Base Metal at Simon Oldfield Gallery: Ryan Leigh, Nicholas Bailey and Sam Knowles

London.- The work of Ryan Leigh, Sam Knowles and Nick Bailey joins a current phenomenon in contemporary art that is marked by its investigation into the means and processes that comprised scientific and theoretical thought in a time before the disintegration of the meta-theory. Ryan Leigh Cargo Cult, 2010 Graphite on graph paper Image copyright Ryan Leigh, Courtesy Simon Oldfield Gallery Base Metal sees each artist rationalizing his interest and rooting his approach in logic, while using the tools of [...]

Exhibition of Photographs by Ansel Adams From the Collection of Anne Adams Helms

MONTEREY, CA.- The Monterey Museum of Art is the exclusive U.S. West Coast venue for Ansel Adams: Portrait of America, through October 3, 2010 at the Monterey Museum of Art-La Mirada, located at 720 Via Mirada, Monterey, California. In 1978, Ansel Adams selected more than 70 images he wished to make available to museums and arts institutions. Although he was able to complete a substantial number of the prints, his death in 1984 curtailed the long-range plans for the project. [...]

Luxuries from China’s Forbidden City to Travel to the United States

BEIJING (AP).- Deep in a long-forgotten corner of the Forbidden City and up a twisting stairway are four sets of twin doors, shut for more than eight decades. They reveal rare sweeping views to the north, south, east and west above the golden-tiled rooftops of the imperial palace. The surrounding walls silence the passing tour groups. On the horizon, modern high-rises are softened by the Beijing smog. The view from this private corner has hardly changed since the Chinese emperor [...]

Jim Campbell to Present His Most Ambitious Public Art Project to Date

NEW YORK, NY.- Madison Square Park Conservancy announces new site-specific commission by pioneering new media artist Jim Campbell. Scattered Light, Campbell’s largest and most ambitious public work in digital media to date, will be on view from October 21 through December 10, 2010, as part of the Conservancy’s Mad. Sq. Art program. Featuring two new major public art commissions, Jim Campbell’s Scattered Light will blanket Madison Square Park’s Oval Lawn with a 3-D matrix of nearly 2,000 LED lights featuring [...]

Beach, Summer Resort and Ocean Liner Posters at Swann Galleries’ Sale

NEW YORK, NY.- Swann Galleries’ annual summer auction of Vintage Posters on Wednesday, August 4 offers fine selections of summer resort and beach posters, World War I and II and other propaganda posters, and Mather Work Incentive posters. There are also posters advertising tourism to Bermuda; ocean liner and airline posters; a run of Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company posters; and some lovely Art Deco works. The sale opens with posters from World War I and II and other propaganda [...]

Miami Art Museum Presents Focus Gallery: Purvis Young

MIAMI, FL.- Miami Art Museum opens a new exhibition in the Focus Gallery section of its Permanent Collection installation, dedicated to works by the late Purvis Young. Focus Gallery: Purvis Young (July 30 – November 7, 2010) features a selection of Young’s paintings from the museum’s permanent collection that span the career of the celebrated, self-taught Miami painter who passed away in April of this year at the age of 67. Purvis Young’s work reflects the condition experienced by residents [...]

Powerful New Art Funded Works Added to The Herbert’s Collection

COVENTRY.- The Herbert has purchased two artworks for its permanent collection, Bloodlines by Iftikhar Dadi and Nalini Malani and Belsen Head by Raymond Mason. We gave the Herbert £11,500 and £12,500 for the two works respectively. Funding also came in from the Heritage Lottery Fund Collecting Cultures Programme and the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund. These two striking works form part of the Herbert’s Peace and Reconciliation collection, for which the Herbert is currently working on enhancing through an HLF funded [...]

Researchers Unveil “Holy Grail” of Audubon Illustration

PHILADELPHIA (REUTERS).- Researchers have found the first published illustration by John James Audubon, America’s most famous bird artist, ending decades of searching for the prized but elusive work. Audubon had made two references to the illustration in his diaries, but it had never been seen until it was found on a sheet of sample images produced in 1824 by a New Jersey engraver who specialized in illustrations for banknotes. Eric Newman, a numismatic, or currency, historian working with Robert Peck, [...]

Academy of Arts, Berlin Presents the Käthe Kollwitz Prize to Mona Hatoum

BERLIN.- The Akademie der Künste (Academy of Arts), Berlin, presents the Käthe Kollwitz Prize to Mona Hatoum. In awarding this prize to Mona Hatoum the Academy of Arts honours her for a multifaceted body of work, in which the human body, caught between violence, power and vulnerability, is a central preoccupation. The award carries 12,000 Euros in prize money. The jury included members of the Academy’s Fine Arts section – Lothar Böhme, Dieter Goltzsche and Robert Kudielka. A catalogue will [...]

Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney Appoints New Chairman

SYDNEY.- The Board of the MCA announced that respected businessman and philanthropist Simon Mordant has been appointed as its Chairman. Simon Mordant succeeds Andrew Love in the role. The Board of the MCA has expressed its gratitude to Mr Love and has acknowledged the enormous contribution he has made during his twenty years of deep involvement and leadership. Mr Love has been on the Board since 2000 and had been Chairman since 2008. Simon Mordant is the Co Chief Executive [...]

Gretchen Dietrich Named Executive Director of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts

SALT LAKE CITY, UT.- Gretchen Dietrich, an innovative museum professional and a skilled administrator, has been selected as the Executive Director of the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA), effective August 1, 2010, pending notification of the Academic Senate and approval of the Board of Trustees. Following an extensive national search conducted by Management Consultants for the Arts in Stamford, Connecticut, the search committee, comprised of both University of Utah and Salt Lake community members, unanimously recommended Dietrich for the [...]

Istanbul’s Pera Palace to Reopen and Seek Return to Glory Era

ISTANBUL (AP).- It was the last stop on the Orient Express, a grand hotel with Istanbul’s first electric elevator where artists and aristocrats sipped champagne beneath chandeliers as the Ottoman Empire dissolved and the world drifted toward war. Mata Hari, accused of spying and executed in France in 1917, stayed at the Pera Palace Hotel. So did Greta Garbo, who played the shadowy dancer in a 1931 movie. Ernest Hemingway checked in to report on war between Turks and Greeks. [...]

Toledo Museum of Art Announces The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb

TOLEDO, OH.- Discover an ancient civilization’s fascinating approach to life and the afterlife at The Egypt Experience: Secrets of the Tomb, a new exhibition opening Oct. 29 at the Toledo Museum of Art. The installation of more than 150 objects spanning 3,000 years of history will be on temporary view in a specially designed Lower Level Egyptian Gallery in the Main Museum. TMA’s popular mummies return to public view for this exploration of ancient Egyptian beliefs about life and the [...]

Italian Officials are Seeking Private Sponsors to Restore Colosseum

ROME (AP).- Italian officials are seeking to raise some euro25 million (about $32 million) in private money to finance the restoration of one of the country’s iconic landmarks: the Colosseum. The Culture Ministry says the government will accept bids from possible sponsors from Aug. 4 to Sept. 15. The ministry said in a statement that sponsors funding the project will be able to “promote their image,” but that any ads will have to be compatible with the decorum of the [...]

Lady Lever Art Gallery Announces Old Master Drawings Exhibition

LIVERPOOL.- A new exhibition explores why artists have drawn over the centuries – from copying other works to making life studies – and the role of sketching in the creation of artworks. Old Master Drawings: Guercino, Rubens, Tintoretto 22 October 2010 to 2 May 2011 features 29 drawings from the Old Master collections of the Lady Lever and Walker Art Galleries. Works by some of the great Italian Renaissance and Northern European artists between 1500 and 1800 are used to [...]