Categories
blog Society

Hong Kong’s Sweeping Cultural Prestige Offensive

Plans include a modern art museum double the size of London’s Tate Modern, the world’s most visited museum.

Categories
Society

Gramsci In The ‘Hood – Why Italy’s Marxist Icon Is Being Honored In The Bronx

NEW YORK – In the art world, auctions and mega galleries dominate. There are departed graffiti artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat who sell for tens of millions of dollars. Venice’s biennial tips its hat to ‘outsider’ artists, such as Antonio Ligabue, and mixes them with ‘insiders’, such as Richard Serra. Enter Thomas Hirschhorn, a creator of […]

Categories
Society

Tunisian Art Dealer Tests Limits Of Islamists With Otto Dix Nudes

DJERBA – Otto Dix in Tunisia? Sounds like a mistake, a geographical accident, as if somebody or something got on the wrong plane. Not so. There really are some 100 works — sketches, drawings, oils — by famed German New Objectivity artist Otto Dix (1891-1969) on exhibit on the holiday island of Djerba. On the […]

Categories
Society

This Is Not An Article – How Journalism Has Gone Post-Modern

-Essay- GENEVA – Have you ever heard of Dan Rollman? If so, you are spending way too much time on your computer – just like me. Dan is a Canadian native who now lives in New York and works in media. On May 28, he caught the attention of Internet addicts when he went viral […]

Categories
Society

A Different Touch Of Urban Art: Graffiti For The Blind

NANTES – “Do not touch…” When she ran her fingers over this Braille inscription on the wall of the Sainte-Croix church, in the city of Nantes, western France, the young blind woman burst out laughing. After translation, her sighted friends were also won over by the irony of the artist. Working under the pseudonym The […]

Categories
Global Gourmet

Eleven Coffee Foam Masterpieces From Japan’s “Cappuccino Painter”

Worldcrunch OSAKA – Tired of getting the same cup o” Joe every morning? Think your Starbucks barista should be more of a bartista? Meet Kazuki Yamamoto, a 26-year-old Japanese “cappuccino painter” based in Osaka, who took latte art (drawing on espresso with milk) to the next level. No doubt Yamamoto’s unbelievable 2D and 3D moch’art […]

Categories
Society

Ai Weiwei Releases Profanity-Laced, Subversive Music Video

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (China), AFP Worldcrunch BEIJING – Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei has released a foul-mouthed heavy metal music video entitled Dumbass that parodies his months in police detention. In the video for the top single from his upcoming debut album The Divine Comedy, Weiwei tells the story of his 81 days […]

Categories
Society

Under The Influence: Tracing A Long, Twisted History Of Artists And Their Drugs

Whether alcohol or absinthe, LSD or heroin, some of humanity’s creative geniuses produced their greatest work as mind-altering substances did theirs. A Paris exhibit connects the dots.

Categories
Society

Beirut, Where Art And Bling Meet Civil War

BEIRUT – Somehow, the shots missed Jesus. He survived the rampage by armed men in St. George’s Cathedral during the Lebanese civil war. But since the mosaic of which he is a part is otherwise shell-pocked, his figure has become something of an attraction. The cathedral is not far from downtown Beirut’s posh hotels, and […]

Categories
Society

Giant Rubber Ducks, The Worldwide Tour

THE STANDARD, SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (Hong Kong) Worldcrunch HONG KONG– A five-story-high rubber duck floated into Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour on Thursday morning. Maybe you’ve seen this before. Maybe not. Maybe you’re really not amused? Well this particular duck happens to be a piece of conceptual art from Dutch sculptor Florentijn Hofman; and the […]

Categories
Food / Travel

Italy’s Tourist Industry Aims To Please New (Rich) Visitors From Emerging Markets

ROME – Italy is a place of culture, beauty, and a well-oiled style of life — crisis or not. Foreigners always return for more. But in order to make sure that the tourists keep coming back — and telling their friends — some guidelines are needed. According to data from the federation of hotels “Fedalberghi”, […]

Categories
Economy

Can You Teach Starving Artists How To Make A Living?

New programs in Germany share business and entrepreneurial know-how with the dreamer demographic.

Categories
Society

The Dangerous World Of Independent Film In China

An interview with Zhang Xianmin, founder of one of the many independent cultural events that were banned last year by the Chinese government.

Categories
Society

Art Forgery Is A Family Affair In Russia

KOMMERSANT (Russia)

 Worldcrunch MOSCOW – It was a very particular family enterprise. Twin brothers, both professional artists, painted more than 800 paintings and then sold them, with the help of one of the brother’s daughter, claiming that they were the work of well-known 20th century Russian artists such as Kazimir Malevich. Painting by Kazimir Malevich. […]

Categories
Society

A Hidden Gem For Picasso Lovers Reopens Better Than Ever In Berlin

BERLIN – There are impressive museum collections – indeed entire museums – of works by Pablo Picasso: in Malaga and New York, Paris and Barcelona, Münster, Madrid, Basel and Cologne. The best one? Berlin – part of the legendary collection of art dealer Heinz Berggruen (1914-2007) housed since 1996 in a palazzo-style building across from […]

Categories
Society

When Egypt Deletes Women’s Rights Heroines From School Textbooks

Street artists spray the images of the women who have fought for equality in Egypt, from the early 20th century to the Jan. 25 uprising.

Categories
Geopolitics

Turkey vs. The Louvre: Ankara Renews Its Quest To Recover Antiquities

ISTANBUL – The treasure of Troy is back. The collection of golden jewelry from the ancient city, which had been stolen during the 19th century, was handed back to Turkey by the University of Pennsylvania last September. The precious jewelry – known as the “Troy gold” – had been looted after the first excavations of […]

Categories
Society

The Evolution Of Chinese Painting – How An “Old Lotus” Brought Portraits Back In Vogue

BEIJING – In the history of Eastern and Western art, the aesthetic standards for painting have been more or less the same. The most esteemed paintings were large scenes with people in them. They can be broken down into the two categories, of either historical or religious nature. The classic scene of Christ being taken […]

Categories
Society

Rust-Belt Louvre – Famed Museum Opens Branch In Forsaken Mining Town

LENS – Matthieu Debas, the owner of the “Chez Cathy” bar, is peeling some potatoes for tonight’s French fries. Across the street, he can see the faint lights of the construction site. On Rue Paul-Bert, cars are zigzagging around heavy equipment, lit up by the lights of the diggers. As the inauguration date of the […]

Categories
Society

Brazilian Architect Icon Niemeyer Dies At 104 – Ten Photos Of His Great Works

FOLHA DE S. PAULO, O GLOBO (Brazil) Worldcrunch RIO DE JANEIRO – Oscar Niemeyer, a Brazilian national icon and one of the most celebrated architects of the 20th century, died on Wednesday in a Rio de Janeiro hospital. He was 104. Niemeyer rose to international fame as the architect of the main government buildings in […]

Categories
Society

Salvador Dali: Inveterate Clown Or Timeless Genius?

The Pompidou Center’s current Dalí retrospective sheds light on one of the greatest painters of the 20th century, whose eccentric escapades have long obscured his talent. PARIS – It’s with time that legends are usually made, either forging their destiny as heroes or demonizing their very existence. Salvador Dalí didn’t have the patience to wait. […]

Categories
Society

Death And Beauty – When Is War Photography Art?

MUNICH – In his Munich art gallery, Daniel Blau has an exhibition called Death and Disaster, which features German and American war photographs. Whether to view these photographs as documents or art depends on one’s perspective. The pictures bear witness not only to death and destruction but also to the power of imagery as a […]

Categories
Society

Stick A Fork In It, Damien Hirst: You’re Done

Why it is time for British art to leave its bad boy behind.

Categories
Society

FIAC Or Frieze: London And Paris Compete For Art Collectors

PARIS – Although Switzerland’s Art Basel is still incontestably the top fair for contemporary art, London’s Frieze, which took place last week at Regent’s Park, and Paris’s FIAC, which begins Thursday, are now sharing the second place on the podium. “Each fair has a different identity and energy. Paris is more established, while London is […]

Categories
Society

The Man Who Sold His Body For Art, And Where He’ll Hang For Posterity

PARIS – At every exhibit opening, he takes off his shirt, sits on a pedestal, his back to the public, waiting for a visitor he will never see and doesn’t want to hear. Turning on his MP3 player in order to block out cruel comments and hurtful jokes is part of the ritual. Tim Steiner […]

Categories
Society

The Meaning And Method Of Pablo Picasso, The Brand

Many years ago, when Italian military service was still compulsory, the army subjected its new conscripts to a general culture test with various types of questions. One asked: “Who is Leonardo?,” which prompted a surprising range of responses. Someone, it seems, even replied “The pope.” The artist behind the most famous painting in the world, […]

Categories
Society

History’s Worst Restoration: 80-Year-Old Woman Defends Work On Century-Old Jesus Mural

LE MONDE, FRANCE TV INFO (France), EL PAIS (Spain) Worldcrunch The 80-year-old Spanish woman responsible for what some are calling history’s worst restoration of a work of art spoke out in the media on Wednesday to defend her actions. “We’ve always fixed everything ourselves in this church. The priest asked me to do it, he […]

Exit mobile version