An article in Crain’s Business reports that the Museum of Modern Art is the loudest museum in New York City, following a series of impromptu tests at New York’s most prominent museums. The Frick clocks in as New York’s quietest museum. “The Whitney constantly has helicopters outside—you won’t necessarily hear them, but that noise will come through the glass,” says Alan Fierstein, founder of Acoustilog, a New York acoustical consulting firm. “You can’t hear specifics — ‘Oh, that’s a helicopter, that’s a 737, that’s a truck,’ because by the time it makes it to your ears, it’s mixed up and just sounds like an overall din.” (more…)

Artist Tania Bruguera, following the return of her passport, has been named the first artist-in-residence in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), in part of an effort to bring more attention to the benefits for immigrants in the city, and in the ownership of a City ID Card. “This project provides a unique opportunity to enhance the notion of art as a useful tool to materialize a vision of a more inclusive society,” Bruguera says. “I’m excited to explore new ways of collaborating with New York’s immigrant communities to make a real impact on the lives of city residents.” (more…)

Galeria Franco Noero, via Art Observed

The doors are open on Frieze New York, marking the early days of the summer art season with a major art event up the East River on Randall’s Island.  Returning for its fourth year, the fair has come into its own as a dedicated staple in the New York Art Calendar, and its presentation this year seems to echo it, with a stripped back tent design that seemed to stretch out much longer than in previous years, but distilled the experience down to only three rows of booths, with the occasional inlet allowing for an enjoyable wander through the space.  The VIP opening launched Wednesday morning for a quiet preview where a number of major collectors and celebrities strolled the aisles, among them Neil Patrick Harris, Mike Meyers, Uma Thurman, Leonardo DiCaprio and Richard Gere and François Pinault. (more…)

A number of artists are voicing their concern over the Frick’s proposed expansion plan, which would eliminate a garden by the British designer Russell Page.  “As professionals working in the art world,” says an open letter signed by Chuck Close, Rachel Feinstein, Lisa Yuskavage, and Frank Stella, among others, “we strongly believe that the Frick’s effectiveness as a display space lies in its intimacy.  Replacing the hall and garden with an institutional 106-foot tower will indeed destroy the famed Frick experience for artists and art lovers around the world.” (more…)

New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has launched an investigation into the financial decision-making at Cooper Union in New York, where protests and lawsuits erupted following the school’s decision to charge tuition after nearly two hundred years of offering free college education to admitted students.  (more…)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has named Daniel Weiss, the current head of Haverford College in Pennsylvania, as its new president and COO.  “The Met is a place that strives in everything it does to set a world standard, including its administration,” Weiss said of the opportunity. (more…)

New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs is launching a new study, targeting the city’s museums and performing arts groups to understand and quantify each institution’s demographic makeup.  The project is aimed at improving access and broad cultural affinity to the City’s cultural offerings.  “For the long-term vitality and relevancy of cultural institutions, it makes sense to have the staffs reflect that,” says Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl. (more…)

Artist Kara Walker is interviewed in the Wall Street Journal this week, as she prepares a new exhibition in New York.  “I’ve always been a bit restless in the work,” she says. “I have to look this way and that way, just to see what my limitations are, or if they are limitations. Maybe they’re assets.” (more…)

This November, Christie’s will be selling a rarely seen sculpture by Willem de Kooning, one of the few works the artist created in the medium.  “It is a depiction of the artist himself,” says Brett Gorvy, Christie’s worldwide chairman of postwar and contemporary art. “It is the closest de Kooning came to a self-portrait and was created specifically at a time when he was pushing the boundaries.” (more…)

The New York Times reports on the opening of the third and final section of the High Line Park renovation, stretching a loop from 30th to 34th Street and looking out on to the Hudson River.  The $35 million renovation was recently the site of an expansive installation by artist Carol Bove, with more projects planned for the future. (more…)

This November 17th, HBO will premiere a documentary focusing on Banksy’s monthlog “residency” in New York City, titled Banksy Does New York.  Taking footage uploaded by viewers experiencing the artist’s work firsthand, director Chris Moukarbel has cut together a full-length film, which he calls “a city holding a mirror back up to the artist.” (more…)

The New York Times reports that two young German artists have come forward as the perpetrators in the Brooklyn Bridge flag swap. On July 22nd, Mischa Leinkauf and Matthias Wermke scaled the Brooklyn Bridge and replaced the traditional American flags atop its towers with white versions of the flag, a switch that prompted embarrassed city officials to reevaluate security on the bridge. The article reports that, although the swap has garnered publicity as a possible anti-American stunt, the two artists intended the white flags to honor the bridge’s history and especially the birthday of its German-born architect, John Roebling.

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August 4th will see New York City’s billboards, subways, newsstands, and more inundated with major works of art, including pieces by Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, and Chuck Close, as part of Art Everywhere U.S.. This new campaign is the product of a collaboration between the Outdoor Advertising Association of America and five American museums which will result in 58 works of American art being displayed on over 50,000 sites across the country. The campaign hopes to recreate the success of Art Everywhere U.K., a similar movement that launched last year, and spread the importance of American art and artists to a greater number of viewers.

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6.2 million domestic and international visitors made their way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art during this past fiscal year, making it the third year in a row that the museum’s attendance  has exceeded six million visitors. This number is comprised of visitors to both the Met as well as the Cloisters in Upper Manhattan, which attracted 350,00 visitors of its own, a marked 50% increase from the previous year. These high numbers are due in part to the Museum’s recent decision to open seven days a week as well as to popular exhibitions such as PUNK: Chaos to Couture and Balthus: Cats and Girls-Paintings and Provocations.  (more…)

The new guide “Not the Met” seeks to introduce museum-goers to New York City’s lesser-known institutions. Written by a pair of friends from Brooklyn, the guide contains information and reviews of 80 museums, including more well-known institutions like the Frick Collection and the Morgan Library alongside smaller, more specialized museums like the Paley Center for Media and the Museum of Biblical Art. (more…)

Frieze Art Fair, via Art Observed

Following Thursday’s preview event and Friday’s initial day of public entry, Frieze Art Fair is up and running, opening the doors on a revamped fair that has already drawn considerable praise for its strong, diverse selection of galleries and artists, mounting a combination of impressive works alongside more challenging, unique installations that offer a fitting cross-section of the contemporary field.

William Kentridge at Goodman Gallery, via Art Observed (more…)

Sentencing for the convicted Knoedler Gallery defrauder Glafira Rosales has been postponed until September, following the March 14th filing of a secret court document with Manhattan federal court.  Analysts speculate that Rosales, who has already agreed to forfeit $33.2 million, which includes her Sands Point home and $81m in restitution, is negotiating with federal officials in building a larger criminal case for her co-conspirators. (more…)

A new project to reimagine the city flag for New York has drawn submissions from John Baldessari, Francesco Clemente, Tom Sachs and more, to be auctioned at Sotheby’s later this month to benefit the Fund for the City of New York.  “The idea is, in an increasingly virtual world in the 21st century flags are one of the remaining symbols of shared virtues and beliefs,” Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, chairwoman of the alliance and of the Historic Landmarks Preservation Center said. (more…)

The 2014 edition of The Armory Show has announced its Exhibitors List, marking a smaller offering than previous years with 203 galleries on hand for the March art fair.  A higher number of international exhibitors will be at the fair next year, with new appearances by notable galleries including  Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Almine Rech Gallery and James Cohan Gallery.  The fair will also feature a spotlight this year on Chinese artists. (more…)

Robert Mapplethorpe, Lindsay Key (1985), via Thaddeus Ropac

Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac in Salzburg is currently presenting an exhibition of works by American photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, as part of the gallery’s celebration of its 30th anniversary. This exhibition is the latest addition to the gallery’s ongoing series dedicated to Mapplethorpe’s career.

Robert Mapplethorpe, (Installation View), courtesy Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Salzburg (more…)

After months of investigation and court proceedings, Long Island dealer Glafira Rosales has plead guilty to the sale of over $30 million in fake artworks attributed to Rothko, Pollock, and others. Rosales also plead guilty to charges of fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion in a New York courtroom Monday.  “I agreed with others to sell works of art claimed to be created by various expressionist artists including Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell, and to make false representations as to the authenticity and provenance of those works,” Rosales said. “These works of art were actually fakes created by an individual residing in Queens.” (more…)

Ken Price, Big Load (1988), via The Met

Ken Price Sculpture: A Retrospective, currently on view at the Met, marks the first major exhibition of work the late Ken Price in New York. Throughout his career, the Los Angeles-based Price, who passed away last year at the age of 77, challenged the traditional limitations of clay as a sculpting medium, rejecting the narrow-mindedness that often pigeonholed the medium as a lesser form.  Through his whimsical, elaborate forms, Price returned emphasis to clay, answering its detractors with a resoundingly intriguing body of work.

Ken Price, Balls Congo (2003), via Architectural Digest (more…)

A pair of installations by sculptor Carol Bove are currently on view in New York, including an appointment-only installation on the High Line, as well as a show of works on the Museum of Modern Art’s fourth floor.  Both recent series of works, the installations showcase an evolution of the artist’s practice, moving towards a more refined, cohesive stylistic approach. (more…)

For the next three consecutive Saturdays, the city will temporarily close the Park Avenue tunnel to car traffic. The tunnel, which runs from 33^rd to 40^th Streets, will be transformed into an interactive art show created by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. The project will turn participants’ short messages into waves of sound and arching light, determined by the pitch and volume of the messengers’ voices.  (more…)