Column: Roundup: Bob Ross paints, Jeb Bush’s art party, Frank Gehry and the L.A. River
Activists hold large puppets of Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush, left, and Sen. Marco Rubio. Internal documents from the Bush campaign show that the candidate may have been planning an art party timed to the launch of the fairs in Miami Beach in December.
The museums of the future. The seductiveness of Bob Ross. Looting in the Middle East. Plus: Will Jeb Bush do Art Basel? Is Frank Gehry a good thing for the L.A. River? And is Drake’s unavoidable “Hotline Bling” about cities? Here’s the Roundup:
— Jeb Bush’s Pop Art fundraiser.
— Hobby Lobby boss investigated by the Feds for possibly importing illicit artifacts from the Middle East.
— Sort of related: Islamic State militants aren’t the only ones looting Syrian archaeological sites. A new study by Near Eastern Archaeology shows that looting also occurs in areas controlled by Kurdish fighters and the Syrian regime.
— Is Frank Gehry the right person to revitalize the L.A. River? Oliver Wainwright of the Guardian has a terrific overview of where the various entities stand in terms of planning.
— Ben Davis on how watching kitsch icon Bob Ross paint has become a group Internet activity on the video game service Twitch. The live stream, indeed, is very seductive.
— It’s the 21st century, but most museums still operate as if it were the 20th, writes Holland Cotter in the New York Times — failing to tell a fuller, more inclusive story of art.
— When your city’s art scene is in the hands of a mega-collector: Paul Allen in Seattle edition.
The new Broad museum’s complex exoskeleton has instantly made it an iconic part of downtown Los Angeles. It has also resulted in a flurry of legal actions between the museum and its fabricator.
— Speaking of which: Eli Broad sued a subcontractor who built the façade to his museum last year. That subcontractor has now sued back.
— Denver Art Museum commits to showing work by American Indian artists.
— Dasha Zhukova, founder of the Garage Museum in Moscow (and wife of oligarch Roman Abramovich), has given the Massachusetts Institute of Technology $1 million for a “distinguished visiting artist” position.
— Curatorial studies not all that, says LACMA director Michael Govan.
— Turning a bad review into art: Artist Michelle Grabner produced a gingham soccer ball piece in response to a New York Times critic who likened her work to that of a soccer mom.
— KCRW-FM’s Saul Gonzalez looks at how two L.A. neighborhoods feel about the city’s 2035 Mobility Plan. Related: Metro just got funding for a 6.4-mile bike lane along some minimally used rail lines in South L.A.
Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles is about to get a much-needed redesign. The short list of architecture firms that are competing for the job was recently announced.
— Ten architectural firms have been shortlisted for the redesign of Pershing Square, half of them from Los Angeles.
— A lovely series of intimate photos of sculptor Louise Bourgeois late in life.
— Brentin Mock at Citylab theorizes that Drake’s “Hotline Bling” is really a song about suburban sprawl. This may be the most creative take on Drake’s highly memed song yet.
— Cal State Fullerton’s poster for its “Carrie” musical is pretty dang boss.
— The Day in Art Merch: the Venus de Milo action figure and the Guerrilla Girls coffee mug.
— And because there’s nothing like going out with an apocalypse vibe: California, the End is Near.
Find me on the Twittering Machine @cmonstah.
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