TEHRAN (AP).- Religious motives appear to be behind the recent theft of 11 bronze statues of Iranian national heroes that have been stolen from the capital’s public parks, a local official said Wednesday. In a string of thefts that started in late March, unknown culprits have used heavy equipment to rip the statues from their pedestals and then carted them off. The thievery has prompted city officials to postpone erecting new statues in the capital. Tehran city council official Morteza Talaei said the thieves appear to be from a “specific group” and are acting out of religious convictions. “It appears that currents and groups that see these statues as contrary to their religious and cultural beliefs are involved,” Talaei was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. The statues all depict prominent Iranians, which could contradict a strict interpretation of Islam that bans the depiction of human form in art. Among the 11 statues that have disappeared, two of them were o
Exhibition and Symposium Celebrate Marcel Duchamp’s Last Great Masterpiece
CULLY, SWITZERLAND.- In 1946 Marcel Duchamp spent five weeks in Switzerland, five days of which, from 5 to 9 August, at Lake Geneva with one of his lovers, Mary Reynolds. He took up residence at the Bellevue Hotel (today, Le Baron Tavernier) in Bellevue near Chexbres. The hotel is located in the very heart of the Lavaux vineyards which have been designated a world heritage site by UNESCO. The hotel on the Route Corniche offers the most striking panoramas in the region with a magnificent view of the lake flanked in the background by the mountains of Vaud, Valais and Savoy and the entire chain of the Jura range. On clear days one can see practically the entire lake from Villeneuve to Geneva, as if it were a vast bay. The Corniche runs through the extraordinary vineyards of the region, linking Chexbres with the villages of Epesses, Riex and Cully. The Bellevue Hotel
Pop-Up Art Exhibition Presented by Bicker Gallery in Sydney
SYDNEY.- ‘Luminaries’ is a new solo exhibition by renowned British artist Pam Glew, and here she will be bringing her own brand of iconic imagery to a surprising Sydney location from May 6, 2010. This will be the first time Glew has exhibited in Australia – her work already features in important collection in Europe, USA and the Far East. The artist has been featured in various Urban Art shows in London, Los Angeles and Paris. ‘Luminaries’ will be her 9th solo exhibition. Pam Glew is a contemporary artist, best known for her unique method of ingraining imagery onto opulent and richly textured fabrics. She uses dye, stitch, bleach and other removal mediums to paint portraits on material so that the portraits seem to magically emerge from the fabric. Glew will sometimes embellish a piece with stitching and embroidery creating a beautiful and delicate finish to her mesmerizing art work. In past exhibitions Glew has incorporated her work into antique a
Brazilian Photographer Bruno Cals to Exhibit at New Gallery
NEW YORK, NY.- Horizons, a series of architectural photographs by Brazilian photographer Bruno Cals, will be on view at 1500 Gallery from May 6-July 31, 2010. The six photographs in the exhibition are part of a personal artistic project that Cals, a well-known fashion/advertising photographer based in São Paulo, Brazil, has been working on since 2008. There will be an opening reception at the gallery on May 13 from 6-8 pm. 1500 Gallery is located at 511 West 25th Street, #607 New York, NY. The photographs in the Horizons series are suggestive of something beyond the record presented. The images of the buildings in São Paulo, Tokyo and Buenos Aires explore the limits of two-dimensionality, and articulate a radically different perspective on a commonplace visual scenario. In expressing this fresh point of view, Bruno Cals has invoked contrasting themes of possibility versus impossibility, presence versus emptiness, and search versus satisfaction. Bruno Cals was born in Rio de Ja
Work by Celebrated Designer Wendell Castle at Barry Friedman Ltd.
NEW YORK, NY.- Barry Friedman Ltd. will present a solo exhibition of unique work by the celebrated American designer Wendell Castle, on view May 6 through June 26, 2010. The exhibition will open with a reception for the artist on May 6 from 5:00-8:00 pm at Barry Friedman Ltd., 515 West 26th Street, NYC. A fully illustrated catalogue with an essay by Robert C. Morgan and an interview with the artist, will accompany the exhibition. A long record of acclaim, scholarship, and steady acquisition by public institutions gives Wendell Castle’s work indelible historic importance. His groundbreaking unification of sculpture and furniture galvanized generations of artists and designers and contributed to the acceptance of design as an art form in its own right. At every stage however, Castle has endeavored to incorporate innovations in materials
The Glasgow School of Art Announces New Chairman of the Board of Governors
GLASGOW.- The Glasgow School of Art announced the appointment of Philip Rodney, Partner and Chairman of Burness Solicitors, as the new Chairman of its Board of Governors. He will succeed leading international businessman Professor Nick Kuenssberg OBE, who stands down as Chairman in June 2010 after nine years. Philip Rodney is one of Scotland’s leading lawyers. Specialising in media and entertainment law, product liability and dispute resolution, he brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and networks in a number of fields of strategic importance to both the GSA and the creative industries sector. As Chairman of the GSA Board, Philip will lead a team of governors, drawn from a range of backgrounds and expertise, responsible for setting the strategic direction of the School and overseeing the Director and her senior team as they deliver the School’s strategic objectives including the redevelopment of the School’s es
AIA Selects 18 Recipients for the 2010 Housing Awards
WASHINGTON, DC.- The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the 18 recipients of the 2010 Housing Awards. The AIA’s Housing Awards Program, now in its tenth year, was established to recognize the best in housing design and promote the importance of good housing as a necessity of life, a sanctuary for the human spirit and a valuable national resource. The jury for the 2010 Housing Awards includes: Andrew V. Porth (chair), AIA, Porth Architects, Inc.; Jane Kolleeny, Architectural Record and GreenSource; Natalye Appel, FAIA, Natalye Appel + Associates Architects; Geoffrey Goldberg, AIA, G. Goldberg and Associates, and Grace Kim, AIA, Schemata Workshop. The jury recognized projects in four award categories: One/Two Family Custom Housing, One/Two Family Production Housing, Multifamily Housing, and Special Housing. The descriptions below give a brief summary of the projects. Click here if you would like to learn more ab
British Museum Opens Exhibition of The Printed Image in China
LONDON.- The Printed Image in China presents for the first time highlights from the entire collection of Chinese prints at the British Museum. The collection is one of the most comprehensive and finest in Europe. According to present knowledge, printing on paper was invented in China around 700 AD, making China the country with the longest history of printing in the world. About 120 prints will illuminate the history of printing from its inception to the present, and explore the role of the Chinese pictorial print in various cultural contexts. The show includes a wide variety of examples including Buddhist prints from the Silk Road, colourful images used in folk rituals and festivals, imperial engravings, dramatic anti-war images of the Modern Woodcut Movement and contemporary prints by artists that have gained recognition in the international art scene. Divided into six sections and displayed in broadly
MoMA to Host Symposium “Art Institutions and Feminist Politics Now”
NEW YORK, NY.- The Museum of Modern Art presents Art Institutions and Feminist Politics Now, a day-long symposium on May 21, 2010, that will bring together an international group of leading artists, writers, curators, historians, and activists to explore the impact of recent debates about art and feminism on museum exhibitions, collections, pedagogy, and cultural politics. The symposium is part of a major ongoing collection-based research initiative begun in 2005 with support from the Modern Women’s Fund, established by philanthropist and artist Sarah Peter. The symposium is organized by Cornelia Butler, The Robert Lehman Foundation Chief Curator of Drawings, and Alexandra Schwartz, Curatorial Assistant in MoMA’s Department of Drawings and Coordinator of the Modern
Edward Kienholz’s Renowned Installation Roxys, 1960-61 at David Zwirner
NEW YORK, NY.- David Zwirner presents Edward Kienholz’s (1927-1994) renowned installation Roxys, 1960-61. First exhibited at Los Angeles’s Ferus Gallery in 1962, this significant large-scale assemblage represents the first of the artist’s environmental installations, or “tableaux” as he called them, and has been credited as being one of the earliest examples of what is now ubiquitously referred to as “installation art.” This exhibition follows the recently acclaimed presentation of a related work by the artist (in collaboration with Nancy Reddin Kienholz), The Hoerengracht (1983–88), which took place at the National Gallery, London, in November 2009 – February 2010. An important figure in postwar American art, Kienholz has become best known for evocative assemblages and environments made from disparate