An exhibition displaying Mona Lisa’s finest variations opens at Miami’s Freedom Towers

MIAMI, FL.- Miami Dade College (MDC), the City of Miami, Galleria Ca’ d’Oro and the City of Margherita di Savoia have brought the debut of Mona Lisa Unveiled to MDC’s Freedom Tower. From Margherita di Savoia to Miami, the recently rediscovered sixteenth-century painting, Nude Mona Lisa by Salai, Da Vinci’s favorite pupil, is moving overseas. Mona Lisa Unveiled highlights a long list of artists’ interpretations of the world’s most famous portrait, from the sixteenth-century to present day. Today they are all [...]

German artist Anton Henning’s first solo show in Scotland Talbot Rice Gallery

EDINBURGH.- In his first solo show in Scotland, German artist Anton Henning created a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art) within Talbot Rice Gallery. Bright painted walls transformed the space providing a backdrop for the exhibition, which brings together furniture, lighting, easel painting, sculpture, window painting and drawing. Henning’s bold, individual style, fluent in art historical references, challenges notions of ‘good’ taste. His work pays homage to revered Modern artists like Matisse and Picabia while including subject matter, such as ‘chocolate box’ images [...]

Broad overview of Walid Raad’s works from the past 20 years at Kunsthalle Zürich

ZURICH.- What forms, stories, gestures, and concepts are made possible by wars? How are certain events lived but not experienced? How does violence affect art, culture and tradition in material and immaterial ways? The work of the artist Walid Raad, who was born in Chbanieh, Lebanon, in 1967 and currently lives, works and teaches in New York, has been revolving around these questions for 20 years now. His oeuvre includes photographs, videos, sculptures, installations and performances. Walid Raad is one of [...]

China dissident Ai Weiwei launches scathing attack on the Chinese government

BEIJING (REUTERS).- Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has launched his first scathing attack on the Chinese government since his release from secretive detention in late June, accusing officials of denying citizens their basic rights. In a strongly worded commentary published late on Sunday on the website of Newsweek magazine, Ai — whose detention sparked an international outcry — said the capital Beijing was “a city of violence.” He criticized the government for rampant corruption, the judicial system and its policy on migrant workers [...]

Poland and Germany to look back on over 1000 years of shared history in new exhibition

BERLIN.- The Royal Castle in Warsaw and Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin are jointly developing the exhibition entitled “Side by Side. Poland – Germany. A 1000 Years of Art and History”which will be on view in Berlin from September 23, 2011 to January 9, 2012. The project celebrates the first Polish presidency of the EU Council, which will begin in July 2011. The project outline has been supervised by an scientific board headed by Professor Władysław Bartoszewski. The exhibition curator is the Polish art [...]

Ruven Afanador returns to Colombia for exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá

BOGOTA.- After twenty years of strong presence in international publications, Colombian photographer Ruven Afanador returns to his homeland to show his essence at the Museum of Modern Art in Bogotá: eighty portraits of figures like Hillary Clinton, the Duchess of Alba and Courtney Love, among others. Until October 9, on the walls of this museum in Bogotá, known as MamBo, will hang a selection of images chosen by the artist called “I’ll be your mirror, Ruven Afanador: 80 Portraits,” which he [...]

Four new exhibitions celebrate Krannert Art Museum’s 50th anniversary

CHAMPAIGN, IL.- New exhibitions kick off Krannert Art Museum’s 50th Anniversary celebration, two of which highlight the breadth of KAM’s permanent collection. At Fifty: Krannert Art Museum, 1961–2011 (August 26 through October 23, 2011) celebrates the extraordinary range of KAM’s collection. In a unique, interactive architectural space, sculpture, painting, video, photography, decorative objects, and drawings co-mingle. Objects from ancient Greece and Latin America are featured in dialogue with nineteenth century European paintings and twentieth century video; realism sits astride abstraction; photography and [...]

Photography collection of Swiss Zellweger Luwa on view for the first time at Kunstmuseum Bonn

BONN.- Kunstmuseum Bonn presents under the title ‘THROUGH THE LOOKING BRAIN’ the photography collection of Swiss Zellweger Luwa AG which has never been shown in public before. Established by Ruedi and Thomas Bechtler in 1990 and constantly complemented by Cristina Bechtler, Ruedi Bechtler und Bice Curiger (Kunsthaus Zürich), the collection has become over the last 20 years one of the best and most comprehensive international collections in the field of conceptual photography. The collection contains works from the 1970s until today, including [...]

Christie’s presents superb and rare Chinese ceramics and works of art in New York this September

NEW YORK, NY.- On September 15 and 16, Christie’s New York will present Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, which all together offers over 550 objects across many categories and tastes, and many from private collections. Highlighting the sale is a very rare large and finely cast gilt-bronze figure of Vairocana (estimate: $600,000-800,000), which is an exceptional example of its type, exhibiting superb casting and fine attention to detail. With estimates ranging from $4,000 to $1 million, the sale is expected to [...]

The Jewish Museum to open two Wednesdays during final weeks of Collecting Matisse exhibition

NEW YORK, NY.- Due to a high level of public interest, The Jewish Museum will specially be open two Wednesdays in September (normally closed on Wednesdays) to allow additional visitors to see the exhibition, Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore. On Wednesdays, September 7 and September 14, museum hours will be 11 am to 5:45 pm. Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters, on view through September 25, 2011, presents over 50 works from The Baltimore Museum of Art’s internationally renowned [...]

Exhibition by Ruud van Empel “Photoworks 1995-2010″ to open at the Groninger Museum

GRONINGER.- From 10 September to 27 November 2011, the Groninger Museum will present the exhibition entitled Ruud van Empel. Photoworks 1995-2010. Ruud van Empel (1958) is one of the most extraordinary photographic artists of this moment, both nationally and internationally. From hundred of fragments adopted from digital photos, he compiles new images that seem very life-like and realistic, but also conjure up a world that has never existed. The exhibition is the first large-scale museum overview of the work of Van Empel. Van [...]

Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires celebrates its 10 year anniversary

BUENOS AIRES.- Established in 2001, Malba – Fundación Costantini, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, Argentina, prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary, with several exhibitions and events planned to mark the occasion. Thanks to an artistic exchange agreement with the Latin American Art Department at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), this September 14 loans from its Permanent Collection will travel to Malba, along with the Carlos Cruz-Diez retrospective: Color in Space and Time, curated by Mari Carmen Ramírez. [...]

PowerHouse Books presents New York New York by Harry Benson and Hilary Geary Ross

NEW YORK, NY.- New York New York combines the talents of renowned photographer Harry Benson and society columnist Hilary Geary Ross to create a stunning portrait of New York’s best-known citizens. From captains of industry, politicians, movie stars, dancers, artists, and best-selling authors to celebrated athletes and society doyennes, New York New York captures the glamour of Manhattan from the early 60s to today in hundreds of black-and-white and color photographs complimented by revealing captions. Subjects include Diane Sawyer, Halston, Truman [...]

Chicanitas: Small Paintings from the Cheech Marin Collection to open at the Snite Museum of Art

SOUTH BEND, IND.- The Snite Museum of Art presents Chicanitas, Small Paintings from the Cheech Marin Collection on view beginning Sunday, September 4, 2011. This exhibition showcases 65 paintings by 26 painters represented in Cheech Marin’s noted collection of Chicano art. Marin, the entertainer well known for his work in movies, television, and improvisational comedy, has been acquiring art for more than 20 years, and he has amassed one of the most renowned collections of Chicano art in private hands. Ricardo Ruiz, [...]

Brian Ulrich: Copia-Retail, Thrift, and Dark Stores, 2001-11 at the Cleveland Museum of Art

CLEVELAND, OH.- The Cleveland Museum of Art presents the first major museum exhibition of contemporary photographer Brian Ulrich’s work from a decade-long examination of the American consumer psyche in Copia—Retail, Thrift, and Dark Stores, 2001-11. From the Latin word for “plenty,” the artist’s Copia series explores economic, cultural and political implications of commercialism and American consumer culture. The exhibition, featuring almost 60 photographs, will be on view from August 27, 2011 to January 16, 2012 in the museum’s east wing photography galleries. [...]