July 26, 2005 

VIEWS OF VIETNAM AT DRAWING CENTER
In the ongoing dispute over cultural programming at Ground Zero [see Artnet News, July 20, 2005], Drawing Center director Catherine de Zegher said she would never accept censorship, and her forthcoming exhibition schedule backs that claim up. "Persistent Vestiges: Drawing from the American-Vietnam War," Nov. 5, 2005-Feb. 11, 2006, organized by de Zegher herself, features works dating from the war era to the present day by both Vietnamese and American artists, including the notably radical artists Martha Rosler and Nancy Spero. The show also features drawings from the frontlines of the war by Vietnamese artists Nguyen Cong Do, S. Hai, Truong Hieu, Vu Giang Huong, Quang Tho and Nguyen Thu, as well as works by Dinh Q. Lê and Binh Danh.

Also on the Drawing Center fall slate is a show by the Trinidadian artist Peter Minshall; opening next February are shows of Belgian artist Joëlle Tuerlinckx and several younger artists working in "analog animation," while in May the center hosts a show of drawings by Eva Hesse (co-organized with the Menil Collection, where it premieres) and a project by Stephen Posen.

Opponents of the museum complex at the World Trade Center memorial site have also upped the ante, calling for a boycott of fund-raising for the memorial itself until both the Drawing Center and the International Freedom Center are eliminated from the plans. For details, see www.takebackthememorial.com

SNOW IN THE SUMMER AT SOCRATES
Socrates Sculpture Park, located on the East River in Long Island City, has something cool going on this weekend -- in every sense of the word. On Saturday, July 30, sculptor Nicholas Arbatsky is presenting a special "Snowboarding Rail Jam & HuckFest," featuring a massive snowboarding ramp of his own design, covered with a biodegradable, super-absorbent polymer that mimics snow (and is even cold, apparently).

The day-long show, part of Socrates’ "Sport" exhibition, features a roster of professional and semi-professional snowboarders from all over the U.S. (drop-in hot-doggers are discouraged, but can contact Socrates in advance if they are interested). The snowboarding publication Disciple Magazine is documenting the snowboarding summit, which enthusiast Arbatsky says he conceived as a "catalyst to bring the art community, snowboarding community and general public together." Practice begins at 1 pm, with official exhibition runs starting at 3:00.  

POW! ZAP! ART! IN LOS ANGELES
A two-museum exhibition of comic art should enliven the coming art season in Los Angeles this fall. "Masters of 20th-Century American Comics," Nov. 20, 2005-March 12, 2006, organized by scholars John Carlin and Brian Walter, features 500 original drawings, proofs and examples of published comics at both the Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.

The Hammer takes on the first half of the 20th century, focusing on work of legends like Winsor McCay (Little Nemo), Lyonel Feininger (The Kin-der-Kids), George Herriman (Krazy Kat), E.C. Segar (Thimble Theatre), Frank King (Gasoline Alley), Chester Gould (Dick Tracy), Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates) and Charles Schultz (Peanuts). LA MOCA is spotlighting comics from the ‘50s to today, including works by graphic novel trailblazer Will Eisner (creator of The Spirit), pioneering Marvel comics artist Jack Kirby, Mad Magazine’s Harvey Kurtzman and living legends R. Crumb, Art Spiegleman, Gary Panter and Chris Ware.

If nothing else, the catalogue to "Masters" promises to be the most sought-after book of the season, with essays by Tom DeHaven, Brian Walker, Stanley Crouch, Jules Feiffer, Karal Ann Marling, Robert Storr, Pete Hamill, Patrick McDonnell, Raymond Pettibon, Glen David Gold, J. Hoberman, Françoise Mouly, Jonathan Safran Foer, Matt Groening and Dave Eggers. And, of course, lots of cool illustrations along with the text.

LAAA: THE FIRST 80 YEARS
Since its founding in 1925, the Los Angeles Art Association has spearheaded the development of high culture in the West Coast movie mecca. The organization has had its share of ups and downs, starting out as a patrons group for the Los Angeles County Museum, almost going out of business in 1957 and moving in 1960 to La Cienega Boulevard, L.A.’s "gallery row" (the organization added "Gallery 825" to its name in 1993). Now, the Los Angeles Art Association/Gallery 825 (LAAA) has decided to take a look at its own illustrious history with "The First 80 Years," Aug. 27-Sept. 24, 2005, an exhibition organized by art consultant and critic Molly Barnes and featuring works by 25 artists associated with the pioneering L.A. art venue. The list of artists in the show includes Kim Abeles, Lisa Adams, Lita Albuquerque, Carlos Almaraz, Chuck Arnoldi, Robert Bassler, Karl Benjamin, Hans Burkhardt, Marcel Duchamp, Lorser Feitelson, Oskar Fischinger, Gronk, Helen Lundeberg, Dan McCleary, Michael C. McMillen, Jim Morphesis, Man Ray, Roland Reiss, Frank Romero, Betye Saar, Wayne Thiebaud, Kent Twitchell, June Wayne, Jack Zajac and Zorthian.

JEWISH MURALS AT THE BROOKLYN MUSEUM
The Brooklyn Museum has a treat for fans of ancient Rome as well as for students of Jewish history -- it’s putting its collection of Roman mosaics from an ancient synagogue on display this fall. Curated by Edward Bleiberg, "Tree of Paradise: Jewish Mosaics from the Roman Empire," Oct. 28, 2005-June 4, 2006, includes 21 Roman-era mosaics from the first ancient synagogue ever discovered. The mosaics include images on creation themes, and are shown alongside marble statues, textiles, gold jewelry and bronze ritual objects from the time.

WARHOL IN RUSSIA
The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh is sending a major Warhol exhibition to three Russian cities beginning this fall. "Andy Warhol: Artist of Modern Life" includes more than 300 paintings, drawings and photographs, plus films and archival material, from the museum collection. The exhibition premieres at the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow, Sept. 13-Nov. 13, 2005, before touring to the Ludwig Museum in St. Petersburg in December and the Samara Art Museum in Samara in spring 2006. The show is sponsored by Alcoa, which acquired two Russian fabricating plans in Samara and Belaya Kalitva earlier this year. 

NEW FIGGE ART MUSEUM OPENS IN IOWA
The Figge Art Museum opens its new $42.1-million, 100,000-square-foot building on the edge of the Mississippi River in downtown Davenport, Iowa, on Aug. 6, 2005. Designed by architect David Chipperfield, who has offices in London and Berlin, the modernist facility features a glass façade that changes translucence and color in response to exterior light conditions. The Figge -- founded in 1925 as the Davenport Museum of Art and rechristened in the 1990s after a $12-million gift from the Figge Foundation, founded by local arts patrons V.O. and Elizabeth Kahl Figge -- is the centerpiece of Davenport’s "River Renassance," a $113.5-million initiative to revitalize the city’s downtown district. The Figge’s collection includes Regionalist artists like Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton, as well as Mexican Colonial and Haitian art. "The Great American Thing: Modern Art and National Identity, 1915-1935" opens at the museum on Sept. 17, 2005.

ART HEAVYWEIGHTS AT NEW TEXAS TERMINAL
Add another entry in your definition of "Texas-sized" -- Dallas’ Nasher Sculpture Center has put four sculptures on long-term loan to welcome visitors in the arrivals area of the new Terminal D at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which opened July 6. On view in the new sculpture garden are Mark di Suvero’s immense, 9,000-pound New Beginning, Anthony Caro’s yellow ochre steel assemblage Fanshoal, John Newman’s characteristically mechanical-organic sculpture Torus Orbicularis and Mac Whitney’s Chicota, a series of bright red, interlocking steel "V"s. Once American Airlines begins operations at the terminal in mid-August, the airport says, an estimated 30,000 travelers will see the works each day. For those who want more after touch-down, the Nasher is offering $2 off admission for anyone with a DFW boarding pass, July 1-Sept. 30, 2005.

HEBERT WINS ALDRICH AWARD
Painter Todd Hebert has won the $3,000 Aldrich Emerging Artist Award for 2005 – a prize that honors an artist whose work exhibits bold innovation, exciting originality, clear direction and serious dedication -- from the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Conn. A solo exhibition of Hebert’s work goes on view at the museum, Oct. 16, 2005-Mar. 12, 2006.

GRISWOLD TO MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE
William M. Griswold, 44, has been named director and president of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, succeeding Evan Maurer, who retired five months ago after a 15-year tenure. Griswold has been acting director of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (his predecessor, Deborah Gribbon, resigned last fall after a falling out with Getty Institute director Barry Munitz).

Griswold had previously worked at the Metropolitan Museum and the Morgan Library; he became associate director for collections at the Getty in 2001 and was named acting director and chief curator in 2004. The Minneapolis Institute has a staff of 250, budget of $21 million and a $155 million endowment. The museum is in the midst of a $100-million endowment campaign; a 177,000-square-foot addition is scheduled to open next spring. Part of Griswold's brief in Minneapolis is to increase the museum's collection of modern and contemporary art.

THOM COLLINS TO NEUBERGER MUSEUM
Thom Collins, executive director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore (and co-curator of "Beautiful Losers: Contemporary Art and Street Culture’), has been named as the new director of the Neuberger Museum of Art at SUNY Purchase. The Neuberger is currently celebrating its 30th anniversary with a show of sculptures by Deborah Butterfield, Milton Avery, recent acquisitions and "Totally Geometric: Abstraction From the Permanent Collection." 

ART MUSEUM DIRECTOR REAL ESTATE NEWS
Guggenheim Museum director Thomas Krens has put his 4,500-square-foot penthouse loft in Manhattan’s Tribeca artist district on the market for $5.5 million, according to a report on Tyler Green’s Modern Art Notes (a story that was subsequently picked up by Gawker.com). The sale is being brokered by the Corcoran Group, which has several photos of the loft online; click here.