Bob Dylan, "Train Tracks," 2009, from the "Drawn Blank" series.

Here’s our midweek summary of this n’ that and other chit-chat happening in the world of art and beyond.

*Keith Olbermann gives Christopher Knight “Best Person in the World” status for pointing out potentially communist imagery in right-wing Tea Party poster art.

*Was overzealous corporate art collecting partly to blame for Lehmann Bros. fall? Former Lehman trader Lawrence McDonald speculates that indeed, it was, in his new book about the investment behemoth. Artnet fleshes out the issue in its latest report.

*Bill Viola rejects Vatican’s invitation to a summit “aimed at bridging the gap that has developed between spirituality and artistic expression over the last century or so,” reportedly because Viola disagrees with many of the Catholic Church’s policies. No word yet on whether artist Robert Gober was invited, and if so, whether or not he’ll attend.

*If you haven’t already been following this issue, this L.A. Times article provides an excellent one-stop summary of the current controversy arising from the Obama administration’s alleged attempts to “politically manipulate” the NEA and, by extension, the arts communities it serves.

*Tyler Green writes in defense of blockbusters, following Holland Cotter’s article in last weekend’s NYT calling on museums to “rethink the blockbuster phenomena.”

*Wanna know what the Art Institute is deaccessioning this Fall? Read Green’s roundup of what they’re hoping to sell, here.

*Four Andy Warhol prints of famous sports stars stolen from Richard Weisman’s L.A. Collection.

*Annie Leibovitz finally reaches an agreement with her creditors.

*C-Monster elegantly takes the piss out of Bruce Nauman’s “LEAVE THE LAND ALONE” skywriting installation.

*Bob Dylan to exhibit nearly 100 of his paintings in a 2010 solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen. An example of Dylan’s work heads this post. How will they stack up to Joni’s, I wonder?

*Ghosts and their media.

*Chicago artist and BaS fave Deb Sokolow interviewed in Beautiful/Decay magazine.

*How to disappear.

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Claudine Isé

Claudine Isé has worked in the field of contemporary art as a writer and curator for the past decade, and currently serves as the Editor of the Art21 Blog. Claudine regularly writes for Artforum.com and Chicago magazine, and has also worked as an art critic for the Los Angeles Times. Before moving to Chicago in 2008, she worked at the Wexner Center in Columbus, OH as associate curator of exhibitions, and at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles as assistant curator of contemporary art, where she curated a number of Hammer Projects. She has Ph.D. in Film, Literature and Culture from the University of Southern California.

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