CHICAGO — Last December, rumors about a North Korean unicorn lair circulated the internet. Word got out that an ancient Korean king once rode this mythical beast. But soon it was discovered that this “unicorn” was not an actual unicorn, but rather an English mistranslation of the word “unicorn.” According to a report on International Business Times, the animal was actually a “beast with a dragon’s head, a deer’s body, the tail of a cow, hooves and a mane.” Because North Korea is known in the US for mysteries like these, and because the internet loves to consume bizarre or “weird” news, headlines about the supposed mythical unicorn creature lived for a while in readers’ minds.
Work of Art
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Winning “Work of Art,” 1.5 Years Later
Kymia Nawabi took home first prize on season two of Bravo’s Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, taking home $100,000 and a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. On the final episode of Work of Art, she organized her works in a presentation entitled Not for Long, My Forlorn, a series of drawings that acted as meditations on life and death channeled through ravenous, otherworldly beings and animals that inhabit a purgatory-like space.
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Work of Art Recap: Finalmente!
The time has come. Last night was the last episode of Work of Art this season. One of our artistes dreams was made, and two others were crushed, much like bones after a terrible murder. I often follow up my Work of Art viewings with SVU. It puts the devastating losses in perspective.
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Work of Art Recap: Going Small Town
Simon comes to visit the home of the bonding couch. He sends the artistes on a train ride! They head up to idyllic Cold Springs, New York, where China greets them in a rather fetching trench coat/dress combo. We expect so much from her.
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Work of Art Recap: Lola Displays Her “Loose Morals,” The Artistes Sell Out
This week, China announces that this week, “it’s time to sell out.” Because no one has “sold out” by going on a reality show, right? Anyways, the challenge is to create art to sell in the street and also display in the gallery. Art and commerce! The challenge rules are a little different: everyone works in teams of two, and they have five hours to combine shopping and studio time.
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Work of Art Recap: Childhood Traumas Revisited
This week’s Work of Art begins with a staple of Bravo reality competition shows: children and foreboding music. Ah yes, this is the week our artistes must show that they can handle the youngins. But then, another surprise! OMG IT’S CARRIE BRADSHAW. She gives them their challenge: the artists have to make a piece complimenting work of the children brought in. And so the exploitation of children begins.
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The Top 10 Art World Figures I’d Like to F***
SAN FRANCISCO — With all this extra time to daydream about the perfect relationship, I’ve composed a list of the top 10 art world figures I’d like to do the nasty with. Some are expected, some are not. Some are for social climbing purposes, some are not. But really, all are for love.
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Art21 Fails to Provide an Open Bar
Art21 has launched a new documentary series. Called New York Close Up, the series, according to Art21’s informative website, “provides an intimate look at the next wave of artists- artists close up.” Clearly they’ve set the bar on clever titles. New York Close Up launched with a party at the Ace Hotel’s Liberty Hall last Thursday. While not as nice as fellow intern’s assignment at The Standard (screw you, Alex), it was still a fairly fancy party filled with very attractive people sipping very expensive drinks. I brought “a photographer” aka my friend Laura, in order to avoid standing by myself not talking to anyone. Instead, we stood together and didn’t talk to anyone. After a half hour-long search for one of the overworked waitresses, we were finally able to order some nasty raspberry Stoli for eleven bucks each. The lack of open bar was devastating.
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Does Bravo’s New Gallery Girls Reality Show Rip Off an Indie Webcomic?
There have been rumors that Bravo is developing a new “reality” TV show based around the lives of Chelsea’s young, questionably glamorous gallerinas, but with an April 6 announcement came confirmation and a title: the show in development is named “Gallery Girls,” and will “follow the lives of 6 young, 20-something women that work in New York City’s hippest art galleries.” The announcement was met with an immediate negative reaction — “Gallery Girls” happens to also be the name of a webcomic, created and copyrighted in October 2008 by Chinatown resident Mary Blakemore, that covers much the same territory as Bravo’s proposed show. Is Bravo’s show a rip off of Blakemore’s comic? Or could this be a case of unintentional copyright infringement?
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The 20 Most Powerless People in the Art World: 2010 Edition
This month we add another 20 to the growing list of the Powerless 20 we published last year to mark the painful rite of passage that is Art Review’s hilarious Power 100 list.
Here’s to hoping you’re not on it!
Posted inOpinion
Trending: #Hashtag Event Names
Pitchfork, the inveterate hipster music site, recently announced plans for a music festival in New York City named #offline. Social media is great and all, but the sudden popularity of names that begin with the Twitter hashtag-indicating # are starting to be mildly annoying, however niche it is. Just remember it started in the art world! (Alright, maybe tech was first)
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Join Us This Friday for Live Podcast Taping of “Mainstreaming Art” [UPDATED]
This Friday, we will be taping our second installment of the Hyperallergic TV podcast, Reactor, and we’re inviting our readers to attend as a live studio audience. Our confirmed guests for the podcast are artist William Powhida (who will act as moderator), Time Out New Yorkart critic Howard Halle, Art Fag City’s Paddy Johnson, and artist Nate Hill. UPDATED: Artist/Work of Art contestant Trong Gia Nguyen will also be joining us as a featured guest.
