PORTLAND, ORE.- Barcelona-based sculptor Jaume Plensa’s room-sized installation In the Midst of Dreams (2009) provides a dramatic introduction to the Portland Art Museum ’s DISQUIETED exhibition. Visitors to the Museum have been captivated by the three enormous and luminous heads—cast in translucent resin and lit from within—that rest in a field of stones and bear thought-provoking inscriptions upon their faces. Visitors can learn more about this installation and other works by the artist in a lecture by Plensa to be held Saturday, April 10 at 2 p.m. in the Whitsell Auditorium. Plensa has gained international recognition for his high-profile public art installations—including the Crown Fountain in Chicago’s Millennium Park—and exhibitions at numerous galleries and museums in Europe, the United States, and Japan. His work is currently on view at the Portland Art Museum and the Nasher S
Non-Objectif Sud Spring Fundraiser on the Occasion of its 5th Anniversary
NEW YORK, NY.- Non-Objectif Sud (NOS) has announced its annual spring fundraiser. Also on the occasion of its 5th anniversary, NOS will hold a benefit silent art auction. NOS is a non-profit organization founded by Andrew Huston and Karole Vail, dedicated to creating an alternative to the commercial gallery and institutional space. Located at the private property of La Barralière in rural southern France, NOS invites artists to participate in residency programs every summer to collaborate and curate an annual exhibition. In order to continue the support of its innovative contemporary exhibitions and artist programs, NOS will hold a sale of donated art works. Hosted by Robert Goff Gallery at 537 B West 23rd Street in New York, the benefit will be held on the evening of Tuesday, April 13, 2010. The sale will be open with a daytime preview from 10am to 5pm, and continue for ticket-holders only with an evening sale and cocktails from 6pm to 8pm. The auction will include
The Private Collection of Henry Darger at the American Folk Art Museum
NEW YORK, NY.- What Henry Darger displayed on the walls of his apartment in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago is on public view, for the first time, in the exhibition The Private Collection of Henry Darger, from April 6 through September 19, 2010. Brooke Davis Anderson, curator and director of The Contemporary Center and the Henry Darger Study Center, has selected nearly 40 cardboard collages from the more than 80 in Darger’s personal collection that are now part of the American Folk Art Museum‘s holdings. These are the artworks that Darger lived with and saw every day. Like many practicing artists, Darger surrounded himself with his own production. Modestly scaled, executed with simple supplies on readily available material, reclaimed and repurposed, the collages
101% Designed in Brussels at the Milan International Furniture Fair
MILAN.- Brussels Export and Designed in Brussels will present the selection for 2010. To give a detailed image of those designers who are more anchored in the business world, this year organizers have chosen more experienced, established designers, each with a clear, individual profile in his or her discipline. The selection comprises the following Brussels designers: • Nathalie Dewez, designer of lighting systems • Jean-François D’Or | Loudordesign studio, industrial designer • Chevalier Masson, textile designers • Hugo Meert, ceramics designer • Lhoas & Lhoas, architects and designers. After taking part at the Stockholm Furniture Fair at the beginning of the year, the selection is now on its way to the Milan International Furniture Fair. The five designers are presenting numerous premiers in the Zona Tortona, the heart of the Italian design world. Later in the year, 101% Designed in Brussels will be participating in a furniture show in London (23
Galerie Schuster Berlin/Miami Raises Funds for Relief Efforts in Haiti
MIAMI, FL.- In support of Hatian artist Didier William, whose first solo exhibition is currently on view at Galerie Schuster Berlin/Miami, the gallery has raised more than $10,000 for Doctors Without Borders’ relief efforts in Haiti, gallery owner Helmut Schuster announced today. The gallery’s exhibition of Didier William’s New Paintings will run from March 20 through May 11 in Miami at 2085 NW 2nd Avenue. “Didier William’s work is inspired by and intimately tied to Haiti. We wanted to help address the devastation in his homeland,” Schuster says. “Disasters like this one might be in the news for a week, but the problems—the lack of electricity, potable water, basic hygiene, shelter, access to medical care, fuel, telephones—continue. It was important to us to contribute, even in a small way, to help the Haitian people.” Galerie Schuster donated one-third of the proceeds fr
Artists Explore Taliban Destruction of 5th Century Afghan Buddhas
TORONTO.- The Institute for Contemporary Culture (ICC) at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and SAVAC (South Asian Visual Art Centre) in collaboration with the 23rd Images Festival announce the opening of the new exhibition, Bamiyan (the heart that has no love/pain/generosity is not a heart), on April 3, 2010. This multi-faceted, contemporary art installation comprises an archive of photographs, miniature paintings and videos which examine the aftermath of the March 2001 destruction by the Taliban of the colossal c. 5th century Buddhas of the Bamiyan Valley in Central Afghanistan. It will be on display on Level 2 in the Hilary and Galen Weston Wing until May 2, 2010. Curated by Haema Sivanesan, Executive Director of SAVAC, and produced by Vancouver-based media artist Jayce Salloum and Afghan-Hazara artist Khadim Ali, Bamiyan (the heart that
Art Lovers Can Click to Buy with the Middle East’s First Affordable Online Art Gallery
DUBAI.- Art enthusiasts can now shop online for some of the region’s most talented emerging artists with the launch of icanaffordart.com, the Middle East’s first affordable online art gallery. icanaffordart.com brings together a unique collection of over 20 artists from more than 10 nationalities, with artworks ranging in price from US $250 ranging to US $4,000. According to the website’s founder, Dubai-based Arij Baidas Kamal, icanaffordart.com showcases a variety of mediums from paintings, sketches, drawings to photography. “As well as offering superb artworks at an affordable price, the website is an important vehicle for artists to gain exposure in a wider market,” Ms. Baidas Kamal said. “It is our ambition to place icanaffordart.com at the heart of the region’s art community.” Artworks are sold unframed so they can be shipped safely and economically. Buyers can browse for artworks according to size, subject, price range and the arti
New York “Street Photographer”, Jim Steinhardt, Dies
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Gendell Gallery is saddened to announce the passing of Jim Steinhardt. Over the years the gallery has had the honor to present the work of New York “Street Photographer”, Jim Steinhardt, from his two noted series, “Homage to the Working Man” and “Witness to Childhood”. First exhibited during the 1940’s & 1950’s, this body of work exemplified Steinhardt’s photographic ideal to “seek a pure vision of the social landscape of New York”, paralleling that of New York’s Photo League. As a New York photographer during the 40’s & 50’s, Steinhardt’s work appeared in Life magazine (June 1949), the New York Times and photography quarterly Camera Work, amongst others. Exhibitions at this time included group shows at New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Argent Gallery, as well as a three man show with Arnold Newman & Tosh Matsumoto at the NY Photo League. During the 1970’s, Steinhardt was a professor
SFMOMA Announces Interactive Rooftop Garden App for iPad
SAN FRANCISCO, CA.- Today the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) announced its interactive Rooftop Garden App for iPad is now available on App Store. The app is an enhanced version of the Rooftop Garden App for iPhone and iPod Touch, a multimedia guide originally launched in January 2010 on the occasion of the museum’s 75th anniversary. From the museum that brought visitors the very first handheld multimedia gallery tour back in 2001 comes a new way to explore modern and contemporary art. The Rooftop Garden App for iPad lets visitors get up close and personal with both the artworks and the careful planning that went into creating the entire Rooftop Sculpture Garden experience. It provides access to the garden from all angles, with commentary about the sculptures, an interview with the architects, plan drawings of the space, a musical response by saxophonist George Brooks, a video feature on the people behind the Rooftop Coffee Bar featuring Blue Bottle Coffee, and rema
Exhibition of the 2010 Governor General’s Awards at the National Gallery of Canada
OTTAWA.- They are sculptors, filmmakers, painters, video artists, photographers, or visionary administrators. Their works and reputations have reached beyond our borders to garner global attention. Today they are being awarded one of the highest national distinctions for their exceptional careers and remarkable contributions to the visual and media arts. They are the winners of the 2010 Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts, and their pioneering works will be presented to the public starting this Saturday, until June 20, in a special exhibition located in the contemporary galleries at the National Gallery of Canada (NGC). For the past decade, the NGC, in collaboration with the Canada Council for the Arts and the Governor General of Canada, has celebrated the contributions of the recipients by hosting an annual exhibition of their works. “These artists are standard bearers of Canadian