News
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07/16/2010
Sarah Palin memorialized by British artist Jonathan Yeo's Porn Art.
From ARTINFO: As part of the "Porn in the U.S.A." exhibition at the London-based Lazarides Gallery's L.A. pop-up space, British artist Jonathan Yeo will unveil another series of provocative collages. Instead of oil, the former Alaskan governor's face is rendered with images of pubic hair, lace panties, and engorged reproductive organs of both sexes. "They're not insults, per se," Yeo told ARTINFO. "They're just comments on people who trade off their morality and sexuality."
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07/16/2010
The smile remains a mystery, but French scientists say they have cracked a few secrets of the "Mona Lisa."
From Associated Press: French researchers studied seven of the Louvre Museum's Leonardo da Vinci paintings, including the "Mona Lisa," to analyze the master's use of successive ultrathin layers of paint and glaze - a technique that gave his works their dreamy quality. Specialists from the Center for Research and Restoration of the Museums of France found that da Vinci painted up to 30 layers of paint on his works to meet his standards of subtlety.
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07/15/2010
The National Endowment for the Arts is to announce a $250,000 grant to help San Francisco.
From SFGate: NEA gives $250,000 to bring art to Mid Market. The money will go toward a $1.2 million city project to rejuvenate the seedy stretch of the city's main thoroughfare running from UN Plaza to Sixth Street and create a thriving arts and cultural district.
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07/15/2010
U.S. returns 11 oil paintings taken during World War II from Pirmasens, Germany.
From ArtDaily: In a ceremony at the Goethe Institute in Manhattan, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) displayed some of the 11 oil paintings that were taken by a U.S. serviceman from a Pirmasens air raid shelter after the allied invasion of Germany in 1945. The paintings, several by a hometown artist, are on their way home to Pirmasens Museum in Germany.
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07/14/2010
Mickey Mouse with Nazi symbol ignites Polish anger
From Associated Press: A huge outdoor art poster that blends Mickey Mouse's image with that of a swastika and a nude woman's body is causing a stir in Poland.The poster, which went up in June in the western city of Poznan just steps from a synagogue, is an Italian artist's take on what he calls the "horrors" of the American lifestyle and is one piece of artwork in a contemporary art exhibition opening in the fall.
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07/14/2010
Eli Broad Offers $7.7 million Not $1, For LA Museum Site
From Los Angeles Times: In addition to his new offer on a 99-year lease on public land in downtown Los Angeles where he can build an art museum, the billionaire already has promised to pay the full construction cost of up to $100 million and provide a $200-million endowment that would yield an estimated $12 million a year to cover the museum's operating expenses.
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07/13/2010
Italian Graffiti Artist Acquitted on technicalities.
From ArtForum: A judge in Milan has acquitted a celebrated graffiti artist of defacing public property, a case that drew attention because Milan’s city hall had pressed its legal action at the same time that it had been sponsoring exhibitions featuring his art.
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07/13/2010
SFMOMA has released its shortlist of architects under consideration to design its much-anticipated expansion.
From ARTINFO: Notably absent from SFMOMA’s list are many of the name-brand architects — the so-called starchitects, like Zaha Hadid and Frank Gehry — behind many of the largest and most controversial museum projects over the past decade. Since announcing expansion plans last year, officials at SFMOMA have emphasized their desire to build a relatively conventional building, favoring functionality over a flashy design.
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07/11/2010
Spain beats The Netherlands 1-0 to win the 2010 World Cup.
From Yahoo News: Spain won the World Cup for the first time on Sunday, Andres Iniesta netting in extra-time to see off Holland 1-0 in Johannesburg and hand the Dutch their third final loss. With just four minutes of extra-time remaining, substitute Fernando Torres slid over a cross from the left which was partially cleared as far as Cesc Fabregas and his pass found Iniesta lurking in the area. The Barcelona star promptly set his sights and fired past Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100711/ts_afp/fblwc2010nedespwin
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07/09/2010
Millionaires are buying more art, as distrust of markets fuels growth in passion investments.
From the Art Newspaper: The number of millionaires in the world grew by 17% last year and, with financial markets still in flux, art has emerged as the most popular category of “passion investment” according to Capgemini’s Ileana van der Linde who managed the research. “The World Wealth Report 2010 surveyed 1,200 wealth managers who represent 150,00 clients across 71 countries, and found that the world’s wealthy dedicate around a third of their overall holdings to passion investments. Over a quarter of those surveyed, 29.8%, said art was the top choice of passion investment for financial gain, said Van der Linde.
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/Millionaires-buy-more-art-than-ever/21117
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07/09/2010
Two prominent Moscow curators face three-year prison sentences, purportedly for inciting religious hatred.
From the Associated Press: After a 14-month trial, the two prominent Moscow art curators who put on the 2007 exhibit as part of an effort to fight censorship of the arts are facing the prospect of three years in prison. Artists and rights activists have appealed to the Kremlin to put a stop to the prosecution of Yury Samodurov and Andrei Yerofeyev, warning of a return to Soviet-era cultural censorship with the rules now dictated by a conservative and politically powerful church.Even Russia's culture minister says the two men did nothing to break the law against inciting religious hatred.
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07/08/2010
Grant's family condemns Mehserle verdict of involuntary manslaughter.
From the Bay Citizen: From Los Angeles to Oakland, Oscar Grant's family members denounced the involuntary manslaughter verdict in the trial of former BART cop Johannes Mehserle. Oscar Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson, told reporters in Los Angeles that “the system has let us down, but God will never ever let us down.” Like other speakers at an impromptu press conference outside the courtroom, Johnson painted the decision as a civil rights issue. “We will continue to fight for our equal rights in this society,” she said.
http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/pulse-of-the-bay/oscar-grants-family-reacts-mehserle/
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07/08/2010
Johannes Mehserle has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by a Los Angeles jury in the shooting death of Oscar Grant III.
From the Bay Citizen: A jury of eight women and four men in Los Angeles declared former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Oscar Grant III. Mehserle had faced three possible charges: second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter, which is the least serious. Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of four years in prison. Up to 25 years could be added at sentencing under a so-called gun enhancement provision of the law.
http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/pulse-of-the-bay/mehserle-verdict-tktktkttktktk/
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07/07/2010
The San Francisco Art Institute’s Board of Trustees has appointed Roy Eisenhardt as SFAI’s interim president.
Roy Eisenhardt as SFAI’s interim president. Eisenhardt will assume the office on July 12, 2010 and is expected to serve for one year. Eisenhardt succeeds Chris Bratton, who has assumed a dual position at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
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07/07/2010
Change of Date: Manifesta 8 has postponed its opening weekend in Murcia, Spain.
Out of respect for the General Strike, Manifesta 8 has decided to postpone its date of opening from September 29 and 30 to October 9, 2010.
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07/06/2010
St Paul's Cathedral is to erect plasma screen altarpieces by veteran US video artist Bill Viola.
From The Art Newspaper: Two giant multi-screen installations on the themes of Mary and the martyrs respectively are to be permanently installed in early 2011 behind the high altar on either side of the American chapel.
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07/06/2010
New York City Council restores funding to the arts lessening the blow of the $50m in cuts initially proposed.
From The Art Newspaper: In a surprising turnaround, the New York City Council decided at the end of June that it would restore about $30m to the Department of Cultural Affairs to spend on the arts, lessening the blow of the $50m in cuts initially proposed by Mayor Bloomberg in May.
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/articles/New-York-City-Council-restores-funding-to-the-arts/21103
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07/05/2010
Check out Nao Bustamante's "exit interview" following her departure from the reality TV-show Work of Art.
ARTINFO spoke with Nao Bustamante, one of this week's two casualties on Work of Art, about the her shocking artwork, her "social sculpture," and what she has been up to since the show.
http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/35110/the-work-of-art-exit-interview-nao-bustamante/
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07/04/2010
The Continental Congress adopts statement declaring thirteen American colonies to be Independent States.
Written by Thomas Jefferson, the text lists colonial grievances against King George III, including unlawful taxation, and asserts natural rights, including life, liberty, and of revolution. "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
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07/02/2010
Brandon Holmes will serve as guest editor for Art Practical Picks.
The Art Practical Picks are exhibitions and events that we feel should not be missed. Starting this July, we are inviting various individuals who are broadly involved with the Bay Area visual arts community to select the Picks for the site. This July and August, Brandon Holmes will serve as guest Picks editor. Brandon is a young Berkeley-based collector and patron of the arts; he has studied in the fashion design program at the California College of the Arts. He dedicates his time and support to the local art community and has done work for numerous spaces, including Triple Base, Eleanor Harwood, Sight School, Adobe Books Backroom Gallery, and Southern Exposure. In addition, Holmes is developing a newspaper dedicated to the contemporary art community of the Bay Area.
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