The New York Times visits Michael Heizer at his Nevada ranch and studio, and explores his ongoing project City.  “It epitomizes a fusion of ancient and modern forms,” Heizer says.  “It’s huge in size, but antimonumental in its relentless horizontality and its sinuous, continuous curves. It’s also unphotographable and impossible to capture in its totality. It has to be experienced in time and space — over time, and distance.” (more…)

An article in the New York Times notes an increasing trend towards museums deaccessioning parts of their collection in order to cover budget gaps, even in the face of staunch opposition from critics and board members.  “If you want to safeguard cultural identity, you cannot sell the best pieces of your collection,” says  Marilena Vecco, an assistant professor of cultural economics at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. “This is the challenge for all museums.” (more…)

Artist Kehinde Wiley is profiled in the New York Times this week, discussing his early life in Los Angeles, and his responses to the outrage over police violence in Ferguson, MO.  “I know how young black men are seen,” the artist says in his Williamsburg studio. “They’re boys, scared little boys oftentimes. I was one of them. I was completely afraid of the Los Angeles Police Department.” (more…)

The New York Times profiles movie producer and collector Stefan Simchowitz, who has drawn sharp criticism from many market insiders for his approach to patronage and collecting emerging artists.  “I’m looking for the big fish,” Simchowitz tells the New York Times. (more…)

Artist Ryan McNamara is interviewed in the New York Times this past week, following the opening of the artist’s performance ballet ME3M 4 MIAMI at Art Basel Miami Beach.  “I’ve obviously done a lot of things here, but for me it’s just another context,” McNamara says. “It’s super-specific and super-bizarre. I feel most at home at galleries and museums, but I would get bored if I were only performing there. It’s a different kind of excitement.” (more…)

The New York Times reports on the recent increase in attempts by museums around New York to increase its focus on digital elements in the presentation of exhibitions and installations, fusing strong curatorship with immersive digital engagement projects.   “You want the way people live their lives to happen in the museum,” says Carrie Rebora Barratt, the Met’s deputy director for collections and administration. (more…)

In a special feature, The New York Times has invited 15 artists to create imaginative advertisements for themselves as they might run in the newspaper, with submissions from Jenny Holzer, Carol Bove, and Francesco Vezzoli, whose particularly bizarre ad offers a body double of himself as a sexual partner.  ‘‘I immediately felt that it would be hilarious to see a real/fake prostitute ad in the pages of the most respected newspaper in the world,” the artist writes. (more…)

The New York Times writes on the state of the art market, noting the risks inherent in a market that relies partially on taste and the opinions of art advisors to determine market value and success.  “Art is an asset, not an asset class,” said Luke Dugdale, a private client wealth management director for the Royal Bank of Canada.  “If it were an asset class, the F.C.A. would regulate it, and that would kill the art world. It’s a market in which everyone can be an adviser.”  (more…)

Tracey Emin recently sat down with The New York Times for a brief interview, discussing aging, her current show at Lehmann Maupin, and the valuation of her work as a woman.  “My work rarely comes up in secondary market, so it means that my prices stay low. But I’ll tell you about my contemporaries — if I sold every single thing in my whole show, it is still not as much as one painting of my male contemporaries.” (more…)

Following MoMA’s announced re-evaluation of its plan to demolish the former American Folk Art Museum, The New York Times has published an editorial examining the Museum’s impact on Midtown, and the distinct design of the Folk Art Museum in contrast with MoMA’s sleek facade, and the problems MoMA’s design currently presents for the art it exhibits. “Economic development encourages the proliferation of glass giants, tourism and ever bigger museums, but not always smart streets or better culture.” says writer Michael Kimmelman. (more…)

In the wake of Cooper Union’s contentious decision to begin charging admission, The New York Times has published an in-depth study of the school’s finances, particularly its ownership of the land under the Chrysler Building.  While the land earns a rent of $9 Million a year, it would be difficult to sell in an emergency, yet comprises 84% of the school’s assets.  Combined with the debts accrued for the construction of the school’s new campus building, the article paints a bleak picture of the storied institution’s finances.  “There was never any sense of giving back. Cooper never asked. We always thought Cooper didn’t need the money because it had the Chrysler Building. Forty years ago, I would have stressed to students that someone had to make it possible for you to come here for free.”  Says trustee Thomas Driscoll. (more…)

The New York Times has published a profile of the recently deceased Lisa de Kooning, daughter of 20th Century American painter Willem de Kooning.  The article traces her youth in New York City, her active championing of her father’s estate after his death in 1997, and her struggles with alcohol and drugs, which ultimately led to her early death.  “She had an immense amount of talent,” says actor Alex Kilgore, “but she knew what genius was and she could never free herself from her own eye.” (more…)

Longstanding New York arts institution The Kitchen is still recovering from the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy last November.  While the space was able to reopen by the end of November, the organization is still scrambling to cover the losses suffered during the storm, including damages to speakers, lighting fixtures, electronics, and the theatre stage.    (more…)

In a strongly titled article, “A Los Angeles Museum on Life-Support” The New York Times analyzes the recent fall-out and standing of LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art, examining director Jeffrey Deitch‘s role in the recent happenings.

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