Is Tate Modern Pointing The Way To The Future? As Tate Modern overhauls the way it presents its collection to the public, critics are beginning to assess the impact of the changes, not just on the Tate, but museums in general. "The wow factor is important to Tate Modern and key to its success, most obviously through the giant works that have held court in the gallery’s Turbine Hall. This is the challenge facing the gallery: to continue to attract all those casual visitors whose imagination has been captured by some of the contemporary shows on display, while also providing for more regular users of art galleries who rightly demand rigour and a certain level of scholarship on their visits." Financial Times (UK) 05/05/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 10:44 am
Spotlighting "Art Extraordinary" A unique art gallery devoted to so-called "outsider art" opens this week in Scotland. The gallery's founder, a former art therapist, says that she intends to showcase what she calls Art Extraordinary: "'visionary imagery inspired directly from the unconscious'. Many of those who produce it suffer from mental illness, but by no means all. Some are simply recluses, making art in private with no intention of showing it to anyone else." The gallery will be the first of its kind in the UK. The Scotsman (UK) 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 9:38 am
Berlin Goes For Glory It seems like we've been hearing forever about the imminent rise of Berlin as a global center of contemporary art, but the city has never really taken the final steps necessary to compete with heavyweights like New York, Paris, and London. But this year's Berlin Biennial may finally be serving notice that the scene is ready to be seen alongside the world's best. The New York Times 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 8:59 am
Tracking The Mystery Bidder Last Wednesday, a single bidder at an art auction at Sotheby's in New York spent a whopping $95.2 million for a Picasso portrait, and more than $102 million overall. This would be big news under any circumstances, but what really has the art world buzzing is the fact that no one seems to know who the buyer is, despite the fact that his photograph has been published worldwide. "Those who sat near him at the auction said that they were convinced that he sounded Russian. There were also clues to support that theory... Officially, Sotheby's is declining to comment, but its executives were obviously caught off guard the night of the auction." The New York Times 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 8:45 am
What Was That About Glass Houses? Last year, glassblower Robert Kaindl found himself on the business end of a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement against well-known glass artist Dale Chihuly. Rather than settle the suit, Kaindl is countersuing, and his complaint takes some potentially devastating shots at Chihuly's business practices, claiming that the artist is "not involved in conceiving, creating, designing or even signing a 'substantial number' of artworks that bear his name. Kaindl also maintains in his claim that Chihuly sometimes buys glasswork from other artists, removes their names and then puts his own trademarked name on it." Seattle Times 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 8:35 am
Click here for more Visual Arts stories...
Visual Arts stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
Dallas Looks For A New Leader As Andrew Litton prepares to depart the Dallas Symphony (see more on this in ArtsJournal's People section,) speculation is rampant concerning whom the orchestra will turn to as its next music director. On the shortlist: Andrew Davis, Stephane Deneve, and Philippe Jordan, among others. Fort Worth Star-Telegram 05/07/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 10:17 am
Jurowski To Head London Phil The London Philharmonic has named 34-year-old Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski as its next principal conductor, succeeding Kurt Masur. Jurowski has been the LPO's principal guest conductor since 2003, and his star has been rising fast on the international scene. "His contract is for an initial five years. He will give a minimum of 25 concerts per year, as well as touring and working with the orchestra in Glyndebourne - spending a total of seven or eight months of the year in Britain." The Guardian (UK) 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 9:53 am
George W. Revives The Protest Song The 1960s were a divisive time in America, and the music of the period reflects the "protest" movement that flourished at the time. And though overtly political music has been out of fashion for decades now, the protest song is showing signs of making a comeback, thanks in large part to the divisive qualities of the Bush Administration. "These artists' dissent is not the innocuous, war-hurts whine of U2, R.E.M., Ani DiFranco, Dar Williams or the Dead Kennedys that has passed in recent years as an expression of conscience, but a rage-grounded strain that sounds a lot like the potent snarl of the dispossessed and betrayed." Toronto Star 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 9:27 am
Click here for more Music stories...
Music stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
City Officials Shut Down Brooklyn Art Show "The administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has done more to promote the arts than any in a generation, but that enthusiasm did not extend to a graduate-student art show that opened this week in a city-owned building near the Brooklyn Bridge. After visiting the exhibition, which featured a penis sculpture, a caged rat and a sexually charged video, the Brooklyn parks commissioner ordered it closed on Thursday and changed the locks to the building." The New York Times 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 8:42 am
Merger Mania Comes To The Arts "Taking a page from the current flurry of big deals from telecom to banking, arts groups are merging and forming alliances at an unprecedented pace. In recent months, at least a dozen groups around the country have teamed up... One factor behind the deals: The growing role of corporate executives on cultural organizations' boards. Groups have been recruiting veterans from the private sector to bring business acumen to their back offices. Another driver: a small cadre of consultants carving out a niche advising arts mergers. And increasingly, big foundations, with less money to spend, are giving money to groups only when a partnership is involved, to make sure their dollars are spent efficiently." Wall Street Journal 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 8:28 am
Click here for more Arts Issues stories...
Arts Issues stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
Fogel's Future Plans As chairman of the American Symphony Orchestra League, Henry Fogel has been on a seemingly endless national tour in recent years, talking to anyone who will listen about the future of orchestras and the changes the industry needs to embrace to thrive in the modern world. First on Fogel's list: orchestras need to create deep ties within their communities, a strategy that has worked well for other arts groups. Syracuse Post-Standard 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 9:57 am
Death Becomes Him "No American novelist knows his craft better than Philip Roth. But in the past decade, as he turned out a series of masterworks and became, at 70, a bestseller all over again, Roth apprenticed at a literary form that was new to him: the eulogy." Four close friends died in quick succession, leaving Roth meditating on his own mortality. The pain became the backdrop for his latest novel, which focuses on the death of its title character, Everyman. Toronto Star 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 9:36 am
Wolitzer's Return Hilma Wolitzer has a new novel out, and that, in itself, qualifies as news. Wolitzer, who was one of the more celebrated authors of the 1980s and early '90s, went through a series of personal tragedies following the publication of her last novel in 1994, and simply stopped writing fiction. She seems almost embarrassed by the 12-year bout of writer's block, but the malaise came to an abrupt end last year, when the main character in her new book sprang to life in her head. The New York Times 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 8:54 am
Litton's Legacy This month, Andrew Litton will conduct his final concerts as music director of the Dallas Symphony. His 12-year tenure with the orchestra has been rocky at times, and in recent years he has clashed openly with local critics and the DSO's president, but he is also credited with keeping the orchestra in the recording business at a time when most other American ensembles couldn't buy a record deal. The DSO has also had a lot of turnover in the last decade, and "Litton has hired a third of the DSO's current roster of musicians. That may be his greatest achievement." Dallas Morning News 05/07/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 8:20 am
- The Talented (And Superficial?) Mr. Litton "No American conductor of his generation is more formidably gifted [than Andrew Litton.] He's a quick study with a score, and he has a keen ear. He's a skilled and attentive accompanist. And no conductor anywhere speaks more naturally, more engagingly, with audiences. But facility may also be Mr. Litton's weakness. One musician has likened him to a certain kind of pianist who can sight-read any score, note perfectly, but rarely goes much beneath the surface. The DSO's most eloquent and finely detailed performances have tended to come from other conductors. Criticisms of superficiality have dogged Mr. Litton's career, and not only in Dallas." Dallas Morning News 05/07/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 8:09 am
Click here for more People stories...
People stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
Curtain Falls On The Guthrie This weekend marks the final performances at Minneapolis's famous Guthrie Theater, as the company prepares to move to a gigantic new complex on the city's riverfront. The old theater, which was built in 1962 and quickly became the centerpiece of the Twin Cities' cultural scene, will be demolished as soon as this summer, making Sunday's final performance as much a wake as a celebration. St. Paul Pioneer Press 05/07/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 8:14 am
Click here for more Theatre stories...
Theatre stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
Ramona And The Movie Deal Anyone who was ever a child has probably read at least one Beverly Cleary book, and most of us have read far more than that. "Although Cleary's 39 books have not achieved the quick sales numbers of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (120 million copies) or Lemony Snicket's books (50 million), they've never gone out of print. And since 1950, when Cleary's first children's novel, Henry Huggins, was published, she has sold more than 90 million copies." Now, at age 90, she has finally agreed to allow her popular "Ramona" series to be made into a movie, but is zealously guarding the character against the rampant commercialization she so detests. San Francisco Chronicle 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 9:44 am
Click here for more Publishing stories...
Publishing stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
The Real DaVinci Conspiracy There may be nothing on Earth more overexposed than The DaVinci Code, and that presented a unique marketing challenge for the folks behind the movie version of Dan Brown's bestseller. How, after all, do you sell a suspense film when the entire world already knows what's going to happen? The answer may be to abandon traditional marketing altogether, and court the controversy that seems to follow DaVinci around. "The fiendishly clever part? Convincing us the ensuing publicity is merely a series of random events." The Age (Melbourne) 05/07/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 10:35 am
Click here for more Media stories...
Media stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
Cleveland Ballet Series Canceled Cleveland's Playhouse Square has announced that it will no longer present the series of touring ballet companies it began showcasing in 2002, citing a "lack of audience growth, declining philanthropic support and the high cost of presenting world-class ballet... The series was started in 2002 to fill a void following the demise of Cleveland San Jose Ballet. It featured American Ballet Theatre, the Kirov Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Joffrey Ballet and other leading international companies." The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 10:02 am
New Hires At Ballet Pacifica "Former San Francisco Ballet principal dancer Evelyn Cisneros-Legate has been named academy director of Irvine-based Ballet Pacifica. She will take over as head of the company's school from husband and wife John Gardner and Amanda McKerrow when their contracts expire at the end of July... Also, Ballet Pacifica interim managing director Melody Wolfgram has been named executive director, effective immediately." Los Angeles Times 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 9:49 am
The Business Of Being Twyla Twyla Tharp is unquestionably one of the most influential figures in the dance world of today, but it sometimes seems as if the general public is completely unaware of her existence. A new biography aims to change that, and dovetails nicely with Tharp's own efforts to market herself and her dances in recent years. The New York Times 05/06/06
Posted: 05/07/2006 9:20 am
Click here for more Dance stories...
Dance stories submitted by readers
More reader-submitted stories... | submit a story
