OLD NEWS

EASTERN SCREECH-OWLS COURTING by Mary Holland
<https://tinyurl.com/4kv8y7xt>
The courtship of Eastern Screech-Owls is underway, and it’s prime time for hearing their delightful calls. In my opinion, Eastern Screech-Owls are not aptly named. They make a variety of sounds, including barks, hoots, squeals and an occasional screech, but the most common calls of both male and female screech-owls are an even-pitched trill, or tremolo, and a shrill, descending whinny.
The trills are given at a single pitch and are used to advertise nest sites, for courting, when arriving at their nest cavity with food and for inducing fledging. They are important for maintaining pair and family contact, as well as for attracting mates. The whinny call is described as a quavering whistle, much like the whinny of a horse. It is often used for territorial defense. Whinny calls are most frequent throughout the nesting period as well as when the young disperse. Trill and whinny calls are given separately or together. You can hear both of these calls by going to <https://tinyurl.com/5yhn6zyp> _NaturallyCurious

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TELL
<https://tinyurl.com/49t564ur> _DavidShrigley

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THE DAILY PRACTICE OF “UNTITLED” (GO-GO DANCING PLATFORM by greg
<https://tinyurl.com/4u5r7fsc>
“Untitled” (Go-Go Dancing Platform) is still for sale, I guess, and is now on view at Hauser & Wirth. It’s been on permanent loan to a Swiss museum, and has seemingly been available any time a museum wanted to show it, but there’s still something weird about this work being in a private collection, and being for sale, first in an art fair, and now in a gallery:
“Untitled” (Go-Go Dancing Platform) consists of a painted blue platform framed by 48 light bulbs. When the work is installed, a dancer may appear once a day, at unscheduled times—wearing silver lamé and listening to music of their own choosing through headphones—ascending the platform for brief unchoreographed performances in which they are only dancing for themselves. The dancer draws forth surprise, desire and projection.
…
As Humberto Moro, Deputy Director of Program at Dia Art Foundation, said in a recent film on the work, ‘It reminds us that beauty can be ephemeral, that performance can be a private act, and that care, like memory, requires effort.
…
Over the past three decades, “Untitled” (Go-Go Dancing Platform) has been realized in numerous institutional contexts, each presentation shaped by its particular time and place, allowing the work to unfold anew with every iteration.
But this is a paradox of Felix’s work: the public aspect feels incompatible with typical ideas of private ownership. Unless you have a steady stream of visitors, a candy pour in your house will go stale or get bugs. Why would you take a sheet from a paper stack if you already have them all? To wrap charcuterie? There is, of course, “Untitled” (1991), a box containing objects Felix sent to a private collector, which is intended never to be exhibited publicly.
<https://tinyurl.com/bddy7jx3>
But what is the private realization of “Untitled” (Go-Go Dancing Platform) like? Does it just sit there? If there’s not a dancer coming every day, that just seems wrong. So do you just give a dancer a key to your house, and they show up whenever tf they want for their five minutes? That could be chaotically fantastic, stressful, or awkward. And you better pay them, and give them vacation, and so you need substitute dancers, or a roster. And I assume they’ll need background checks or NDAs. And suddenly you need a dancer manager/producer. But you still need to leave the dancer’s schedule up to them, and the discretion to share it with you. What if they get into a routine, stopping off for a dance on the way to their other dayjob? That also feels wrong somehow.
In the wake of the H&W opening last night, I was texting with a friend, who jokingly asked me my silver hot pants size, and it hit me: what if the owner is the dancer? The core tenet of “Untitled” (Go-Go Dancing Platform) is that it needs someone in lamé to dance on it for five minutes each day. That’s the owner’s responsibility. You knew that when you bought it. The rest is just execution.
“Untitled” (Go-Go Dancing Platform) has been realized in numerous institutional contexts, sure, but performance can be a private act. So imagine it realized in numerous private contexts: is it a ritual? A break? A chore? To you take a go-go break instead of a smoke break? A daily practice of go-go dancing? A quick go-go before going out? Does the whole family take turns? Is go-go dancing on the job wheel on the fridge, along with walking the dog or mowing the lawn? Are you notorious for go-go dancing during dinner parties, or is it a rare treat? Do you take a break when the work’s on loan somewhere, or do you keep it up?
Should “Untitled” (Go-Go Dancing Platform) be considered alongside other works of daily practice, like On Kawara’s date paintings, or Byron Kim skies, or Rob Pruitt’s sunsets or Obamas? Or should it slot in along the maintenance and labor works of Meyrle Laderman Ukeles? Should the yawning gap between the eight-figure value of the work and the wage value of the dancers’ daily labor be a subject of critical evaluation? Does the owner/dancer change that?
What if the next owner of “Untitled” (Go-Go Dancing Platform) decides to never loan it again, and just keeps it for themselves? These questions are all we’ll have left. I guess we all better hoof it over to 22nd street while we still have a chance.
[10 minutes later update: of course I know the Foundation’s core tenets for the work <https://tinyurl.com/2dhvjkvj> (pdf) only say it “may” include a dancer, not that it “must.” It also says “bikini or briefs,” though I think no non-cis male-presenting dancers ever performed in Felix’s lifetime. If the work can accommodate questions of gender, it can certainly withstand scrutiny of the rights (sic) and responsibilities (sic) of its owner, and that person’s relationship to the agency, labor, and body of someone involved in realizing the work.] _greg.org

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THE MOUNT WASHINGTON POST
<https://tinyurl.com/4vck5znm> _LisaAnneAuerbach

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31. OUIJA BOARD by Rainey Knudson
<https://tinyurl.com/2t6puaab>
In the wake of the Civil War, a tsunami of grief that lasted for decades engulfed the country. With roughly 750,000 dead, nearly every family had lost someone. Out of that mass bereavement rose the Spiritualist movement—séances, mediums, and devices that promised contact with departed loved ones. “Talking boards” were in use by 1886; in 1891 a patent was granted for the Ouija after it allegedly spelled out the patent officer’s name. By the next year, some 2,000 boards were selling each week. The board remained a mainstream family game through the 20th century, briefly outselling Monopoly in the 1960s.
The Ouija occupied an ambiguous cultural space—part kooky novelty, part metaphysical tool—until The Exorcist decisively recast it in the popular imagination as a Satanic gateway. Cue the bonfires.
That the board is demonic seems as silly as the notion that a mass-produced plastic toy can speak to the dead. Still—as a society, we’ve lost the certainty of old-time, literal visions of the afterlife. Those stories don’t work for many of us anymore, except as metaphor, and we’re fumbling toward a belief suited to the times. Barren materialist philosophy that reduces us to chemistry leaves our yearning unfulfilled, scoffs at the word “soul.” We wonder: if our bodies are configurations of energy when we’re alive, what becomes of that energy when we die? And we secretly, tenderly hope that there is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of, either in our philosophies or our parlor games. _TheImpatientReader

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THE ONLY CRIMES I’VE SEEN IN CULVER CITY ARE GALLERY SHOWS.
<https://tinyurl.com/mw7fy53z> _CarolinaAMiranda

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IT’S THE YEAR OF THE HORSE!
<https://tinyurl.com/bd6pzyc8>
Whistlejacket (ca. 1762) by George Stubbs (1724–1806)
A staple of the collection of National Gallery in London, this masterpiece by the Liverpool-born painter George Stubbs is one of the most iconic paintings of a horse in Western art. Whistlejacket was an Arabian chestnut stallion that had great success on the racing track, including at the 2,000-guinea race at York in 1759. Stubbs was commissioned by Whistlejacket’s owner, Charles Watson Wentworth, the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham (who became prime minister twice), to paint a life-size portrait around 1762, after his horse had retired from racing. The lively and meticulous depiction of the beautiful horse, without a rider or any riding equipment attached, underscores its free spirit. Works like this sealed Stubbs’s status as a master anatomist.
<https://tinyurl.com/mpjwdp7u>
Night-Shining White (ca. 750) by Han Gan (706–83)
Attributed to the imperial court painter Han Gan of the Tang dynasty, Night-Shining White is widely regarded as one of the most important horse paintings in Chinese art history, and one of the few surviving examples from the Tang era. Han was celebrated not only for his precise rendering of equine anatomy, but also for capturing the spirit and grandeur of the Tang dynasty itself. The work is believed to depict a prized steed belonging to Emperor Xuanzong, who ruled from 712 to 756, ushering in a golden age that unraveled with the An-Shi Rebellion. The horse, named for its snowy white coat, is shown with an arched neck, raised tail, and an animated whinny. Its powerful posture contrasts sharply with the stillness of the thick post it is tethered to and the taut reins that restrain it.
<https://tinyurl.com/282rxhfp>
The Broncho Buster (1902) by Frederic Remington (1861–1909)
When speaking of horses, it’s impossible not to talk about American Western art, and this iconic sculpture by Frederic Remington is a prime example. The 19th-century American artist is famed for defining the mystique of the American West through his depictions of cowboys, soldiers, Native Americans, and horses in his paintings, illustrations, and sculptures. The Broncho Buster was his first and arguably most popular sculpture, capturing the spirited image of a cowboy taming a horse. The work has been described as a masterpiece of balance and tension, and as a defining image of the American spirit. U
<https://tinyurl.com/2c8xcx95>
Horse (2002) by Shin Sang-ho (b. 1947)
A leading figure in contemporary Korean ceramics, Shin Sang-ho has spent decades expanding traditional techniques into a distinctly sculptural language. In his “Structure and Energy – Horse” series, Shin conveys motion and time by equipping a single horse with multiple legs. These large works are typically constructed and fired in separate sections to overcome the physical limitations of kilns, and glazing that the artist applies adds to their sense of dynamism. Through this work, Shin pushes the discipline of ceramics beyond its conventional boundaries, achieving a scale and spatial presence more often associated with contemporary sculpture.
<https://tinyurl.com/bdcj7zv8>
Five Drunken Princes Returning on Horseback (late 13th/early 14th century) by Ren Renfa (1255–1328)
Ren had an official career until the collapse of the Song dynastic, following the invasion of the Yuan. There are no records of when and how he acquired his painting skills, but his horse paintings were highly regarded in their time and drew inspirations from earlier artists such as Han Gan (706–783), of the Tang dynasty (618–907), who’s mentioned above. The rare paper scroll depicts Tang prince Li Longji and his four brothers returning home after getting drunk, accompanied by four attendants. Li, who would go on to become the Tang emperor, was known for his good relations with his siblings and always hosted banquets to entertain them.
<https://tinyurl.com/mr2xydbu>
A black horse and a white horse (1950s/1960s) by Sanyu (1901–66)
During Sanyu‘s long career, the horse remained one of his central motifs. In his paintings, the animal is often rendered with minimal yet precise lines, fluid and calligraphic, appearing almost like a single brushstroke. Simple in form yet rich in poetic resonance, these horses carry a quiet sense of restraint and elegance. Through broad planes of flat color, the artist often situates them within a vast wilderness or beneath an expansive sky. The atmosphere is consistently quiet, solitary yet never sorrowful. This approach feels closer to the Chinese literati tradition’s use of empty space than to the naturalistic conventions of Western academic realism. In A black horse and a white horse, the horses are neither heroic nor decorative; they simply exists in their most essential form. Sanyu has transformed a traditional symbol of power into something far more personal: a reflection on solitude and modern life _Vivienne Chow & Cathy Fan _artnet

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MARTIN WONG, "IMU UR2," C. 1976 #VALENTINESDAY
<https://tinyurl.com/2m8kb7e9> _MichaelLobel

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ADRIAN SEARLE TO STEP DOWN AS CHIEF ART CRITIC OF THE GUARDIAN AFTER THREE DECADES
<https://tinyurl.com/bmj25z5h>
The Guardian today announces that Adrian Searle, its chief art critic since 1996, will step down from his full-time role at the end of March. A prominent figure in global arts journalism, Searle’s three-decade tenure has been defined by a rare ability to write about art for a mass audience with authority, honesty and humour.
Searle’s final article, a look back at the past 30 years and what he’s learned, will appear on 1 April. He will continue to contribute occasional articles to the Guardian.
When Searle joined the Guardian, he transitioned from a career as a painter to become one of the art scene’s most influential critics. Searle’s reviews have demystified art for millions of readers. Throughout his career, he has championed excellence in contemporary painting, sculpture, performance, video and installation work while seeing through the hype and ego of the art world. He was a pivotal voice during the rise of the Young British Artists (YBAs), providing early support for figures like Steve McQueen, Gillian Wearing, and Chris Ofili.
Reflecting on his time at the Guardian, Searle commented:
“Writing about art for the Guardian has been an exhilarating ride, during a period of huge social, political, cultural and technological change. It has been a privilege to be here, and especially to comment on the art I care about. Now, after 30 years, it feels like time to step away. While I still have the curiosity and the enthusiasm, I want to write differently, with fewer deadlines, more time and mental space, and to see where the words might take me.” _GuardianUK

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GOOD MORNING, REMBRANDT
<https://tinyurl.com/sfp4hfyn> _RabihAlameddine

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LONDON’S NATIONAL GALLERY TO CUT STAFF AS IT FACES £8.2M DEFICIT
<https://tinyurl.com/kk692pdk>
The National Gallery is to make serious cuts, with a significant number of staff expected to leave, in the face of a £8.2m deficit in the coming year. Running costs have increased considerably in recent years, with income now stagnant. The looming cuts will also impact the exhibition programme.
In a statement
Initially there will be a “voluntary exit scheme” available to all staff of the National Gallery and its commercial arm. If this does not raise sufficient savings, then compulsory redundancies are possible.
This news comes after the gallery’s announcement last September that it had received pledges of £150m each (from Michael Moritz’s Crankstart foundation and the Julia Rausing Trust) for its planned major new extension, scheduled for completion in the early 2030s. These donations are ring-fenced and the project is expected to continue as planned., a spokesperson says that the gallery will “be stopping several of our activities where, for a number of reasons beyond our control, we can no longer justify their costs”.
Until today’s news of cuts there was little indication of the growing deficit. This was because the financial results for 2024-25 received a major boost from the gallery’s Van Gogh exhibition, which attracted a record 335,000 visitors. _ArtNewspaper

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SCHOOL KRAKOW, WI
<https://tinyurl.com/mvn4xh2u>

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LOUVRE MUSEUM'S DENON GALLERY DAMAGED BY WATER LEAK, MONA LISA UNAFFECTED
The Louvre museum's Denon gallery, where its most valuable paintings are displayed, was hit by a water leak on Thursday evening, although the area which houses Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa was unaffected, said a Louvre spokesperson.
The spokesperson said the water leak had been stopped in the early hours of Friday and that the gallery would soon re-open.
The leak happened in the room 707, where paintings from 19th century French artist Charles Meynier and 16th century Italian artist Bernardino Luini are displayed. The water caused some damage to a ceiling painted by Meynier.
The water leak is the second in less than three months in a museum that has gone through a spate of recent setbacks _Reuters

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PREMIUM VALENTINE'S DAY CONTENT.
[Giulio Carpioni, The Coronation of the Nymph Amaryllis,
Winner of the Kissing Competition, 1646, fresco, Villa Caldogno]
<https://tinyurl.com/4pk4u3dm> _JesseLocker

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POLICE IN FRANCE DETAIN 9 PEOPLE IN SUSPECTED MASSIVE LOUVRE TICKET FRAUD SCHEME
A decade-long ticket fraud scheme targeting Chinese tour groups has led to the arrest of two Louvre employees and several tour guides, in what French prosecutors describe as a “large-scale” operation that siphoned millions of dollars from the world’s most visited museum.
The Paris prosecutors office on Thursday said that nine people were being detained as part of an investigation into a suspected decade-long, 10 million euro ($11.8 million) ticket fraud scheme at the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum.
The arrests took place on Tuesday as part of a judicial investigation opened after the Louvre filed a complaint in December 2024, the prosecutors’ office said.
The loss for the museum over the past decade is estimated to exceed 10 million euros ($11.8 million), it said.
Those detained include two Louvre employees, several tour guides and one person suspected of being the mastermind, according to the prosecutors’ office.
The museum alerted investigators about the frequent presence of two Chinese tour guides suspected of bringing groups of Chinese tourists into the museum by fraudulently reusing the same tickets multiple times for different visitors. Other guides were later suspected of similar practices.
The prosecutors’ office said surveillance and wiretaps confirmed repeated ticket reuse and an apparent strategy of splitting up tour groups to avoid paying the required “speaking fee” imposed on guides. The investigation also pointed to suspected accomplices within the Louvre, with guides allegedly paying them cash in exchange for avoiding ticket checks, it said.
Investigators believe the network may have brought in up to 20 tour groups a day over the past decade.
Suspects are believed to have invested some of the money in real estate in France and Dubai. Authorities have seized more than 957,000 euros ($1.13 million) in cash, including 67,000 euros ($79,459) in foreign currency, as well as 486,000 euros ($576,374) from bank accounts. _AFP

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CINDY SHERMAN OFFERING DRUGS TO A CHILD IN JOHN WATERS' PECKER:
<https://tinyurl.com/2edx32vc> _‪PeterHuestis‬

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WISCONSIN MUSEUM TREASURER ADMITS TO STEALING $70,000 FROM INSTITUTION
The former treasurer of the Hearthstone Historic House Museum in Appleton, Wisconsin—touted as “the only building still standing from the dawn of electricity” on its website—admitted to stealing $70,000 from the institution.
According to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday, Steven Jahnke confessed to embezzlement and now faces one count of theft in a business setting. As reported by the local radio station WTAQ, “board members became suspicious of transactions apparently not related to museum operations, including cruises, vacation travel and vehicle repair. Additionally, some accounts deposited through the community foundation were depleted, despite having a restricted status.”
Other suspicious charges included property taxes for Jahncke’s residence and Amazon purchases sent to the former treasurer’s home. _ARTnews

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$27.2M FOR MICHELANGELO’S FOOT AT CHRISTIE’S.
<https://tinyurl.com/44mryb2h>
That’s $1.15m per square inch.
<https://tinyurl.com/4amjb886> _DrBendorGrosvenor

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TEXAS UNIVERSITY CANCELS EXHIBITION CRITICAL OF ICE
<https://tinyurl.com/3sa7ad56>
Censorship appears to have reared its ugly head at the University of North Texas (UNT) in Denton, Texas, where the College of Visual Arts and Design Galleries (CVAD) quietly removed a solo show of work by Brooklyn artist Victor “Marka27” Quiñonez.
The institution has not provided any reason for the abrupt cancellation, which took place after installation was complete, and was first reported by independent journalist Jenny Yanez. The exhibition, which celebrates immigrant communities from Latin America, included works from the artist’s Frieze Impact Award-winning “I.C.E. Scream” series. The sculptures are highly critical of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE), rebranding the agency as “Inhumane and Cruelty Enforcement” and featuring handcuffs and handguns suspended inside giant resin popsicles, or paletas, that appear to be melting. _artnet

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ETHIOPIAN AIDA MULUNEH, SAI MADO THE DISTANT GAZE, 2016
<https://tinyurl.com/4va47v26> _#WomensArt

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NATURALLY REPRODUCED COHO SALMON FOUND IN RUSSIAN RIVER’S UPPER BASIN
<https://tinyurl.com/4v5jyd55>
In case you missed it:
CDFW announced that juvenile Coho salmon were spotted in a tributary of the Russian River in Mendocino County by a Pinoleville Pomo Nation water specialist — the first observation confirming natural reproduction of Coho in the Russian River’s upper basin since 1991.
Snorkeling in an isolated pool on Ackerman Creek north of Ukiah in June, Pinoleville Pomo Nation Environmental Protection Agency Water Resources Specialist Dakota Perez Gonzalez discovered young Coho salmon. These fish, as well as juvenile steelhead trout and Chinook salmon, were disconnected from surface water flow and other suitable habitat and likely to perish when the pool eventually dried up.
To help the species continue to thrive, Pinoleville Pomo Nation and CDFW partnered for a rescue effort when it was discovered that these juvenile fish had become stranded in an isolated and drying pool.
_CaliforniaDeptOfFish&Wildlife