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☆ Spare the bear: Sculpture of Spain's rifle-wielding ex-king puzzles onlookers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Once revered for his role in Spain's transition to democracy, he is now seen as a liability for his son, King Felipe. After eight minutes standing next to the bronze bear figure, Miranda removed his unauthorised statue - 170 cm (67 inches) tall and made of polyurethane and modelling clay covered with metallic paint resembling patina on bronze. The Bear and Strawberry Tree - the official symbols of Madrid - are photographed by thousands of tourists daily in the middle of the Puerta del Sol square. Miranda will have an exhibition in Madrid next month which will include images of the performance in Puerta del Sol. Reporting by Emma Pinedo, editing by Andrei Khalip and Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Fact Check-Bronze statue of naked person in The Hague falsely located in Oxford, UK
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A bronze statue of a naked person with both male and female body parts, which has stood in The Hague since 2017, is being misnamed and falsely linked to the British city of Oxford online. One Facebook user (here) uploaded a photo of the artwork with the caption: “This statue was recently unveiled in Oxford. But the statue, which was created by artist Femmy Otten (bit.ly/3MBClFb and here), has been located in The Hague since 2017 (here), according to Stroom Den Haag, a contemporary art centre based in the Dutch city. Reuters found no credible or local news reports about the artwork being moved to Oxford when searching for numerous combinations of relevant keywords online (bit.ly/43s5JDN, bit.ly/3A1NzLn and bit.ly/3mww5Us). The “And Life Is Over There” statue has been situated in The Hague, the Netherlands, since 2017.

☆ Exploring Picasso’s Málaga
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Andrew Ferren | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Christine Picasso renewed those efforts in the 1990s by offering to donate a portion of her own collection of Picasso’s work to establish a new museum in the city. Since the Museo Picasso Málaga opened in 2003, it has helped convert the city into a top cultural destination, not just in Spain, but in southern Europe. The sidewalks and pretty pedestrian streets of the historic city center once again bustle with pedestrians amid the palm trees, geraniums and bougainvillea. “Evidently, people don’t want to just lie on the beach.”If you goWithin Spain, Málaga is a short flight from both Barcelona and Madrid; the latter is also less than three hours away on Spain’s high-speed AVE rail network. About 300 feet from the Picasso Museum, Hotel Palacio Solecio offers luxury accommodations in a beautifully restored 18th-century palace; doubles from about 300 euros, or about $326.

☆ Masks off, beer poured at Hong Kong Rugby Sevens after COVID restrictions dropped
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] The general view of Hong Kong Stadium during the first day of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament in Hong Kong, China November 4, 2022. The Hong Kong leg of British music festival Creamfields is also taking place on April 1-2. The Chinese special administrative region has hosted financial summits in the past two weeks as well as Art Basel Hong Kong, one of Asia's leading contemporary art fairs. Scores of events were cancelled, postponed or taken to other Asian cities such as Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul because of Hong Kong's rigid coronavirus rules. "Over 20% of tickets purchased in the public sale are coming from overseas audiences, signalling Hong Kong’s return is in full swing."

☆ Hong Kong sharpens fine art edge over Singapore
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Thomas Shum | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

HONG KONG, March 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Chinese collectors are piling into Hong Kong for Art Basel this week. As the financial hub jostles with rival Singapore, its vibrant art market could help it grab a bigger slice of Asia’s wealth management pie. The cream of that crop tends to go on the block in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is hardly out of the economic woods. But the chattering crowds at Art Basel should remind investors that the city retains a profitable artistic edge.

☆ Crowds swarm Art Basel Hong Kong as galleries report sales bonanza
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] An installation titled "Calligraphic Wig" by Daniel Knorr is displayed at Art Basel in Hong Kong, China, March 23, 2023. Art Basel Hong Kong is one of the first big events the city has held since dropping its COVID-19 mask mandate this month. City authorities are welcoming the art fair as they try to reinvigorate the economy and promote Hong Kong as a vibrant cultural hub. Teresa Choi, a visitor from Macau, said Hong Kong was much busier than during COVID times. "Hong Kong has always been the international financial hub for Asia ... Travellers are regaining their confidence about Hong Kong and the economy and want to come."

HONG KONG, March 21 (Reuters) - The screening of "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey", a British slasher film due to be released in Hong Kong this week, has been cancelled after cinemas in the city declined to show it, its distributor said on Tuesday. These 30+ screens in Hong Kong are the only ones with such issues." Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020 cracking down on dissent after the city was rocked by anti-government, pro-democracy protests a year earlier. Two films were dropped from Hong Kong's international film festival last year after failing to get approval from authorities. The cancellation comes as Hong Kong hosts the Art Basel contemporary art fair, with authorities eager to promote the city as a vibrant cultural hub.

REUTERS/Tyrone SiuHONG KONG, March 21(Reuters) - The organisers of Art Basel Hong Kong, one of Asia's leading contemporary art fairs, said on Tuesday they are bullish on art market prospects in the region, with China and Hong Kong now having lifted all COVID lockdown restrictions. The annual fair, which also has iterations in Basel, Paris, and Miami Beach, runs from March 23-25 in Hong Kong. "Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the Asian art market has also remained resilient, with Greater China accounting for 20% of worldwide sales by value and ranking second as the second largest regional art market in the latest edition of the Art Basel," Art Basel CEO Noah Horowitz told reporters. Leading international galleries at Art Basel this year include Gagosian, Hauser & Wirth, Lehmann Maupin, Victoria Miro, Pace, Perrotin, White Cube and David Zwirner. We haven't really changed the process of the show since 2013," said Angelle Siyang-Le, the director Art Basel Hong Kong.

☆ A rare bronze chandelier bought for $300 in lucky find sold for $3.5 million at auction
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A chandelier purchased at an antique store for just $300 has sold at auction for $3.5 million. Artist John Craxton stumbled across the Alberto Giacometti chandelier in a London shop in the 1960s. Artist John Craxton stumbled across the Alberto Giacometti chandelier in a London antique store in the 1960s, Christie's auction house explained. In an auction of Craxton's art collection held on February 28, the bronze chandelier, made in 1946, outsold its top estimate of £2.5 million ($3 million). It is unknown how it ended up in the antique shop in London, said Christie's.

☆ Giambattista Valli fills fall runway show with tweeds at Paris Fashion Week
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A model presents a creation by designer Giambattista Valli as part of his Fall-Winter 2023/2024 Women's ready-to-wear collection show during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, March 3, 2023. REUTERS/Sarah MeyssonnierPARIS, March 3 (Reuters) - Giambattista Valli switched things up for his fall runway show at Paris Fashion Week, taking a step back from his signature, airy floral styles to focus on tweeds, which he also offered for men. The show opened with a black, sleeveless jumpsuit cinched at the waist with a gold belt, and worn over a white t-shirt. Further shaking the fabric from its traditional twin-set role, Valli worked the material into long overcoats, loose jackets, mini-dresses and a bright, red jumpsuit. Popular with the red carpet set, and known for voluminous, tulle dresses, Valli broadened his fan base with a collaboration with H&M in 2019.

☆ Dior spins 1950s styles into modern looks at Paris Fashion Week
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Mimosa Spencer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Models present creations by designer Maria Grazia Chiuri as part of her Fall-Winter 2023/2024 Women's ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Dior during Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, February 28, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit TessierPARIS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Dior designer Maria Grazia Chiuri dove into archives from the 1950s for the French fashion house’s fall women's catwalk show, adding a modern spin to the era's feminine mainstays. Chiuri sought to add a Parisian flair to the styles of the period, which are often associated with American Hollywood productions. Held on the second day of Paris Fashion Week, the show drew crowds of fans angling for a glimpse of Kpop singer Jisoo and actress Charlize Theron, who sat in the front row next to members of LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault's family. Reporting by Mimosa Spencer and Louise Dalmasso, editing by Deepa BabingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ How representation of Black artists in galleries, museums is changing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Lorie Konish | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"There's a lot more support for Black artists that kind of came out of George Floyd's murder and institutions realizing that they need to do more," Peterson said. Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty ImagesThe market for work by Black American artists grew by nearly 400% between 2008 and 2021, according to a recent report from art market website ArtNet. Acquisitions of work by Black American artists peaked in 2015, two years after the start of the Black Lives Matter movement. "My impression is there are vastly increased number of solo shows and group shows dedicated to Black artists in London, in Paris, in New York, across the United States," Elliott said. Works from established artists like Kerry James Marshall that depict Black figures are influencing the work of new artists and creating a lineage, Elliott noted.

Box office receipts can rise as much as 75% in the weeks following a best picture nomination, according to Comscore data. The distributor, United Artists Releasing, planned the release strategy to coincide with this week's Oscar nominations, with the hope the movie would benefit from a box-office bounce. "Tar," a best picture contender starring Cate Blanchett as a manipulative orchestra conductor, will expand to 535 theaters from 100. 'NOT LOOKING GREAT'Even legendary director Steven Spielberg has had trouble drawing crowds to best picture nominee "The Fabelmans," his autobiographical story about family strife and anti-Semitism he faced as a teenager. Warner Bros is re-releasing the film in movie houses this weekend after it landed eight Oscar nominations including best picture and best actor.

☆ Saint Laurent opens Paris Fashion Week with chic evening wear for men
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] A model presents a creation by designer Anthony Vaccarello during his Menswear ready-to-wear Fall/Winter 2023-2024 collection show for fashion house Saint Laurent as part of Men's Fashion Week in Paris, France, January 17, 2023. REUTERS/Benoit TessierPARIS, Jan 17 (Reuters) - French luxury house Saint Laurent kicked off Paris Fashion Week's menswear shows Tuesday night with a sleek lineup of sharply tailored evening looks for men, drawn up by designer Anthony Vaccarello. Models strode on pointy, heeled boots, their turtlenecks pulled up high, while tightly cinched overcoats were worn with the collars turned up. She continued to play as Vaccarello walked out for his bow, prompting a burst of applause and cheers from the audience. Paris Fashion Week's menswear collections run through Jan. 22, and will feature shows from high-end labels including Louis Vuitton, Dior Homme, Givenchy, Hermes and Maison Margiela.

☆ Take a look at the dazzling artwork being shown on a huge 'digital canvas' in London
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( Stephanie Stacey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Outernet London has 23,000 square feet of floor-to-ceiling high-definition LED video screens. It displays "experiential advertising" as well as immersive contemporary digital art works. But perhaps the most eye-catching element of the project, which opened last November, is the 23,000 square feet of super high-definition LED screens at street level that it's calling the "world's largest digital canvas." The immense, immersive 360-degree screens display "experiential advertising" from companies including Burberry, Amazon, Netflix, BMW, EA Games, and Chanel – as well as contemporary digital art exhibitions. Take a look at Outernet and its immersive digital artworks.

Just a few years ago, the conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas had no idea he would be instrumental in commemorating the lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. It really has been my mission over the past several years.”Workers stand beneath "The Embrace" sculpture in Boston Common, waiting for concrete to be poured, on Dec. 14, 2022. John Tlumacki / Boston Globe via Getty Images fileAiming to both inspire visitors and honor the Kings’ legacy, Thomas’ work will be revealed Friday at Boston Common, America’s oldest city park, in downtown Boston. Bettmann ArchiveKing dedicated his life to the civil rights movement, fighting for racial equality and economic justice. A man reaches to touch a detail of the 20-foot-high bronze sculpture "The Embrace," a memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, in the Boston Common on Jan. 10, 2023, in Boston.

☆ Trailblazing pop and country singer Anita Pointer of the Pointer Sisters has died at 74
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Anita Pointer, who penned many of the Pointer Sisters' hits, died at the age of 74. Pointer and her sisters broke ground for Black women in country and pop with their hits in the '70s and '80s. Pointer was a founding member of the Pointer Sisters, a vocal group from Oakland that achieved critical and commercial success in the '70s and '80s, blending genres such as blues, pop, and R&B. On the original recording, Pointer was also the lead vocalist, as she was for many of the group's hits. In addition to being the first female African-American act to appear at the Grand Ole Opry, the Pointer Sisters were also the first contemporary artists to perform at the San Francisco Opera House.

☆ The Best Architecture of 2022: From Symphonic to Serene
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Michael J. Lewis | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

The gestation of an elephant is nearly two years and that of a building even longer. And so the cultural and economic upheavals of our past two years have not yet begun to express themselves in architecture. The notable buildings of 2022 are a time capsule from a world that had never heard of Covid-19, George Floyd , and a good many other things. The museum sits on a steep bluff overlooking the sea to the west, a setting where a little light goes a long way. Here the discreetly placed windows and skylights bring in just enough sunshine, giving you the physical sense of the atmosphere in which the art was created.

☆ Andy Warhol's portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II has set an auction record, selling for almost $900,000
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Britney Toh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Andy Warhol's 1985 portrait of Queen Elizabeth II sold for almost $900,000, per Canadian auction house Heffel . The portrait of the Queen shattered global records of an editioned Warhol print ever auctioned. Embellished with diamond dust, the print is part of Warhol's 1985 Reigning Queen series. The print is one of four in Warhol's 1985 Reigning Queen series, per The Art Newspaper. This particular print features a portrait of the Queen donning the diamond and pearl Grand Duchess Vladimir Tiara, juxtaposed against a striking regal blue background.

☆ Djerba: The Ancient Tunisian Island Where Contemporary Art Is King
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Abbie Kozolchyk | Photographs Chedly Ben Ibrahim For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

JUST OFF TUNISIA’S southeastern coast sits a spot with a long history of intriguing names, from the Odyssean Land of the Lotus-Eaters to the Flaubertian Island of Golden Sand. But a decidedly modern moniker turned out to be the one I couldn’t resist: Djerbahood. It’s a new handle for an ancient village on the island of Djerba, where street art has transformed the weather-beaten walls into a sprawling open-air gallery. I’d long been meaning to visit, drawn to the singular coexistence between Djerba’s ancient Jewish and Muslim communities—and tempted by the occasional sand-and-sea postcard from a Parisian friend (one of the legions of Europeans and North Africans who retreat regularly to the island’s beach resorts). When I started seeing news of a fresh wave of art installations this year, I finally booked my trip.

☆ New York art auction fall highlights include Paul Allen collection and a rare Warhol
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Eduardo MunozNov 4 (Reuters) - The fall art auction season kicks off in New York City next week, with auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's both expecting to bring in record-breaking sales. Among the highlights is Christie's Paul G. Allen Collection, which includes more than 150 pieces spanning 500 years. The collection, from the estate of the late Microsoft co-founder, includes works by Pablo Picasso, Georges Seurat, Paul Cezanne and Lucien Freud. Sotheby's Modern Art Evening Auction will be held on Nov. 14, followed by a Contemporary Evening Auction on Nov. 16. "There are so many amazing works on offer," Sotheby's head of impressionist and modern art for the Americas, Julian Dawes, said.

☆ The Music of Inuit Art
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-29 | by ( Peter Saenger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

In the Inuit language, tusarnitut means “sounds that please the ear.” It’s a fitting title for a new exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts focused on the power of songs and music in Inuit art. “TUSARNITUT! Music Born of the Cold,” opening on Nov. 10, juxtaposes prints, drawings and installations by modern and contemporary artists with musical instruments and field recordings. Today, more than 180,000 Inuit live in a band of northern territory stretching from Eastern Siberia through Alaska, Canada and Greenland. In the traditionally male art of drum dancing, performers use drums of seal or caribou skin to celebrate important events like births, marriages or successful hunts, as well as to honor the dead.

☆ ‘Chinese chorizo’ honors fusion of two cultures in Arizona
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

It’s a history that older Tucson Chinese residents say they have spent years trying to make more visible. To promote the endeavor, she organized the inaugural Tucson Chinese Chorizo Festival. The 15,000-square-foot Tucson Chinese Cultural Center is a bustling hub that’s part community center and part museum, and serves at least 5,000. On the walls are display boards with mini-profiles of long-gone Chinese grocery stores. The center also has a YouTube channel that includes a 2014 video on Chinese chorizo.

☆ New contemporary art event boosts Paris scene
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Elizabeth Pineau | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A visitor walks past the "Buste de Diego" (1961) by artist Alberto Giacometti as Paris+ par Art Basel international contemporary art fair opens in Paris, France, October 19, 2022. The event, "Paris+ par Art Basel", was awarded to Art Basel, one of the giants in the art world, which hosts fairs in Switzerland as well as Miami and Hong Kong. Contemporary art, dating roughly from 1945 onwards, made up 23% of the art market in 2020-2021, compared with 3% in 2000-2001, according to the Artprice data bank. The Paris event replaces the International Contemporary Art Fair (Fiac) and follows the high-profile Frieze fair in London. Paris is the only big city in the continent, the only important city for contemporary art, so it was an obvious choice," Kilchmann told Reuters.

☆ ‘Alexis Smith: The American Way’ Review: Southern California Collage
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Peter Plagens | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

La Jolla , Calif.Alexis Smith is not quite a feminist artist, not quite a conceptualist, not quite an installation artist, not always an ironist, and in the beginning she wasn’t even Alexis Smith. In her art, however, Ms. Smith is at times all of those things. Collage—intimate and mural-sized—is her metier, and her sensibility is more literary than plastic. One could easily get the idea from the 50 works on view in “Alexis Smith: The American Way” at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla that the artist has read most of the Great Books of the Western World and seen almost every movie and stage musical ever made. This is slyly accomplished by—to describe a typical Smith collage—a small pictorial souvenir from popular culture coupled with a few typewritten words from, for example, a Raymond Chandler L.A. detective novel.

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