Drawn out

We were going to make it a competition, but the thought of sifting through your thousands of entries made us feel too tired. So we can reveal that the drawing above is of Greg Burke and part of the plan by the magazine ArtAsiaPacific to produce these little cameos of each issue’s contributors.

Open Mike

The current issue of Art & Australia has a photograph of Michael Stevenson’s recreation of Ian Fairweather’s raft on the cover. There is also an article on Michael by Wes Hill who incidentally is doing his PhD on another OTN Favourite Jeff Koons. You can read a condensed version of Hill’s piece, an interview with Michael, here. The issue also features writing by Murray Bail, author of the main reference book on Ian Fairweather, and long time supporter of the work of Colin McCahon. In 1990 Murray came to New Zealand to try and get a McCahon catalogue raisonné up and running but met with opposition from the director of the Auckland Art Gallery at the time. You can re-read that sad story here if you want to punish yourself.

NO YSL OK

Art collectors are often accused of trying to influence the make-up of exhibitions. A recent transparent example was the attempt by Yves Saint Laurent’s partner Pierre Bergé to change the installation of Warhol’s Wide World in Paris. Bergé didn’t like the way the portraits of YSL were to be hung alongside fashionistas Giorgio Armani and Sonia Rykiel. YSL belonged, as far as Bergé was concerned, in the section devoted to portraits of artists. The curator held the line, and Bergé withdrew the paintings five days before the opening at the Grand Palais on 18 March.
Image: Yves Saint Laurent with the Warhol portrait.

Great stag, nice calves

By now you have probably heard the rumour that the human leg on Terry Urbahn’s stag is female. No one was more surprised than Urbahn’s (you'll see we got the spelling right this time) mate –and Govett-Brewster technical magician – Bryan James. It is after all a casting of the James’ leg that has been cobbled on to the White Hart stag. We checked out the Film Archive where the stag is revolving in front of Urbahn’s video of the White Hart reunion. Sure enough, it’s as manly a leg as you would find in a bunch of Saturdays.
Image: White Hart installation and detail. For the pics it’s thanks to The Paint and Bake – sill a favourite.

Memory lane

Something you don't see round so much these days, the artist's palette.

Look alike

The spirit of W D Hammond stalks the back streets of Wellington

I’m a little bit country

As far as we know McCahon only used two song titles in his paintings and neither were great. Buttercup Fields Forever (not 'Buttercups' as in a McCahon database entry) was to our minds easily the worst with Rosegarden hot on its heels. So it’s good news to hear the suggestion by a friend of a friend that one of McCahon’s paintings was probably inspired by singer and songwriter Waylon Jennings. His song The Door is Always Open was written in 1975 and the chorus goes:

Yes the door is always open and the lights on in the hall And you know that I'll be waiting, if you ever come to call

And this just a year before McCahon painted Open Door which is inscribed with a precise of the chorus from Jennings’ song.
The door is always open / the lights on in the hall.

And when they were up, they were up

So how much has the art market come down? Here is a chart from the Art Market Monitor that shows, averaging out recent sales, things are back to where they were in 2006 - in the US anyway.

On the road: Night Vision

On the road is an ongoing series celebrating the Ministry of Land Transport and Local Body support of New Zealand artists. And happy birthday Rita Angus, wherever you are.
For others in the series search 'on the road' in the blog search box above.

By the numbers

1 The number of tissues required to wipe up the leak in the Monet exhibition.
2 The number of floors in the addition Wellington’s City Gallery calls its ”new tower development.”
4 The number of public art museum directors who have been at their posts for less than six months.
6 The number of dealer galleries to have closed their doors over the last six months.
62.5 The percentage of Te Papa board members (including the chair) who will have to be appointed before 31 August this year.
7 The number of solo publications by Justin Paton listed on Amazon.com.
33 The number of years Art New Zealand has been publishing.
125 The cost in dollars to attend the gala opening of the Auckland Art Fair on 30 April.
130 The number of public artworks in Wellington according to Frances Sutton’s book Art & About.
6420 The number of hits the phrase Billy Apple gets on Google.
250,000 The cost in dollars of Flour Power a sculpture by Regan Gentry erected last year on Christchurch’s Stewart Plaza.

sources: Sunday Star Times, City Gallery, The Press, Te Papa

Things you thought you'd never see

A wine label by Lucian Freud.

A display case too far

When the first museum that we’d probably recognize as such, the British Museum, first started displaying its wares to the public on 15 January 1759, it still believed that physically holding items was essential to one’s knowledge of them. The weight and heft in particular were regarded as critical to deep appreciation. As late as 1827 The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford allowed visitors to handle artifacts with the permission of the curator. As concerns about conservation increased during the nineteenth century, the old unlockable cabinets slowly gave way to sealed ones as surely as glass has to Perspex.

Today the museum mode has been taken up throughout the retail industry as objects are shown in cases and transparent boxes to assert their status as museum-like icons. This overall design trend is why we noticed what seems to be a new move by the justice system to step up the status of its own exhibits. No more the humble sealed and numbered plastic baggy. Evidence now finds itself elevated to iconic status by this museum-like display with its two armatures raising the knife in an elegant angle above the wooden base. There also seems to be a museum-style label.

This sort of display technique has the effect of cuttting out what would seem to be important information about this weapon. The Jury cannot hold the knife and judge its weight and balance. The truth of this object is very simple: this is a kitchen knife, and it is alleged that it killed someone.

So you have to ask, why would our courts allow an object like this to be raised from its commonplace status as evidence to this higher order of celebrity weapon?

Image: Dominion Post. Background on display techniques Museum Manners: the sensory life of the early museum by Constance Classen, Concordia University

Look alike

The funniest Look alike received from a reader this year. The Docs Rock! International Film Festival programme - Pet Rock meets Tony Oursler.
Image: From the left, rock and role model.

Style section

This just in from our style editor. The Still Life Bowl from designers Barnaby Barford & Andre Klauser for Thorsten van Elten. As they say at Areaware "Who needs a Vermeer with the Still Life Fruit Bowl? Create your own masterpiece with this bowl and frame. May orient in landscape or portrait format."

Who’ll watch the Watchmen credits?

Greg Travis joins the company of Andy Warhol movie look alikes (here are four others) in the credits of Watchmen. Standing in for sixties cool, Warhol is shown next to Truman Capote in the silvered factory gesturing to a very un Warhol-like multiple portrait of Nite Owl. The nude walk through was actor Andrew Colthart. You may still be able to see the Watchmen credit sequence here.
Images: From the top, Andy and friends and an old OTN favourite, a Last Supper set up