Museum futures

There's no shining line separating the generations, of course. Some directors have been preaching the "populist" gospel for years, often translating that into exhibitions about guitars, hip-hop or "Star Wars" paraphernalia and live music nights with cocktails, DJs and dancing.

Current thinking goes much deeper. Many young directors see museums as modern-day "town squares," social places where members of the community may gather, drawn by art, perhaps, for conversation or music or whatever. They believe that future museum-goers won't be satisfied by simply looking at art, but rather prefer to participate in it or interact with it.

Read the WSJ article by Judy Dobrzynski here.

Ansel Adams Lawsuit

A group representing Ansel Adams sued a California man for selling prints and posters under the name of the famed nature photographer, the latest salvo in a dispute over glass negatives bought at a garage sale and purported to be Adams' lost work.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal district court in San Francisco by The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, seeks to stop Rick Norsigian and consulting firm PRS Media Partners from using Adams' name, likeness and trademark in their efforts to sell prints and posters not authorized or endorsed by the trust.

Read the article here.

Taubman Museum of Art in trouble

The new Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, VA is already in financial straits. Read Judith H. Dobrzynski's excellent take on the subject here and the Roanoke Times article on the subject here.

Is There an Age Limit for 'Emerging Artists'?

I'm not sure if I agree with all the points in this excellent article by Daniel Grant in the HuffPost, but there are some very good points and opinions being made and delivered:

Age, education and exhibition history are not the only areas in which artists may get into trouble. Listing published reviews of group shows they were in but which did not mention their names or artwork looks deceitful, and banking on the possibility that the dealer doesn't actually read the review adds insult to injury. On the other hand, an online review has no less significance than one seen in a hardcopy publication (there is no need to include a link; just put the article title, author, date and main URL of the site and let the reader find it). Listing the names of more prominent artists in a group in which one participated seems "lame," Winkleman said.

Read it here.

National Cell Phone Photography Exhibition

Deadline: August 30, 2010.

The Southeastern Louisiana University Contemporary Art Gallery (Hammond, LA) seeks entries for an exhibition to be held September 9 - 25. The exhibition is open to amateurs and professional artists nationally. All artwork submitted for the exhibition must have been taken with the camera within a cell phone with no Photoshop or any other manipulation or effects. Images are to be full frame, not cropped in any way. $10 entry fee if images are sent by email, due to print cost. For prospectus, please email Dale Newkirk at dnewkirk@selu.edu or call 985-549-5080.

Opportunity for video artists

Deadline: September 30, 2010.

Visual Overture Magazine is accepting submissions for a special section of the magazine called “Spotlight on Video Art,” to be included in the Winter 2010 issue, which will feature the work of one serious emerging videographer whose work is fine art. Materials to Submit: 2-3 videos, 500 word essay describing why your video work can be classified as fine art. Online Application: www.visualoverture.com/artists.htm

Benny Moré

Today is the birthday of Bartolomé Maximiliano Moré Gutiérrez (d. 1963 at age 43), known to Cubans as Benny Moré, and considered the best Cuban popular singer and Cuban orchestra leader of all time. Without any formal musical training, witness how he directs his huge band in the rare footage below, and then check him out in a scandalous zoot suit outfit singing number in a Cuban movie of the 1950s:

Go get some Benny CDs...