Author: Darko Topalski

NEW YORK, NY.-To celebrate the recent
acquisition of 36 newly struck prints of films by Frederick Wiseman
(American, b. 1930),The
Museum of Modern Artpresents a comprehensive
retrospective of the director’s work, from January 20 through December 31,
2010. Featuring three to four films each month, this yearlong
survey opens on January 20, when Frederick Wiseman introduces ‘Basic
Training’, (1971), followed by an onstage conversation. The exhibition
spans his entire career, from ‘Titicut Follies’, (1967) to his two most
recent projects, ‘La Danse—The Paris Opera Ballet’, (2009) and his
forthcoming ‘Boxing Gym’, (2010). Frederick Wiseman is organized
by Joshua Siegel, Associate Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of
Modern Art, MoMA.

New York, NY –
Drawings, 1954 – 58
brings together over twenty rare works by the Brazilian artist Hélio
Oiticica (1937–1980), a pioneer in Modernism and multi-disciplinary practice
whose works-on-paper have not yet been exhibited independently. The
exhibition features works from the artist’s three major drawing series: Grupo Frente, Sêco, and Metaesquema. Hélio Oiticica: Drawings,
1954-58  will be on view at Galerie Lelong
from December 17, 2009, to February 6,
2010.

Stanford ,
California – Cantor Arts Center
at Stanford University announces “From Their Studios,” through January 3, 2010, highlighting the creative work of 13 artists
who teach studio art at Stanford University.   This exhibition features a wide variety
of visual art, including film, printmaking, photography, painting, sculpture,
and imaginative new media.  
Admission is free to both the exhibition and the series of talks by 12 of
the artists.

LONDON (REUTERS).- A major London exhibition of
treasures from the Prince of Liechtenstein’s collection has been canceled
because of a dispute over the export of one of the prince’s paintings. The show
was billed as one of the highlights of the 2010 season at the Royal
Academy, and the prestigious gallery is now working on alternatives to
fill its main galleries between September and December next year. The Royal
Academy’s 2010 exhibition of treasures from the Liechtenstein Collection faced
cancellation because one of Prince Hans-Adam II’s paintings has been impounded
in London. His Portrait of the Infante Don Diego, 1577, by Alonso Coello, was
barred from export by HM Revenue and Customs, after the Prince bought the work
three years ago.

LOS ANGELES – The largest exhibition in more than twenty
years devoted to photography of the Civil Rights Movement opened at the Skirball
Cultural Center on November 19, 2009, in its West Coast premiere.
Organized by the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Road to Freedom: Photographs of
the Civil Rights Movement, 1956–1968 features images that helped change the
nation: they shed light on injustices prevalent in America at the time, promoted
solidarity among citizens, and dramatically increased the momentum of the
struggle for equal rights. Road to Freedom will remain on view at the
Skirball through March 7, 2010.

BOGOTA, COLUMBIA  – The
Fernando Botero Prize will no longer be given out due to the artist’s recent
comments about juries and the quality of the works that won the award,
Fundacion Jovenes Artistas Colombianos director Maria Elvira Pardo told
the press.The decision to stop handing out the prize, which carried a
$50,000 cash award, was made by the foundation’s management council several days
ago, the El Tiempo newspaper reported on its Web site. The foundation cited
Botero’s statements to Arcadia magazine that he was unhappy because the winning
works “seemed very bad” as the reason for its decision.

HELSINKI.- The
Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture has given the AVEK award to
artist-curator Juha Huuskonen. The award for media art and currently worth EUR
15,000, was given at the season opening of AVEK in Media Centre Lume.
The AVEK award was presented for the sixth time. Helsinki-based Juha Huuskonen
(1974) is not only a media artist, but also a producer and curator of media art
events. He is a founding member and the first chair of the katastro.fi
organization founded in 1998. In 2000, Huuskonen was one of the founders
of Avanto, a festival for experimental music and film, and between 2002 and 2003
he developed Nordic media art residence opportunities together with NIFCA.