Tilda Swinton's Surprise MoMA Nap, German Art World's Sexism Examined, and More

Published: March 25, 2013

– Tilda Swinton Takes a Nap at MoMA, Plans More: Actress and semi-professional David Bowie fan Tilda Swinton caused a stir over the weekend when she took a nap in the lobby of the Museum of Modern Art. Her stint snoozing in a glass box was, in fact, a recreation of a performance she did 18 years ago at the Serpentine Gallery in London. Swinton will reperform Cornelia Parker's "The Maybe" six more times this month, each time without warning, in different locations at the museum. [ITA, Independent]

– Sexism in the German Art World: Der Spiegel investigates the sexism and machismo that permeate the German art world. In addition to some dismal statistics — since 1948, Germany has been represented at the Venice Biennale by 90 men and nine women — the newspaper gathers reactions from heavy-hitters in the German art scene, including gallery owner Monika Spruth, artist Katharina Grosse, and Vienna Kunsthalle director Nicolas Schafhausen, curated the German pavilion's presentation of Isa Genzken at the 2007 Venice Biennale. "I'm still waiting for the day when someone writes about Isa Genzken as an artist, instead of about her as Gerhard Richter's ex-wife," he said. [Der Spiegel]

– Annie Lennox Gets Museum Show: David Bowie isn't the only music legend getting the museum treatment. An exhibition devoted to singer and songwriter Annie Lennox opened at Scotland's National Portrait Gallery this weekend. Curated in partnership with London's V&A, the exhibition brings together photographs, videos, and costumes, including Lennox's "androgynous two-piece leather suit worn during the Eurythmics 1980s Revenge tour." [Press Release]

– MFA Boston Ships Japanese Exhibition Abroad: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston is getting in on the exhibitions-for-hire trend. The institution is sending its collection of Japanese masterpieces on a 15-month tour of Japan. As critic Sebastian Smee writes, "The traveling exhibit, drawn from what is widely recognized as the greatest collection of Japanese art outside Japan, has reminded the Japanese — no doubt to the consternation of some — that many of their most historically important artworks ended up in Boston." Due to space constraints and light sensitivity, however, most of the works will return to storage after their Japanese tour rather than be displayed in the MFA's galleries. [Boston Globe]

– Sound Art Takes Over U.K. Airwaves: British nonprofit Artangel has commissioned five artists to create original three-minute sound pieces that are being broadcast every morning this week on BBC's Radio 4 at 9:02am, when the station typically has some 3.8 million listeners. The series, titled "Open Air," debuted this morning with a piece by Christian Marclay and will conclude Friday with a work by Mark Wallinger. "Radio 4 is a part of most of our lives, and that’s sort of an iconic slot just after the 'Today' program," said Wallinger. "Most of the arts programming happens at night, and most of the avant garde sound takes place over on Radio 3. Radio 4 stands for a lot of the core ideas of the BBC." [Telegraph]

– Artprice Founder's Neighbors Paying the Price: Artist and entrepreneur Thierry Ehrmann, who founded Artprice in 1993, has transformed his 17th-century home in St.-Romain-au-Mont-d'Or, a town in eastern France, into a living museum of sorts, dubbed the "Abode of Chaos." Its programming includes a massive sculptural rendition of Ground Zero, a crashed helicopter, and a biennial exhibition of artists' new works and happenings. The only problem? Ehremann's neighbors aren't thrilled. "Perhaps we lack artistic flair," says local real estate agent Pascal Paysant, "but the fact is this house depreciates real-estate value in the town." [WSJ]

– Another Candidate Joins Louvre Leader Shortlist: Following complaints that culture minister Aurélie Filipetti had ruled out too many candidates in her recommendations to French president François Hollande for the next director of the Louvre — recommending only Lyon Museum of Fine Arts's Sylvie Ramond and Louvre curator Jean-Luc Martinez — outgoing director Henri Loyrette advocated for the addition of Laurent Le Bon, the Pompidou Metz's curator of modern art, in a meeting on Friday with the president. Filipetti, for her part, disputed claims that Ramond was a shoo-in for the job: "I never said that the new director will necessarily be a woman. It's absurd to present things that way." [Libération]

– Surreptitious Beatles Snapshots Sell: Photos taken by amateur photographer Marc Weinstein of the fab four's famous 1961 Shea Stadium concert, where he used a fake press pass to sneak backstage, were sold at Omega Auctions last week. A Washington-based South American collector and Beatles fanatic bought the lot for £30,680 ($46,700), well above the pre-sale estimate of £15,000-£20,000. "I had a method of operation," Weinstein said after his coup. "I just acted like I belonged." [BBC]

– Tamar Harpaz Takes 2013 Kiefer Prize: The Wolf Foundation's Anselm Kiefer Prize, which bestows $8,000 on a promising Israeli artist under the age of 35 each year, has been given to Tamar Harpaz, a Tel Aviv-based artist who works with light, sculpture, video, and installation. Established by Kiefer in 1991, the prize's past honorees include Guy Ben-Ner, Rona Yefman, and Yael Bartana. [Artforum]

– Video Wins Big in Portrait Competition: The winners of the National Portrait Gallery's triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition have been announced. First prize went to Bo Gehring of Beacon, New York, who won $25,000 for a video titled "Jessica Wickham"; second prize went to Jennifer Levonian of Philadelphia for her video "Buffalo Milk Yogurt." Sequoyah Aono of New York won third prize for a self-portrait sculpture. The winners were selected from more than 3,000 entries and are currently on display at the Washington, D.C. museum. [WaPo]

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Tilda Swinton sleeps at MoMA