Obituary - Nam June Paik - Miami

Korean-born artist, Nam June Paik, has died aged 74 in his Miami home. Generally thought of as the creator of video art, Paik first found notoriety with his 1963 exhibition, ‘Exposition of Music-Electronic Television’. There’s no doubt that over the years, throughout works, shows and exhibitions, he transformed the way in which we view contemporary visual arts. He was a talent who truly understood the potential of video and television in art, creating outstanding works, such as ‘Concerto for TV Cello and Videotapes’ (1971) and collaborating with others like David Bowie and dancer Merce Cunningham. Once a member of the Fluxus movement, founded by George Maciunas, Paik was exhibited everywhere from The Whitney to P.S.1. June Paik’s funeral will be held in New York later this week.

News - Tourist Smashes Qing Vases at The British Museum - London

A tourist, who clearly had problems with tying his shoelaces, managed to topple and fall down a staircase at the British Museum (www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk), bang into a display of ancient Qing Dynasty vases. The man managed to shatter the priceless works, which were donated to the Museum in 1948, into tiny pieces. No mean feat given that they had sat on the windowsill for some forty years. Now it seems likely that the museum will change their policy of displaying works on open display.

News - Banksy, Virtue and Hamilton Finlay - 10th South Bank Awards - London

Friday 27th saw the 10th annual South Bank Show Awards take place at the Savoy in London. The event was hosted by Melvyn Bragg and was nothing, if not, star-studded – one great exclusive nod to the British arts. Covering everything from opera to drama and literature, the South Bank also honoured the visual arts. While the show has always walked along the thin line between cool and cultural, they really outdid themselves this year, nominating none other than Banksy, alongside more traditional artists John Virtue and Scotsman Ian Hamilton Finlay. This is a real coup from the South Bank. Virtue and Finlay are outstanding, well-established talents. They are true national treasures. Banksy, on the other hand, has come to notice though his sheer cheeky talent – and what a talent it is! You’d have to have been sleepwalking to have missed his sharp, quirky works that began in the East End, spreading across the walls of London like a spray canned sea. Whatever his feelings on this nomination, this is real mark for urban arts. Graffiti, and all its counterparts, has long been disregarded as child's play – but the simple fact is, Banksy, and those who have since followed in his footsteps, such as D’Face, have turned the spray can and stencil into something clever, witty and frankly, remarkable.

News - Mystery Sales at Sotheby's - New York

This is the stuff that dreams are made from, the stuff that makes the art world so exciting! It was reported over the weekend, by the New York Time's Carol Vogel, that an enigmatic collector spent some $4.27 million at Sotheby’s, purchasing a much sought after Rembrandt. ‘Study of an Elderly Woman in a White Cap’ is thought to have been painted some time around 1640 and was sourced from the collection of Howard Walsh Jr. of Fort Worth, USA. The work was originally expected to sell for between $3-4 million; however, bidding was fierce, not to mention impressive, with bidders from MOMA and the likes. Spending for the mysterious buyer didn’t stop there, as they went on to splurge a further $1.87 million on a Jan Steen and Gerrit Dou. Of course, all this is a likely small picking to Las Vegas’ head honcho, Steve Wynn, who paid a phenomenal $11.3 million for a Rembrandt at Sotheby’s in London several years ago. But still, not to be sniffed at…

News - National Portrait Gallery £1.65 Million Appeal - London

The National Portrait Gallery (www.npg.org.uk) in London is currently attempting to raise £1.65 million to save a portrait of poet John Donne, believed to have been painted in 1595. The Art Fund charity has started fundraising, donating £200,000 to the cause.

Showing This February - Anna Piaggi Fashion-ology at the V&A - London

Sponsored by Top Shop, the V&A (www.vam.ac.uk) continues a stonking collection of fashion themed offerings with a show that encompasses the life and works of Anna Piaggi. A grand dame of the fashion world, Piaggi has well-know for her fabulous work in Italian Vogue, while also appearing as a muse for designers such as Karl Largerfield. One to check out, the exhibition runs from 2nd February to 23rd April 2006. Admission £5. For bookings call 0870 906 3883 or e-mail bookings@vam.ac.uk.

Private View Review - Elmgreen & Dragset - The Welfare Show - Serpentine - London

Wednesday evening marked the opening of Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset’s ‘The Welfare Show’ at the Serpentine. (www.serpentine.org). Swarming with a mass of art world movers and groovers, there is something ironic about this overtly social and political show. After all, the Serpentine is arguably one of London’s most affluent galleries and this is an exhibition that focuses on well, social welfare. However, that’s not to say the exhibition is bad. On the contrary, it is quite remarkable. It's disturbing, depressing and stimulating. Indeed, this is an unforgettable exhibition that leaves you pondering on our sometimes seedy social situation and economic state of the world today.

‘The Welfare Show’ is has no beginning or end – there’s no one point to start out, a little like walking around a circle. The first piece, a brand spanking wheelchair with a blue hydrogen-filled balloon tied to its arm, is desolate and somewhat distressing. Other pieces, including a waiting room and, lone baby tucked up in a basket beneath a cash point machine; are equally as rousing.

There’s no doubt that this is a show, which leaves everyone with a different impression. Following the initial onslaught of visitors, some attendees were beside themselves with glee, others lethargic while the rest simply took it all with a pinch of salt. Perhaps this is where Elmgreen and Dragset truly triumph. They have produced a show from the heart and soul, presenting it to a sometimes nonchalant nation. It’s a provocative and thought provoking notion – and it works.

Private View Review - Buren, Barry and LeWitt - Wall Drawings - ALBION - London

Last night, ALBION (www.albion-gallery.com), coated by stripes, mirrors and red print flowers, swarming with artists, dealers, journalists and the like, opened ‘Wall Drawings’, a show that pulls together the work of Daniel Buren, Robert Barry and Sol LeWitt. The trio, who first made waves, albeit geometrical minimalist ones, during the ‘60s, are arguably leaders in the area of conceptual art. Sol LeWitt, who has lived a, frankly, remarkable life – serving in the Korean war, working as a designer at Seventeen magazine and exhibiting beside Jasper Johns in the legendary ‘Sixteen Americans’ – has appeared everywhere from the Guggenheim to Gemeentemuseum, while his fellow conceptualist, the stripe bandit himself, Daniel Buren, (an original guerilla artist, no less) lays claim to the trippy ‘Les Deux Plateaux’, aka 'Buren’s Colums', found in the Palais Royal, Paris. As for Robert Barry, he’s equally as significant, with his word infused artwork that's featured worldwide in galleries such as LA's Museum of Contemporary Art and Galerie Bugdahn und Kaimer in Düsseldorf.

And so to ‘Wall Paintings’... ALBION is ideal for an exhibition such as this. Designed by Norman Foster and Partners, the 11,000 square foot space is phenomenal – an exclusive maze of wide rooms and corridors, creating the perfect home for a conceptual show. The main corridor, the gallery’s spine, is currently home to Buren and LeWitt’s work, with bright primary coloured walls and opposing silvered ones. This walkway forks into two separate spaces, introducing Barry’s offerings, which add a clean-cut addition to the compact chaos elsewhere. In fact, ironically, Burden, Barry and LeWitt, may be from the same school of thought, but their work is quietly contrary and, in that, works well as a whole in ‘Wall Drawings’.

Whatever your views on minimalist, conceptual art, it has a place, point and reason and can hardly be ignored. Since first appearing, its influence has been far reaching – whether it be in graphic, fashion or interior design, contemporary or mainstream – its effect plain to see. If you don’t believe me, head down to ‘Wall Drawings’ at ALBION before March 24th, when the gallery will fold up and change into some other style, one that we hope will be equally as inspiring.