Anthony Lister, from the Off-duty Superheroes series
Personally, I find the news that Disney bought Marvel to be somewhat ironic, given that right now in our own home the Disney Princess and the Superhero are battling it out for my child’s very soul. I’m sad to report that so far, at least, Disney’s kicking ass, but I’m hoping that its deal with Marvel may lead to some sort of princess/superhero marketing synergy, or at least a few Wonder Woman dolls to compete with the likes of Belle and Ariel. Oh wait–Wonder Woman’s D.C. Oh, fuck it. Here’s a very quick and dirty midweek roundup; Meg will fill in the blanks at the end of the week.
*All superheroes, all the time: check out Disney/Marvel Mashups; off-duty Superheroes; and Serge Kliaving’s earlier take on the subject.
*Edward Winkleman’s Tips for DIY Art Exhibitions.
*What is up with Bloomberg’s obsession with the salaries of Museum directors? It’s like they’re searching for a scandal that just…isn’t there. The latest target? “Dinosaur Museum” President Ellen V. Futter, who heads up New York’s American Museum of Natural History (and took a voluntary 5% pay cut last year).
*Lots of advice on how to beat the bad review mojo this past week on Joanne Mattera’s Art Blog, Edward Winkleman‘s August 31 post, and my favorite observation, from Regina Hackett/Another Bouncing Ball: “At worst, a review articulates the limits of a critic’s imagination. (I can’t see you.) A negative may be intended by critics as a prod, but it always serves as their mirror.” So well put!
*The Guggenheim’s Frank Lloyd Wright exhibition has highest attendance of the Museum’s history.
*Cleveland Museum seeks court permission to use endowment income to pay for building construction. Bad Cleveland Museum! (Seriously, very bad).
*LACMA announces plan for revamping its film program, but many are still unsatisfied. LACMA On Fire’s take on it, here; Time‘s Lacayo, here.
*Canabalt. You don’t smoke it. You play it.
- Michelle Grabner, Anthony Elms, Stuart Comer Named Curators of 2014 Whitney Biennial - November 29, 2012
- New Fielding Practice Podcast on the Art21 Blog! Episode 16: Summer Review-O-Rama! - July 19, 2012
- Tom Sanford is a Busy Man…Here’s Why - June 12, 2012
Loved the superhero bit, but I’m not sure if I agree with you about the salary thing.
Actually, I think it’s pretty outrageous for the President of an institution like MOMA to make nearly a million dollars a year (and the Museum of Nat. Hist–1.1 million, with free housing! What? That’s not enough to buy an apartment in Manhattan?) while those same institutions pay such crappy salaries to their professional staff.
Equivalent positions with other nonprofits (particularly advocacy groups like environmental and civil rights organizations) don’t make anything close to that.
Basically, the Museum of Natural History treats its president like they are a CEO or a University president. But they aren’t. They don’t treat or compensate their staff that way and they shouldn’t treat or compensate their upper-management that way.
It certainly doesn’t make me want to run out an support that sort of an arts institution…