Iron Chef of Music

One year ago, we were all struck by a severe sense of dÃjà vu when the Smithsonian became mired in a disturbingly retro culture war. The controversy stemmed from a National Portrait Gallery exhibit about the experience of gays and lesbians in American art, and specifically one snippet of one video work by a renowned gay artist that a handful of Religious Right activists had deemed sacrilegious. Led by the perennial anti-gay, anti-secular, anti-Semitic scold Bill Donohue and the right-wing propaganda outfit CNS News, soon-to-be House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor succeeded in stirring up the ire of the Religious Right and convincing the Smithsonian to instantly pull the piece of art on the threat of losing the institutions funding.

We had seen this movie before: Jesse Helms demonization of Robert Mapplethorpe in the late 1980s, Newt Gingrichs prurient campaign against the National Endowment for the Arts in the 1990s, Rudy Giulianis opportunistic crusade against the Brooklyn Museums Sensation exhibit in 1999. But after seeming to lay dormant for a decade, the old culture wars have come impressively easy to a new generation of Tea Party leaders.

It helped that they met with little resistance: when the Smithsonian immediately caved to censorship demands, the Right smelled blood. Their success in censoring gay art at the Smithsonian was so encouraging, it seems, that theyre trying it again with the exact same exhibit. But this time theyre doing it in an old favorite battleground of Giuliani Time: the Brooklyn Museum.

The Brooklyn Museum, a private institution housed in a city-owned building, is remounting Hide/Seek, the Smithsonian show that was widely admired by those who saw it and censored by a handful who didnt. The New York museum decided to display the full show, including A Fire in My Belly, the compilation of video works by the late artist David Wojnarowicz – including a few seconds depicting ants crawling on a crucifix –that became the lightning rod for criticism of the Smithsonian show and was ultimately censored.

This has provided the Religious Right with a perfect opportunity to stir up another anti-gay, war on Christmas fuss. In anticipation of the shows opening today, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn sent a letter to the museum objecting to the Wojnarowicz work. New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser quickly weighed in, calling the work a revolting piece of slime and tying it to what she sees as a larger war on Christianity. Peyser also hinted at the real objections behind the vitriol against the Hide/Seek exhibit by slyly noting that Wojnarowicz was a former prostitute who died of complications from AIDS in 1992.

Donohue, in his statement about the Brooklyn exhibit, put it even more bluntly: The fact is that the artist who made the vile video died of self-inflicted wounds: he died of AIDS. The homosexual, David Wojnarowicz, hated the Catholic Church (had he lived by its teachings, he would not have self-destructed).

Into this newly excited fray of far-right hatemongers like Donohue and Peyser walked a small coalition of Republican elected officials, who saw an opportunity to stir up a controversy and benefit from it. Six GOP politicians, including a US congressman, Staten Islands borough president and a handful of councilmembers and assemblymembers sent a letter to the museum offering their interpretation of the work: This is not art, this is Christian-bashing… and an obvious attempt to offend Christians on the eve of one of the holiest times of the Christian faith.

Is this really where we are as a country? Are we letting Bill Donohue be our chief censor of theater and art? Are we letting our elected officials stand in solidarity with people who blame AIDS victims for their own deaths? Is art now a matter of politics, and will political censorship keep Americans from voluntarily seeing art and forming their own opinions?

I have invited Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn to discuss these issues with People For the American Way Foundation in a public forum. I hope he accepts. As the Religious Right and the Republican establishment embraces the culture wars with a renewed fervor, its a conversation that Americans need to have.

Tags: Art

during consistent business hours.

Step 3: Network with your neighbors to spark activity around you.

The location becomes more desirable and others can see the potential, leading to the final step, a lease.

Entrepreneurs Sarah Filley and Alfonso Dominguez (of Tamarindo, La Calle, El Taco Bike and the late FIVEten Studio) are getting ready to launch the Pop-Up Hood (www.popuphood.com) in Old Oakland to fill some of those beautiful but empty Victorian storefronts by Dec. 9.

Activate the space, Snider said. Long-term reduced rent is better than failure after failure after failure, he said.

While we talked, families with children, childless couples and single men and women filed past on their way to City Hall plaza to join Wednesdays Occupy Oakland general strike march on the Port of Oakland. People danced in the street, and a singer climbed into the flatbed of a pickup truck a couple blocks away at Latham Square, where Broadway meets Telegraph.

It all seemed like First Fridays multiplied by 1,000 except for the bananas hanging from everyones neck, the political talk on so many peoples lips and the checkerboard of closed/open storefronts. Rudys Cant Fail diner and the Fat Cat Caf on Telegraph were closed in solidarity with the strike. The nearby pawnshop and book store stayed open. The rest of Oakland seemed to be going about its business. I later started a Storify page (www.Storify.com/angelawoodall) called Unoccupied Oakland.

The soul-searching and media frenzy following the violence after the general strike continued Friday while I was still trying to decide how to write this column. I put some words down on paper and drove over to 25th Street to meet with Danielle Fox, executive director of Art Murmur, at her gallery, Slate. Art Murmur has expanded and compressed like an accordion since it started in 2006 as a triangulation of galleries with points in Northgate, Temescal and North Oakland. They all stayed open late on First Fridays to allow people to crawl from one gallery to another. The gallery locations and First Friday expanded. The latter became an event that by 2009 drew thousands down to the 23rd Street Art Murmur hub. The time to mature came in the summer of 2009. And by the end of 2010, Art Murmur had corporation status, a six-member board and fiscal sponsorship from Fractured Atlas, allowing them to accept tax-free donations and, recently, a grant from Oaklandish.

The mission is the same, but really our commitment is to the core group of 20 members, Fox said.

Those galleries meet and take proposals to the board, whose members include, among others, Fox and local artist John Casey.

The centralization is not for everyone: Rock Paper Scissors Collective pulled out. Meanwhile, a Saturday stroll began to open the way for patrons who might get swallowed up or intimidated by the exuberant street carnival that is First Fridays.

Now Art Murmur is discussing an option to expand by opening up to galleries all the way down to Jack London Square — again.

Extending the path from 26th Street to the waterfront would allow the bridge-and-tunnel crowd to wheel into Oakland on First Fridays but in a less exuberant setting.

They can drop by the Occupy Oakland camp on their way back and forth or just take the Broadway shuttle.

Tags: Art

Art People Gallery, one of San Franciscos premier contemporary art galleries, presents the latest works of internationally acclaimed artist Reiko Muranaga in her Letter to Monet collection.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) November 20, 2011

In July 2004, during a visit to Musee Marmottan in Paris, Japanese artist Reiko Muranaga was deeply moved by Monets painting Impression – Soleil Levant (Impression – Rising Sun), the very painting that gave Impressionism its name. Two days after returning to her studio in San Francisco, Muranaga began working on what was to become her hundred-page long Letter to Monet, a collection inspired by Monets masterpiece at Musee Marmottan. Muranagas solo exhibit at Art People Gallery, Dec. 1-31, will feature the latest creations of her acclaimed collection.

After studying at Stanford under the tutelage of Nathan Oliveira in 1989-1990, Muranaga began a journey that would eventually lead her to singlehandedly create a whole new genre: Abstract Impressionism. In her work, the traditional calligraphy brush strokes learnt while growing up in Japan come together to produce explosions of colors reminiscent of tropical flowers, underwater gardens, and vibrant birds of paradise. Air and fire rush through her canvases, suggesting movement and oftentimes overwhelming energy. As evidenced by an ever-growing list of collectors, Muranagas work elicits a profound emotional response on the part of the viewer.

After seven years of numerous sold-out exhibits, Muranagas Letter to Monet paintings have witnessed an increase in value of 400 percent. To date, thirty of the works from her Letter to Monet series belong to the permanent corporate collection of San Franciscos Hotel Nikko.

Reiko Muranagas Letter to Monet paintings can be seen at Art People Gallery, located in San Franciscos Financial District. The Opening Reception for Muranagas Solo Exhibit is scheduled for Thursday, December 1st, 2011 from 4-7pm.

To learn more about Muranagas Letter to Monet collection, go to www.artpeople.net/

ABOUT ART PEOPLE GALLERY

Art People Gallery is located in the Crocker Galleria, 50 Post St., in the heart of the financial district, near Union Squares exclusive shopping area, close to the MOMA and the Jewish Museum. Art People is a full service gallery that specializes in contemporary fine art painting and sculpture by Bay Area and international artists. Art People also offers residential and corporate placement services including art rental programs, consulting and installation.

Art People Gallery is open Mondays through Fridays 10am-6pm, and on Saturdays from 11am-5pm.

For more information, contact Ali Meamar at (415) 956-3650 or at info@artpeople.net. You can also become a follower of ArtPeople Gallerys Facebook page.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebartpeople/reikomuranaga/prweb8979606.htm

Tags: Art

The Speed Art Museum is planning a major expansion that will literally transform the museum and the University of Louisville campus. The expansion will enable the museum to display more of its permanent collection, which includes a recent blockbuster gift from Bob and Norma Noe of over 100 pieces of Kentucky furniture, paintings and silver; a distinguished collection of European and American art; Native American art; and exciting new acquisitions of contemporary art. The expansion will also provide space for special exhibitions, a new café, a new museum shop, and a new hall for film, performances and lectures. Additionally, a wonderful Art Park and Piazza will be created for the display of sculpture that will engage University of Louisville students and faculty and museum visitors. This is a magnificent enhancement of a museum that has been here since 1927 to benefit the citizens of Louisville, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and the entire region.

The Speed?s director, Dr. Charles Venable, announced recently that $42.5 million has been raised through the quiet phase of the Changing Speed Capital Campaign. With a campaign goal of $50 million for the expansion, the museum has now commenced the public phase of the campaign and seeks to raise an additional $7.5 million.

During the quiet phase of the campaign, museum staff and a dedicated board of trustees brought to life an extensive master plan that was embraced by many of the Speed?s closest supporters and longtime enthusiasts. The result: almost 60 donors have generously committed to the project. Together they have amassed a $42.5 million investment in the future of the Speed Art Museum. Impressively, 14 donors and families have provided gifts or pledges of $1 million or more. Representing three generations of community-inspired philanthropy, leadership donors at this level include: Mary Louise Barr, Christy and the late Owsley Brown II, the late Sara Shallenberger Brown, Paul Chellgren, Elizabeth P. and the late Frederick K. Cressman, James Graham Brown Foundation Inc., Betty and David Jones Sr., Helen C. Powell, Bonnie Dance Thornton, University of Louisville, as well as four anonymous donors.

Tags: Art

Occupy the Art World

The Daily Pic: Maurizio Catellan fills the Guggenheim with playful art that makes the museum – and us – the butt of its joke.

Tags: Art

The fetid, sewage-filled Yamuna River is an unlikely setting for a large-scale art installation.

But organizers of Project Y are hoping their works will attract art lovers who rarely venture onto its filthy banks and draw attention to the chronic pollution of a river worshiped as holy by Hindus.

The public art initiative, with works by four Indian artists and five Germans, aims to raise awareness of the sad state of the Yamuna by linking it with Germanys far cleaner Elbe — where a similar exhibition is being mounted.

Tags: Art

Chelsea Lanphear, 17, a senior at Lamoille Union High School, will be playing her piccolo in the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. Seen on Thursday, November 17, 2011. / GLENN RUSSELL, Free Press

Tags: Art

Art review: Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan

The unprecedented exhibition at the National Gallery in London shows the artists ability to make art seem so real.

Tags: Art

(CNN) — Federal authorities seized a masterpiece painting from about 1538 from a Tallahassee, Florida, museum because it was stolen as part of the Nazi plunder of World War II, prosecutors said Friday.

Officials will protect the art — a painting entitled Christ Carrying the Cross Dragged by a Rascal by Girolamo de Romani, known as Romanino — until its real owner is confirmed, federal prosecutors said.

The painting of Christ, crowned with thorns and carrying the cross while being dragged with a rope by a soldier, has been on display at the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science since March 18 as part of an exhibition of 50 Baroque paintings on loan from the Pinacoteca di Brera in Milan, Italy, prosecutors said.

US Attorney Pamela C. Marsh of northern Florida said that, under US law, the painting cannot be returned to Italy until the ownership disputes are resolved.

Our interest is strictly to follow the law and safeguard this work until the courts determine rightful ownership, Marsh said in a statement. Through this process, all rightful claimants may be heard, and we can rest assured that justice will be done for all parties involved in the dispute.

Authorities allege that the painting was among the plundering of art and other valuable items from the estate of Federico Gentili di Giuseppe, who died in Paris of natural causes in 1940, just months before the Nazi army invaded France in 1941, authorities said.

Before the invasion Nazi invasion, Gentilis children and grandchildren fled France and escaped to Canada and the United States, authorities said. Other family members, unable to flee, died in concentration camps, authorities said.

The grandchildren have been taking legal steps internationally to recover the possessions taken during the Nazi occupation, prosecutors said.

In a landmark 1999 decision relating to World War II plunder, a French Court of Appeals forced the Musee de Louvre in Paris to return five paintings to the Gentili family, and ruled that the auction of the Gentili estate in Nazi-occupied France was an illegal forced sale and a nullity, US prosecutors said in a statement.

CNNs Michael Martinez contributed to this report.

Tags: Art

To look at one of Bespokes fairings, you wouldnt necessarily know what its meant for. Some look more like Maori or Aboriginal art pieces than something someone would wear every day. But for people like Reinertsen, a Bespoke fairing may well be a way to say to the world that having a prosthetic leg doesnt mean that they cant strut their stuff.

Id like to create something beautiful and something thats different, said Reinertsen, whos currently in the process of having her fairing designed. I want to have what we create be something totally different and unique and in some way pushes [Summit] to think a little different–something that keeps him inspired. He certainly inspired me.

The scan

Although theres a lot of artistry behind each of Bespokes fairings, there would be no way for the company to tailor each one to the individual customer if not for its scanning process (see video below). The system incorporates two cameras that are offset from each other and which, when activated, read the shape, contour, and form of the customers body.

The scanner projects a grid pattern at the customer–and against a wall behind them–and is able to triangulate and get a contour using a technology called structural light scanning. The system incorporates the two photos taken by the cameras, does a whole lot of trigonometry and then meshes them together into the 3D digital model.

Once that process is done and Bespoke has the digital model, the real work of differentiating each customers fairing from the others begins. The difference between designing for a fit soldier and a tall, [slim] woman and grandma versus any other personality and body type, Summit said, means communicating the morphology in the design so it belongs, and that has to do with artistry and design.

While theres no typical Bespoke customer, the company is clearly interested in working with combat veterans, particularly because it has established relationships with several of the Veterans Administration facilities around the country. Summit said that the US military has often been supportive of some soldiers wish to get a Bespoke fairing–which can cost several thousand dollars–because if someone lost their leg for the country, they should be treated well.

Summit said that Bespoke has generated a lot of interest from soldiers because its fairings take prosthetics from being generic and utilitarian into something cool as hell, and that really works for a soldier.

From man-hole covers to Banksy

At any given time, Bespoke, which received $3.2 million in venture funding, has about 10 customers fairings in the works. All told, it takes between one and three days of work to create a fairing, but that may be spread over a much longer amount of time as the customer and the design team bat ideas back and forth. Whats most important, Summit said, is making sure that what the customer walks away with is something that suits their individual personality. This is like a tattoo, he said. We dont want it to be too spontaneous.

Indeed, Summit explained that he often suggests his customers sleep on a design concept before settling on what they want. He also encourages them to send in their own ideas, which can sometimes be rather abstract, and which can come from
car or even motorcycle design. Its about creating something dynamic and in motion, Summit said. Whats more dynamic than a leg.

But really, the ideas can be as personal or varied as people themselves. One customer, for example, sent him photos of a man-hole cover. Another was inspired by the Bruce Willis film Surrogates. Still another found ideas for his fairing in his customized Volkswagen GTI. But Summit may be most excited about an upcoming commission which may feature a drawing by the famous graffiti artist Banksy.

For the 36-year-old Reinertsen, who has appeared as a contestant on [CNET parent CBS] The Amazing Race and featured in a Nike ad, getting a Bespoke fairing is a way to get past a lifetime of having to deal with a prosthetic that didnt do anything for her sense of personality. Its unique and its such a forward-thinking concept, Reinertsen said, to create this covering for the prosthetic, but [which] doesnt adhere to the traditional ideas of what an amputee might strive for.

Reinertsen lost her leg to a medical condition when she was seven and has spent her whole life contending with prosthetics covers that were usually little more than a foam leg with a flesh-tone stocking. The standard, she said, has always been pretty low.

But now, though her insurance wont pay for her Bespoke fairing, she has a chance to get something that she can feel proud of when she goes out into the world. As an athlete, Ive been pushing boundaries, especially in endurance, and proving that a woman with a disability can do something as extreme as Ironman, she said. And I want to be part of a cultural shift that changes your idea of what is beautiful as we rebuild the human body in the modern world.

Tags: Art