— LA Street Artist Slams Obama: An anonymous LA street artist has plastered bus benches outside the ABC studios where Shonda Rhimes’s hit show “Scandal” is filmed with posters slamming President Obama for his own “scandals.” The artworks prominently feature the commander in chief’s face along with words like “Benghazi,” “NSA,” “Fast & Furious,” and “Solyndra,” which greeted him when he arrived at the studios for a fundraising dinner on Wednesday night. It was initially thought to be the work of Sabo, but the artist refused to take credit — he didn’t, however, deny involvement with the artists who were responsible. “I literally trained them how to do it,” he said. “They showed me the art a couple of weeks ago and I thought the branding was weak and told them so.” [The Blaze]
— Ovation Launches Art Talk Show: Ovation TV has just launched its first original web series and it takes the form of an art talk show. “Touching the Art,” hosted by artist Casey Jane Ellison, will interview three art world women at a time on current art events. The first episode features LA ladies Catherine Opie, Bettina Korek, and Jori Finkel. [Hyperallergic]
— De Blasio Asks for Museum Support of ID Card: If Mayor de Blasio has his way, the city’s new municipal identification card may also come with membership to some of the city’s best museums. As a way to encourage people to sign up for the card, the city is hoping the Met, Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Museum, and other institutions will offer discounts or memberships. “The city’s coming to us and saying, ‘Will you help solve this?’” said Susan Lacerte, executive director of the Queens Botanical Garden. “It recognizes that we have great constituencies, we have reach in the communities.” [NYT]
— Lincoln Center’s Massive Modern Art Collection: Visitors may not be aware that Lincoln Center’s public art collection includes works by modern art greats like Alexander Calder, Henry Moore, David Smith, Jasper Johns, and Lee Bontecou. [WSJ]
— Gallery Draws Anger Over Nude Display: Nolita’s Rivington Design House has drawn public complaints for its large photographic display of an artwork depicting a very nude man in the front window by artist Bek Anderson. [NY Daily News]
— Rachel Lehmann Dishes on Traveling: Art dealer Rachel Lehmann told the Wall Street Journal that in her travels, the most interesting art scene she has come across is Cluj-Napoca, Romania. “It has a very rich cultural history, but everything stopped in the 1970s and ’80s with the Ceausescu dictatorship,” she said. “Now there is a big hunger to re-establish the importance of the area as a cultural center.” [WSJ]
— Here’s an NPR chat with the directors of the National Museum of African Art and the National Museum of the American Indian. [NPR]
— New York dealer Richard Feigen has been denied a $215,625 tax refund for a forged Max Ernst painting because he filed the request too late. [New York Law Journal]
— Vanja Malloy has been named the new curator of American art at Amherst College’s Mead Art Museum. [Artforum]
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