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Fabulous fare at press lunch for the National Museum of Qatar, served today at the Museum of Modern ArtWhat, no ketchup? French fries but no ketchup?!?After having been miffed that the NY Times had already been served a full-course meal of publicity before the rest of us scribes had even unfolded our napkins at today's press lunch for the planned National Museum of Qatar, I … [Read more...] about (Non-)Ketchup Journalism: Full Plate at the Qatar/Nouvel Press Lunch

Invitation to cover old newsThe press lunch that I'll be attending today will be at the Museum of Modern Art. That means that at least the food should be good.But, really, how do Al Mayassa Bint Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Marie-Josée Kravis expect journalists like me to feel about our invitation to cover a story that was spoonfed to the NY Times' architecture critic in … [Read more...] about Unveiling Nouvel’s Qatar Museum: Ouroussoff Yesterday, Lowly Scribes Today UPDATED

The Triumph of the UnderdogsThe Gothamist blog network (which has linked to many a CultureGrrl story) has reportedly been bought by Cablevision-owned Rainbow Media for "between $5 million to $6 million."Hey, Dolans! CultureGrrl can be bought---fast and cheap.Or maybe there are some (very venturesome) venture capitalists out there, who want to help me with the business side of … [Read more...] about Gothamist Sale: Blogger Buyout vs. Blogger Burnout

The interior of the former home of Salander-O'Reilly GalleriesWith art dealer Lawrence Salander having last week pled guilty to stealing some $120 million from clients and backers, his Salander-O'Reilly Galleries' numerous creditors and high-and-dry consignors are engaged in a scramble to try to receive compensation from Salander assets for their financial losses and for works … [Read more...] about Philadelphia Museum’s Salander Morass: Case of the Missing Painting UPDATED

Selling art from one's current gallery inventory after becoming a museum director? That's fine and dandy with LA MOCA's trustees.Mike Boehm today posted an update on his LA Times story, which followed up on CultureGrrl's Wednesday post. I had revealed that Jeffrey Deitch intends to continue selling works that are currently in his gallery's inventory after he assumes the … [Read more...] about MOCA Responds to LA Times on Deitch’s Art Disposals

William Kentridge's banner for the façade of the Metropolitan Opera House. The black silhouette of the renegade Nose is at the top, astride a horse. I love those rare moments when New York's preeminent cultural institutions work together in scintillating synergy. Sometimes it occurs through sheer serendipity. But in the case of the William Kentridge retrospective at the … [Read more...] about Kentridge X 2: MoMA + Met Opera = Harmonic Convergence

Jeffrey DeitchMike Boehm of the LA Times expertly moves the reportorial ball down the field today in his interview with Jeffrey Deitch regarding yesterday's revelations in CultureGrrl.LA MOCA's incoming director told Boehm one aspect of Deitch's plans that I hadn't learned about during my brief conversation with him after Jeffrey had addresssed an audience at the Guggenheim … [Read more...] about Deitch Deals: LA MOCA Director-Designate’s Self-Defense in LA Times

Jeffrey Deitch in front of LA MOCA's Giacomettis Just when New York dealer Jeffrey Deitch might have thought that the blow-up had subsided regarding his controversial appointment as the incoming director of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, more negative news was reported yesterday by the LA Times. What's more, CultureGrrl is about to break even more startling news … [Read more...] about Dealer-to-Director: More on Why Jeffrey Deitch is Wrong for LA MOCA

Screenshot from the Museum of Modern Art's live video feed of Marina Abramović's endurance performance in the atrium, "The Artist is Present" (Color-coordinated with her visitor, Abramović is on the right.) As an arts writer who (almost) always obeys the rules, I confronted a reportorial quandary at the recently concluded Tino Sehgal performance pieces at the Guggenheim and … [Read more...] about Sehgal, Abramović: Who’s more interesting—performers or visitors?

"At last, he's got to mention it!" I thought excitedly as I began reading Nicolai Ouroussoff's hot-blooded embrace in today's NY Times of architect Jean Nouvel's almost finished 100 Eleventh Avenue. As I perused the detailed appraisal of the building and its environs, I felt confident that the Knox Notch---the gap in Nouvel's building that permits barely a glimpse of a fragment … [Read more...] about Ouroussoff and the Knox Notch: The Critic Sees (or doesn’t)

Think of it as analogous to The Doors' two versions of "Light My Fire": There's the short version, suitable for top-40 radio play, and then there's the mind-blowing longer version. If you were up at about 8:30 this morning and tuned in to WQXR, New York's public classical radio station, you heard the drive-time cut of my conversation with Kerry Nolan about the hot-button … [Read more...] about Dakis Fracas: L-o-n-g Version of My WQXR Commentary, Now Online

If all goes according to plan, you'll be able to hear me tomorrow morning in an "Arts File" segment on WQXR, New York's public classical music station. I'll be commenting on the New Museum's Skin Fruit exhibition and the controversy surrounding it. The news peg is this Saturday's symposium on the relationship between private collectors and museums.Preparing for … [Read more...] about Coming Tomorrow: My WQXR Radio Commentary on the Dakis Fracas

Michael Sillerman, attorney for the planned MoMA/Hines tower (pictured behind him), speaking on its behalf at a NY City Planning Commission hearingMore bad news for MoMA: In a Feb. 24 petition filed in New York State Supreme Court, the West 54-55th Street Block Association, long-time opponents of the planned 1,050-foot-tall, Jean Nouvel-designed mixed-use tower in their … [Read more...] about Court Challenge to the MoMA Monster: Alleged “Failure to Comply” with Requirements UPDATED

Jennifer RussellYou can tell the quality of a museum director in large measure by the quality of the appointments that he or she makes. Tom Campbell has just made a first-rate, seasoned choice in his appointment of the second of his two associate directors. This just in from the Metropolitan Museum:Jennifer Russell will return to the [Metropolitan] Museum as associate director … [Read more...] about MoMA’s Jennifer Russell Moves to the Met as Associate Director

I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to pre-order these.This Thursday, the Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, will host the first-day-of-issue ceremony for the U.S. Postal Service's new commemorative stamps---Abstract Expressionists (above).Here's the USPS description of action postage:In celebration of the Abstract Expressionist artists of the 20th Century, [USPS] art … [Read more...] about Abstract Expressionism, The Postage Stamp