Olympian ending

We learned loads about the beautiful, talented people of China during these Olympics, and perhaps even more about its cheating, lying, oppressive government. The more the Chicoms tried to appear as another ordinary government, the more their decaying Communist yoke showed.

So to close out the Olympics:

"Birds Nest, in the Style of Cubism," a painting by Zhang Hongtu, is now at the Lin & Keng Gallery in Taipei, awaiting shipment back to New York.

The ashen-brown picture shows the gleaming new Olympic stadium, designed by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, as Piranesi might have imagined it and Picasso painted it -- as a decaying ruin rendered in fragmented angled forms. On the canvas, cubist-style, are inscriptions in English letters and Chinese characters: "Tibet," "human right" and the Olympic motto, "one world, one dream."

The painting was supposed to be in Beijing during the Olympic Games, in the exhibition "Go Game, Beijing!" organized by a Berlin marketing firm and displayed at the German Embassy. But it was seized by Customs on arrival and denied entry as "unacceptable" for its color, its depiction of the stadium, and its inscriptions.

Read the WSJ story here.

NIH Darwin Day call for art entries

Deadline: September 19, 2008

February 12, 2009, marks the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin and the 150th year since his seminal work, “On the Origin of Species,” was published. To recognize Darwin’s scientific accomplishments, including his observations on plant and animal life, NIH is planning a variety of activities, such as a lecture series, film screenings, and theater performances.

From November 2008 through February 2009, the Clinical Center’s artistic gallery spaces will display photographs of the Galapagos Islands, where Darwin visited. NIH employees and patients, as well as photographers from the community, may submit their photos for consideration by September 19, 2008. Artists will be notified within two weeks if their work is selected. Contact Crystal Parmele or Lillian Fitzgerald at 301-402-0115 with questions or submissions.

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.