Art Thou Aware
By Joanne Hinkel
Here is New York
An empty Soho storefront space, which had at one time been an Agnes B boutique, took on a more meaningful purpose than anyone could have previously imagined last month. The space was spontaneously transformed into a gallery to house photographs taken at ground zero of the World Trade Center on and since September 11. A crew of volunteer New York curators and students from the School of the Visual Arts collected photographs from known and unknown New Yorkers as they walked in off of Prince Street. The photos were hung up anonymously and without concern for a hierarchy distinguishing professional shots from those taken by amateurs. The resulting exhibit was aptly called Here is New York: Images from the Frontline of History: A Democracy of Photographs. The images captured portraits of firefighters and policemen, the horrified reactions of onlookers, and... well... an assortment of images that could really only be seen and never righteously described.
Fear of Art
Not everyone is in agreement over the idea that the show must go on despite terrorism. The Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, Canada, has postponed a much anticipated exhibition of Arab-Canadian art as a security precaution due to the recent terrorist attacks in America. The Lands Within Me, which features the work of 25 Arab-Canadian artists, was set to open in October but will now be delayed until March 2002. The museum's choice to halt this exhibition which curators have been preparing for the past five years has upset at least one artist involved. Montreal photographer Rawi Hage has criticized the museum for delaying the opening, saying that this is the most crucial of times for the Arab community to be understood and have its voice heard.
A New Pulitzer Prize
Although Emily Pulitzer contends that the newly opened Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts is meant to be a contemplative space for art, and not a museum, what else would you call a space constructed solely to house works of contemporary and modern art? Pulitzer, the wife to newspaper heir Joseph Pulitzer, commissioned Japanese architect Tadao Ando to design the 27,000 square-foot space that will hold 40 pieces from the Pulitzer collection in St. Louis, Missouri. In order to maintain the quiet and meditative feel necessary to appreciate Ando's architecture and the artworks it encloses (among them a specially commissioned work by Richard Serra) no more than 100 people will be admitted into the foundation per hour. Ahhh, the concept for this space is a departure from the often people-flooded chaos that makes for a "museum," as it is on your Saturday afternoon day-off at least.
Viva Les Guggenheims
 Illustration by Erica Pahk |
The latest set of machismo celebrities to hit Sin City are actually older than Elvis and Sinatra. How can that be you ask? Well, Picasso and Matisse, among other early 20th century painters have made their way to Vegas, to the newest branch of the Guggenheim chain: The Guggenheim Hermitage Museum. The Hermitage and its counter-part, the Las Vegas Guggenheim which is currently featuring the Art of Motorcyle, are both located within the depths of the ornate Venetian Resort-Hotel. While some critics have been calling these museums the latest addition to the "McGuggenheim" foundation, only these branches (as opposed to those in New York, Bilbao, Berlin or Venice) are open until 11 p.m. every night and are only steps away from slot machines and free cocktails.
Get Real
One of the largest art forgery scams in history came to a close last month when Frenchman Guy Hain was arrested for having reproduced nearly 6000 fake sculptures by such 19th and 20th century masters as Auguste Rodin, Camille Claudel and Aristide Maillol. Apparently Hain was able to sell $60 million worth of these fake sculptures, mostly of Rodin pieces, because they were of such high quality; experts say that many of the fakes have ended up not just in private collections, but are currently on display in museums around the world.
Too Much Sex
The French film Intimacy, which was recently released in select American theaters, has been receiving critical attention for its graphic sex scenes. The film follows the relationship of two strangers who meet every Wednesday in silence to have sex. Director Patrice Chereau's use of hand-held cameras and emphasis on close-ups of the couple coupling has made some viewers uncomfortable. For an American audience used to body doubles, the perfect lighting, and other special effects, the brutally realistic and un-manipulated depiction of sex in Intimacy may not seem so "sexy." Perhaps sex really sells well when it concerns fantasy, and not the real thing.
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