Saltz: Where Are The Women??? Jerry Saltz looks for women in New York art institutions. "According to the fall exhibition schedules for 125 well-known New York galleries—42 percent of which are owned or co-owned by women—of 297 one-person shows by living artists taking place between now and December 31, just 23 percent are solos by women. On the fourth and fifth floors of the Museum of Modern Art, in the galleries devoted to the permanent collection of art from 1879 to 1969, there are currently 399 objects. Only 19, or 5 percent, of those objects are by women. Meanwhile, since 2000 only 14 percent of the Guggenheim's solo shows of living artists have been devoted to women." Village Voice 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 7:25 am
UK Prohibits Turner Painting From Leaving Country A Turner painting which sold for a record £5.8 million at auction earlier this year has been banned from export from the UK. "The temporary export ban gives UK arts institutions two months to express a serious interest in buying The Blue Rigi, which features a Swiss landscape." BBC 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 6:52 am
What Italy Wants From Boston's MFA Italy is pressing Boston's Museum of Fine Arts to return artifacts whose ownership is in dispute, and a deal appears close. Here's a list and discussion with the MFA's former curator... Scoop.nz 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 7:57 pm
A Soaring New Denver Art Museum James Russell reports that the Daniel Libeskind-designed building is "an extraordinary celebration of the city's idealism and aspiration. The building has the peculiar magnetic power of a glowing geode produced by a crashed meteorite. Its folded planes in luminous matte titanium catch the sharp, high-altitude light, kaleidoscopically alternating deep shadows with shades of reflection." Bloomberg.com 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 7:07 pm
Artist Sues Over Copyright Of Wall Street's Bull The artists who created the famous charging bull on Wall Street is suing eight companies, including Wal-Mart for infringing on the copyright of his work. "Arturo Di Modica claimed the companies are selling knockoff copies of his sculpture or using images of the famous statue in ad campaigns without his permission, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court." Bloomberg.com 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 7:04 pm
Art At Lincoln Center (No Not That Art) Art at Lincoln Center isn't just about performances. Forty-five years ago the center set up the "List Poster and Print program, which was established in 1962 to bring world-class contemporary poster art to the new performing arts center." Artists who have created work for the program include Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Motherwell, and Gerhard Richter. New York Sun 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 6:52 pm
Smithsonian Art Museums Gain Attendance Overall Smithsonian attendance is down. But "the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum have drawn nearly a quarter-million people to the Reynolds Center since it reopened in early July. That is a dramatic upturn; the museums had never drawn more than 450,000 a year." Washington Post 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 6:45 pm
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An Orchestra That Challenges Classical Music The Ambitious Orchestra (TAO) is the first and perhaps the only symphonic group in the world devoted exclusively to 'bringing the virtuosity back to rock and roll'. Churning out original tunes covering the usual (and not-so-usual) hot topics of the genre, the 20-piece classically-trained ensemble - which includes string, wind, horn, and percussion sections - draws a mix of teen groupies, 20-something hipsters and their concerto-loving parents." Christian Science Monitor 09/22/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 8:44 pm
Scottish Orchestra Opens Its Own Internet Radio Station The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is opening its own music station on theinternet. There will be continuous streaming of classical music, enabling listeners to hear its productions round the clock. "Subscribers pay £8.80 a month for unlimited streaming of music to their computers and eight free downloaded tracks. 'We are using the RSNO site as a way to bring the whole concept of online music to our audiences,' the orchestra's chief executive, Simon Woods, said. 'You can pretty much use it as internet radio'." The Scotsman 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 8:31 pm
Berlin Theatre Does Wagner Casting Backstage Workers As Singers Berlin's Volksbühne is the city's most controversial theatre. Now it is producing Wagner with an odd cast. "Cleaners, stagehands and ticket-punchers all appeared on stage last night in the German premiere of Wagner's three-act comedy The Mastersingers of Nuremberg. Around 45 staff took part in the chorus. Before last night most had sung only the odd Christmas carol. The staff, who could not read music, wore jeans and T-shirts and appeared for free." The Guardian (UK) 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 8:10 pm
Canada Council Awards Rare Fiddles Every three years the Canada Council holds a competition for string players to use rare instruments for three years. "For the second time, Yi-Jia Susanne Hou, a 28-year-old violinist raised in Mississauga, Ont., has won first prize in the violin competition. That gave her first pick of instruments, and for the second time she has chosen a 1729 ex-Heath Guarneri del Gesu violin." CBC 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 6:42 pm
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NEA Classical Music Critics Institute Fellows Chosen There are 25 journalists in this year's program. The Institute is housed at Columbia University in New York City from October 15-25 and is part of a $1 million NEA initiative to "offer intensive training for arts journalists and editors who work outside the country's major media markets." Columbia University Press Release 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 7:40 am
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Remembering SF's Model Arts Patron James Schwabacher was a true patron of the arts in San Francisco. "And for those who knew him -- which would include just about anyone who has participated in San Francisco's musical life over the past half-century -- Schwabacher was someone who spread delight and warmth wherever he went. He was a seraphic presence at musical events of all kinds, beaming from his seat and quietly conducting with his hand." San Francisco Chronicle 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 8:53 am
Yo-Yo Ma, Messenger Cellist Yo-Yo Ma has been named a "messenger of peace" by the United Nations. "The Chinese-American musician joins other peace messengers including Michael Douglas and Luciano Pavarotti." BBC 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 6:49 am
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A Plan To Change How Shakespeare Is Taught The Royal Shakespeare Company is launching a major campaign to change the way Shakespeare is taught in schools and tackle the impression amongst young people that the playwright is boring. TheStage 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 8:57 am
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Slow Down, You're Reading Too Fast "The amount of printed material increases exponentially, but the time available for reading remains static or, in many cases, decreases arithmetically. So once we have decided what to read, the question then becomes, How to read? And the paradoxical answer is, Much more slowly." The New York Times 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 7:19 am
Truth Squad - Prove Your Pain There are so many pain-and-suffering memoirs out there, and enough that are of questionable veracity to create a sub-section of their own. So what proof should we require from authors who spill their hard times? The Guardian (UK) 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 8:17 pm
Hugo Chavez Spurs Sales Of Chomsky Book In his incendiary speech at the UN Wednesday, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez held up a copy of Noam Chomsky's "Hegemony or Survival". Immediately the book made a huge jump in sales. Originally published in 2003, the book "had jumped into the top 10 of Amazon and Barnes & Noble.com as of Thursday afternoon." CBC 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 6:34 pm
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YouTube - An Endangered Species? YouTub has had phenomenal growth. More than 100 million videos are viewed each day on the site. But Steve John suggests there might be rocky times ahead as copyright holders take aim... Chicago Tribune 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 7:53 am
Study: Americans Are Watching More TV "The average amount of time that U.S. households had a television set on each day during the yearlong 2005-06 TV season that ended last week increased by three minutes from the year before, to a record of eight hours and 14 minutes, the report said." Los Angeles Times 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 7:13 am
Senate Pulls CPB Board Nomination A US Senate Committee has pulled Warren Bell from a nomination hearing to consider his appointement to the board of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. "The selection of the outspoken conservative disquieted many public broadcasting officials, who were troubled by partisan comments Bell has posted on the website of the conservative National Review magazine. His sharp opinions caused some broadcasters to fear that Bell would rekindle the fierce political debate that engulfed the corporation last year under the leadership of former Chairman Kenneth Y. Tomlinson." Los Angeles Times 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 7:02 am
Klose To Step Down As NPR Chief NPR president and CEO Kevin Klose will step down as CEO. Ken Stern will replace him. "Klose has held the top job at NPR since late 1998, and has presided over strong growth in NPR's annual funding, as well as increases in its audience and newsroom staff. During that time, the number of people listening to NPR's programs doubled, to about 26 million per week, and its annual budget more than doubled, to $167 million." Washington Post 09/22/06
Posted: 09/22/2006 6:58 am
Networks Warn FCC That Live TV Might Be Out Major American TV netowkrs have told the FCC that its new "indecency" policy could kill all live broadcasts. "In papers filed late Thursday at the FCC, Fox, CBS, NBC and Telemundo argued that the government policy already has forced TV writers and producers to alter scripts and has caused network affiliates to avoid airing controversial programs or broadcast them on late at night." Yahoo! (Reuters) 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 7:24 pm
Time Warner To Speed DVD Releases In China (To Combat Piracy) "Time Warner is betting quicker releases and prices as low as 15 yuan ($1.89) for movies such as 'The Aviator' will lure Chinese consumers away from illegal copies. The company is trying to recoup some of the $1.2 billion the Motion Picture Association estimates the world's six biggest studios, including Time Warner and Walt Disney Co., lose in Asia a year because of pirated DVDs." Bloomberg.com 09/21/06
Posted: 09/21/2006 7:01 pm
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