Our most-talked-about stories in Visual Art, Design & Architecture, Fashion & Style, and Performing Arts, October 15 - 19, 2012:
ART
— Two stories took a look at the economics of art, with Rachel Corbett examining the potential impact of a law going into effect on November 6 in New York designed to protect artists from unscrupilous dealers, and Sara Roffino exploring three different models for supporting an arts organization in an age of declining government funding.
— The annual FIAC art fair opened in Paris with two new outdoor areas for installations, and the ARTINFO France writers were there. Nicolai Hartvig spoke with participating gallery reps and dealers who reported that sales were busy from the start, while Céline Piettre and Juliette Soulez offered the hits and misses of some satellite fair options.
— Jeff Koons explained the sometimes erotic, often art historical, subtexts and references of his balloon sculptures and paintings in his solo exhibition at Galerie Almine Rech in Brussels.
— If an artist sells their work as a triptych, should it stay that way? Judd Tully looked at the case of the Gerhard Richter triptych owned by rock star Eric Clapton that was divided for a sale at Sotheby’s London last week.
— Alanna Martinez and Micah Schmidt immersed themselves in the 2012 New York Comic Con and found a wealth of collectible designer toys, 20 of which were especially awesome, including works by Ron English, Ashley Wood, and Parsons New School of Design students.
DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE
— Almost four decades after it was initially planned to memorialize Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Four Freedoms Park on Roosevelt Island is finally opening to the public this month. Kelly Chan got a preview of the Louis Kahn-designed memorial park.
— At this week’s Municipal Arts Society Summit, three architecture firms, WXY Architecture + Urban Design, Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM), and Foster + Partners, offered views of the future at Grand Central Terminal, with SOM’s proposal featuring a UFO-like structure hovering above the station.
— Sales records were broken for designers Maarten Baas, Studio Job, Hella Jongerius, Robert Wilson, and Patricia Urquiolain at Murray Moss’s experimental Phillips de Pury sale.
— Janelle Zara interviewed Michael Darling, curator of the design exhibition “Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec: Bivouac” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
— Could Rem Koolhaas’s design for the Kunsthal museum be to blame for the recent thefts? Janelle Zara speculates.
FASHION & STYLE
— Lee Carter discussed the career of illustrator Antonio Lopez with Mauricio and Roger Padilha, who collaborated on a monograph chronicling his singularly glamorous life and work.
— Ann Binlot investigated the exhibition of the bold fashion of artist Frida Kahlo that opens at the Frida Kahlo Museum in Mexico City next month.
— British artists Mariana Fantich and Dominic Young have created some curious fashion pieces, such as shoes lined with fake teeth and a suit made from glass eyes, teeth, and human hair.
— Caitlin Petreycik reached out to Thomas Bosket, a professor at Parsons The New School for Design, to analyze the political significance behind Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s respective tie color choices for this week’s debate.
— Coinciding with that sartorial moment was the two candidates’ wives wearing bright pink dresses, which led to the inevitable “who wore it better” vote off.
PERFORMING ARTS
— J. Hoberman reviewed Leos Carax’s long-awaited new film “Holy Motors,” which he stated “harks back in mood to the French avant-garde of a hundred plus years ago” and is “a blatant crowd-confounder.”
— The nominees for the Gotham Independent Film Awards were announced this week, with the celebrated indie flick “Beasts of the Southern Wild” inexplicably omitted from the Best Feature category.
— Despite ending its five seasons two years ago, “Friday Night Lights” is staying relevant, at least in terms of rallying references, as the presidential race shows.
— In the wake of the announcement that “Skins” would be canceled, details were revealed on what to expect from the final season.
— Craig Hubert brought us the latest in Janis Joplin biopic news, with Lee Daniels now in talks to direct a feature with Amy Adams.
VIDEO
— Tom Chen and Alanna Martinez visited Royal Watercolorist Alexander Creswell, who exhibited recently at Hirschl & Adler in New York. He told them what it was like to document the Royal Wedding and other regal affairs through his art.
— Can't make it to Paris? Nicolai Hartvig of ARTINFO France toured the FIAC art fair to showcase some of its highlights and talked with participants.