Newest Features
ANDREW WITKIN WINS ICA FOSTER PRIZE By Big Red On January 21st, 2009, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston announced that Andrew Witkin was the winner of the James and Audrey Foster Prize. Witkin will receive $25,000 and an opportunity for future exhibition at the ICA. From the ICA’s press release: “We are delighted to congratulate Andrew Witkin and all the finalists for the Foster Prize, which recognizes the fine work coming out of the Boston art community,” says James Foster, Chairman, President and CEO of Charles River Laboratories. James and Audrey Foster,…
BRANDEIS STUDENTS: SAVE THE ROSE By Brian Friedberg & Penelope Taylor The alarming rumors that Brandeis would be deeply affected by the looming economic recession, and the recent Madoff ponzi scheme scandal, set a decidedly anxious tone for the Winter/Spring 2009 semester. Statements that 10% of faculty would be cut, alongside the “downsizing” of interdisciplinary studies programs, was enough to keep both students and teachers quiet and productive, fearing our majors or jobs were next to go. Little did we know that the most startling revelation was still the secret of a…
LIZ PRINCE WON’T DRAW YOUR @#$&! By Matthew Nash Liz Prince creates comics that are personal, snarky and endearing. Her recent book, Delayed Replays is now out on Top Shelf, and we recently sat down to talk about comics, wetting the bed, relationships, and what she probably won’t draw. MN: What’s your new book called? LP: It’s called Delayed Replays. It’s a collection of three-panel comic strips that I’ve been posting on my blog for the past couple of years. MN: And what was the title of your first book? LP: My first…
“THE WHITE CUBE” By Thomas Marquet #42: The problem with tacking art to the wall is that it doesn’t generate any new jobs. Thomas Marquet is a cartoonist, sculptor, and critic, based in Brooklyn, New York, which is an admittedly unoriginal place to be pursuing any of these things. Get The White Cube every day at Tom’s blog.
BILL ARNING LEAVING THE LIST TO HEAD THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS MUSEUM HOUSTON By Big Red This morning The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston announced that Bill Arning has been named as their new director. Arning has been the curator at the List Visual Art Center at MIT, and while we are very happy that Arning will be bringing his insight and intellect to a great contemporary museum, it is also a loss for Boston. Arning has been a vocal supporter of the arts here in New England, curating a number of impressive exhibitions for…
ANNABEL DAOU @ THE DAVID WINTON BELL GALLERY By Jon Petro Linguistics in contemporary art is an amalgamated concept developed to provide additional territory to the diminished landscape of the now obsolete avant-garde. It’s strategically similar to other movements in the arts, which have relied heavily on the idea of removing the usual context in which an object is seen and or experienced. Putting my own artistic prejudices aside, I can see how this idea is appealing to a great number of contemporary artists; it could bring an air of authenticity to an…
A REPORT FROM THE PHANTOM ZONE By Steve Aishman “It’s easy to make contemporary art sound stupid— just describe it literally.” – Bill Arning Bill Arning is right about most things and in this case, you can apply the same logic to Bill’s job as the curator of the List Visual Arts Center. If you describe the job of a curator literally, it can sound stupid. The primary function of a curator is to oversee the care and exhibition of a collection. It sounds so simple. It sounds so easy. All a curator…
THE BOSTON ART AWARDS BALL – FEBRUARY 2ND!!! By Big Red Please join us tomorrow night, February 2, at the Beehive for the Boston Art Awards Ball, hosted by Big RED & Shiny and the New England Journal of Aesthetic Research! These awards honor artists, curators and venues for exhibitions in 2008. Nominations were submitted by the art-loving public of New England and voted on by that same public, as well as a panel of critics and curators. The winner in each category will be toasted over the course of the night! So…