Gone Fishin'

I will be in NY till Sunday...so no bloggin' till I get back. I will have the inside scoop on the whitney biennial...and hopefully some great pics!

Don't forget about MIA/MONA

Don't forget to drop off a couple pieces of work at MIA - The museum is asking artists to submit two examples of their work by March 4. Go here for more details.

Insider trading at the biennial?

OK...we all know that the art world works like any other big business with a little corruption. So here is an interesting bit of insider info about 6 of the artists selected. Check it out...

The Biennial Question

Here is another great article to read from New York mag/online.

Every two years comes the critical sniping: "deplorable," "childish," "occasionally repulsive." Have the curators of this year's Whitney Biennial finally figured out how to make the show matter? by mark stevens

new york mag and biennial coverage

Are you ready for a Whitney Biennial preview?? New York mag/online has a few great features on the biennial. One story outlines 10 up and coming artists.

"A biennial dies every 30 seconds in the world, curator Philippe Vergne is fond of saying. Still, the Whitney's version never goes quietly, and like a supernova, it scatters light and energy into the atmosphere. We've identified ten artists who, we think, are likely to be around when the dust settles. In the spirit of this globalized Biennial, five hail from the West Coast, three from Europe, and one from West End Avenue. Get a glimpse of them now, while New York's still the center of the universe. "By karen rosenberg

wal-mart is so corrupt...even when it comes to its art

I found this article in Artnet news really interesting because I despise wal-mart and other wal-mart-like companies that are expanding their inventory to art, thus ruining the market for other galleries...and basically cheapening art. Well...now it looks like the wal-mart museum is avoiding paying taxes.

Artnet News

Feb. 24, 2006

SPECIAL TAX BREAK FOR WAL-MART MUSEUM
According to the website Wal-Mart Watch, the Crystal Bridges art gallery -- funded by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton and set to open in 2009 in Bentonville, Ark., with works by the likes of Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper -- has benefited from some serious tax maneuvering. Last year, the state legislature passed Arkansas Act 1865, sponsored by Bentonville Republican Horace Hardwick, which provides for a series of sales and use tax exemptions to nonprofit museums that open to the public between 2005 and 2013, cost more than $30 million to build and house more than $100 million worth of art -- in other words, Crystal Bridges.

The six percent state sales tax that would ordinarily be due on Walton’s 2005 purchase of Asher B. Durand’s masterpiece, Kindred Spirits (1849) for an estimated $35 million from the New York Public Library [see Artnet News, May 19, 2005] would have alone amounted to more than $2 million of tax revenue.

Ordinarily, the tax funds would support education -- and Arkansas consistently ranks at the bottom nationally in funding for primary and secondary school education. Alice Walton, on the other hand, is listed as the world’s 30th richest person. Does it sound like Wal-Mart’s scorched earth corporate policy is proving useful to its so-called charitable activities as well? In a recent article about Crystal Bridges published in the Nation Institute’s Tom Dispatch, critic Rebecca Solnit accused Walton of "turning hallowed American art into a fig leaf to paste over naked greed and raw exploitation."

happy one year detroit arts....

March 30 will be the one year mark for the beginning of detroit arts blog and I am exploring the idea of putting together a show of about 25 detroit artists. But I need a space for about a month or two weeks...any ideas??

knitting art is bloody!

knitting art.....here's the link

preview

Here is the preview trailer for Matthew Barney's new film "Drawing Restraint 9"

5 easy things...

Tyler Green of Modern Art Notes has some advice to any of you affiliated with the proposed MOCAD..."Five easy things art museums -- especially contemporary art museums -- could do to reach broader -- and younger -- audiences."

kate russo at mcb

The show at Motor City tonight was a too flashy for my taste to say the least. But here are some pics anyways.

Correction

Just wanted to note a change in my gallery project post. Matt Blake did the sculpture in collaboration with Enis Sefersah. My apologies to Enis.

ZOO madness

Check this link to detroit blog's commentary on the zoo debacle. He has a great quote:
"The council is like the guy who kills his girlfriend rather than see her wind up with another man."

Atypical Collectors With Art to Share

Check out this story in the times

I keep saying it...anyone can start an art collection! Here's the proof!

"Further, they are not rich. True, they are also not poor, but they neither inherited nor earned a fortune. Rather, they worked to buy art. And since they acquired works by experimental artists they befriended who had not yet gained fame, they were able to build up a collection tightly focused on artists of their own generation"...  "I don't think you need to spend huge amounts of money. The challenge is to achieve high results with little spending."

 

Taurus Burns opening tuesday

We are happy to invite you to greet Detroit Artist Taurus Burns and view his works at a champagne reception on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 from 7:30 to 9:30, at the Detroit Repertory Theatre Lobby Gallery. Taurus is an accomplished artist, and a graduate of the Fine Arts Department of the College for Creative Studies.

The Detroit Repertory Theatre is located at 13103 Woodrow Wilson, at Glendale, near the Davison freeway in Midtown Detroit.
Please call 313 868-1347 during business hours for any inquiries.

Gallery Project

At times we detroiters can be lazy- especially when it is so cold out that your face freezes instantly when stepping outside! I was happily surprised how many detroiters made their way out to ann arbor to celebrate the splendid opening: BEAUTY/SUBLIME/INTENSITY at gallery project. At times it seemed to be almost shoulder to shoulder at the opening!

I can't give hatfield and the gallery project crew enough props for their curation and placement of this show! Everything flowed smoothly, from color palette which consisted of a lot of bright almost florescent colors -yellow, orange and pink to craft and refinement.

Betsy Brunner

Lisa Choinacky - excellent use of those puffs at the back of your socks.

bill hafer

adrian hatfield

details...it is hard to get the camera to capture the layers of resin with paper, paint, stickers and glitter. this piece really is the sea!



Evan Larson

Kevin Ewing - I really love kevin's work...and this piece is different than his traditional "painting-style" fur on canvas. I think this creature swallowed a gallery goer and I love that!

 

Julie Dummermuth - if you look close enough you can see bells...and candy canes! I think christmas just melted.

Clint Snider - can you see the piece I bought...it is 10 across and 4 down...the opened can with paint tubes...I think if you squint....hahahahha!

Rollin Beamish - this 3-part piece was amazing...you have to see it in person. it is the epitome of what contemporary art is.

Adrian Hatfield

Kristin Beaver - I took a few pictures of this piece but I like this one with the man in leather standing next to the portrait. I feel like he could have something to do with her bruised demeanor!

Matt Blake and Enis Sefersah

Shawn Finley

The star is Christopher Hyndman and the floor piece is Nichole Tschampel

DAM!

No, DAM is not serving tamales but I was a little tiffed today because I made the blistering trip downtown to check out the DAM show that I missed on Friday. Well...to my surprise...the website which clearly states the hours tue-sun 11-6 is very wrong! Everyone who knows me, knows about my crazy love for food...so I decided to check out a mex place that is known for its amazing tamales - Evie's Tamales - right in mexican town. I usually go to other mexican places downtown...but for 60 cents a tamale you can't go wrong! I guess my trip downtown was well worth it today! Yummy!

thomas rapai

You might remember thomas rapai from the show about a year ago at lemberg gallery (above). I found myself thinking about his paintings today as I started a painting that's imagry contains hot wheels cars and plastic horses - rapai paints from ceramic figurines and trinkets. I found some recent paintings (below) that are of interest to me - I am fond of his painting style.  

anita thacher at marygrove

Who would have guessed that on the top floor of the vintage-style university - with intricate iron gates at the top of the marble stairways, hardwood floors and a smell that instantly transports you to a historic museum - that there would be a large viewing area for thacher's projected video installation? The video "Loose Corner" is a full wall size projection that has a fairy-tale-like sensibility that explores playful contradictions as characters come into a white corner and then disappear into the screen. As a young woman shakes a sparkle globe, the background begins to snow and shake.

Another thacher video...that centers around a 50's style advertisement of a spinning top and added in sound and splices.

In the library downstairs is an exhibit of kathy arkles. She uses repetition and form to lead you into the room.

and the weirdest part...a big old fashioned dining hall with table setting ready to go with a bottle of wine at each table...and don't forget the pats of butter....but where were all the guests? and why was it set at 7:30pm....with no one in sight? humm...my guess: marygrove is a haunted school!