Headlines: Fruit Trees, Caesar, Avocados
1) Art Collective Plants Free Fruit Around Los Angeles
The California arts collective Fallen Fruit has installed flowering fruit trees in parks throughout Los Angeles, as a form of public art. The fruit that is eventually produced by the trees is free to be picked by anyone passing by. Fallen Fruit have been planting fruit trees including avocados, figs, oranges, and lemons since 2004, as a way of attempting to encourage…
Headlines: Art for Votes, Stolen Sculptures, Data Art
1) Banksy Rescinds Art for Votes Offer
Banksy was forced to withdraw an offer to provide artworks to those voting against the British Conservative Party after being informed that this could invalidate those votes. The artist had originally offered prints of his well-known “Girl With Balloon” artwork to voters who provided a photograph of their ballot. Police informed Banksy that this would constitute accepting gifts in exchange…
Headlines: Fearless Girl, Scaffold, Google
2) Fearless Girl Acquires Canine Companion
The saga of “Fearless Girl” continued this week with the addition of a small sculpture of a pug urinating on the original statue. The pug sculpture is attributed to New York artist Alex Gardega, who has called the entire affair “corporate nonsense.” According to Gardega, “Fearless Girl” has nothing to do with women’s rights and only serves to degrade the original charging bull…
Headlines: SeuratBot, Basquiat, Craigslist
1) SeuratBot Goes Up Against Actor in Art Contest
Robots can make art now - or can they? This piece in TechCrunch shows what happened when an actor was pitted against SeuratBot, a robot designed to create realistic drawings informed by cameras and digital scanning technology. The bot and actor Judah Friedlander were both given time to create a sketch of live model, after which a professional art critic was called in to judge the…
Headlines: Twin Peaks, Chris Burden, Projection
1) Gearing Up For the Release of New Twin Peaks
Coffee illustrated by Jason Logan
Whether you’re a die-hard fan or a newcomer to the show, it’s hard to deny the widespread excitement over this Sunday’s airing of the Twin Peaks reprise. The New York Times has everything you need to get back into David Lynch’s iconic, abruptly-cancelled television series, including this illustrated glossary featuring art by Jason Logan and…
Headlines: Nigerian Artists, Centered, Rennie Collection
1) Venice Beinnale Hosts First Nigerian Pavilion
The 57th Venice Biennale is now open, and among its most interesting sites is the Nigeria Pavilion - the first time the country has had a pavilion in the festival. The pavilion is located inside an 18th-century building that was once home to Venice’s gold leaf and gold thread guild. Inside, an exhibition titled How About Now? features works by Victor Ehikhamenhor, Peju Alatise,…
Headlines: Kubrick, .ART, Smithsonian
1) Step Into 2001: A Space Odyssey at LA's 14th Factory
If you’ve ever wished that you could step into the mysterious room that’s seen at the end of Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film 2001: A Space Odyssey, now’s your chance - if you’re in Los Angeles, that is. At the 14th Factory, a gallery located in a large, out-of-the-way warehouse space in the Californian city, artist Simon Birch and architectural firm KPlusK have…
Headlines: The Met, The CIA, Art Criticism
1) Met in Talks Regarding New Mandatory Admission Fees
The Metropolitan Museum in New York could potentially implement a mandatory entry fee for non-residents of New York. The museum, which has long been a completely taxpayer-supported institution, was free for over a century and has only in recent years introduced a “suggested donation” for entry. However, the Met’s current multi-million dollar budget deficit is not being…
Headlines: Bulls, Bombs, and Bullies
1) New York's Chinatown Gathers Submission for New Public Artwork
New York’s Chinatown is putting out a call for submissions for a new work of public art to be installed at the point between Chinatown and Little Italy. Submissions are being accepted until June 19, with the prompt “Gateways to Chinatown.” With a set budget of $900,000 USD, the project’s goal is to promote Chinatown’s increasing identity as a center for the…
Headlines: MoCA Chicago, Chagall, Robot Advisors
1) MoCA Chicago Will Offer Free Admission to Teens Starting June 1st
The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago is raising its admission fees slightly in exchange for widening the age range of free admission. Where currently the museum offers free admission to visitors 12 and under, starting June 1st anyone under the age of 18 will be allowed in for free. Museum CFO Peggy Papaioannou notes that the museum’s goal has always been to…
Headlines: Las Vegas, Street Art, and Rosenquist
1) The Ongoing Battle to Get Las Vegas an Art Museum
The latest installment in a series of attempts to get a lasting art museum started in Las Vegas is showing promise. Proponents of a pop-up museum in downtown Las Vegas have raised over $2 million to put on a show showcasing contemporary art from Nevada. This show, in partnership with the Nevada Museum of Art, has also received a parcel of land that could potentially become the home…
Headlines: Tuner, Interactive Exhibit, Public Sculpture
1) Turner Prize Changes Rules to Include the Over-50 Crowd
The Turner Prize, Britain’s “most prestigious” art award, has announced a change to its regulations that will allow artists over the age of 50 to be nominated. The prize, which has been awarded annually since 1984, was initially open to participants in any area of the arts and at any age. Since 1988, however, the Turner Prize has been open only to artists under the age…
Headlines: Slashed Painting, Brad Pitt, Radiohead
1) Art Supply Sales Jump Thanks to Large Protests
A recent report has indicated a jump in art supply sales throughout major cities in the United States, thanks mainly to the increase in large-scale protests following the election of Donald Trump. According to the report, the week prior to the International Women’s March on January 21st saw a 33 percent increase in sales of poster boards and a 42 percent increase in sales of foam…
Headlines: Samsung, Lines, Protests
1) Samsung Introduced TV Screen That Doubles as Wall Art
Samsung has introduced a new product that acts as a hybrid of a TV set and a digital photo frame. Called The Frame, the new screen is a wall-mounted TV monitor that can play shows just like any other set, but is design with an outer frame that makes it look like an art print or a painting. When you’re not watching TV, The Frame gives you the option of setting it to “art…
Headlines: Vermeer, Women's Day, Ivanka
1) Wildly Popular Exhibition Causes Chaos at the Louvre
A Vermeer exhibition at the Louvre is causing chaos and upheaval at the French institution. “Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting,” a blockbuster retrospective of works by the Dutch master and his contemporaries, has thus far been marred by the museum’s apparent unpreparedness for unprecedented visitor numbers. According to reports, the first day of the exhibition saw…