civic duty mode.  “Every inch of the Design Exchange in Toronto, from the bathrooms to the elevators to the exit signs, is part of Stefan Sagmeister’s massive new multimedia pop exhibition, The Happy Show. Culled from the graphic designer’s 10-year exploration into that elusive and much-sought after emotion, the work isn’t designed only to impress from a visual standpoint, but also lighten an audience’s mood.”  National Post, April 13, 2013

Mississauga

Canadian photographer George Hunter dies. George Hunter, the iconic Canadian scenic photographer whose career spanned nearly eight decades, died Wednesday, April 10, 2013, at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga. He was 92. Toronto Star, April 17, 2013

Detroit

A Model of Mike Kelley’s Ex-Home as Art in Detroit  “Mobile Homestead,” a model of Mike Kelley’s childhood home, will open at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.  New York Times, April 17, 2013

New York

The Guggenheim's Favorite Art Dealer? Of 15 solo shows at the museum since fall 2010, seven have been given to artists in the stable of Marian Goodman Gallery, which has venues in New York and Paris.  Art in America, April 17, 2013  

Helly Nahmad Gallery Raided, Nahmad Charged  New York's Helly Nahmad Gallery was the subject of a raid this morning by federal agents. The gallery's owner, art dealer Helly Nahmad, was charged in a case that has resulted in dozens of arrests, according to a story in the New York Times. Art in America, April 16, 2013

Washington, D.C.

National Gallery Gets First Dijkstra among New Acquisitions  The National Gallery of Art has purchased its first work by Rineke Dijkstra, part of a batch of new acquisitions including examples by Richard Artschwager, Allan McCollum, Hans Haacke and Ed Ruscha, all funded by the museum's collectors committee.  Art in America, April 17, 2013  

Smithsonian To Cut Hours Because Of Sequestration "The Smithsonian will begin closing certain galleries on a rolling basis come May 1 because of across-the-board budget cuts known as sequestration." Washington Post April 17, 2013

London

Art From A Vending Machine "Is it good art? Is it worth a quid? I've no idea. If anyone could actually fathom the farce of economics, we'd all have a pound to buy some art with." The Guardian (UK) April 17, 2013

China

Iron Rooster Redux: Scott Conarroe in China.  “Scott Conarroe has been riding a lot of trains. His recent photographic pursuit of railroads in China has clearly been an extension of the epic photo-journey around North America that, beginning in 2007 and continuing until the fall of 2009, resulted in the richly conceived and consummately realized suite of searching, lyrical, sociologically acute, large-format colour photographs titled By Rail (2007–09). The photographs from his latest railroad adventure in China—the most recent sojourn ended at the end of November—offer a photo-virtuosity consistent with that of the By Rail project.”  Conarroe, a Canadian artist is currently based in Zurich and was recently given a Guggenheim fellowship.  Canadian Art, April 15, 2013

Shenzhen, China

Shenzhen's Transformation For 50 Million People - Now A Building With A "Mini-Skirt" "Rice fields gave way to roads, lined with ever more fantastical buildings. It is now the biggest, most densely populated and fastest-growing city in the Pearl River Delta, the world's largest manufacturing megalopolis, home to 50 million people." The Guardian (UK) April 16, 2013

Sydney, Australia

Art project using a human cadaver could still happen A concept by the artist John Baldessari to display a human cadaver as a work of art could one day be realized.  The Art Newspaper, April 16, 2013

International

The Exhibitions That Changed Art History For his newest book, Bruce Altshuler selects the 25 most influential art shows from the last 40 years. (Book Review) ARTnews, April 17, 2013  

Daily Rituals. “Is waking up early the secret to artistic success? In researching Daily Rituals, I came across story after story of creative artists who did their most important work—and sometimes their only work—just as the sun was rising. (Of the 161 figures in the book, about a third got up at 7 a.m. or earlier.)…  I did not run across as many examples of visual artists who got up before dawn to work, although there are certainly a few. Francis Bacon would wake around sunrise and paint for a few hours before lunch.”   Slate, April 17, 2013