Art Lovers discussion

https://www.artnews.com/list/art-news...

#MeToo Medusa Sculpture in New York Generates Controversy, by Tessa Solomon



Public art was the center of many discussions in 2020, and although the fiercest and most impassioned of those conversations swirled around monuments to problematic figures, an outcry also surrounded two sculptures of nude women: a statue of Mary Wollstonecraft in London and a sculpture paying homage to the #MeToo movement in New York. The latter work in particular drew widespread suspicion, with some alleging that a man—Luciano Garbati—should not have been chosen for the project and that the nude form represented was objectifying. Garbati called the work a “symbol of justice for many women.”

Dwelling in Nazareth May Be Jesus's Childhood Home
by Tessa Solomon



It was a pre-Christmas miracle, of a sort: In early December, archaeologist Ken Dark said a newly discovered dwelling in Nazareth may have been Jesus Christ’s childhood home. Though Dark said that his findings were “by no means a conclusive case,” the find ranks among the year’s most memorable archaeological discoveries.

William Kentridge's Quarantine Drawings
by Sarah Douglas



While much of the world went into lockdown in the first few months of 2020, artists continued toiling away, producing new work with aplomb. One such artist was William Kentridge, who said in an interview about his newest drawings ( https://www.artnews.com/art-news/arti...) that he found a slower, more contemplative pace for working. “In a bizarre way, it makes for extremely happy hours and days,” he said.

Anthony Hopkins Emerges as an Artist
by Maximilíano Durón


A very unlikely year in the art world found a very unlikely star in Anthony Hopkins, an Oscar-winning actor whose viral TikToks shined a new light on his studio practice. “Painting is something I really enjoy, like playing the piano,” he said in an interview. “I have a lot of fun with it. I just paint for the sheer enjoyment of it.”

Ewa Juszkiewicz's Fascinating Figurations
by Claire Selvin



As debates about the value—or lack thereof—of figurative painting were heard far and wide in 2020, one artist found favor: Ewa Juszkiewicz, whose canvases pay homage to 18th- and 19th-century portraiture with a decidedly 21st-century twist. “In these paintings, by covering or modifying a portrait, I want to disrupt the known order and shatter the uniform and conservative image of female beauty,” she said in an interview of paintings included in a solo show held at Gagosian gallery in New York.

Patty Chang's Affecting Films About Loss
by Janelle Zara



Fear was one of the defining emotions of 2020 for many, and it was no surprise that Patty Chang, whose films have long focused on states of anxiety as they affect women, took it up in a new body of work. For a show in Los Angeles, Chang had women say aloud a list of crowd-sourced fears while pumping breastmilk. “I wanted to think about the affective states of people who occupy a particular geographic place,” Chang said in an interview. The work ended up on ARTnews‘s list of the defining artworks of 2020.

List of defining artworks: https://www.artnews.com/list/art-news...

Whitney Museum Cancels Mutual Aid Art Show
by Alex Greenberger



In one of the year’s fastest-moving controversies, the Whitney Museum canceled a show of art sold to benefit mutual aid funds just days after an outcry started. The show was to include photographs, prints, and more sold to benefit “anti-racist initiatives, including criminal justice reform, bail funds, Black trans advocacy groups, and other mutual aid work,” according to an exhibition description. Some artists with work in the show had accused the museum of exploitation.

John Baldessari Dies at 88
by Alex Greenberger



This year started with a major loss for the art world: John Baldessari, whose slyly funny photo-based works questioned what art could be, influencing generations of artists to come in the process. One of the most important artists associated with the Conceptualist art movement, Baldessari died at 88 in January.

Museums Reopen After Lockdown in Asia
by Alex Greenberger



After months-long lockdowns, some museums in South Korea, China, Switzerland, Japan, and Germany began to allow visitors once more. But one thing was clear: trips to institutions would no longer be business as usual. Upon reopening, museums began to require temperature checks and face masks, and they severely limited how many people could enter at a given time.

Susan Rothenberg Dies at 75
by Alex Greenberger

[image error]

During her lifetime, Susan Rothenberg established herself as one of the most important painters of her generation, having taken up figuration during the 1960s and ’70s, at a time when it was unfashionable. When she died at 75 in May, the New York art world went into a period of mourning.

"The 2020 ARTnews Top 200 Collectors List, by the Editors of ARTnews"



How did collecting change in 2020, a year where calls for systemic change were aired and a pandemic rocked the global economy? For some, it meant paying greater attention to artists whose work had been historically under-represented. For others, there was very little difference between this year and any other. ARTnews surveyed the collecting landscape with its annual Top 200 Collectors list, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, among the new entrants.

Top 200 Collectors List: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/mark...

(to be continued...)

Color's Power to Ease Quarantine Anxiety
by Kyle Chayka



"For much of this year, those who could worked from home, and so a lot of people got around to redesigning their living spaces, which now also happened to be their offices. In the process, something akin to a quarantine color palette emerged. “Anxiety over the pandemic incites a desire for stability and timelessness, something beyond the chaotic present,” Kyle Chayka wrote in an essay focused on the latest trendy hues.

The Surprising Power of Color to Ease Quarantine Anxiety:


by Kylr Cheyka

..."Stuck at home in quarantine for the majority of this year, non-essential workers have been forced to set up temporary offices on any spare flat surface, making repainting walls less of a luxury than a necessity. Any interior gets monotonous when inhabited 24/7; paint offers a way to dramatically alter your space without the need to break your bubble by bringing a professional into your home...

...many have realized that darker colors can feel claustrophobic when you have to stare at them all day. Curator’s most popular grey, a flat, dark hue called Shavehook, dropped by almost 90 percent between March and September of 2020, when compared to the seven months before Covid-19. It amounts to a rebellion against the 2019 aesthetic. “The grey from the twenty-teens,” said Garry Cohn, an independent designer and color expert for Curator. “Everyone has pushed that aside.” Browns and reds are out, too. What we want on our walls now are blues and greens; organic neutrals; and a handful of bold pinks, yellows, and purples that Cohn classifies as “escapism.” Glossy paint is seeing a surprising resurgence, too.

More... https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news...

Toshio Saeki Dies at 84*
by Tessa Solomon



Toshio Saeki was known as the “Godfather of Japanese Erotica,” and his flamboyant images made him one of the most famous artists of the Japanese underground of the postwar era. “Leave other people to draw seemingly beautiful flowers that bloom within a nice, pleasant-looking scenery,” he once said. In January, Saeki died at 74.

*The title of this says he died at age 84, then at the bottom it says he died at age 74, so I looked it up. Toshio Saeki died at age 74.

Maurice Berger Dies of Covid-19 at 63
by Alex Greenberger



As the world begin to reckon with the far-reaching effects of the pandemic, art historian Maurice Berger was among the first major figures in the art world to die of complications resulting from Covid-19. Berger had been known for his celebrated writings focused on the role that racism played in institutions. In late March, just weeks after the coronavirus forced New York to lock down, Berger died at 63.

Leah Schrager on Ending Her Cam Girl Project
by Ana Finel Honigman



It’s likely that many of the 3 million people who followed Ona, a cam girl who posted to Instagram, were even aware that she was an art project until artist Leah Schrager formally ended it this year. What would she have done differently with Ona? In an interview with ARTnews, Schrager said, “I would not have made her so sexy, which basically means I would have tried to walk the line between appealing to men and women a little more closely. Though that’s a very hard line to walk.”

The Meaning of Pantone's 2021 Colors of the Year
by Kyle Chayka



For its 2021 colors of the year, Pantone chose a shade of grey and a lemony yellow. What did the colors signify? In an essay focused on the two hues, Kyle Chayka wrote, “Though the color of the year is meant as a trend forecast, an evidence-based finding on which hues are newly popular, the 2021 picks seem clearly metaphorical, more of a marketing message than a trend.”

Scientist Discovers Drawing Beneath 'Mona Lisa,
by Tessa Solomon



The Mona Lisa is a continual source of fascination, and its mystique only deepened this year when a scientist discovered evidence of a charcoal underdrawing beneath the painting. The new finding suggested for the first time that Leonardo da Vinci relied on a preparatory drawing when crafting his most iconic work. The study—the result of 15 years of research—was released in September.

New Study Reveals Potentially Groundbreaking Drawing Hidden Beneath ‘Mona Lisa’: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news...

Botched Spanish Sculpture Restoration Draws Scrutiny
by Claire Selvin



First there was “Beast Jesus,” then there was a severely bungled Virgin Mary, and now there’s a nearly unrecognizable figurative sculpture. The latest botched Spanish restoration appeared earlier this year in Palencia, where a sculpture on a building looked nothing like it used to, drawing widespread scrutiny on social media.

Botched Restoration of Spanish Sculpture Draws Scrutiny: https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news...

..."The sculpture previously depicted the face of a woman smiling, and now some are saying on social media that it looks like Donald Trump. The sculpture’s original distinguishing features appear to have been altered by the restoration effort.

Christo Dies at 84
by Alex Greenberger



Perhaps the biggest art figure to die in 2020 was Christo, who, with his partner Jeanne-Claude, had revolutionized sculpture. The duo’s “wrappings” involved draping monumental structure in brightly hued fabric, effectively transforming the environments in which they were set. In May, Christo died of natural causes at 84.

Marina Abramović Weathers a Satanism Controversy
by Alex Greenberger



Marina Abramović has been accused of being a Satanist by far-right internet users before, and those allegations returned in 2020, as the famed performance artist starred in a commercial for a new Microsoft product. Amid the outcry, Microsoft deleted the advertisement from its YouTube page. Abramović maintained that she was not a Satanist in the face of it all.