– Jeff Koons Goes Back to School: The sculptor swung by an East Harlem second grade classroom on Monday as part of Visual Arts Appreciation Week. Koons taught students how to make moveable animal puppets using paper and fasteners, and also explained to the youngsters how the reflectivity of his famous "Balloon Dog" sculptures alters the viewer's perception. One student had a simpler description for what makes the work exciting: "Looks like it's going to pop." [WNYC]
– Corcoran Proceeds With Move: The Corcoran Gallery of Art is heading for greener pastures. The board of the DC institution has unanimously authorized putting its Beaux Arts building, which it has inhabited for over 100 years, on the market to seek an alternative location. Corcoran officials say a move would allow them to expand both their permanent collection galleries and the Corcoran College of Art & Design. "We need to accept financial and physical realities," the leadership said in a statement. [AP, City Paper]
– Las Vegas Mulls Public Art Tax: That bag of chips from the mini bar at your Las Vegas hotel might just fund a new public sculpture. Las Vegas County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani wants to build a $1.25 million-per-year public art program through taxes on hotel rooms and capital projects. "There could be art along our corridors,” Giunchigliani said. “It would be an absolute jewel to complement what other jurisdictions like the city of Las Vegas are doing.” [Las Vegas Sun]
– Michael Werner Donates to Paris Museum: The art dealer and collector has donated 130 works from his collection, including pieces by Marcel Broodthaers, André Derain, and Jörg Immendorff, to the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, an institution Werner said "profoundly changed my understanding of and relationship to art." The museum is planning an exhibition of the Werner gift from October 5 through March 3, 2013. [Press Release]
– Tracey Emin Teaches Rolling Stone's Son: Jerry Hall, ex-wife of Mick Jagger, has hired the outspoken artist to give their youngest child, 14-year-old Gabriel, art lessons. The teenage protegé is learning fast: last year he won a prize from the Saatchi Gallery for having submitted the best painting in all of England in the 11-13 age group. Next stop, the Turner Prize? [Daily Mail]
– Another Record Set for Chinese Artist at Poly: Despite reports of a rocky spring auction season, Poly International set a record for artist Li Keran, whose 1964 landscape fetched $46 million on Sunday. Just in case you needed a reminder that domestic Chinese buyers are continuing to spend inordinate amounts of money on artists unfamiliar to the West. [China Daily]
– Street Artist Makes L.A.'s Unseen Workers Visible: Since last fall, Ramiro Gomez has been installing cardboard cut-out paintings of Los Angeles's invisible immigrant workforce — including janitors, nannies, delivery drivers, gardeners, and housekeepers — in wealthy neighborhoods. "The hedges are trimmed, the gardens are perfect, the children are cared for," said Gomez. "We've come to expect it to be this way. But who maintains all this?" [LAT]
– Bailouts for Artists: A little-known set of funds, charitable organizations, and micro-donation services specializes in providing grants and low-interest loans for artists in periods of personal crisis. From the Craft Emergency Relief Fund and the Writers Emergency Fund to Stephen King's Haven Foundation, such groups provide crucial cash to artists following accidents and medical emergencies, but also if they simply fall on exceptionally hard times or face "imminent homelessness." [NYT]
– Isn't a Forged Masterpiece Worth Something?: Despite the art world's revulsion, many master forgers enjoy admiration from the wider public, a phenomenon experienced by expert Vermeer copycat Han van Meegeren in the 1940s, and contemporary forger John Myatt, whose clearly labeled fakes sell for up to £45,000 ($69,000). "There can be quite a lot of demand from people who can't afford a Van Gogh but are looking for the same aesthetic experience for a fraction of the price," Myatt said. [BBC]
– Accolades for Nan Goldin: The MacDowell Colony, a prestigious artists' retreat in New Hampshire, awarded photographer Nan Goldin its Edwin Macdowell Medal for lifetime achievement in the arts. The chairman of the selection committee praised Goldin, 58, for creating a medium "halfway between still photography and cinema." [NYT]
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Street artist Ramiro Gomez talks about his work about immigrant labor in Beverly Hills:
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