GRAND RAPIDS, MI.- Just one week after Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park opened its large-scale indoor and outdoor exhibition “Chihuly: A New Eden,” the organization to welcomed its six-millionth visitor. Graham and Grace Clark of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario were greeted by Fred Meijer and David Hooker, Meijer Gardens’ CEO today at 11 AM. The couple received a one-year membership to Meijer Gardens and two tickets to the special 15th anniversary concert with Lyle Lovett on August 7. Meijer Gardens originally calculated the visitor milestone to occur in late May. Chihuly’s 15 site-specific installations across the 132-acre campus have attracted more than 17,000 visitors in the first week alone. The exhibition earned instant popularity and ushered in the six-millionth visitor much sooner than expected. “It is an honor to have such an enthusiastic response to Chihuly’s work here at Meijer Ga
Ron Mueck Exhibition Opens at Gallery of Modern Art
BRISBANE.- The largest ever Australian exhibition of life-like sculptures by major contemporary artist Ron Mueck opens at the Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, from tomorrow. Queensland Art Gallery Director Tony Ellwood said the exhibition of 12 hyperrealistic sculptures, most of human figures, would be on display until August 1. ‘Queensland audiences will be captivated by Mueck’s moving and poignant sculptures drawn from Australian and international collections. Sometimes colossal, and at other times miniature, the works resonate with deep emotion,’ Mr Ellwood said. ‘Often naked and suspended in states of self-consciousness or deep contemplation, Mueck’s figures are overwhelmingly human. ‘The works on display include a five-metre long newborn baby, a tiny, aged woman near death and a compelling sculpture of the artist’s own face.’ Mr Ellwood said the exhibition included the iconic work Dead
Huge Mural of Spain Returns to Renovated NY Museum
NEW YORK, NY (REUTERS).- A huge mural, the largest-ever of Spain in modern history, returns this week to a long-neglected Manhattan museum that has been renovated with grants from Spain. “Vision of Spain,” which consists of 14 panels that together measure 230 feet by 11.5 feet was painted nearly a century ago by Joaquin Sorolla, Spain’s pre-eminent painter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The 14 panels, which showcase 10 regions of Spain and include large brush strokes painted with huge brushes, took Sorolla eight years to complete. “The painting sparkles with energy,” said Mitchell Codding, director of the Hispanic Society, which will display the work at its renovated museum at the northern end of Manhattan. “It captures the dusty, dry air of Castile, the vivid colors of a fair in Seville and the glistening skins of tuna fish being dragged onto a seaside
Exchange Between Scientists and Artist Produces Exhibition at the Broad Institute
CAMBRIDGE, MA.- Data Sets comes out of a six-year exchange between painter Daniel Kohn and scientists at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Through a series of conversations and residencies at the Broad, Kohn explored the conceptual framework surrounding genomics. As a result, his own visual language and artistic method transformed as he was exposed to the methods, challenges, and technologies of genome-based research. Genomics considers a genome — the complete genetic blueprint of an organism — as a total system rather than focusing on single elements, such as genes. The human genome, for example, is not simply a chain of 3.2 billion chemical “letters”, but a dynamic system in which the parts interact, forming genes and other important functional elements that support life. In order to explore this system, scientists routinely collect extremely large amounts of data, which they analyze to find m
High Museum Selected to Present American Pavilion at 2010 Venice Biennale
ATLANTA, GA.- The High Museum of Art, along with its co-organizer 306090, Inc. has been selected to present the exhibition Workshopping: An American Model of Architectural Practice at the U.S. pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia, the 12th International Architecture Exhibition. La Biennale opens to the public on 29 August and is on view through 21 November 2010. Workshopping explores the role of the trans-disciplinary collaborations in architecture, spotlighting seven architecture projects with a focus on research and social engagement. The architectural groups include: · Archeworks design school (Chicago), · cityLAB at UCLA/AUD with Roger Sherman Architecture and Urban Design ( Los Angeles ), · Hood Design Studio ( Oakland ), · Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample (MOS) ( Cambridge and New Haven
Istanbul: Huma Kabakci Collection of Turkish Art Opens at the Osthaus Museum
HAGEN.- The Osthaus Museum Hagen will show 195 works of art from the renowned Huma Kabakci Collection from May 9 to July 25, 2010 – the first such display ever in Europe. The collection includes some of the most important paintings and sculptures created by Turkish artists between 1950 and 2010. With a focus on contemporary and modern art from Istanbul, the exhibition provides a novel yet in-depth look at the Turkish art scene. It also includes pictures by the highly regarded Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Güler, some of which show captivating moments of everyday life in Istanbul. The show is a unique, sometimes explosive blend of Western and Eastern artistic traditions. Nahit Kabakci started collecting Turkish art in the 1970s. By this time, Turkish artists had not just been
New Orleans Museum of Art Names Susan M. Taylor New Museum Director
NEW ORLEANS, LA.- The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) announces the appointment of Susan M. Taylor as Director Designate. She will officially become the Museum’s sixth director on September 1, 2010. Taylor will succeed E. John Bullard, who will retire as one of America’s longest-serving museum directors. Bullard will remain on staff as Director Emeritus to aid Taylor in the transition and will continue to work on NOMA’s centennial celebrations throughout 2011. “As NOMA commemorates a century of art, I am thrilled that Susan Taylor has been selected to lead the Museum into its next chapter of service and success,” Bullard said. “I have known her for a number of years and know that she is an outstanding choice to lead our institution.” A museum director for over 20 years, Taylor most recently directed Princeton University Art Museum, where she is well-known for instituting wide-ranging innovations in collections development, pl
Celebrity Online Green Sale at Christie’s Raises $1 Million
NEW YORK, NY (REUTERS).- Australian actor Hugh Jackman has been bested by a Manhattan window dresser — at least in an online green auction which raised about $1 million for the environment. Jackman, Christina Aguilera, John McEnroe, David Duchovny and Candice Bergen were among celebrities who donated experiences such as on-set visits, lunches or VIP concert tickets, but the stars were all eclipsed by Barneys New York creative director Simon Doonan, creator of the retail store’s legendary holiday season windows. Bids for Doonan’s behind-the-scenes preview of the often-edgy windows and studio tour, lunch and a $5,000 store gift card soared to $60,000, or many times the offering’s stated value of $8,000 in the “A Bid to Save the Earth” auction, which ended on Thursday. By contrast, a day with Jackman on the
New York Public Library Faces Harshest Budget Cut In Its History
NEW YORK, NY.- The most severe budget cut ever faced by The New York Public Library was announced on May 6 as part of the Mayor’s Executive Budget. “The proposed cut of $36,800,000 is even worse than the cuts to the Library in the 1970s, when New York was on the brink of bankruptcy,” Library President Paul LeClerc said. “If funding is not restored we will be forced to drastically reduce critical library services for New Yorkers. Ten libraries would have to close; those that remain open would have their hours reduced to an average of just 4 days per week. The cut would also result in the loss of 736 staff positions–36% of our workforce. Today record numbers of New Yorkers are relying on their libraries for free job information, Internet access, computer classes, business information, after-school programs, and much more. This budget would force us to reduce or eliminate services at the time they are needed most. That’s why we look
Artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor Returns for Third Exhibition at James Cohan Gallery
NEW YORK, NY.- American artist Alison Elizabeth Taylor returns to James Cohan Gallery for her third solo gallery exhibition. Entitled Foreclosed, this exhibition opens on May 7th and runs through June 19th, 2010. Taylor has become well-known for reinvigorating the Renaissance craft of marquetry, or intarsia wood inlay, a medium once made popular during the unprecedented age of luxury of Louis XIV’s Court of Versailles. By choosing a medium that is typically associated with wealth and power to portray dystopian scenes of everyday life, Taylor creates a tension between the luxurious connotations of the material and a certain abjectness of the subject matter. In Foreclosed, Alison Elizabeth Taylor turns to architecture and interior space to reveal the pathos of lives dispossessed by the recent economic disaster and to explore the human impact of the short-sighted policies and greed that triggered millions of foreclosures. Visit