D.C. Museum Gets Prison Tower, “Crucifixion” Hit With Laser, and More:
Published: July 5, 2013“– Prison Tower Acquired by New DC Museum: In a creative curatorial decision, the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, slated to open in 2015, has recently acquired a 20-foot-tall prison guard tower from the Louisiana State Penitentiary for its permanent collection. The tower, along with other gargantuan acquisitions like a Jim Crow-era segregated railroad car, will have to be placed in the museum before the institution’s roof is put on. Guest curator Spencer Crew intends the tower to demonstrate America’s history of African-American oppression and incarceration. ‘I thought the tower was a wonderful illustration and symbol,’ he said. [NYT]– Laser Technology Undresses Art: From the annals of high-tech art history: The N.C. Museum of Art‘s 14th-century ‘Crucifixion’ by Puccio Capanna is the first artwork to be scanned by a new laser device, which can create three-dimensional cross-sections, allowing researchers to identify and map artists’ materials at level of detail that was never before possible. The tool was originally developed by a Duke University professor to find melanoma. [WP]
– Ellsworth Kelly to Be Honored at the White House: Next week President Obama will hand out the 2012 National Medal of Arts awards to artist Ellsworth Kelly, soon-to-be museum founder George Lucas, and other creatives at an event at the White House. The medals, organized by the National Endowment for the Arts, have been awarded since 1965. [The White House]
– Lady Liberty is Back: The Statue of Liberty re-opened in all of it’s post-Sandy glory just in time for the celebration of the Fourth of July. ‘I hope this is the last reopening,’ Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. [AFP]
– LeWitt Mania: Sol LeWitt‘s 20th public wall drawing in New York City will go up in the lobby of the Upper West Side’s Jewish Community Center at the end of this month. The yellow, blue, red, and white bullseye drawing from 1989 will be accompanied by an exhibition of LeWitt’s work in the community center’s art gallery. Paula Cooper Gallery is also planning a LeWitt exhibition for the fall. [NYT]
– Nazi Art Case to be Tried in UK: A California court has dismissed collector Steven Brooks‘s case against Sotheby’s London. Brooks alleged that he had been sold a painting once owned by the Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering. The court ruled the case had to be tried in England. [TAN]
– Pace gallery’s power couple Marc and Andrea Glimcher have decided to split. [NYP]
– The Paris-based Galerie Daniel Templon has announced that it will open a new space in Brussels. [ArtDaily]
– A battle royale is shaping up between emerging-market mega-collectors: Russian collectors and Indian billionaires for Old Master works at auction. [Bloomberg]
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(Via ARTINFO: News.)