US-ARTS Summary

Venice Biennale seeks to capture the "unruly" world of art

LONDON (Reuters) - Blocks of ice from the Bahamas, cardboard bed clothes from Iraq and a thumping Vatican heartbeat will help the 2013 Venice Biennale attempt to capture the "unruly" world of art. The rich diversity of unexpected sights and sounds at the world's largest non-commercial art exhibition are partly a result of sheer numbers, with shows from 88 countries installed across the canal city in time for this week's opening.

Giant garbage patches of the sea become "national" art in Venice

VENICE (Reuters) - Five huge patches of rubbish floating in seas around the world will have their own unofficial national pavilion on the sidelines of the world's largest non-commercial art fair in Venice this week, thanks to artist Maria Cristina Finucci. These "garbage patches" are areas of high marine debris concentrated in the North Pacific Ocean, the exact size and content of which are hard to define, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Uruguay's Torres-Garcia tops Sotheby's NY Latam art sale

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pioneering South American abstract artists, led by Uruguay's Joaquin Torres-Garcia, Brazilian Sergio Camargo and Venezuelan Carlos Cruz-Diez, were the top sellers at Sotheby's Latin American art auction. Torres Garcia's 1931 "Composition Constructive," fetched $1.4 million in the Tuesday evening sale, which totaled $14.7 million with records set for works by Venezuelan artists.

Mystery and science fiction author Jack Vance dead at 96

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mystery and science fiction writer Jack Vance, whose works included "The Dragon Master" and "The Last Castle," has died at age 96, according to a statement posted on his official website on Wednesday. Vance passed away at his Oakland, California, home on Sunday, according to the statement at www.jackvance.com, a site maintained by his friends and family.

Viennese artist and convicted pedophile Otto Muehl dies

VIENNA (Reuters) - Otto Muehl, one of Austria's most provocative artists who was jailed for sexual offences against minors in 1991, died on Sunday aged 87, the Austria Press Agency said. He was best known as a co-founder of Viennese Actionism, an avant-garde movement that caused outrage with its graphic images of paint-daubed, naked bodies, blood and violence.

Artist Kapoor draws on Berlin's dark history in new show

BERLIN (Reuters) - Blood-red bricks of wax are shifted by conveyor belts up metal chutes towards the centre of an atrium before thudding down and splattering like entrails, in a monumental new installation created by artist Anish Kapoor for his new show in Berlin. A giant, dark sun-like red disk hovers above the ever-growing heaps of wax splodges in "Symphony for a Beloved Sun", which opens Kapoor's first major exhibit in Berlin, running until November 24 in the Martin Gropius Bau exhibition hall.

Rare "Harry Potter" first edition fetches record auction price

(Reuters) - A unique first edition of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" annotated by author J.K. Rowling has sold for a record 150,000 pounds ($227,421) at a London charity auction, Sotheby's said on Tuesday. The 1997 book, featuring handwritten notes, 22 original illustrations and a 43-page "second thoughts" commentary by the author, fetched the highest price to date for a printed book by Rowling, Sotheby's said in a statement.

China's Ai Weiwei launches musical career with heavy metal "Dumbass" single

BEIJING (Reuters) - Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei made his first foray into the musical world on Wednesday with the release of the top single from his debut album, a song called "Dumbass" that takes inspiration from his detention in 2011. The video for the heavy metal song, which was directed by Ai with cinematography by acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Doyle, depicts Ai's 81 days in secretive detention in 2011, which sparked an international outcry.

Britain's Tate museum sets $34 million record for Constable painting

LONDON (Reuters) - The Tate Britain museum bought 19th century English painter John Constable's masterpiece "Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows" for 23.1 million pounds ($34.75 million), making it one of the most expensive British paintings ever sold. The painting, dated 1831, of the towering cathedral in the middle distance under an overcast sky shot through with a rainbow had been at risk of being sold abroad and its sale sets a record for Constable, the Tate said on Thursday.

NY art dealer tied to alleged forgeries charged with tax fraud

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors on Tuesday charged a New York art dealer with tax fraud in connection with the sale of paintings she claimed to be the works of celebrated abstract expressionists, but some of which the government said were fakes. Glafira Rosales, 56, faces three counts of filing false tax returns and five counts of concealing a Spanish bank account from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-arts-summary-044915161.html

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