Archives for 2008

Model of "Flower House," Suiza, Switzerland (2006 - ), Courtesy SANAABy Martin Filler, Guest BloggerThe trouble with most architecture exhibitions is that, unlike shows on other, readily transportable art forms, it's almost impossible to display actual examples of this immovable medium within a conventional gallery context. Models, photographs, videos, drawings, plans, and … [Read more...] about Sejima and Nishizawa at the New Museum

Nicolai OuroussoffBy Martin Filler, Guest BloggerAmong the root causes of the mess America now finds itself in, one of the least discussed is the seemingly extinct notion of conflict of interest. Not so long ago, even the appearance of impropriety was enough to prevent the double-dealing now commonplace in every sector of public life. In 2004, when Supreme Court Justice Anthony … [Read more...] about Ouroussoff on Atlantic Yards and Hudson Yards: The Gray Lady’s Guide to Contemporary Civics

Wait! Hold that airplane!This just in: Fisk University yesterday filed its expected appeal of Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle's decision regarding its Stieglitz Collection. Unmentioned in the press release but previously mentioned to me by C. Michael Norton, Fisk's lawyer, is the prime reason for the appeal---the university's continuing desire to accept Alice … [Read more...] about News Flash: Fisk Files Appeal of Stieglitz Collection Decision

Attentive readers will remember that I mentioned I was going to be visiting three continents within three months: first it was Los Angeles, to cover the opening of the Broad Contemporary Art Museum; then, Athens, to speak at the International Conference on Return of Cultural Property.Now, having redefined CultureGrrl as "all-Murakami, all the time," I've decided to go see for … [Read more...] about Where in the World Is Lee Going? And Who Is “Filler-ing” In (again)?

"Tongari-kun" (aka "Mr. Pointy), installation in progress at the Brooklyn Museum. Murakami-esque suspended black balloons were decor for the benefit gala.Viewing the Murakami retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum after having first encountered it at its original (and originating) venue, the Geffen Contemporary facility of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, was like … [Read more...] about Murakami/Murakami: LA/Brooklyn Installation Transformations

I'll get serious about the installation transformations of the LA-to-Brooklyn Murakami show in a bit. But first, art-lings, this report from last night's Kanye West Fest.From today's Gothamist blog comes the following news flash: "Murakami Gala at Brooklyn Museum Eclipsed by [Bruce] Ratner Protest." The real estate developer, now faltering in his attempt to install a collection … [Read more...] about Protesters Demonstrate Outside Brooklyn Museum’s Kanye West Fest

My WNYC podcast on Murakami is now online here, or you can click it below. I never know for sure how it will be edited, so I'm glad they kept my comment that I have no objection to Brooklyn's displaying the Vuitton products (or even, for that matter, replicating a store). I only object to its being a FUNCTIONAL store---an external commercial enterprise inappropriately … [Read more...] about Murakami Musings: My WNYC Podcast

If all goes according to plan, you can hear me tomorrow commenting about the Murakami show at the Brooklyn Museum on New York Public Radio's Morning Edition, WNYC: 93.9 FM or 820 AM.  Or you can listen live here. They tell me it should be aired at one or more of the following times: 6:35, 7:35, 8:35 a.m. I will, of course, post the podcast on CultureGrrl, when available. … [Read more...] about My Murakami Musings: Tomorrow on New York Public Radio

Leonardo da Vinci, "La Belle Ferronière," Musée du LouvreDidier Rykner, whose La Tribune de l'Art had spearheaded the unsuccessful petition against the Louvre's deal to create a satellite museum in Abu Dhabi, now reports (in English) that the Paris museum intends to send to Verona, Italy, an exhibition of some 140 works, including such masterpieces as Leonardo's "La Belle … [Read more...] about Louvre Reportedly Sending Masterpieces to Italy for a Steep Fee

Louis Godart, advisor on culture to Italy's President, has now made good on his promise to send me the list of works relinquished to his country by Shelby White and now on display at the Palazzo Poli in Rome. I already published the list here, but now I've also got the images. All are catalogued as having come from "clandestine excavations" in Italy, except for the last fresco, … [Read more...] about The Shelby White Files: Images from a Restitution

Takashi Murakami, speaking at the Brooklyn Museum's press preview today. Director Arnold Lehman listens.Sorry I've been away all day, art-lings, but I've been prowling the Murakami press preview at the Brooklyn Museum, on which I'll be commenting soon (if all goes according to plan) on New York Public Radio (WNYC). I think I'll save my first (mostly favorable) takes on the art … [Read more...] about Murakami Meets the Press

The Mount, Edith Wharton's Berkshires Mansion Upon hearing in February of the impending bank foreclosure of The Mount, Edith Wharton's idyllic estate in the Massachusetts Berkshires that I had visited in 2006, I wrote: I think Stephanie Copeland, The Mount's president and executive director, has made this site a joy to visit. But now emergency-campaign donors need a level … [Read more...] about Management Shake-Up at Edith Wharton’s Estate, The Mount

UPDATE: Yikes! They took it down. If you click the video, below, it now says: "We're sorry, this video is no longer available." Does that mean it was done by a Banksy hoax-ster? Or was it created under professional auspices and not intended for free sharing?Here's what I wrote right after I viewed the video:There are lots of YouTube videos about Banksy, but now there's one on … [Read more...] about Banksy Performs for YouTube? You Decide. UPDATED

Red figure calyx krater with Zeus and Ganymede, attributed to the Eucharides painterThe Italian Culture Ministry has at last published on its website a list of the objects relinquished by Shelby White and now on display at the Palazzo Poli in Rome. (Go here, click on "Cartella Stampa" and then on "oggetti in mostra." The White objects are interspersed among the others in this … [Read more...] about Italy Posts the Shelby White List of Relinquished Objects

Gustav Klimt, "Portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl," 1918 (unfinished) In 2006, the Bloch-Bauer heirs famously received five Klimts (including the celebrated "Adele Bloch-Bauer I") that were restituted by Austria in response to their claim that they paintings were wrongfully expropriated during the Nazi era.But the heirs were actually seeking six.The same lawyer who improbably … [Read more...] about Heirs Still Seeking the Sixth Bloch-Bauer Klimt