Review: Platform Papers 62: Performing Arts Markets and their Conundrums, by Justin Macdonnell (Currency Press) The performing arts may be a public good that serve to enrich Australia’s cultural imagination, but they are also a product competing for audience share and government, corporate and private support. Established in 1994, the Australian Performing Arts Market (APAM)...
Art
There’s Been a Spike in Fake African Art. What’s Being Done to Fight It
The art world has been dealing with fakes for more than 2 000 years, with perhaps the most notorious case being the forgeries of Dutch master Johannes Vermeer’s paintings by artist Han van Meegeren during the Second World War. Now African art is becoming a larger and larger target. Fakes are flooding the South African...
Why Italian Cinema Is Starting to Glamorize the Mafia
For almost a century, American filmmakers have glamorized the Mafia, depicting their ranks as so charismatic and quick-witted that you might want to invite them over for dinner. Audiences saw this most recently in “The Irishman,” which reunites a star cast of the usual suspects – Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci –...
Sahel at the Met
From the Met: From the first millennium, Africa’s western Sahel—a vast area on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, spanning what is today Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger—was the birthplace of a succession of influential states fueled by regional and global trade networks. Opening on January 30 at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Sahel: Art...
Getting to the ‘Art’ of Dementia: Researchers Highlight Benefits of Art Intervention
University of Canberra researchers have shown that art gallery programs can improve the wellbeing of people living with dementia – and they’ve backed it up by testing study participants’ saliva. Published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the UC study monitored new participants of the National Gallery of Australia’s (NGA) Art and Dementia program over six...
Artist without Boundaries: Jordi Mollà
Society tends to categorize people by their primary occupation: oh, you’re an actor; a doctor; a politician. But many people do pursue more than one role, even simultaneously; and there are many actors who are known for their work as musicians, activists, philanthropists, athletes– and even artists. The Spanish actor Jordi Mollà is one of...
Eleanor Antin: Time’s Arrow
From August 24 to January 5, 2020, the Art Institute of Chicago presents Eleanor Antin: Time’s Arrow, an exhibition marking the first occasion CARVING: A Traditional Sculpture (1972) and CARVING: 45 Years Later (2017) have been shown together. One of the most important artists of her generation, Antin has been a provocateur since the 1960s, creating pioneering work in a variety...
Andy Warhol—From A to B and Back Again
From soup cans to celebrity portraits, electric chairs to album covers, the images of Andy Warhol are among the most recognized and celebrated the world over. Oct 20, 2019-Jan 26, 2020 Regenstein Hall and the Stone Gallery This major retrospective—the first to be organized by a US institution in 30 years—builds on the wealth of...
Is Virtual Reality the Next Big Thing in Art Therapy?
The ever-expanding field of virtual reality (VR) has been used in health care settings like physical rehabilitation. It’s also made its way into therapy settings to reduce phobias and delusions. Could creative arts therapies be the next frontier for VR? Researchers from Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions in the Creative Arts Therapies Department conducted a study...
MoMA PS1 to Present First New York Exhibition of Niki de Saint Phalle in Spring 2020
MoMA PS1 will present the first New York museum exhibition of the work of visionary feminist and activist artist Niki de Saint Phalle (American and French, 1930‒2002). On view from April 5 to September 7, 2020, the exhibition will feature over 100 works created from the 1970s until the artist’s death, including sculptures, prints, drawings,...