Art News & Articles

Many public art installations have been created in support of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer, including street murals appearing on the streets of cities across the country after the words were painted in bright yellow on the street behind the White House on June 5. While some examples have been powerful because of their timely reaction to current events, some communities are emphasizing the importance of taking the time to have community input before creating anything and to ensure that those involved with the public art projects are committed to the issue for which the art is seeking to promote.  When the New York City Public Design Commission (which has jurisdiction over all buildings and art proposed on city-owned property in Manhattan) set out to paint their own street mural, they slowed the process and listened to the community: “We actually took the time to have the conversations with people that are in the actual Black Lives Matter movement,” says Justin Garett ...

Museums and Galleries, Cultural Heritage Sites, Photography studios and Auction houses are all exempt from wearing masks indoors. Of course, it is up to the individual gallery to decide if they will require masks to be worn to protect their staff and visitors and many have already stated that all entering their premises must wear masks. The UK Government has brought in new laws which will fine people flouting the rules by slapping them with a £100 penalty charge. Police have stated, this will only be a last resort. The new guidance states: No one can enter a buildings such as shops without a mask which covers your face and nose unless you have a reasonable excuse. Face coverings must be worn in: Shops and shopping centres, Banks, building societies, credit unions, short-term loan providers, savings clubs and currency exchange offices and anywhere that transmits money by cash or cheque, Post offices, Takeaway food establishments. The requirement to wear a face-covering also app...

The Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania is putting in storage a collection of more than 1,000 skulls, including some that belonged to enslaved peoples, following an outcry from students. The crania, which were held in a private classroom, belonged to the collection of Samuel George Morton, a 19th-century Philadelphia-based physician known for his “broadly white supremacist” views, according to the institution.  Last year, a group of students at the university discovered that 53 skulls in the Morton Cranial Collection came from individuals enslaved in Havana, Cuba, while two others belonged to enslaved Americans. They presented their findings at a symposium hosted by the Penn & Slavery Project, an initiative tasked with probing the school’s “ historical connections with the institution of slavery .” The museum, which reopened to the public today for the first time following a four-month shutdown, is currently working to repatriate or re-bury the crania, it said in a...

The artist Petrit Halilaj has withdrawn from the Belgrade Biennial after the organizers of the exhibition dithered over how to present his nationality in accompanying materials. Halilaj is from Kosovo, and the biennial is organized and hosted by the Cultural Centre of Belgrade in Serbia, a country that does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state. He pulled out of the show after he was unable to agree with the organizers about how his country of origin would be named in the list of participating artists. Halilaj, who is based in Berlin, has written an open letter detailing his experience with the exhibition, which is officially called the 58th October Salon: Belgrade Biennial.  Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, and there is a fraught history between the two nations. During the Kosovo War of 1998–99, fought between the two nations,   Halilaj himself was displaced and spent more than two years living in refugee camps.  In his letter, Halilaj recalls how...

In a royal first, Queen  Elizabeth II  became a part of a virtual unveiling of a self-portrait that happened via a video call on July 25, 2020. Painted by Miriam Escofet, the portrait was commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) as a “lasting tribute to Her Majesty’s service” to diplomacy,  The Guardian  reports. The report also mentions that upon seeing the portrait, the Queen even pointed out jokingly how the tea cup placed on the table next to her was actually empty. The painting was shown to the Queen for the first time on a computer screen, amid the restrictions in the country because of the  pandemic , after which she spoke to the members of FCO about their work during the  coronavirus  health crisis. According to  The Guardian , this virtual unveiling was hosted by Sir Simon McDonald, who is the permanent under-secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs, and head of the Diplomatic Service. He had joined the art...

The Tate is facing protests against job cuts that trade unions and others say will disproportionately affect black and minority ethnic staff as it reopens its doors for the first time in four months. A socially distanced demonstration will take place outside Tate Modern in London on Monday as the institution welcomes back the public. As many as 200 jobs are at risk in its commercial arm – which operates retail, publishing and catering – where a higher proportion of staff are BAME, according to the PCS union. “Many of these colleagues will be amongst the lowest-paid staff on the Tate estate, with some at risk earning little more than the national minimum wage, and in some of the most diverse teams across Tate,” said the union. It comes after attempts by the Tate to express support for Black Lives Matter on social media sparked a backlash, with critics circulating a selfie by the Tate’s controversial benefactor,  Anthony  d’Offay , in which he is holding a golliwog. The Tate res...

Sunrise by Rob Ottesen Kinetic Pointillism  is a technique used in  painting , where an image is created with points of color applied in patterns of movement, with the intention of reinforcing the message of the artwork. Founder of the technique is Rob Ottesen, who first showed works made from the technique in 2013,  and who focused on teaching the technique to adolescent students.  Mediums used include paint, ink, and other mediums.  An aspect of the technique includes the use of cultural images and spelled-out words. Light House by Rob Ottesen Jesus by Ganesh Kelagina Beedu Shenoy                                             Bhagavad Gita by Ganesh Kelagina Beedu Shenoy Exhibitions of the artwork have been shown at the  Port St. Lucie  Civic Center Art Gallery.  Ottesen’s personal work has been shown at the  Gutenberg Museum  in...