Yesterday I recorded a segment for New York Public Radio (WNYC) on the just opened exhibition of Monika Sosnowska's "Tower" at Hauser & Wirth (to Oct. 25). Fabricated for the gallery's sprawling space (a former roller rink) from steel I-beams and related hardware (including window handles), it's a riff on the frame of Mies van der Rohe's Lake Short Drive Apartments in … [Read more...] about Hear Me Now: My WNYC Riff on Monika Sosnowska’s Mies Riff (with video)
Archives for 2014
Frank Gehry Works His Magic on the Philadelphia Museum (with videos)
While we're on the subject of Frank Gehry, all questions about why the Philadelphia Museum would hire such an out-there architect for a mostly underground expansion were, to my mind, decisively dispelled by the museum's brilliantly executed exhibition---Making a Classic Modern: Frank Gehry’s Master Plan for the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I'm late in discussing this show. … [Read more...] about Frank Gehry Works His Magic on the Philadelphia Museum (with videos)
Zaha Brouhaha: Hadid and the Conscience of Architects
Why is Zaha Hadid now being uniquely and unfairly saddled with the burden of becoming standard-bearer for the social conscience of architects? Because of her big mouth. At the end of his Vanity Fair piece, Zaha Hadid is Still Wrong About Construction Worker Conditions (reacting to the recent Hadid/Martin Filler contretemps), architecture critic Paul Goldberger suggests … [Read more...] about Zaha Brouhaha: Hadid and the Conscience of Architects
Plagiarism, Libel Suit, Blackballing: Bad-News Summer for Art-&-Architecture Journalism
We all make mistakes. But Carol Vogel's NY Times-acknowledged lifting from Wikipedia (which I've already commented on here) and the recent retraction by the NY Review of Books' architecture critic Martin Filler of his factually wrong and allegedly defamatory statement regarding architect Zaha Hadid were gasp-inducing gaffes. More on the Zaha brouhaha here. From previous … [Read more...] about Plagiarism, Libel Suit, Blackballing: Bad-News Summer for Art-&-Architecture Journalism
Spier & Gasparatto: The Getty Museum’s Dark-Horse Curatorial Appointments UPDATED
Here's my main question: If Jeffrey Spier, just named to the Getty Museum's long-vacant position of senior curator of antiquities, is a "member of the Department of Classics at the University of Arizona" (as the museum's press release states), why isn't he listed on the faculty website for the University of Arizona's Department of Classics? I called the department, whose … [Read more...] about Spier & Gasparatto: The Getty Museum’s Dark-Horse Curatorial Appointments UPDATED
Do You Know the Way to Cy Près? What’s Wrong with Judge Okun’s Corcoran Opinion
A newcomer to the bench, DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun proved to be no Judge Stanley Ott when it came to the rigor of his courtroom questioning, legal analysis and writing mastery in crafting his momentous Corcoran-dissolving decision. The Corcoran name will be perpetuated (on its dispersed artworks, its figurehead board and its university-subsumed school), but not much … [Read more...] about Do You Know the Way to Cy Près? What’s Wrong with Judge Okun’s Corcoran Opinion
Read It and Weep: Judge Okun Allows Corcoran/National Gallery/George Washington U. Merger THREE UPDATES
My analysis of the decision is here. You can read these along with me: Here's DC Superior Court Judge Robert Okun's decision to allow the proposed merger of the Corcoran Gallery, National Gallery and George Washington University. Here's the judge's related order. The three parties to the merger have now issued this exultant press release. More on all this … [Read more...] about Read It and Weep: Judge Okun Allows Corcoran/National Gallery/George Washington U. Merger THREE UPDATES
Revived American Folk Art Museum: The Ingenuity of “Self-Taught Genius”
Last week, I belatedly visited the American Folk Art Museum's engaging, rightly acclaimed Self-Taught Genius: Treasures from the American Folk Art Museum (closed Sunday), arguably its most ambitious, wide-ranging exhibition since it decamped in 2011 from its W. 53rd Street facility to what had been its satellite space on Lincoln Square. In astute wall texts and labels for some … [Read more...] about Revived American Folk Art Museum: The Ingenuity of “Self-Taught Genius”
CultureGrrl on Corcoran is “Notable & Quotable” in Wall Street Journal; More on National Gallery’s Role
You read it here first, art-lings. The Wall Street Journal has just chosen to anoint as Notable and Quotable (in tomorrow's paper, but online now) an excerpt from yesterday's CultureGrrl post in which I was critical of the role that the National Gallery will play if the Corcoran Gallery gets court permission to disperse its collection. Here's an excerpt from the WSJ's … [Read more...] about CultureGrrl on Corcoran is “Notable & Quotable” in Wall Street Journal; More on National Gallery’s Role
Chris Crosman on Corcoran’s Endangered Legacy (plus: National Gallery’s Lonely Founding Fathers) UPDATED
With Philip Kennicott, the Washington Post's art critic, having yesterday reemphasized his opposition to the dissolution of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and its collection, let's examine one of the arguments advanced by the Corcoran in favor of handing over its art holdings to the National Gallery of Art. The moribund museum had claimed in its initial press release that its … [Read more...] about Chris Crosman on Corcoran’s Endangered Legacy (plus: National Gallery’s Lonely Founding Fathers) UPDATED
Sotheby’s Earnings Conference Call: The Cost of Activist Shareholders
Sotheby's press release today on recent earning results included two different figures for the key metric of profitability---"net income"---in the second quarter (ending June 30), which included the big May sales of Impressionist/modern and contemporary art. "Adjusted net income" for that quarter decreased 4% from the same quarter last year, to $87.83 million. But "net … [Read more...] about Sotheby’s Earnings Conference Call: The Cost of Activist Shareholders
My Twitter Debate with Kriston Capps on the Corcoran (plus Univ. of MD’s spurned proposal)
My piece in today's Wall Street Journal on the possible dismantling of the Corcoran Gallery of Art got Kriston Capps of The Atlantic all a-Twitter, resulting in a somewhat contentious conversation between us on how to salvage that endangered museum. In his previous gig at the Washington City Paper, Capps was one of the most cogent commentators on the Corcoran mess, so I enjoyed … [Read more...] about My Twitter Debate with Kriston Capps on the Corcoran (plus Univ. of MD’s spurned proposal)
“Isn’t There a Better Way?” My WSJ Piece on the Corcoran Gallery Court Case
I spent two days last week in Judge Robert Okun's Courtroom 317 at D.C. Superior Court, hearing arguments and testimony by the Corcoran Gallery's attorneys and the three witnesses it called to help make its unconvincing case for ending the 145-year-old institution's function as a museum, scattering its collection to various nonprofit recipients (with the lion's share going to … [Read more...] about “Isn’t There a Better Way?” My WSJ Piece on the Corcoran Gallery Court Case
Carol, Do You Copy? Vogel’s Sticky Wiki
By now you've likely heard that Carol Vogel, the NY Times' veteran art reporter, got caught with her hand in the wiki jar. As I tweeted below, I wasn't sure which of her lame moves was more irresponsible---plagiarizing from Wikipedia or relying on that frequently inaccurate, crowd-sourced compendium for journalistic research: Which is dumber? Plagiarizing Wikipedia or using it … [Read more...] about Carol, Do You Copy? Vogel’s Sticky Wiki
Koons, Whitney, Wynn and My “Greater Fool” Theory of Trophy Art
Having dutifully ingested the Whitney Museum's press preview for its monumental Jeff Koons retrospective (to Oct. 19) and then gagged on the laudatory commentary from two major critics whom I greatly admire, I hesitated to publicly air my indigestion, figuring it would likely reveal more about my own limitations than that of the art. But Tuesday's contrarian (and, to my … [Read more...] about Koons, Whitney, Wynn and My “Greater Fool” Theory of Trophy Art