This was a big week in the art world, from the long-awaited Armory Fair in NYC to the huge news of a possible LACMA/MOCA merger in LA. Read on for more...
Mat Gleason writes:
The big story out of the Los Angeles art world is that the Los Angeles County Museum of Art has proposed acquiring the financially troubled Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art. According to a Jori Finkel-penned report in the LA Times labeled an "exclusive", LACMA was approached by members of the MOCA board of directors and asked to propose a merger.
Kathleen Hanna and Kathi Wilcox have been friends since the two played in Bikini Kill, the riot grrl band that took the '90s by storm. Twenty years later, the two play together in The Julie Ruin, and are currently recording an eagerly anticipated album with James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem.
Because we've had a longstanding musical love affair with Hanna and Wilcox since the days when they wore t-shirts as skirts, we decided to test their mettle and play the Friendship Game with them (despite the fact that our interviewing skills rival Ricky Bobby's). In the game, each player has to guess the other's response to a series of questions; the winner receives a prize that proves her devotion to her beloved friend.
David LaChapelle was recently sued for $1 million by a Montana gallery director who claims he beat and choked him. According to the lawsuit, the celebrity photographer allegedly roughed up James Parmenter last March.
In more strange and violent art news, Russian ballet star Pavel Dmitrichenko, the face of the Bolshoi's on-stage bad guy, Ivan the Terrible, confessed to organizing the acid attack on the theater's ballet chief, Moscow police said Wednesday.
10 Female Artists To Watch
In wonderful art news, Friday was International Women's Day, an occasion celebrated every year on March 8 to pay tribute to the social, political and economic achievements of females across the globe. There were plenty of festive ways to honor this holiday, but we decided to bring attention to the female artists we know and love in a slideshow dedicated to 10 women who are making a splash in 2013.
And finally, behold, the 10 art trends dominating Armory Week 2013. Share the trends you noticed at the fairs in the comments section. Have a happy Armory weekend and see you on Monday!
