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The DART Board: 03.25.2020

By Peggy Roalf   Wednesday March 25, 2020

“Be Safe.” ”Be Strong.” These are words to live by—today more than ever. As many are struggling to adjust to a life in the arts without locations, making art and sharing it virtually are a kind of salvation. Today I'll pass along several ideas that came in through the feed:

The Virtual Studio Visit |From ArtNet News

Through interviews with artists and curators, ArtNet News offers pretty much all you need right now to get your “studio” in front of eyes everywhere. “I’m pretty sure I’ve always done more virtual studio visits than in-person ones,” Lucia Pietroiusti, curator at the Serpentine, tells Artnet News. Kelani Nichole, founder of TRANSFER, says the same—though her space, which describes itself as a “networked contemporary art gallery,” specializes in digital art anyway, so it may be a special case: “Often during the in-person studio visits, we are just sitting in front of a computer anyway.” The report goes on to report tips from experts on the various platforms in play, from Zoom and Google Hangouts and more. Reporter Naomi Rea covers all the points, from the most effective workflow to dealing with hiccups—which are inevitable. She closes with these sage thoughts:

“Many artists today are struggling to make ends meet, and perhaps even to pay the rent on the studio that’s being virtually visited. 

So if you’re the one doing the visit, and you have the means, why not think about whether it merits some kind of support—whether or not you end up buying something? It may be virtual, but it’s still a commitment of time and energy on the part of the artist to do.”

From That which identifies them like the eye of the Cyclops (2015), dir. Beatriz Santiago Muñoz (image courtesy the filmmaker)

From The Art Newspaper

While this looks too good to be true, it has the kind of “we’re in this together” charm that often makes good things happen in a crisis.  A platform called #ArtistsSupportPledge developed by UK-based Matthew Burrows has generated impressive results in just under a week. Under the scheme, artists are invited to post pictures on Instagram of works available for £200 or less; every time an artist sells more than £1,000 worth of art, they must pledge to buy a £200 work by another participating artist. So far, 9,000 pledges have been made in just four days, equivalent to around £9 million ($10.6 million) worth of pledged money for the artists involved. (It is unclear how many of these pledges have actually been paid out.) “The goodwill has been unbelievable from everywhere in the world—from El Salvador, to America, Germany, New Zealand, Italy, and Australia,” Burrows says. 


Surgical masks being made at a leather workshop in Italy Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP via Getty Images

From The Guardian

The fashion industry is rallying to produce urgently needed masks and other gear for frontline medical workers. Prada has pledged to make 110,000 masks by April 6; Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Balenciaga, all owned by the conglomerate Kering, have promised to donate 40 million in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Donatella Versace pledged more than $200,000 to Milan’s San Raffaele hospital; Mayhoola, the parent company of Valentino and Balmain, pledged $2 million to Italian hospitals; and Giorgio Armani pledged $1.4 million. Info

From the New York Studio School
The venerable graduate art program, housed in the historic home of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s Studio, in Greenwich Village, has necessarily cancelled its legendary lecture series. In a report just in, the school says, “For over 50 years, the NYSS Evening Lecture Series has been a unique force within the NYC arts community, providing a one of a kind educational experience for all in attendance, stimulating the intellectual life of the city. Full Lectures and lecture clips are available to stream on our youtube channel, including selections from the Spring 2020 series, like People Power: A Conversation with Four Figurative Painters: Todd Bienvenu, Julie Curtiss, Jenna Gribbon, Alexi Worth, & Christina Kee. “ This lecture, and many more here

Left: Corona Bouquet, third in a series for Covid Journal by Peggy Roalf; Info

From
  Hyperallergic

While streaming virtual dance parties have taken the lead over virtual group binge-watching on Netflix, multidisciplinary artistKate Lain started a simple Google spreadsheet called “Cabin Fever” in the hopes of gathering links to experimental films she could send to her students once classes were moved online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Lain divided her “playlist” into sections, such as “For when you need to laugh or smile,” “For when you wanna sing & dance,” and even “For when you just want to scream or break something.” As she explained to Hyperallergic, these categories are “based on moods one might be experiencing while being cooped up.” In less than two weeks, Lain’s spreadsheet has grown to include hundreds of experimental films and artists’ moving image works from around the world, complete with content warnings where appropriate and a password option for artists who prefer some layer of security. Note: Due to an overwhelming response, Lain has made her playlist view-only. Folks interested in adding their work to the list should send an email to cabinfeverexperimental@gmail.com

Hyperallergic  reporter Hakim Bishara has complied a Top 12 list of Museums with worthwhile online, all culled from Google Arts & Culture:

Guggenheim Museum, New York
See online exhibitions like But a Storm Is Blowing From Paradise: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa and The Little-Known Glass Works of Josef Albers here and virtually tour the building here (you’d save yourself $25).

British Museum, London
Tour the museum’s Great Court and discover the ancient Rosetta Stone here.

Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Get a close look at the works of Monet, Cézanne, Gauguin, and hundreds of other French painters here.

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Walk among Vermeer, Rembrandt, and many more masters from the Dutch Golden Age here.

Pergamon Museum, Berlin

The Pergamon is one of Germany’s largest museums and it’s home for the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and the Greek Pergamon Altar. Visit it here.

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul
Catch up on the best of contemporary art from Korea here.

National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Explore an exhibition of American fashion from 1740 to 1895 and a collection of Vermeer paintings here.

Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam
Here is where you can find the largest collection of artworks by van Gogh, including more than 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters.

Louvre, Paris
The Louvre doesn’t need Google to create online tours for itself. It has its own virtual tours, thank you very much.

MASP, São Paulo
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo is Brazil’s first modern art museum. Do visit it here.

The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Travel back in time to the 8th century with this collection of European paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European, Asian, and American photographs. 

Uffizi Gallery, Florence
Italy was hit hardest by the virus in Europe. Show some solidarity and pay this magnificent gallery a visit.

Bishara closes, “finally, enjoy this short walkthrough of the 2019 exhibition No Wrong Holes: Thirty Years of Nayland Blake at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA), courtesy the artist themself.”


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