Tourists pose for photos in front of a new, 40-meter-high statue of Genghis Khan about 50 kilometers from the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar. (Photo by Joshua Kucera)
Journalist Joshua Kucera traveled across Asia last year and one of his objectives was to search for the tomb of Genghis Khan. He believes it is “one of the great remaining archeological mysteries and it looks like it’s about to be solved, though with a whole bunch of cultural, political and geopolitical complications.”
SFMOMA has a problem that most museum’s would love to have: too much art. Over 1,100 works were loaned to the museum as part of a 25-year agreement with Gap founders Don and Doris Fisher. The collection includes works by Willem de Kooning, Anselm Kiefer, Cindy Sherman, and Alexander Calder. Now San Francisco’s premier venue for contemporary art is trying to figure out the best way to show it. One idea is to convert a local firehouse into a satellite wing.
John Scott, the 73-year-old tagger recently arrested by LA County sheriff’s deputies
A 73-year-old man named John Scott is arrested for graffiti in Los Angeles. He is reputedly the oldest individual Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies have arrested for the crime — the previous distinction went to a 36 year old. Scott was putting up stickers that said “Who is John Scott?” The LA Times reported he was arrested, “for allegedly putting ‘slap tags’ on the inside of Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses.” My opinion: FREE JOHN SCOTT!
Reuters reports that a lull in violence in Iraq is encouraging a type of surge that the country hasn’t been used to in years, a cultural one. Sadly, how long will it last?
Over the weekend, the annual Art From the Streets Show in Austin, Texas, showcased more than 3,000 pieces of art created by the local homeless. The organization has been mounting the event since 1992. According to their website:
Volunteers facilitate twice-weekly open studio art classes at the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) which culminate in an annual art show where the homeless participants exhibit and sell their art to the general public — breaking down barriers of prejudice and fear with feats of beauty and creativity, while at the same time bringing in some badly needed cash.
Art From the Streets also sells a calendar of art, which is available on their website. (via News8Austin)
Futher south, Los Angeles art mogul Eli Broad is planning to build a new contemporary art museum and Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and a third, unnamed Westside location are vying to be the institution’s home.
A tape work by Sam Bassett that appeared last spring on Tenth Avenue in Chelsea
Artist Sam Bassett was jailed last week for 20 hours after attempting to turn the exterior of Sotheby’s in Manhattan into a piece of art using masking tape, according to The New York Post.
“All the artists represented in the auction are dead, so this was a guerilla action to bridge the gap, a flag waving in the name of the new creative generation,” said Bassett. Unfortunately, the 32-year-old artist is mistaken, as many of the artists for sale are in fact alive.
