Critics Name the 13 Best Art Exhibits of 2009

Winner of the 2009 AICA award for Best Thematic Museum Show Nationally:
Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures, organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

NEW YORK — We all enjoy reflecting on the previous year, especially in list form - top 10, people of the year - so with just a couple of weeks left before we welcome in 2010, here's an art-related top 13 of the year...

The 400 active members of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) have nominated and cast their votes for the 2008-2009 art exhibitions of the year. The 26th annual awards recognize excellence in the conception and realization of exhibitions in the United States during the previous year. Honorees include artists, curators, museums and galleries. This year's award ceremony will take place at  the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on February 16. [Note: Members of the public may contact aicausaprogram@gmail.com for more information about attending the event. There are a limited number of seats available.]

The 2008/2009 AICA Award Winners:

1) BEST MONOGRAPHIC MUSEUM SHOW NATIONALLY

William Kentridge: Five Themes, organized by the Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA. Curator: Mark Rosenthal.

2) BEST THEMATIC MUSEUM SHOW NATIONALLY

Art of Two Germanys/Cold War Cultures, organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA. Curators: Stephanie Barron and Dr. Eckhart Gillen.

3) BEST MONOGRAPHIC MUSEUM SHOW IN NEW YORK CITY

Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective, organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Tate London, in partnership with the Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid. Curators: Gary Tinterow assisted by Anne L. Strauss and Ian Alteveer.

4) BEST THEMATIC MUSEUM SHOW IN NEW YORK CITY

The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860-1989, organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. Curator: Alexandra Munroe.

5) BEST SHOW IN A COMMERCIAL GALLERY IN NEW YORK CITY

Picasso: Mosqueteros, Gagosian Gallery, New York. Curator: John Richardson.

6) BEST SHOW IN A COMMERCIAL GALLERY NATIONALLY

John Altoon: Drawings 1962-1968, organized by The Box Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

7) BEST SHOW BY A NON-PROFIT GALLERY OR SPACE

Unica Zürn: Dark Spring, organized by The Drawing Center, New York. Curator: João Ribas.

8) BEST SHOW IN A UNIVERSITY GALLERY
The Poetics of Cloth: African Textiles / Recent Art, organized by the Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York. Curator: Lynn Gumpert.

- and -

Dirt on Delight: Impulses that Form Clay organized by the Institute for Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Curators: Ingrid Shaffner and Jenelle Porter.

9) BEST SHOW IN A PUBLIC SPACE

The High Line NYC, organized by The High Line, New York. Curator: Lauren Ross.

10) BEST ARCHITECTURE OR DESIGN SHOW

Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, co-organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Curators: Thomas Krens, David van der Leer, Maria Nicanor, Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, Margo Stipe and Oskar Muñoz.

11) BEST HISTORICAL SHOW

James Ensor, organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Curator: Anna Swinbourne.

12) BEST EXHIBITION OF DIGITAL MEDIA, VIDEO, OR FILM

Pipilotti Rist: Pour Your Body Out (7354 Cubic Meters) organized by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Curator: Klaus Biesenbach.

13) BEST PERFORMANCE

Yvonne Rainer's RoS Indexical (2007) and Spiraling Down (2008) presented at REDCAT, Roy and Edna Disney/Cal Arts Theater, Los Angeles, CA in cooperation with the J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Research Institute, and the World Performance Project at Yale University. Organizers: Mark Murphy, Emily Coates and Laurel Kishi.

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Critics Name the 13 Best Art Exhibits of 2009

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■ A Night at the Museum: Guggenheim's First Annual Art Awards Ceremony | More >

Top ART News: Week In Review | Oct. 25 - Nov. 1

A Night at the Museum: Guggenheim's First Annual Art Awards Ceremony

NEW YORK, NY -- There are dozens of award shows honoring actors and musicians, and now artists are finally being recognized for their creative achievements. On Thursday evening, stars including Kylie Minogue, Julianne Moore, James Franco and Mary-Kate Olsen, were at the Guggenheim Museum for a Hollywood-esque awards ceremony - The First Annual Art Awards. Conceived by artist Rob Pruitt, The First Annual Art Awards "honors select individuals, exhibitions, and projects that have made a significant impact on the field of contemporary art during the past year." And instead of the traditional metal statuette, winners took home a celebratory bucket of champagne that conveniently also serves as a fully functional lamp.

More than four hundred artists and art world professionals selected the nominees. And winners are (envelope please)...

■ Artist of the Year | Mary Heilmann

■ Curator of the Year | Connie Butler

■ Exhibition Outside the United States | Jeff Koons, Versailles, Château de Versailles, France

■ Group Show of the Year, Gallery | Who’s Afraid of Jasper Johns? Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York

■ Group Show of the Year, Museum | The Pictures Generation, 1974–1984, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

■ New Artist of the Year | Ryan Trecartin

■ The Rob Pruitt Award | Cynthia Plaster Caster

■ Solo Show of the Year, Gallery | Manzoni: A Retrospective, Gagosian Gallery, New York

■ Solo Show of the Year, Museum | Martin Kippenberger: The Problem Perspective, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and Museum of Modern Art, New York

■ Writer of the Year | Jerry Saltz

■ Lifetime-Achievement | Joan Jonas and Kasper König

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[Read More - Winners of Art Awards Announced at Guggenheim Museum Ceremony | Guggenheim.org]

A Night at the Museum: Guggenheim's First Annual Art Awards Ceremony

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Top ART News: Week in Review | Oct. 18 - 25, 2009

Emerging Artist Wins Big in Temple University Art Competition

PHILADELPHIA -- Doesn't this October seem to be the month of art competitions offering hefty cash rewards? First there was ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. And this week, the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Pennsylvania, named a winner in the world's largest juried visual art prize granted by a university.

28-year-old painter/sculptor/filmmaker and Philadelphian, Ryan Trecartin, was awarded $150,000 cash in the first annual Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts. Trecartin won for his 50-minute video entitled Sibling Topics (Section A). "I'm completely honored. This is going to change my life and my practice," remarked Trecartin at Thursday night's award ceremony.

The Wolgin Competition was endowed by Philadelphia real estate investor, Jack Wolgin. 20 competitors were chosen by an advisory board seeking to find "an emerging artist whose work transcends traditional boundaries and exemplifies the highest level of artistic excellence."

Trecartin, however, doesn't exactly personify an "emerging" artist, having exhibited at the 2006 Whitney Biennial, the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), Saatchi Gallery (London) and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York). The other two finalists, Sanford Biggers and Michael Rakowitz, have similarly impressive curricula vitae. Perhaps contest organizers should redefine their criteria/mission statement before next year's competition.

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[Read More - Philadelphia Artist Takes First Wolgin Prize | Philadelphia Inquirer]

Emerging Artist Wins Big in Temple University Art Competition

The Guggenheim Museum Celebrates 50 Years

NEW YORK -- Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum! The internationally renowned art museum was designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and officially opened its doors on October 21, 1959. From the beginning, the relationship between the breathtaking architecture of the building and the art it was built to display has inspired controversy and debate.

To celebrate their golden anniversary, the Guggenheim offered free admission today as well as a variety of educational programs, special screenings, giveaways and a live Twitter tour of their landmark building.

The New York Daily News published a fantastic list of 50 reasons to visit the Guggenheim in honor of the big day. Here are just 10 of those fun museum facts:

1. Curator Hilla Rebay, a German baroness, chose the museum's architect. Some theorize that she selected Wright, a renowned American visionary, to pacify critics who accused her of favoring European creative minds over American ones.
2. To design the museum, Wright created more than 700 sketches.
3. The structure faced harsh criticism when it opened in 1959. One critic dismissed it as "a war between architecture and painting, in which both come out badly maimed." Another called it "an indigestible hot cross bun." NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses snapped that it looked like "an inverted oatmeal dish."
4. Wright wanted the building to have curved surfaces to convey "an atmosphere on the unbroken wave." He was adamant that there be no distractions, not even carpeting or curtains.
5. Wednesday night, the Empire State Building will be lit "Guggenheim red" in celebration of the museum's anniversary. Early on, Wright wanted the museum to be crimson, which he described as "the color of creation." Rebay wrote back, "Red is a color which displeases [founder Solomon Guggenheim] as much as it does me."
6. An early version of the museum was housed at 24 E. 54th St., where it was called the Museum of Non-Objective Painting. The gallery featured plush carpeting, burning incense, and a soundtrack of Bach and Chopin. The paintings were hung close to the floor so that they could be viewed by seated visitors.
7. One of Guggenheim's favorite painters was Wassily Kandinsky; he bought more than 150 works by the artist. An exhibition of Kandinsky's work is on view at the museum through the end of the year.
8. Guggenheim helped the Russian-Jewish artist Marc Chagall flee Europe in 1941.
   
9. In August, during normal business hours, graffiti artist Mat Benote managed to stick one of his canvases to a wall in the museum, complete with an explanatory blurb. It was removed within minutes.
   
10. A Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, was designed by Frank Gehry and opened in 1997 to rave reviews. A Guggenheim Museum in Abu Dhabi, also designed by Gehry, is in the works.
    

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[Read more - 50 Facts About the Guggenheim | New York Daily News]

The Guggenheim Museum Celebrates 50 Years

Met Museum Tells Visitors to Please Touch the Paintings

The Onion, a tabloid newspaper known for intentionally inaccurate reporting, recently published a satirical article that had the art world chuckling (and made those unfamiliar with The Onion, really confused). In these tough economic times, many art museums are struggling for patrons, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art has devised a new strategy to attract more visitors.

NEW YORK /TheOnion/ — Hoping to boost attendance and broaden its base of supporters, the Metropolitan Museum of Art launched a new initiative this week that allows patrons, for the first time ever, to prod and scratch at the classic paintings in its revered collection.

Prod and scratch the classic paintings? Imagine! The Met's Director, Thomas P. Campbell is quoted as saying this behavior is encouraged:

"Please, bring the whole family and smudge up our paintings as much as you want."

It seems the response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive. 

Gerard Schmidt, a retired banker who lives near the Met, said he had never much cared for museums until he was given the chance to manhandle one of Monet's Water Lilies. "At first it just looked like a picture of a bunch of lily pads, but then I started scraping at it with my pocket knife and the whole painting just sort of spoke to me," Schmidt said. "For the first time, I finally understand what Monet was trying to get across in her work."

 In her work! The story continues...

Art students also took advantage of the Met's relaxed rules, with many photocopying Cézanne canvasses or trying to gain insight into Rembrandt's techniques by tracing over Aristotle With A Bust Of Homer with soft pencils and charcoal.

Museum officials confirmed that many new visitors have given donations to the museum to get special member benefits, such as being allowed to remove works of art from the walls and sit down with them while enjoying food or drinks in the café.

And what do other museums think of the Met's success? They're anxiously experimenting with their own new initiatives.

The Guggenheim Museum now allows customers to swing from its Calder mobiles, while the American Museum of Natural History has begun charging $2 to ride atop its famed brontosaurus skeleton.

So how will the Met follow up on their new found success? Director Campbell explains:

"Next year we're going to let people grab any masterpiece they like and just take a shit on it."

If you think something stinks about this story just remind yourself - it's only The Onion.

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[Read More - Struggling Museum Now Allowing Patrons To Touch Paintings | The Onion]

Met Museum Tells Visitors to Please Touch the Paintings