Chances are if you’ve been following art news in the past few weeks, you’ve seen the name Ai Weiwei. Ai’s been all over the place lately, having a public conversation with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, getting interviewed on CNN about the role of social media in Chinese politics, and documenting recent artist protests in Beijing. The artist was even announced as the eleventh commission for the London Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall installation series, a run of exhibitions featuring such luminaries as Doris Salcedo, Rachel Whiteread and Olafur Eliasson.
Opinion
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You Talking to ME? De Niro Wants His Daddy’s Art Back
Robert De Niro Jr. won an ownership dispute over six works of art by his father Robert De Niro Sr. The infamous Salander-O’Reilly Galleries LLC had contested his claims on the artwork, but a bankruptcy judge found in favor of De Niro Jr. The De Niros were only two of the hundreds of people involved in a major scandal which led Salander-O’Reilly to declare bankruptcy in 2007.
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Rush Limbaugh’s Gaudy Fifth Avenue Penthouse
It’s always fun to scrutinize the private tastes of far right pundits who make it a sport to attack the art world or anything they don’t understand. So, it’s with great joy that we cast our eyes on the garish penthouse of the loudest right winger of them all, Rush Limbaugh.
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“Welcome to the New York art world in 2010…”
I love this line in Leon Nefayk’s latest article in the New York Observer, “Don’t Call It An Art Fair!”
Welcome to the New York art world in 2010, where it’s never about the money, even when it is.
How very true … and there’s more …
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Behold the Arch of Snooki
If you don’t know Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles, you should. Its creator Neil Swaab is a genius … well, if you think genius involves illustrating a 3’7″ teddy bear who has been convincted of burglary, assault, posession, intent to cause distress on a senior citizen, arson, kidnapping, extortion, conspiracy, light treason …
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Best Museum Show Commercial Ever? Hmmm…Chocolate
I may have missed the Chocolate: The Exhibition at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences but their 15 second TV spot is the gift that keeps on giving.
Can someone please do a Freudian analysis of this thing and tell me why it’s…mmmmmmm good?
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Guerrilla Girl Attempts to Stay Relevant By Talking Georgia O’Keeffe
The Guerilla Girls caused a big stir in the late 1980s and 90s but now a founding member of the once revolutionary group talks about the Georgia O’Keeffe show, which makes me wonder, “Are they still relevant?”
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Reviving the Stories of Art
The Guardian’s Jonathan Jones doesn’t have time for contemporary art history. In his latest post, “The trouble with art history? It’s boring,” he explains why: Perhaps art history is coming to its senses, and learning to tell stories that bring great art to life. If so, it is finally catching up with historians, paleontologists and […]
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Get Your William Powhida-Designed Howdy Koonsy T-Shirt Today!
Trickster and art star William Powhida is at it again and he has partnered with the Brooklyn Rail to produce a limited edition t-shirt, titled “Howdy Koonsy.” The t-shirt is available in an edition of 666 and you can be sure they will go fast!
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Modern Art History Poster
Being part of the art world means that many of our jokes fall flat or are incomprehensible to outsiders. That’s alright, this poster of traditional Western art history makes the art geeks among us chuckle, while it might just help the uninitiated get up to speed.
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Jerry Saltz Fires Back at Yau, “How Very Dickish”
The war of words between two major New York art critics escalated yesterday when Saltz used his very public Facebook wall to shoot back at Yau for the Brooklyn Rail art editor’s accusation of Saltz being a Koons apologist.
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Introducing Reactor
You may think that you know every meaning of the word reactor, but think again. We’re adding a new definition to the dictionary …
