U.S. Embassy Makes Olympic Rings
These big metallic tulips aren’t just going to be on view in Spain, where they are permanently installed along the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao’s riverside façade, above. An edition of Tulips by Jeff Koons, as well as new work by Art:21 artists Louise Bourgeois, Cai Guo-Qiang, Martin Puryear, and Maya Lin are included on the checklist of 18 contemporary Chinese and American artists that will on view when the massive SOM-designed American embassy opens in Beijing, just before the start of the 2008 summer Olympics. Many of the pieces are either new commissions or site-specific works purchased by the State Department. According to The Art Newspaper, the State Department calculates the budget it will spend on art based on a new building’s square footage, and therefore $800,000 will be spent on art for the Beijing project — the largest sum ever splurged on a new US embassy.
Artist iGoogle Museum
Two weeks ago, you might have noticed Jeff Koons’ giant metallic tulips decorating your Google homepage. The search engine giant invited international artists and innovators to create custom page layouts to introduce new iGoogle themes. Users can choose from Jeff Koons, Todd Oldham, Beasties, and more to decorate their iGoogle homepage for free, and the layouts change throughout the day. Apparently the geniuses at Google also launched iGoogle ArtCafes with exhibitions in Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills and blog. Virtual Japanese retailer zozo then launched an Artist iGoogle Museum. Rather than paying each artist, Google made donations to charity. My iGoogle homepage is currently set to ‘Shepard Fairey,’ who is having his first major museum show of early stencils, guerilla street art campaigns and new work at The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston in February 2009. Find out what really happens when great art mixes with the Google homepage.
Bantamweight Flickr Battle!
After the gorgeously gargantuan show at MoMA that held New Yorkers spellbound in its midtown courtyard, the whole country of France is now making a fuss this week over Richard Serra. The New York Times slideshow revealing his latest steel monoliths at the Grand Palais is surprisingly vertical. Plus, who can resist Richard Serra’s craggly mug, above.
Meanwhile, the blogosphere is a-twitter about whether Serra could be gathering steam as the most popular artist captured on Flickr. A recent Flickr search has revealed that at time of posting, there are 6,192 Flickr photos that match the search terms ‘Richard Serra.’ A new bantamweight contender, ‘Olafur Eliasson‘ is up to 4,256 and averaging about 30 adds per day, presumably fed by visitors to his current show at MoMA and PS1. Surprising names in the flyweight division are ‘Matthew Barney‘ at 1,139, ‘Marcel Duchamp‘ at 1,408, and the white canvas master ‘Robert Ryman‘ trailing with just 107 Flickr posts. Please note that photographing museum paintings by Robert Ryman is not encouraged.
In the heavyweight division, readers have suggested that Henry Moore, at 14,563, and Alexander Calder at 17,471 (by last name only), are positioned to defeat the overall reigning champion Andy Warhol, who currently has 18,900 Flickr photos tagged with his name. Further investigation has revealed that not all works tagged with Andy Warhol actually are by Andy Warhol, but include some creative appropriation.
Ouster, Fame, Famine!
It’s another week of shake-ups and ousters in the city. In my mailbox, New York Magazine proclaims, “MoMA Cuts the Head off PS1,” featuring a thirty-year illustrated timeline of exhibition and institutional highlights from Alanna Heiss’ career. Maybe it’s the way some brains tick, but the article’s cover title conjured a metaphorical image of a post-coital praying mantis. Last September, a New York Times column had revealed early rumors that Kathy Albreich’s move as director of the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis to an Associate Director post at MoMA would lead to Heiss’ oust. Despite protests that she wanted to work a few more years, Glenn Lowry reportedly replied to Heiss, “I think I’m going to go ahead with the retirement plan.” It’s too bad. In a sentiment echoed by photographer Ryan McGinley and others, PS1 was the last museum left that was unafraid of not being perfect.
In other news, it is confirmed that the formidable Lynne Cooke will divide her time in New York and Madrid, as chief curator to the Reina Sofia. She will also stay on at DIA in full curatorial capacity, in the long wake of DIA’s thwarted attempts to secure space below Manhattan’s HighLine. The Whitney moves forward with unveiling its Renzo Piano plans for Ganesvoort Street at the HighLine in relatively calm seas, with proposed 50,000 square feet of new gallery space. Top end search firm Phillips Oppenheim remains on retention for a three-for-one replacement search for Lisa Dennison/Tom Krens at the Guggenheim and Phillipe de Montibello at the Met. Are there enough serious candidates left in the nation to go around? Hopefully, or else we need to radically re-think search criteria for museum directors. It’s a crucial time for leadership on all fronts.
