Contemporary Art

NORTH ADAMS — Denise Markonish grew up in Brockton and still lives in Massachusetts. She is a curator at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams. She is, in other words, a local. But Markonish has a treacherous heart. For she has fallen in love with — oh, surely it can't be! — Canada. And after four years traipsing across that vast country, visiting more than 400 artist studios in search of the best in contemporary art, she finds herself in the unusual position of being an American-born ambassador for Canadian art. Opening on May 27, Markonish...

NORTH ADAMS — Denise Markonish grew up in Brockton and still lives in Massachusetts. She is a curator at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams. She is, in other words, a local. But Markonish has a treacherous heart. For she has fallen in love with — oh, surely it can't be! — Canada. And after four years traipsing across that vast country, visiting more than 400 artist studios in search of the best in contemporary art, she finds herself in the unusual position of being an American-born ambassador for Canadian art. Opening on May 27, Markonish...

Stuffy? Conservative? Reactionary? Whichever word you choose to describe Boston, it's fair to say the city has not been known for friendliness to living artists over the past 100 years. But when, in 2007, amid much fanfare, the Institute of Contemporary Art opened its sleek new building on Boston's waterfront, many people hoped it might act as a catalyst, increasing enthusiasm for contemporary art across the city and region. The evidence that it has done just that has been mounting, and is by now undeniable.

Over the past two years Wang Wei and her husband Liu Yiqian dropped a reported $317 million on their hobby. Now they need somewhere to display the collection they've amassed. The solution: a private art museum that Wang hopes will impart some class to China's flashy nouveau riche. Wang and billionaire investor Liu are part of a new generation of wealthy Asians that is better known for splashing out on extravagant toys such as private jets, mega-sized yachts and supercars. Some, instead, have built big art collections and now aspire to showcase their refined sensibility to a wider audience.

The Museum of Fine Arts wasn't the only institution celebrating contemporary art over the weekend. The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum had an opening party for "Temporary Structures: Performing Architecture in Contemporary Art. " On hand were the museum's director Dennis Kois , who got familiar with Vito Acconci 's piece "Instant House"; curator Dina Deitsch ; and artists Sarah Oppenheimer and Alex Schweder La , who...

Less than a year after the opening of the ambitious and highly successful Art of the Americas Wing, Team MFA has rolled up its sleeves yet again and opened a second wing, this one dedicated to contemporary art. Exhausted, frazzled, and bleary-eyed they may be. But they have done a fine job. In this case, the bricks and mortar were already there. The Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art, as it is now called, was originally designed by I.M. Pei, tacked on to the west side of the building in 1981 and used primarily for temporary...

The allure of "Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art" is its upending of the divide between traditional and contemporary art. What might look like a radical departure at first glance isn't necessarily so. In two videos by Tlingit/Aleut artist Nicholas Galanin, a break dancer moves to the rhythms of a traditional tribal song, then a Tlingit dancer performs to a rap song. If you can get to the exhibit, running though April 29 at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, by all means, go. The next...

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — “This is our starter home,’’ says Cathy Sununu, director of the Portsmouth Museum of Art, which opened just a year ago in 3,000 square feet of waterfront office space. Sununu, the daughter of John Sununu, former New Hampshire governor and White House chief of staff, and sister of former US senator John Sununu, volunteers as director and president of the museum’s board of directors — putting in “my 60- to 80-hour workweek,’’ she says with a laugh.

Viewing contemporary art, one too often arrives on the scene with a sense that Mardi Gras is over and Ash Wednesday's upon us. The fun is at an end; from here on in, it's all cleanup and debrief. Dutifully, joylessly, one's eyes defer to the wall labels. When I look at Charline von Heyl's superb paintings, on show at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, I feel caught up in the midst of an experience that's yet to end. Is it a celebration? A séance? A secret experiment?

The Institute of Contemporary Art, just five years after opening its first permanent home, is flexing its newfound financial muscle. The ICA will announce today that it has raised $25 million toward a $50 million campaign, the bulk of which will dramatically boost its endowment. That is an important step in stabilizing the museum's future. The ICA opened an attention-getting building on Fan Pier in 2006, and it has since used innovative programming to spearhead a boom in regional attention to contemporary art. But it is working with an endowment of just $9.9...

No, the Museum of Fine Arts wasn't in on the bidding for Edvard Munch's "The Scream," which became the most expensive artwork ever sold at auction this week when an unidentified buyer paid $120 million. (The previous record was $106.5 million for Picasso's "Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust. ") MFA director Malcolm Rogers said few museums are wealthy enough to "purchase themselves to greatness," and his certainly isn't one of them. "That's an enormous amount of money," he said. Rogers wouldn't divulge what the MFA would be willing to pay for a work it really coveted.

Annie Leibovitz has photographed practically every celebrity, rock star and politician over the past four decades, but when she was honored by the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, she showed a photograph of Niagara Falls. Leibovitz received the 7th MOCA Award to Distinguished Women in the Arts Tuesday at a private luncheon at the Regent Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills. She showed the Niagara Falls image and told a story about a recent trip there with her children featured in her new book, "Pilgrimage.

By Carol Stocker The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), will open its doors to spring with its 36th annual festival of flowers, Art in Bloom, this weekend. Local garden clubs and professional floral designers will adorn galleries throughout the Museum with displays inspired by works of art in the MFA's collection. This year, designers will pay specific attention to the Museum's newly opened Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art by creating vibrant floral arrangements with modern twists.

While your average creative kid might not be able to say what makes contemporary art different from classical art, put him in a building full of the former, and he will probably say it in a word: Cool. Such was Olaide Junaid's take when he and nearly 100 peers from high schools across the city gathered recently at the Institute of Contemporary Art for the museum's quarterly "Teen Night," this one themed "Streetology. " Junaid, 16, a sophomore at Boston Preparatory Charter Public School, is also a...

An iconic painting by French artist Yves Klein created with water, a blowtorch and two models is going on the auction block next month where it is expected to bring up to $40 million, Christie's announced Thursday. "FC 1," executed a few weeks before the artist's death at age 34, is considered by art experts to be his masterpiece. The fire-color painting is poised to set an auction record for the artist at the Post War and Contemporary Art sale on May 8. His "MG 9" holds the current record.

Viewing contemporary art, one too often arrives on the scene with a sense that Mardi Gras is over and Ash Wednesday's upon us. The fun is at an end; from here on in, it's all cleanup and debrief. Dutifully, joylessly, one's eyes defer to the wall labels. When I look at Charline von Heyl's superb paintings, on show at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, I feel caught up in the midst of an experience that's yet to end. Is it a celebration? A séance? A secret experiment?

Amid a vast collection of artwork in her Beacon Hill home, Joan Sonnabend displayed a small landscape painting tucked into an inconspicuous spot. Asked by a longtime friend who painted it, she smiled and said she had, but quickly advised him to focus instead on the hundreds of other pieces of art she showcased. To Carl Palazzolo, an artist who divides his time between Houston and Maine, the picture she created was eye-catching. "It was such a charming painting," he said. The artwork of others, however, is what Mrs. Sonnabend reveled in during a long career as a private art...

For a curator, there is nothing quite like opening up a new space. For a contemporary art curator at the Museum of Fine Arts, the moment holds special significance. The MFA, fairly or unfairly, has long been viewed as disinterested in all things contemporary. Museum leaders hope to change that perception when they introduce the Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art's new galleries, new educational facilities, and, of course, new art. "As we walk through the galleries," says Edward Saywell, chair of the MFA's contemporary art program, "it's incredible how many works have...

SANFORD BIGGERS: THE CARTOGRAPHER'S CONUNDRUM The Los Angeles-based artist has an impressive installation taking up much of the museum's largest gallery. Made in part from used musical instruments, the work riffs on that of his predecessor (and possibly cousin), the late Sanford Biggers. Through April 1, 2013. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams. 413-662-2111, www.massmoca.org RADCLIFFE BAILEY: MEMORY AS MEDICINE A survey of this impressive young African-American artist based in Atlantic City.

The allure of "Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art" is its upending of the divide between traditional and contemporary art. What might look like a radical departure at first glance isn't necessarily so. In two videos by Tlingit/Aleut artist Nicholas Galanin, a break dancer moves to the rhythms of a traditional tribal song, then a Tlingit dancer performs to a rap song. If you can get to the exhibit, running though April 29 at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, by all means, go. The next best thing is...