This morning, a pioneer of the indy art blogosphere Tyler Green of Modern Art Notes announced – with the help of artist William Powhida – that he will be joining Modern Painters as a columnist and Artinfo as a blogger. But it’s worth noting that this isn’t the only major news announced by Louise Blouin Media.

Hrag Vartanian
Hrag Vartanian is editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic.
How to Barter Art for Healthcare
According to Brokelyn, one North Brooklyn hospital at the corner of Flushing & Broadway, Woodhull Hospital, is offering artists a means to barter art for healthcare.
William Powhida’s “Surviving the Art World Using the Art of Sorcery” Lecture, May 14
Join us Friday, May 14 at 8pm for a special talk by Brooklyn artist William Powhida on “Surviving the Art World Using the Art of Sorcery.”
Described as a “gadfly in the art establishment” by the New York Times, his talk at Hyperallergic HQ promises to reveal some of the inner-workings of his mind and we’re all excited (and scared) to see what he has in store for us. Space is very limited.
Lady Gaga & Klaus Biesenbach Spotted Together at MoMA
This story keeps getting better and better … first, PS1 chief curator Klaus Biesenbach told David Byrne that Lady Gaga wasn’t an artist, then Byrne retracted the quote, and now today, tweeter @JackRicofficial spotted Biesenbach giving what appears to be a tour of the Museum of Modern Art to Lady Gaga.
Another Artist Unofficially “Quoted” By W Magazine
After our post about one image in Mauricio Cattelan’s W Magazine portfolio, which bares an uncanny resemblance to the work of artist Matthieu Lavancy, we discovered that that this may not be the first time the fashion magazine poached ideas from the art world. You be the judge.
Shepard Fairey “May Day” Mural Is Illegal
First spotted by the Animal New York blog, the New York Times reported that Shepard Fairey’s May Day illegal mural on Houston and Bowery could cost the artist and his people $25,000 in fines.
Battle for the Seal of Virginia: Sanity 1, Fundamentalism 0
Remember that insane story about the Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli handing out new lapel pins to staff with the state seal covered up with an armored breastplate? Arts writer Tyler Green dreams up a snarky scenario where the Virginia attorney general’s disdain for female nudity reaches the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond.
Why You Should Always Caption Your Photos & Videos Properly
Online we encounter more information than ever, but we also lose a hell of a lot. On May 3, the blog WeLoveViral posted a photos and a video titled “Swimming Pool Illusion.” The YouTube video embedded in the post is titled “Amazing Japanese Fake Pool” and has been viewed (as of today) 6,211,210 times!
The problem is that the pool is question is neither a pool, nor Japanese. In fact, it is an artwork by Argentinean artist Leandro Erlich titled “Swimming Pool” (2008).
Why Does the US Pavilion at Expo 2010 Suck?
If you’ve been looking at the spectacular photos coming out of Expo 2010, which opened in Shanghai last weekend, then you’re probably wondering the same thing everyone else is, “Wow, what a spectacular display of modern architecture and design, but … wait a minute, why does the United States pavilion suck so much?” One word: corruption.
Superheroes & the Modern City
Star Wars Modern has posted an extensive essay on the evolution of American superheroes, particularly Batman and Superman, and their relationship to modernity and urbanism. His post incorporates many figures that loom large in the 20th C. American urban imagination and he focuses mainly on pop culture as a barometer of changing public attitudes. The essay, titled “The Urbanism of Superheroes,” careens across many ideas and suggests there is more that binds these seemingly disparate things than may be evident at first glance.
Germain Greer Reminds Us Landscape Painting is “a concept … it exists only in the mind.”
Who knew the Australian landscape painting world could be a hot bed of scandal. Earlier this month, the Wynne Prize was awarded to Australian painter Sam Leach. Normally bestowed on “the best landscape painting of Australian scenery in oils or watercolours … ” this year it was revealed that the painting wasn’t exactly based on an Australian scene but an image the artist found on the Internet. The horror! Veteran feminist and public intellectual Germaine Greer has jumped to Leach’s defense.
Will the Jersey City Museum Close?
Art Fag City has published an extensive report on the financial crisis facing the Jersey City Museum. She paints a grim picture of an institution that is vital to the area’s visual arts community.