“He is the man who has everything. He’s come to define the market.”

BusinessWeek’s William Green talks to Nasser David Khalili, the “world’s leading private collector of Islamic art.”

"A Virtual Tour of the Biennial, Twitter (and Cameras) Allowed"

Read all about it here, from Dave Itzkoff at The New York Times

"In order for museums to be sustainable in the future, they really have to listen to their visitors"

Hilarie Sheets from The New York Times talks to Bonnie Pitman, director of the Dallas Museum of Art, about the interesting work the institution is doing to improve visitor experiences

Ain't that the truth

"The feeling on the streets now is the same as it is in most of the galleries: the sheer amount of work, and the mediocrity of most of it, can make the effort of sorting out the good from the bad too painful to contemplate."

Nocolai Ouroussoff in his review of a newly constructed Jean Nouvel building in Chelsea.

Review: Whitney Biennial 2010

This year’s Whitney Biennial marks the seventy-fifth edition of the museum’s well known series, but the milestone wasn’t commemorated in any overdone way. In fact, the show that is meant to encapsulate American art at this moment in time felt austere in certain respects. Simply titled 2010, the show lacked an overarching formal theme as in years past, but the general uneasiness most Americans have felt due to the global recession and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan can be seen in several of the pieces included in the show.

Photographer Nina Berman captures the ugliness of war and the human condition in a series of photos of Marine Sgt. Ty Ziegel, an Iraqi war veteran who was severely disfigured by a suicide bomber while serving. The photos capture Ty at his home, at his local watering hole, with his fiancé and on his wedding day. One photo catches Ty smiling, gazing at his soon to be wife, as she stares off into the distance, invoking feelings associated with lost girlhood dreams. The subject of the photos and the emotions they convey make up for the general simplicity of the photographs.

In Landscape with Houses (Dutchess County, NY) #1 James Casebere constructed a large, detailed tabletop model of a cul-de-sac so similar to the countless effected by foreclosures and the global recession. The artist’s photographs of the model cause the viewer to second guess the medium of the piece and the actual existence of the tiny, perfect neighborhood. Other standouts included works by Pae White and Storm Tharp.

Despite the fact that this year’s show is considered small (It includes only 55 artists – half of the 2006 show) I found it to be a balanced blend of emerging artists and more well known ones such as George Condo and Ellen Gallagher. The show does not cater to any particular medium, but the general disappointment I felt while viewing the majority of the video pieces causes me to conclude that there are more present than necessary. The real challenge of the Biennial is to sift through all the pieces, artists and ideas, and to view each with a fresh eye as its own entity.

The Whitney Biennial, 2010 is on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art until May 30. Click here for more information.

Editorial Disclaimer: The author of this post received discounted or complementary admission to the above mentioned exhibition, courtesy of the host institution, organization or gallery.

A Trip to the Smith College Museum of Art

When a friend suggested a trip to the Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton, Mass. I happily agreed, but wasn’t expecting much of a return on my time. Ignorant to the Museum’s position and reputation, I envisioned a dark, dank little gallery on the college campus with a collection consisting of old Dutch paintings and Revolutionary War tchotchke’s so typical of New England museums.

What I found was an impressive collection of contemporary American and European art of the 19th and 20th centuries, in a $35 million dollar art center on the campus of this historic women’s college.

Works by Cézanne, Kirchner and Picasso can be found on the third floor of the building: gifts to the Museum from distinguished Smith alumnae. Museum acquired contemporary pieces from Jenny Holzer and Alison Saar are also on view, serving as a testament to the Museum’s forward thinking aesthetic and dedication to supporting women in the visual arts.

Click here for more information.