– Angelina's Leg Inspires Flood of Fan Art: Not since the "pepper-spraying cop" has a gesture so captured the imagination of the Internet's million amateur cultural pranksters. Angelina Jolie's leg, first thrust into the spotlight at the Oscars on Sunday night, now has its own Twitter account (@angiesrightleg), but also has inspired its very own viral art meme. In a practice that has fast become known as "legbombing," people have begun to photoshop Jolie's leg onto a number of famous artworks, from the Vitruvian Man to Whistler's Mother. [HuffPo, BuzzFeed, Pinterest]
– Sotheby's Caught in Cambodian Investigation: Cambodia has asked the Department of Homeland Security to help it recover a thousand-year-old statue of a mythic warrior that currently sits in limbo at Sotheby's in New York. Some experts believe the sandstone masterpiece, which had a catalogue estimate of $2 to $3 million before being pulled from auction, was looted during the Vietnam War. [NYT]
– Artist Chickens Out of Chicken Art Project: Kansas-based artist Amber Hansen's project to raise awareness of cruel practices in that state's chicken slaughterhouses with her public project "The Story of Chickens: A Revolution" — funded in part by the Andy Warhol Foundation — has been canceled after it was deemed too cruel. Had Hansen defied a city ordinance and proceeded with a plan to publicly raise, slaughter, and serve the chickens she could have faced a $1,000 fine and six months in jail. [AP]
– Glenn Kaino to Represent the U.S. in Cairo: The Los Angeles-based artist has been chosen to represent his home country at the 13th International Cairo Biennale. Cesar Garcia, currently the senior curator at LA><ART, has been appointed U.S. Commissioner. Garcia says he hopes to directly engage with the social and political transitions currently underway in the Middle East. [Press Release]
– Protesters Converge on the Whitney: Last night, Sotheby's locked-out art handlers and members of Occupy Wall Street gathered to protest the Whitney Biennial at its VIP opening. The demonstrators spoke with partygoers as they entered the museum, and chanted, "Shame on Sotheby's, No Justice, No Peace." [Hyperallergic]
– Will Artists Space Make Up With Georgia Sagri?: In the first of a two-part interview, Artists Space director Stefan Kalmar discusses his work with the biennial and revisits that trying 24-hour period during which his organization was "occupied" by a group of rogue artists and activists in October, in a bizarre footnote to Occupy Wall Street. Kalmar says he would be "open" to "revisit[ing] that moment" with Georgia Sagri, the artist who led the occupation and is currently showing at the Whitney Biennial. [A1]
– Exhibition's Name is Bond, James Bond: London's Barbican Centre is set to present the first major exhibition devoted to the UK's foremost cultural diplomat, secret agent James Bond. Artifacts to be included in "Designing 007 — Fifty Years of Bond Style," July 6-September 5, include Daniel Craig's blue swimsuit from "Casino Royale" and Ursula Andress's bikini from "Dr. No." [HuffPo]
– A Row Over Seine-Side Cultural Center: Paris's mayor Bertrand Delanoë has criticized the design for a Russian spiritual and cultural center to be built on a plot by the Seine owned by the Russian state. Alluding to the planned 25-meter-high golden domes, the mayor said that the showiness of the "pastiche architecture" was inappropriate for this world heritage site. [Journal des Arts]
– Historical Diamond "Beau Sancy" Goes Under the Hammer: Sotheby's is handling the sale of the 34.98 carat rock on behalf of Georg Friedrich, Prince of Prussia. The stone's impeccable pedigree includes four royal families. King of France Henri IV gave it to his wife Marie de Medicis, who wore it in her crown at her coronation in 1610. [Above the Estimate]
– Meet Putin's Secret Weapon: Sergei Kapov, the new head of Moscow's culture department, has been making waves since he revived the dilapidated Gorky Park last March and arranged for Dasha Zhukova to bring a branch of her Garage Center for Contemporary Art to the area. But Kapov's allegiance to Vladimir Putin makes him a target: a day after the controversial December elections, 700 pairs of ice skates were stolen from the park, allegedly as a political protest. [TAN]
– Lab Coats Lead to Creativity: According to a new study by researchers at Northwestern University observing the effects of so-called "enclothed cognition," donning scientists' and doctors' trademark garb heightens creative and critical thinking skills. Watch out, artists: in one test, participants wearing what were described as doctor's coats out-performed participants wearing identical coats described as artists' smocks. [Miller-McCune]
– Sculpture to Steal Armory Show Spotlight: According to at least one observer, Gotham Magazine's Judith H. Dobrzynski, sculpture will be the dominant medium at this year's Armory Show. Citing shows like John Chamberlain's Guggenheim retrospective and the ubiquity of sculpture in the 2012 Whitney Biennial, she concludes: "It’s the most exciting area of the art world right now for collectors and viewers alike." [Gotham]
– Cai Guo-Qiang to Set Off Explosions at MOCA: The New York-based, Chinese-born artist known for his gunpowder drawings, installations, and explosion events will create a public outdoor explosion at MOCA as part of his solo exhibition, "Cai Guo-Qiang: Sky Ladder," opening April 8. [Press Release]
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