Author: Ann Williams
published inthe sponsor The Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts fuses global residencies with a philosophy and non-art Ph.D. IDSVA at the Montresso Foundation, 2023 (Photo by Christopher Andrew) As a truly nomadic institution, the Institute of Doctoral Arts in Visual Arts (IDSVA) does not have a campus. We are everywhere our students and teachers are. Below is a sampling of notes shared by students during recent stays in Mexico City, Athens, and Marrakech. “IDSVA appealed to me because of the way it was structured. I am an international teacher, so I wanted to continue working on my…
In this monthly roundup, we spotlight five star exhibitions at small and up-and-coming galleries around the world.Although he first trained as a sculptor, Thai artist Pawarest (Doe) Choksaen worked as an art director for an advertising agency from 1997 to 2019. Only at the age of 49 did the artist decide to practice his art. the time Currently exhibiting solo at Richard Koh Fine Art, Choksaen presents a series of figurative paintings in “Conversations with Strangers” where he uses a palette of electrifying hues to illustrate fleeting, often forgotten moments of connection with others. Inspired by his community in Bangkok,…
Nicholas Cullinan is to leave London’s National Portrait Gallery to take up a new position as director of the British Museum, which has been fraught with controversy over the past year. Cullinan’s appointment, which was unanimously approved by the museum’s trustees and endorsed by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, was announced today, March 28. Cullinan’s appointment comes after a turbulent year for the British Museum, which saw a highly publicized theft scandal, the sacking of a museum staff member and the resignations of former director Hartwig Fischer and deputy director Jonathan Williams. Earlier this week, the British Museum sued former…
New York-based artist Tschabalala Self and Romanian-American sculptor Andra Ursuţa have won the Fourth Plinth Award. The Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group chaired by Ekow Eshun selected the two artists from a shortlist of seven artists. The sculptures will be presented on the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square in 2026 and 2028, respectively.Self, known for his depictions of the female form in media such as paint and fabric, won for Lady in Blue. This bronze sculpture is a tribute to young metropolitan women of color, inspired to capture the “everywoman” of today, and will be patinated in blue lapis lazuli.…
Four years after being hit with bankruptcy, Philadelphia’s Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History may become part of the Smithsonian Institution.Although the Weitzman already has an affiliation with the Smithsonian, becoming one of nearly 20 museums under the Washington, DC-based organization’s umbrella would make it eligible for federal grants and bring greater visibility and prestige. On March 20, a bipartisan group of lawmakers from both houses of the US Congress introduced legislation to review the Weitzman’s potential as a Smithsonian outpost. The bill would create a nine-person commission to study the feasibility of the move, reporting their findings to…
Lovingly depicted in French filmmaker Nicolas Philibert’s new documentary, the elegant boat moored on the River Seine in Paris could easily be mistaken for a tourist trap. The adamant, as the ship calls it, is actually part of the psychiatric network of the Saint-Maurice Hospital. On board, outpatients interact under the guidance of a small team of doctors and volunteers. Beyond its striking modern design and unusual setting, something else sets it apart adamant: Art plays a key role in the clinic’s approach to psychiatric therapy. For the medical professionals and patients on board, the therapy is a form of…
ArtCath PoundCaspar David Friedrich Wandering on the sea of fog, the year 1817. © SHK / Hamburger Kunsthalle / bpk. Photo by Elke Walford. Courtesy of Hamburger Kunsthalle.Caspar David Friedrich Chalk Cliffs in Rügen, 1818. © Photo: SIK ISEA, Zurich Philipp Hitz. Courtesy of the Hamburger Kunsthalleby Caspar David Friedrich The Wanderer Over the Sea of Mist (ca. 1817), his enigmatic figure standing on a rock surveying the misty landscape before him, is an icon of the Romantic art movement. The painting is so well-known that it is perhaps difficult for us to understand how innovative it was when it…
a study of the guard Four formaldehyde sculptures created by Damien Hirst and dated to the 1990s have been alleged to have been created in 2017. In the first of two reports, published on March 19.an unidentified source says Hirst’s company, Science, “instructed employees to artificially age the sculptures, making them appear as if they were made in the 1990s.”Science representatives have confirmed that the three aforementioned sculptures were physically made in 2017: the pigeon; Myth Explore, Explain, Explode; and Cain and Abel, Hirst dates them to 1999, 1993-99 and 1994, respectively. Earlier dates refer to when the works were…
Hundreds of artists, cultural workers and activists gathered on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on New York’s Fifth Avenue on Sunday (March 24) to publicly call for the most visited museum in the US to call for a ceasefire in the war in Gaza. and undertake to preserve the cultural heritage of Palestine. Demonstrators unfurled a 30-by-50-meter quilt with designs sewn, painted and printed by more than 60 artists expressing solidarity with the Palestinians.The quilt was organized by an international group of artists inspired by the Names Project Aids Memorial Quilt., started in 1987 as a memorial…
They are apparently art museums public spaces, but, in general, them to operate privately, like corporations, at least until the directors and their employees are safely retired. That is my experience as an outsider. When Thomas Hoving, director of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1967 to 1977, published his 2009 autobiography, I was struck by his aggressive personal narrative. In the last chapter of the memoir he writes: “My low self-esteem was very clearly disguised in my constant display, my addiction to publicity and my intolerable ‘me-me-me’ attitudes and actions.” I doubt that any of his descendants will…