RIPNEKST: Ex-Houston Graffiti Writer NEKST Has Died
Sean ??, aka NEKST has died. He began writing as Next in Houston in 1996, and was voted “best Graffiti writer” in 2003, by the Houston Press, even as they suggested he move to escape relentless police pressure. He did a stint in Austin; Rachel Koper of Austin’s Women and Their Work Gallery had this [...]
Layer-Cake City: New Roman Excavation Finished, Subway, Under Art Center, Under Traffic Circle
Excavations for a new subway station in Rome had unsurprisingly, run afoul of “the most important Roman discovery in 80 years”, according to the Guardian (UK). While tunneling under the ancient Italian capital, railway workers uncovered an amphitheater built by the Emperor Hadrian in 123 c.e., which has been excavated and will open to the [...]
Art Fair Buying Spurred by Fiscal Cliff
The Art Newspaper (Art Basel Edition) reports that the fiscal cliff, and attendant economic uncertainty if anything, has been good for sales of high-end art at the Art Basel Miami Beach art fair this week. Melanie Gerlis, Gareth Harris and Riah Pryor interviewed collectors and dealers who felt that the looming tax uncertainty for the [...]
Whitney Announces Curators for 2014 Biennial
On Thursday The Whitney Museum announced three curators for the 2014 Whitney Biennial: Tate Modern film curator Stuart Comer, curator of film at Tate modern, Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia associate curator Anthony Elms assistant curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, and Michelle Grabner, chair of the painting and drawing department at the [...]
Saltz as Low-Budget Collector: If it Quacks like a Richter . . .
Art critic Jerry Saltz has gotten the collecting bug- but, not being able to afford the seven-figure prices of the Gerhard Richter paintings he craved, instead challenged artists to fake one for him. He details his trials and eventual success at commissioning a satisfyingly Richterian abstraction for $155, and the promise and challenge of what [...]
Accused Picasso Vandal Speaks: KPRC Interviews Uriel Landeros in Monterrey, Mexico
Intrepid local TV news reporters tracked Uriel Landeros to Monterrey, where he is hiding out from charges of felony graffiti and criminal mischief in Houston after allegedly spray painting over Picasso’s Woman in Red Armchair at the Menil Collection. In a brief interview with KPRC TV’s Nefertiti Jacquez, Landeros claims association with the Occupy movement, [...]
Met Sued by Members Hoping to Overturn the Free Museum’s $25 Admission Fee*
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is being sued by two of its members who claim that the museum intentionally makes it difficult to understand that the $25 admission charge is merely a suggestion, not a requirement. The City originally granted the Met its prime location in Central Park on the condition that [...]
Urban Art: It’s Not Always Crime Anymore (In Canada)
In Toronto, a panel of five city staffers with backgrounds in “the arts, urban design, architecture and other relevant disciplines” has been officially set up to decide on issues of the preservation of street art. The panel decides whether a given piece of street art is of sufficient artistic merit to exempt the owner of [...]
5 from 1: Ryder Richards
5 from 1 presents the work of one artist in conversation with five sources that are driving their studio practice. The rest is up to you. Ryder Richards (link) Breech, 2012 plastic, wood, graphite, gunpowder 84″ x 38″ x 46″
Gagosian Lawsuit Turns Over Art Market Rock: Mega-Dealer Admits Double-Dealing is Frequent
The New York Times reports that in a recent lawsuit mega-dealer Larry Gagosian revealed that he frequently represented both the seller and buyer in multimillion dollar art deals without disclosing his double-agent status to either party. The dispute arose over the sale of a Roy Lichtenstein painting: collector Jan Cowles claims that Gagosian sold the [...]
