Italy’s first state museum dedicated solely to contemporary art, MAXXI, will open its doors May 30 in Rome. The name is a play on the abbreviation for “Museum of Art” and the Roman numerals for the 21st century. The Iraqi-born and London-based architect Zaha Hadid won the commission and designed what she envisioned as an…
If you’re a fan of prehistoric-looking, nasty-smelling plants (and who isn’t!?), you’ll want to get to the Huntington Gardens in about two weeks. This flower is the latest offspring of the first Corpse Flower that bloomed in 1999. The last to bloom, in June 2009, was a different offspring. Read more about the plant and…
Times are lean in the museum world, but the Whitney Museum in New York is finally moving ahead with plans to build a new building, expected to open in 2015. Rather than an annex, the new building may become the sole home of the Whitney collections. The future of the current museum, the Madison Ave.…
Paintings depicting scenes from the life of Imam Hussein (grandson of the Prophet Muhammad) are on display at a mosque in a Shiite area of Sadr City, Iraq. Under Saddam Hussein such displays were forbidden, but a gradual increase in religious freedom has resulted in the approval and acceptance of these paintings. A total of…
This video on YouTube of Mark Ryden painting “Incarnation” in 4:27 minutes is really fascinating, and useful as an illustration of the process of painting. Read more about Mark Ryden and his work here.
If you’re going to be in Los Angeles this Saturday, try to go to the Fowler Museum at UCLA between 8 and 11pm. The Fowler will is teaming up with KCRW to present “Soundsuits after Dark”, a live presentation of Nick Cave’s soundsuits to the accompaniment of music courtesy KCRW DJs Garth Trinidad and…