Archives for November 2009

Is the tide starting to turn at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery? Thanks to the prospect of a slight increase in 2010 funding from Erie County, which must still be approved by the legislature, there’s hope.

Starting today, the Gallery has added hours (that’s a photo of works by Fletcher Benton, now on view, at left). It will now be open six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday, instead of four, Thursday through Sunday. Total hours per week increase just slightly, to 35 from 33 — because the Gallery now opens at noon, instead of 10 a.m. It still closes at 5 p.m. every day except Friday, when it stays open until 10 p.m. (As I’ve written before, museums need more evening hours.) Read the press release here.

Other cost-containment and initiatives to increase revenues continue, though — some worse than others.

Rightly, the Albright-Knox is continuing its tradition of being at the forefront: it recently announced that it will bring to the U.S. for the first time an exhibition showing artists from Canada’s avant garde in “an international context” (which means shown with American works of the period): Automatiste Revolution, Montreal, 1941-1960 will open in Buffalo in March. It’s now on view at the Varley Art Gallery in Unionville, Ontario — which is “20 minutes” outside of Toronto. Details here and here. And see Automatiste works here.

The Albright-Knox recently elected a new board chairman, Leslie H. Zemsky, which the Buffalo News welcomed as a good sign, too, citing her “energy, enthusiasm, dynamism and a perspective that will encourage and develop the next chapter in the Albright-Knox story.”

Some people will never forgive the Gallery for selling its antiquities — about which I am not happy either. But right now, I’d just like to see this art outpost get healthy again.  

Photo: Courtesy Albright-Knox Art Gallery 

I must be getting known for writing about prizes, both positively and negatively (to cite just two posts). I just learned of another new contest — in music, this time.

And it’s your chance to influence the course of classical music. DilettanteMusic.com — which is a U.K.-based online “global hub for classical music” — is allowing the public to choose its first digital composer-in-residence.

I haven’t explored the Dilettante Music website — or its business model — as much as I’d like; but the public input deadline is close, so I’m writing now.

Part of the site’s mission seems to be to provide a forum for listening to unsigned musicians, and to provide a way to buy music online. The contest was announced in June, when the website said it would choose a lucky composer:

The winner will receive the Digital Composer-In-Residence Award worth £1000, and a year-long ‘digital residency’ on the Dilettante website, including a ‘composer’s corner’ blog on the homepage and a podcast series. They will lead online masterclasses and take part in forum discussions with Dilettante members. The residency will conclude with a live event, which will include a newly commissioned work.   

The finalists, from the U.S., Canada and Taiwan, were announced on Oct. 20, and now you can listen to their music online and vote — up until Nov. 4, which is just two days away. 

[Read more…] about Prizes Everywhere! Your Chance To Influence Classical Music

Are there more art prizes for individual artists this year, or does it just seem that way? And are they all worthwhile?

I’ve posted here about several — the MacDowell Medal, the Wolgin Prize, Guggenheim Fellowships, the Public Art Award, the Biennale’s Golden Lion award, and of course ArtPrize. Some new, some old, and just a small sampling of those available.

Last Thursday came the brand new “First Annual Art Awards” produced by artist Rob Pruitt at the Guggenheim Museum “in association with” White Columns and “event partner” Calvin Klein Collection. Phew.

The dozen awards were for lifetime achievement, an international exhibition, and nine meant for exhibitions and projects that had significant impact on the field of contemporary art and took place between January 2008 and June 2009 in the United States. Artists and art world professionals (it’s unclear how they were chosen) selected the winners, except for the two Lifetime Achievement Awards, which were determined by Pruitt, the Guggenheim and White Columns, and the Rob Pruitt Award, which “was decided solely by the artist.”

The awards were given at a dinner at the Guggenheim, intended to rival the Oscars: “Tickets for the event were offered by invitation only.” The prizes, designed by Pruitt, were fashioned as buckets of Champagne that are actually lamps.     

Ok, it was a benefit, but the whole thing strikes me as off-key — a fest for the elite that ends up being more about partying than art, and alienates the general public. And, yes, as the Los Angeles Times’ Culture Monster blog said, it was supposed to be ironic — but I wonder if that’s how it was perceived. David Ng, the LAT writer, wondered, too. Many news outlets seem to have ignored the whole thing.

[Read more…] about Send This Art Prize Back To The Drawing Board