The New York Times‘ Holland Cotter gives The Pictures Generation, 1974-1984 show at the Metropolitan Museum an enthusiastic thumb’s up and suggests that it could serve as a blueprint for a new era of contemporary exhibitions at the stuffy old venue. A slideshow of some of the featured work, including the positively lovely Cindy Sherman film still above, here.
According to our friends at Unbeige, the new issue of Visionaire is “solar-powered,” featuring photo-sensitive work from the likes of Alex Katz, John Baldessari and Ryan McGinley. It also costs $250. If you’re too poor to fork over that kind of money to see some black-and-white artwork burst into color, they’ve got a fun virtual version you can play with here.
Jeff Koons’ explanation of the meaning behind his balloon dogs buried in this New Yorker piece about art collector Peter Brant’s new Greenwich museum made us laugh: “It’s about inhaling and inflating when you inhale. It’s about life.”
Two new books about the Mona Lisa’s theft from the Louvre back in 1911 come out this spring. (We had no idea that everyone from Franz Kafka to Pablo Picasso was involved in this juicy art caper. Why haven’t they made this into a movie?) Time Magazine’s Richard Lacayo reviews them both here.
Speaking of mysteries: “The Georgia Guidestones may be the most enigmatic monument in the US: huge slabs of granite, inscribed with directions for rebuilding civilization after the apocalypse. Only one man knows who created them — and he’s not talking.” Read more via Wired.