Some discussion on the new Museum of Modern Art design over at PBS by Jeffrey Brown. There’s also an interesting article at artnet.com by Suzaan Boettger. And a quote below by the man himself..

“I tried not to create a special object. I want to create an environment. Architecture is basically a container: You have to have something inside.

A museum has people and works of art. I just designed a cup to contain works of art and people.”

Yoshio Taniguchi – Architect of the new MoMA

The American artist has died in his home at the age of 65. Ed Paschke gained recognition in the 60s when he was working with a group of artists known as the “Imagists” that borrowed heavily from Pop art.

Interest free loans for those looking to buy contemporary art is one way of encouraging people to purchase art. The English Arts Council and the Scottish Arts Council are offering loans of up to 2000 pounds.

Hang now, pay later, way to buy art

“The kind of perks used to sell televisions or mobile phones were offered yesterday to those ready to take the plunge and buy a work of art.”

scotsman

Some say art and politics don’t really mix, but artists just can’t help themselves. I suspect it’s mostly art collectors and commercial galleries that don’t like political paintings as they often don’t hang well in the living room above the lounge. Regardless, artists will keep voicing their opinions the best way they know.. with art.

(thanks to Eric for sharing the article below)

Shut Up and Paint

“Few of us, I wager, care what Colin Powell or Alan Greenspan thinks about contemporary art — why should we care what artists think about Iraq or the economy? I’ll gladly pay attention to someone with the genius of Goya — whose “Disasters of War” prints are the gold standard for anti-war imagery — but to the majority of today’s artists, I’d say (to paraphrase Laura Ingraham), Shut up and paint.”

nationalreviewonline

The Museum of Modern Art is about to open for business after major renovations.. and business should do well with a $20USD entry fee.

(watch the promo)

New MoMA simply shines

“The new MoMA, which doubles the space of the old, creates a feeling of reverence, serenity and astonishment. Unlike several recent and much ballyhooed museums, Taniguchi’s is unquestionably a work of art in itself, but it never overshadows the collection for which it serves as backdrop.”

nydailynews

This a great idea, where student works and works by famous artists are mixed and offered anonymously at the same price. Knowing the style of the artist doesn’t help either, as there are students imitating the styles of the established artists, and the established artists work in a style they don’t normally use. So it is about buying art that you actually like rather than buying a name.

Bargain on the cards at mystery art sale

“Most of the 2,000-odd works in the show are by RCA students, present or past. Some, however, are by extremely well-known artists – including David Hockney, Bill Viola, Perry and Damien Hirst. All are on sale for £35 – but the catch is that as a buyer you won’t be told whom your work is by until you have handed over the cash. You could be walking away with the most fantastic bargain. Or not.”

guardian

A new artist profile is up for the month at artquotes.net. Turkish artist Gizem Saka is an emerging painter currently working in New York.

Woman with Apple is a work that seems to sit happily between Eastern and Western cultures, just like her hometown of Istanbul. The style has elements of Picasso and Matisse, but there are also decorative elements that could be interpreted as Turkish, with the twirls and stylized vines bordering a corner of the work.

It’s an interesting theme to tackle for artists.. depicting God. Probably too difficult a task to accomplish with paint. My interpretation of God would have to be an installation of a rain forest, where life and death happily live side by side.

Simply divine

“The better pieces in 100 Artists make the whole thing worth seeing, creakings and crankiness notwithstanding. Predictably, though, the best piece of all – an oil of canvas by Gerhard Richter called Grey (Grau) – seeks to distance itself from the curators and their problematic contexts. It is, as Richter himself says, “a monochrome grey painting, oil on canvas” which shows “the only possible representation/image of God”. ”

theguardian