Art and the Olympics

Bill Gusky writes on Art and the Olympics.

Read it here.

Art and religion

India's biggest art fair opened on Friday, but the show was mired in controversy when organisers left out the works of the country's best-known painter for fear of attacks by Hindu vigilantes opposed to him.

The works of Maqbool Fida Husain, typically a blend of cubism and classical Indian styles that fetch millions on international art markets, were conspicuous by their absence at the India Art Summit.

The artist's famous paintings of naked Hindu gods have delighted art afficionados but enraged Hindu vigilantes who have attacked his house in the past and vandalised shows displaying his works.

It is clear that Maqbool Fida Husain is not aware that the only contemporary religion that artists can safely spoof and have fun with is Christianity. Read the Reuters story by Melanie Lee here.

Wanna go to a DC opening tonite?


Photographs by Alison Brady and Ryoko Suzuki open in DC's Randall Scott Gallery today with a reception from 7-9PM.

European Heirs Demand New York Museums Return Picassos

The heirs of German-Jewish banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy are demanding that New York's most important museums hand over two Picassos. But MoMA and the Guggenheim are fighting back, claiming they are now the rightful owners.

Read the story in Der Spiegel here.

Documenting the New Northern Virginia

Lela Dehne - "Canal Center, Alexandria, Virginia 2008"
Documenting the New Northern Virginia is an photography exhibition by NOVA students. In fall 2007 the Photography Program at Northern Virginia Community College received funding from the college’s Professional Development College-Wide Initiative.

This funding provided support for a multifaceted project called Documenting the New Northern Virginia. The project included course work, guest speakers, student exhibitions, and a web site. We plan to extend the project with a book produced by students, traveling exhibitions, and a permanent archive of the work.

The student photographs you see in this gallery are the result of four documentary photography classes on the Woodbridge and Alexandria campuses during the 2007-2008 academic year. Students photographed the changing physical and cultural landscape of Northern Virginia, and considered the purpose and practice of documentary photography.

Thirty-nine students have work in this exhibition. The classes were taught by Gail Rebhan, Charles Kogod, and Page Carr.

At the Verizon Galleries, Ernst Cultural Center, Northern Virginia Community College from 21 August - 10 September 2008.

Time for DC to be shamed

"Managers of a downtown office building yanked a sculpture called "Unmentionables . . . then and now" from an exhibition last week after tenants complained that the art was inappropriate.

The offending art, by Joyce Zipperer, was installed with other artwork in the lobby of the Washington Square building at 1050 Connecticut Ave. NW. "Unmentionables" consists of 10 styles of women's underwear -- from old-fashioned bloomers to a skimpy thong -- all made out of metal and strung along a clothesline."

So begins the story by Rachel Beckman in the Washington Post.

The complainers?

"Shortly after the installation went up on Aug. 3, a group of tenants complained to the building's manager, Cynthia Muller. Muller wouldn't say which tenants objected to the art, but the artist and curator say they were lawyers from two of the building's resident law firms."

As Beckman points out: "Of all the office buildings downtown, Washington Square is perhaps the oddest place for an underwear-art controversy: One of its tenants is Victoria's Secret."


Read the story here. Shame on you DC!

Job in the Arts

The Boston Center for the Arts (BCA), a nonprofit performing and visual arts center located in Boston's South End, is seeking a new Executive Director. The Search Committee intends to identify the successful candidate by fall 2008 with full-time employment beginning shortly thereafter.

Compensation will be competitive with similar positions throughout the country and will be negotiable. The range of benefits includes medical insurance, vacation pay, paid sick leave, and a 403(b)-retirement program.

The consulting firm retained to assist in the search will welcome qualified applications:

Stephen J. Albert and Thomas Hall
Albert Hall & Associates
942 Main Street #300
Hartford, CT 06103
Tel: (860) 808-3000 #321
Fax: (860) 808-3009
Email preferred:salbert@alberthallassociates.com