Rolling Stone Rocks SoHo... With His Art!, Occupy Subway Artists Busted, and More Must-Read Art News
Rolling Stone Rocks SoHo... With His Art!, Occupy Subway Artists Busted, and More Must-Read Art News
– Rolling Stone Gets a Painting Show: Today, guitarist Ronnie Wood, of Rolling Stones fame, unveils a new series of portraits picturing buddies like Jack Nicholson and Slash at Broome Street Gallery in SoHo (presented by luxury collectibles purveyor Symbolic Collection). Though his former bandmates are among his harshest critics ("They were kind of, 'Oh, you've overworked it, blah blah blah,'" said Wood), he now counts critic Brian Sewell and, yes, Damien Hirst among his fans. Indeed, only a Rolling Stone-turned-painter would be able to say that his studio is "all decked out with stuff that Damien Hirst got me when I came out of rehab." [NYDN]
– Activist-Artists Stuck for Occupy Stickers: The day after two Occupy Wall Street sympathizers gave a too-candid TV interview about their mission to place stickers reading "Priority Seating for the 1 Percent" on New York City subway seats, they were arrested by the NYPD. The men had intended the cheeky street art gesture as a protest against the rising fees and increasingly debilitating service cuts. [NYT]
– Muybridge Gets Doodled: In honor of photographer Eadweard Muybridge's 182nd birthday, the ever-vigilant artist-birthday monitors over at Google have transformed their home page into an homage to the pioneering photographer. The designers have turned Muybridge's famous "The Horse in Motion" — originally created to prove that all four of a horse's hooves come off the ground simultaneously during a gallop — into a delightful animation. And if you're wondering what Muybridge ever did for Google, just remember: without him, there would be no GIF. [Google]
– Will the Mob Mangle Major Pompeii Restoration Project?: Italian prime minister Mario Monti has announced a joint project between Italy and the European Union to secure the ash-smothered ancient city of Pompeii to the tune of €105 million ($137 million). Securing the entire city would require double that sum — and that's without taking into account mafia graft. "We want to ensure that this is accomplished through honest and capable workers and companies," Monti said, "while keeping away the organized crime that is still strong in this area." [BBC]
– Autopsy Planned For Kinkade: The Santa Clara county coroner is planning an autopsy to determine the cause of death of "Painter of Light" Thomas Kinkade, who passed away over the weekend at the notably young age of 54. Kinkade was known for his wholesome imagery, but also battled alcohol abuse in recent years. Meanwhile, his business, the Thomas Kinkade Co., sent a message to his many distributors to assure them that his business would continue, promising that Kinkade's "art and powerful message of inspiration will live on." [LAT]
– Watts House Project Pioneer Checks Out: Artist Edgar Arceneaux has stepped down as executive director of Los Angeles's Watts House Project. Arceneaux, who founded the community-driven redevelopment project in 2009, left two days after a feature appeared in the L.A. Times reporting major problems at the non-profit organization. [LAT]
– Van Gogh Visits New York: One of the painter's most celebrated portraits, "Portrait of a Peasant," will leave its home at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena for the first time in 40 years. From October 30 to January 20, it will be on view at New York's Frick Collection. [HuffPo]
– Couple Ties the Knot With Art Project: British artists and partners Deborah Curtis and Gavin Turk, whose "House of Fairy Tales" participatory funhouse art installation has been delighting art-lovers for over a year, will tie the knot at the end of April in its latest incarnation, "Mystery of the Hidden League and the Misplaced Museum," at Hall Place in Bexley. Their latest project involves visitors taking up a challenge to complete 53 tasks, to which the artists will add a 54th: Saying "I do." [TAN]
– "Mona Lisa" Snubs Google: The Louvre — the most visited museum in the world — and its most prized possession, Leonardo's "Mona Lisa," are conspicuously absent from the latest expansion of the Google Art Project. Meanwhile, while Google's online art initiative is having a real effect on public interest in art: The Israel Museum's just-digitized Dead Sea Scrolls were visited by one million users in the first three days of appearing on the Google project. [Bloomberg]
– Brutalist Buildings Incite Brutal Debate: Are some buildings simply too ugly to survive? It's a question many towns must face now that Brutalist architecture is reaching middle age and beginning to show signs of wear. In Goshen, New York, a county government center designed by the celebrated Modernist architect Paul Randolph is facing demolition, despite protests from preservationists who seek to preserve its stark-itecture. [NYT]
– RIP Mauricio Lasansky, Master Printmaker: The Argentine-born printmaker was as well known for his series "The Nazi Drawings," which depicted the horrors of Nazism, as he was for his grand, vivid, and complex prints. He died last week at his home in Iowa City. He was 97. [NYT]
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