I have just started teaching another term at Emily Carr University. I am teaching a course called The Business of Art Practice and I have 25 students of whom 24 are female.

[Penn State archaeologist Dean Snow's new study] began more than a decade ago when he came across the work of JohnManning, a British biologist who had found that men and women differ in the relative lengths of their fingers: Women tend to have ring and index fingers of about the same length, whereas men’s ring fingers tend to be longer than their index fingers. … 

[Snow] analyzed hand stencils found in eight cave sites in France and Spain. By comparing the relative lengths of certain fingers, Snow determined that three-quarters of the handprints were female. ”There has been a male bias in the literature for a long time,” said Snow, whose research was supported by the National Geographic Society’s Committee for Research and Exploration. “People have made a lot of unwarranted assumptions about who made these things, and why.” 

Archaeologists have found hundreds of hand stencils on cave walls across the world. Because many of these early paintings also showcase game animals—bison, reindeer, horses, woolly mammoths—many researchers have proposed that they were made by male hunters, perhaps to chronicle their kills or as some kind of “hunting magic” to improve success of an upcoming hunt. The new study suggests otherwise.

Link to the whole article at National Geographic.

Good News about Our Disgusting National Gallery

I am disgusted in our National Gallery. The gallery you might expect to be our nation’s strongest advocate for the rights of visual artists is opposed to fair treatment of Canadian visual creators to the extent that they have fought our advocates all the way to the Supreme Court. This is not our government fighting us; this is the leadership of the National Gallery.

Canadian Artists Representation/le Front des artistes Canadiens [CARFAC] and le Regroupment des artists en arts visuals du Quebec [RAAV] are the two organizations that have been working with Canadian public galleries to secure fair and reasonable exhibition fees for the artists the galleries show—these are galleries that do not sell work, often charge admission and exist only to show visual art.

In 1980, along with other nations, Canada signed a declaration of commitment to improve the financial situation of artists. Our government then passed The Status of the Artist Act (SAA) that allows professional arts organizations (CARFAC and RAAV for us) to negotiate collective agreements with federal institutions to cover things such as artists’ fees and working conditions.

Then, in 1988, our government added the exhibition rights to the Copyright Act giving artists the right to expect payment when their work is, “presented at a public exhibition, for a purpose other than sale or hire.” Consequently, the fair payment of artists’ exhibition fees has become standard professional practice in Canada.

CARFAC and RAAV began negotiations with the National Gallery in 2004. Discussions progressed for two years and then, in 2007, the Gallery ceased negotiations. They based their decision to conclude negotiations and oppose the fair payment of artist exhibition on a refusal to recognize CARFAC’s and RAAV’s right to negotiate for Canadian visual artists. They believe that there is a conflict between the objectives of the Copyright Act and the Status of the Artist Act. 

In 2008, CARFAC filed a complaint with the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal (CAPPRT—sorry for all these acronyms). It is the body that oversees the SAA. That action led to unsuccessful mediation sessions that lasted for over a year. Finally, in 2012, the Tribunal found the Gallery guilty of bargaining in bad faith. The Gallery then asked for a judicial review in the Federal Court of Appeal and the Tribunal decision was overturned on a split vote of two to one.

Here’s what CARFAC has to say about the decision:

In essence, the National Gallery believes that the Copyright Act, which protects the rights of individual artists, trumps the Status of the Arts Act, which allows artists to organize collectively. They believe that because CARFAC and RAAV do not have copyright assignments from all individual Canadian artists, we do not have the right to negotiate minimum fees for their work. 

The CARFAC explanation (above) successfully explains the legal basis of the National Gallery of Canada’s opposition to the payment of artists’ exhibition fees. But why, you might ask, is Canada’s foremost exhibition hall for visual artists so opposed to fair treatment of the artists they exploit to earn their visitor admission fees? (General admission is $12; seniors & students admission tickets cost $10; youth admissions are $6.)

The split decision is why CARFAC and RAAV appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada to fight for our rights. I believe the Court may shame the Gallery in their ruling but to win CARFAC and RAAV need your help. Please visit the carfac.ca to donate specifying that your donation is to help fight the Supreme Court case against the National Gallery.

Civic Collections & Civic Bankruptcy

This is a shocking development...

After walking up the stairs of the Woodward Avenue entrance to the Detroit Institute of Arts, passing one of Rodin's "Thinker" statues and entering the main lobby, visitors are quickly drawn toward a sky-lit courtyard with four walls painted by Diego Rivera. The frescoes signify, in many ways, the museum's identity: art at an awe-inspiring scale, serving as a testament to the industrial heyday of the Motor City. 

Rivera's work, and the rest of the DIA's contents, may soon be seen merely as financial assets in the eyes of creditors looking to get back the massive amounts of long-term debt the city of Detroit owes, currently estimated to be as much as $15 billion. The DIA's collection is believed to be worth billions, and art museums do sell off parts of their collection from time to time, though usually to acquire other art. 

"This is unprecedented in the history of any art museum," says the museum's vice president, Annemarie Erickson. "We’re in unchartered waters."

From The Atlantic CIties. Link.

Some Thoughts on Site Specific Work

This video from Artquest concerns the creation of site-specific public art commissions.

Artquest  is a great resource IF you read and listed and watch recognizing that what you hear is unique to the U.K. and may need to be reconsidered or adapted for application in a North American setting. The quality and depth of the topics covered is very satisfying to me. 

The Museum Is Watching You

Tracking visitors helps Matt Sikora make the museum more engaging.

Matt Sikora doesn't look at the Rembrandts and Rodins at the Detroit Institute of Arts. His eyes are trained on the people looking at them.

Mr. Sikora watches where visitors stop, whether they talk or read, how much time they spend. He records his observations in a handheld computer, often viewing his subjects through the display cases or tiptoeing behind them to stay out of their line of sight. "Teenage daughter was with, but did not interact, sat on bench, then left," read his notes of one visit.

Mr. Sikora is the Detroit Institute of Arts's director of evaluation. He and five other observers are studying how visitors use the exhibits so the museum can tell if its information is accessible and which galleries are popular.

Read the whole article here in the Wall Street Journal.

Visual Art Blockbusters Come to the Cinema

Displays of artwork by Manet, Munch and Vermeer are to be filmed and screened in more than 70 cinemas, to give audiences from all over the country the opportunity to see them.

The same films will be shown in thousands of theatres across the globe in nearly 30 countries.

The films, by award-winning arts documentary maker Phil Grabsky, will include behind-the-scenes footage of the exhibition being prepared, and a guided tour of the works. A biography of each artist will be included to give context, with a complete display of the words on show.

The first film, of the Manet: Portraying Life exhibition at the Royal Academy, will be screened on April 11th cinemas including the Vue and Picturehouse /City Screen group.

It will be followed by the Edvard Munch exhibition at the National Museum & Munch museum in Oslo, with 220 paintings to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of the artist.

In October, the National Gallery in London will grant film access to the Johannes Vermeer exhibition, with an HD film of his works.

The project, entitled Exhibition, was developed in association with Seventh Art Productions and BY Experience, with more films already in the pipeline for next year.

Mr Grabsky said the launch of the shows was “an absolute thrill”.

“I have been driven by the desire to share the thrill of great exhibitions with everyone from Kansas City to Adelaide, Osaka to Naples, and Glasgow to Cape Town,” he added.

Tim Marlow, an art historian who will give a guided tour of the Manet works, said: “I think that standing face to face with some of the greatest works of art ever made is one of the most powerful experiences in life.

“‘Exhibition' gives us the opportunity to convey something of this power in a cinematic format which brings the viewer as close to the real thing as possible. Sometimes, the camera reveals even more than the naked eye.”

Other countries confirmed to exhibit the series include: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden and Switzerland.

Link.