Spencer Tunick in Vienna, Austria New York photographer and flesh architect Spencer Tunick is rallying the troops again. Tunick is planning a shoot in Vienna, Austria, at the Ernst-Happel-Stadium. He is hoping to get more than 3000 participants to the Vienna football stadium on Sunday, May 11.

Here's some more details from the Spencer Tunick website here..

The first 2,008 registered participants will receive a free return train ticket (coach) within Austria from the ÖBB. Arrival is possible as of May 10, 2008, departure until Sunday, May 11, 11.59 pm. The affirmation for your return journey will be certified at the Ernst-Happel-Stadium in the scope of the installation.

In return for your voluntary participation all participants will receive a limited edition photograph of the installation in the Ernst-Happel-Stadium.

Only participants will have access to the stadium. You will only be nude for a short period of time. The installation will happen Rain or Shine (the stadium's seats are covered). Participants under 18 years of age may only take part in the installation with written consent of a parent or guardian.
>> Spencer Tunick News  ¶ 5:57 AM 0 comments

  Jeff Koons Interview ArtInfo has interviewed the king of kitsch and holder of the "Most expensive artist at auction" title, Jeff Koons.

Here's a couple Jeff Koons quotes taken from the interview over at the ArtInfo website here.

* "When you view work, it’s not just an intellectual experience. It’s also a physical, biological experience. People like work that makes them feel a certain way. I want my work to have a certain charge, and I think that people who view the work like it, that intensity." Jeff Koons

* "For me, art has been about living to my full potential and about having viewers increase theirs. My work has always tried to communicate acceptance. It’s not about a rarefied object, because art is about people, life, experience. It’s about giving attention to the viewer so that hopefully they maintain enough confidence to experience communication." Jeff Koons

The artist also has a decent website online, which is surprisingly unusual for a famous artist. I haven't been able to figure out why so many well known artists don't have their own website. Most of them don't even own their own dot com name. I thought the internet was important, but I guess they don't see it that way.
>> Jeff Koons News  ¶ 9:08 PM 9 comments

  Bank of America - Museums on Us Bank of America has changed how its "Museums on Us" program operates this year. Last year the bank paid for museum entries around America for the whole month of May. This year they have added more museums to the list, but it is now year round, with the first weekend of every month being free to holders of a Bank of America check, ATM or credit card.

Here's a list of the participating museums around the United States..


ARIZONA MUSEUM
Arizona Science Center

CALIFORNIA MUSEUMS
California Center for the Arts Escondido
The California Museum
Crocker Art Museum
de Young Museum
Discovery Science Center
Explorit Science Center
Laguna Beach Museum of Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Mingei International Museum
Museum of African Diaspora
Museum of Latin American Art
Palm Springs Art Museum
Riverside Art Museum
San Jose Museum of Art
Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Tech Museum of Innovation
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts

CONNECTICUT MUSEUMS
Mashantucket Pequot Museum
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

DELAWARE MUSEUMS
Delaware Art Museum
Delaware Museum of Natural History
Winterthur Museum & Country Estate

FLORIDA
Miami Art Museum
Miami Children's Museum
Miami Science Museum
The Morikami Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), North Miami
Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale
Museum of Discovery & Science
South Florida Science Museum

GEORGIA
Atlanta Botanical Garden
Atlanta History Center
Fernbank Museum of Natural History

ILLINOIS
The Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago History Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

MAINE
The Farnsworth Art Museum

MASSACHUSETTS
Danforth Museum of Art
DeCordova Museum & Sculpture Park
Harvard Museum of Natural History
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

MARYLAND
The American Visionary Art Museum
The Flag House and Star Spangled Banner Museum
Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture

MICHIGAN
Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History
The Detroit Zoo
Henry Ford Museum

NEW JERSEY
Liberty Science Center
Montclair Art Museum
The Newark Museum

NEW YORK
Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium
International Center of Photography
The Jewish Museum
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York Hall of Science

NORTH CAROLINA
Levine Museum of the New South
Mint Museum of Art
Mint Museum of Craft and Design

PENNSYLVANIA
National Constitution Center
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
Philadelphia Museum of Art

RHODE ISLAND
Museum of Work and Culture
Providence Children's Museum
The RISD Museum

TEXAS
Dallas Museum of Art
Fort Worth Museum of Science & History
Houston Museum of Natural Science
Museum of Nature & Science, Dallas
San Jacinto Museum of History

WASHINGTON
Museum of History & Industry
Tacoma Art Museum
The Wing Luke Museum

There's more information on Bank of America's Museums on Us program at their website here.
>> Art Museums  ¶ 1:00 AM 0 comments

  Most Expensive Living Artists at Auction Over at the Art Newspaper there's an interesting story about the most expensive living artists at auction, with the baton being passed from Jasper Johns, to Damien Hirst, and now Jeff Koons.

"When the art market of the late eighties transmogrified into a deeply depressed bear, the living artist accolade went into hibernation, sleeping soundly until February 2007, when Peter Doig’s 1991 painting, White Canoe, sold for £5.7m ($11.3m) at Sotheby’s in London." Art Newspaper


Jasper Johns - False Start
Jasper Johns was the most expensive living artist at auction in 1988, when his White Flag painting sold for $7 million at Christies, then his False Start painting (above) sold at Sotheby's the next night for $17 million. He held the title for quite some time..


Damien Hirst - Lullaby Spring
Damien Hirst took the title in 2007 when his Lullaby Spring sold for about $19.2 million. The Hirst pill cabinet was bought by the royal family of Qatar, the Al-Thani family.


Jeff Koons - Hanging Heart (Magenta/Gold)
Jeff Koons is currently the most expensive living artist at auction, with his Hanging Heart work selling for $23.6 million in Novemebr 2007.


And, here's some great quotes about the price of art by the art critic Robert Hughes..

"The auction room, as anyone knows, is an excellent medium for sustaining fictional price levels, because the public imagines that auction prices are necessarily real prices." Robert Hughes

"Art prices are determined by the meeting of real or induced scarcity with pure, irrational desire, and nothing is more manipulable than desire." Robert Hughes

"Most of the time they buy what other people buy. They move in great schools, like bluefish, all identical. There is safety in numbers. If one wants Schnabel, they all want Schnabel, if one buys a Keith Haring, two hundred Keith Harings will be sold." Robert Hughes

"A fair price is the highest one a collector can be induced to pay." Robert Hughes

>> Art Auctions, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Famous Artists  ¶ 6:59 AM 6 comments

  What to do about Art Scams Recently an artist (Sarah) posted the comment below on this scam artists post from last year.

I am in the midst of the exact negotiations - I have actually received the certified check in the mail, from a person calling herself Nicole Roane. All the other details are the same, except that she says she is relocating to Johannesburg from the Georgia address. I also have a cell phone number for her.

I want to un-earth something beneficial from this otherwise shitty experience.

It would be interesting to create an exhibit of "stolen" works - posting calls online through craigslist and other free ad spaces to see if we could get a solid group of us who have interacted with this same scam. I wonder if there is any thread between the artists' whose work has been chosen within the scam. She chose "Think about that while I am gone", from my "collage" section, and "Untitled 7" from the color paintings section. I'd love links to people whose work has been scammed - to the specific pieces, when possible - just out of artistic curiosity.

My local law enforcement will do nothing - they say it happens too often for them to care.

In Reply to the Comment..
I don't know how the art scammers operate (or why they have to exist on the same earth as us!), but they are generally easy to notice, so I wouldn't bother wasting time or energy on them. The important thing is that artists are aware of these cockroaches and the tactics that they use.

Their main objective seems to be the money from the artist (don't cash their check/cheque), rather than amassing a booty of hot art. Listing the titles of your artwork is just a way of making them look genuine. Their most common tactic is to send their scams to a list of artist emails, asking them for their website address and the price of their works. Here's a really crude art scam that I received recently from Maxwells Brown.

I have never had a genuine request from a buyer that insists on using their own courier and using a check/cheque or money order (that is always more than the agreed amount).

Just don't send any art until the cash is physically sitting in front of you. Go and buy a coffee with their money before you even think about wrapping a painting to send. The buyer will understand if they are genuinely interested in your art.

I have used Paypal, Escrow.com, and bank to bank transfers with no problems at all. I wouldn't accept a check or money order as it just isn't worth the risk. Genuine buyers are flexible with their payment methods.

Don't go bothering law enforcement either as I have heard from people in the UK, USA and Australia that have tried to do something about these people, and none of them will do anything about it. I would love to hear from people that have had more luck with prosecuting the scammers.
>> Art Scam Emails  ¶ 10:07 PM 5 comments

  Robert Rauschenberg Sues Artist I read the title of this story on the Art Newspaper (Rauschenberg sues artist for selling his trash) and didn't think nice things about Rauschenberg. I thought it must be a rich and famous artist releasing his lawyers on a poor struggling artist because the hounds needed to stretch their hairy legs.

But, the article says "According to Rauschenberg, in 2007 the defendant, Robert Francis Montgomery of Florida, who also paints under the name of Robert Fontaine, sold works purportedly by Rauschenberg which Rauschenberg did not create, with certificates of authenticity. Rauschenberg alleges that this violated his rights under VARA to protect the attribution of his work." Art Newspaper

It goes on to explain that the artist found large negatives in the trash of Rauschenberg in 1998, which I think is fine if you sell it as Robert Rauschenberg Rubbish (it is the age of recycling!), but Montgomery has sold it as a finished Rauschenberg work with a certificate of authenticity.

There's a big difference between selling an artist's trash and selling an original work with a certificate of authenticity. So, release the hounds Mr Rauschenberg.
>> Famous Artists, Controversy  ¶ 8:11 PM 5 comments

  Pizza Hut Box Design Competition Sticking with the multinational company art competition theme, Pizza Hut has a global design competition where you can design your own pizza box. For the next six months there will be a monthly prize of $1,000 and at the end of the competition the overall winner will have their design printed on a Pizza Hut box.

I struggled to find any entrants online at their website here that were worth posting, which has to be a good thing for those that are thinking about submitting an entry.

Update: Corrine of Jafabrit's Art submitted her entry here. It's an open mouth about to chomp on something, which is appropriate for a pizza box.
>> Art Competitions  ¶ 10:07 PM 9 comments

  Nike Art Competition 1/1 Nike has launched a new annual art competition called 1/1. You have to be based in Europe and be over sixteen to enter. The winner will have the chance to exhibit at the Basel Art Fair and will design a limited edition pair of Nike Dunks, which I assume is a pair of shoes made by Nike.

The competition is open to everyone from filmmakers and photographers to graffiti artists and illustrators.

Nike's Nick Knight said "Both football and the arts cut across boundaries. Whether you're from any part of the world, class or part of society, you can appreciate a football match: that's what I like about it. It's the same with the arts: a great painting will cut across boundaries. And that global reach is what's really exciting about the '1/1: Art of Football' project.

We're looking for participants who are completely committed to football but also want to express it in a piece of artwork. It could be a performance, a sculpture, a still - whatever they want. Hopefully that desire to communicate will be the driving force behind the SHOWstudio/NIKE collaboration.”

Find out more at the 1/1 website.

Update: Here's a Pizza Hut competition too.
>> Art Competitions  ¶ 9:41 PM 2 comments

  Earth Day 2008 Google has celebrated Earth Day 2008 by letting the grass grow around their logo. BrandZ and Millward Brown have found that Google is the number one brand on their annual "Top 100 Most Powerful Brands" list, so the Earth Day website should get a few extra visitors from the search engine giant today.

The Earth Day website is encouraging people around the world to call their leaders today to "ask them to enact tough and fair climate change legislation." My prediction is that politicians worldwide will have their phones off the hook.

Here's some previous Google logos for Miro, Munch, and Van Gogh.
>> Earthday 07, Environment News  ¶ 1:59 AM 3 comments

  The Art of Death The German artist Gregor Schneider is looking for people that are about to die and are willing to be a part of his exhibition, which will be you dying.

Schneider told the Art Newspaper that he wants to "display a person dying naturally in the piece or somebody who has just died. My aim is to show the beauty of death." He also told them that his doctor in Düsseldorf is actively looking for possible participants in the exhibition of death.

I don't know much about the artist, and he may just be out to shock and collect his 15 minutes, but I don't have a problem with his plans. If the person dying is aware of what he or she is participating in and it's done in a reasonably tasteful manner, I'm fine with it. I probably wouldn't go to the exhibition, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be exhibited.

It's a thousand times more tasteful than killing an animal for art, as I doubt that any of the animals from the recent Adel Abdessemed exhibition signed a consent form to agree to be filmed while they took a sledge hammer to the head.
>> Art Controversies  ¶ 4:00 AM 6 comments

  Banksy - One Nation Under CCTV I found this news on the Coxsoft art blog. The British graffiti artist Banksy has unveiled his latest work of wit, irony, and reality.

"One Nation Under CCTV" is painted on a wall in central London, which seems to be the CCTV camera capital of the world. It shows a young boy up a ladder painting the words, with a security guard and a dog on the ground watching him. To the right of the painting is an actual CCTV camera.

Here's what the Daily Mail is saying about the new Banksy work.. "Banksy pulled off an audacious stunt to produce what is believed to be his biggest work yet in central London. The secretive graffiti artist managed to erect three storeys of scaffolding behind a security fence despite being watched by a CCTV camera." Daily Mail

I just wonder how "audacious" the work is though. Erecting 3 storeys of scaffolding in a secure area with a CCTV camera looking over the painting makes me think Banksy had permission to do the work. Regardless, it is classic Banksy. If I was the owner of the building I would now cover the painting with some protective perspex as Banksy just added at least $100,000 to the value of the property.
>> Who is Banksy?  ¶ 7:50 PM 9 comments

  INTERESTED IN YOUR ARTWORK Artists have mostly woken up to scammers trying to steal their money and artwork, but some people must still fall for them as I still get art scam emails. I thought they were getting more sophisticated and believable, but here's one that is a big step back..

HELLO, MY NAME IS MAXWELLS BROWN.MY MAIN REASON FOR CONTACTING YOU IS DAT I SAW ONE OF YOUR ARTWORK AND AM HIGHLY INTERESTED IN BUYING SOME FROM YOU CAUSE I SAW YOUR EMAIL TOO, SO I WILL LIKE YOU TO GET BACK TO ME WITH YOUR WEBSITE AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE SHIPPING IHAVE A QOURIER THAT WILL COME FOR THE PICKUP AND I WILL LIKE YOU TO KNOW THAT I WILL BE PAYING BY A CHEQUE OR MONEY ORDER. SO I WILL BE EXPECTING TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.REGARDS

The email is from MAXWELLS BROWN <maxwellsranch101@yahoo.com>

Yeah sure Maxwells, I would love to give you my website address so that you can try and rip me off.
>> Art Scams  ¶ 4:37 AM 12 comments

  Women Impressionists in San Francisco I have had complaints that I don't mention female artists enough on Art News Blog, so this exhibition should help with my quota of women artist posts for the month. I usually listen to complaints or constructive criticism, but strange people that think the world revolves around them or extremists that try and push their distorted way of thinking onto others don't get much of my time.

If the person took the time to actually look at the blog for any longer than 2 minutes they would see that the front page at the moment has a female artist working with spam, a female British artist (being sued), an Australian woman artist giving prints away, and some female artists dressing trees. If I do anymore posts on women artists this will turn into a feminist blog, which would be kind of strange as I'm male.

I really don't care if a post is about a male artist or a female artist and I never will care, ever!. All the complaint made me think about was ignoring all news stories that mention female artists, but that would make me just as deluded as the complainer, so I chose to ignore/delete the complaint.

Back to the point of this post (sorry about the rant), an exhibition called "Women Impressionists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès, Marie Bracquemond" will open at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco. Women Impressionists will run from June 21, 2008 to September 21.

Here's more from the press release.. "In a day when a woman leads the House of Representatives and another campaigns for President, it might be hard to imagine a time when the work of four women painters was marginalized because of strict social rules and the artists’ gender. For many decades, the four artists celebrated in Women Impressionists were treated with critical ambivalence and lacked major public exhibitions. It is only now that their innovative styles and contribution to Impressionism are showcased in a groundbreaking exhibition this summer at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, the exclusive U.S. venue. Women Impressionists: Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, Eva Gonzalès, Marie Bracquemond is on view from June 21 to September 21, 2008. The exhibition offers a rare opportunity to directly compare the work of these women artists by bringing many pieces together for the first time."
>> Museum Exhibitions  ¶ 8:35 PM 8 comments