The soon-to-open new home of the Whitney Museum was the site of a protest last night, which sought to illuminate the museum’s location above a massive fossil fuel pipeline and vault operated by Spectra Energy. “Today we are asking: How can a museum that literally covers up the dirty fossil fuel industry be a beacon for the future of art and culture?” an open letter from the protesters read. (more…)
The New York Times takes a look at the growing number of services catering to financial investment and speculation in the art market, particularly the tech-focused art storage company Uovo, or the market insights platform ArtRank, both of which seem to prioritize contemporary art as a source of financial wealth over a source of intellectual edification. These new companies demonstrate “something about the way art is functioning, which is less about the artwork saying something or doing something and more about the artwork representing a value,” says one artist, speaking anonymously. (more…)
The New York Times takes a look inside Mana Fine Arts and Mana Contemporary, the nearly one million square foot art storage and exhibition space in Jersey City, which has become one of New York’s best kept secrets, and which is owned by moving magnate Moishe Mana, whose business has grown alongside New York’s art world. “I remember moving artists in the early days,” Mana recalls. “And when they said they couldn’t afford my rate, I told them if they couldn’t make a living from their art, then they should find real jobs and keep art as a hobby.” (more…)
Over the past year, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has sold off nearly $5.4 million in art, with another $3 million in paintings expected to sell this year, the New York Post reports, including a series of pieces donated by former Met president George Blumenthal. “The museum is perpetually engaged in assessing its own collections, refining them, and making room for new acquisitions that merit display,” says spokesman Harold Holzer. “The Met owns more than 1.5 million works of art in all, and even in this vast building, storage space is finite.” (more…)
A number of U.S. Museums are exploring new approaches to exhibiting works while in storage, the LA Times reports. Museums like LACMA and the Broad Museum have attempted to place larger portions of their collections in “visible storage,” where interested visitors can view them. “There is this public assumption that museums are hoarding objects in dark rooms, and by the way that isn’t totally wrong,” says LACMA Director Michael Govan. “What we’re saying is that those objects are worthy for viewing and studying if not always for exhibitions. So you’re not contemplating a masterpiece, but maybe you’ll find value in comparing and contrasting different examples of vases.”
Henri Labrouste, Bibliothèque Sainteâ€Geneviève, Paris, (1838â€1850) View of the reading room, Photograph Michel Nguyen © Bibliothèque Sainteâ€Geneviève Michel Nguyen, courtesy of MoMA
Moving beyond mere architectural details, The Museum of Modern Art’s current exhibition, Henri Labrouste: Structure Brought to Light,is not simply a survey of the French architect’s (1801-1875) work and influence, but also something of a meditation and retrospective on the library’s role in society. As information continues its march from papers to servers, and books are routinely traded in digital form, Labrouste’s vision of the library as a central mechanism for the dissemination of knowledge offers an intriguing meditation on the significance, symbolism and vitality of the library today. The show is also apropos here in New York as the city’s Central Public Library, in response to these changes, prepares for a potentially devastating renovation.
Henri Labrouste, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris, (1838-1850) Southwest corner elevation and section (Late 1850), Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Paris
