Ai Weiwei’s arrest has been a gift to the blogosphere with much better coverage at Hyperallergic and Eyeteeth than you will find here. But here’s a curious thing: the dissident artist’s collected blog posts are briefly reviewed in the Guardian today. He posted every day for 4 years.
Meanwhile Russia’s most troublesome artists have just been awarded a state prize worth 400,000 roubles. Kriston Capps at the Washington Post gives you some idea of what the group has had to endure before now and he’s surely done well to secure a few quotes.
Colm TóibÃn has written an informed and readable piece about the life of Joan Miró. Among other things, the story in the Guardian argues that Barcelona was once a bit too provincial for the Catalan painter. Another snippet of Miro news this week details his friendship with Hemingway.
In an even more gossipy vein, here is a piece from Vanity Fair about the love life of Pablo Picasso. The painter was “a bit of a vampire†it seems.
Just as scary is the report on this show at CCCS Florence on the ever interesting We Make Money Not Art blog. It features sound art you really don’t want to be hearing.
Paris Review has an interview with Pavel Zoubok, whose New York gallery is the city’s only space devoted to collage. He explains the medium’s popularity with writers, women and web-users.
If you haven’t seen the new public art installation outside Craven Cottage (home of Fulham Football Club), it’s worth a peek. Footie blog Off the Post sums it up just about as well as anyone.
And if that doesn’t make your smile, this might. Someone writing under the pseudonym Facebike has written a very engaging story for Artsdesk. But whether it’s a pisstake of art or their local council, I’ll leave you to decide.