In this Issue
Yang Yong and the Four Elephants
The emerging avant-garde of China’s Pearl River Delta is raising eyebrows with multimedia journeys through an urban underworld of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll
Jonathan Napack
The Oranges Are Alive
Still life is jumping off the wall as artists stray from tradition in innovative ways
Hilarie M. Sheets
The Sacred and the Profane
Ernesto Pujol, a former monk, makes arresting installations with undertones of violence and sexual tension
Edward J. Sullivan
“An Offhand Sublime”
Brice Marden’s serene, abstract paintings have earned him the status of a youthful old master
Gail Gregg
Optical Illusions
Did Old Masters use optical devices, like lenses, to make their drawing more realistic? That’s the controversial thesis being promoted by David Hockney. But not all scholars agree
Ann Landi
Departments
Art Talk
Sir Elton John; Robert Crumb; Renée Cox; Susan Sarandon; Alice Neel; Stanley Tucci; John Cheim; Michael Ovitz; Roy Lichtenstein; Roxy Paine; Jeff Koons; Salvador Dalí; David Gelernter; Leonardo DiCaprio; Jessica Stockholder; Chris Doyle; Malcolm McLaren
National News
New York The Schlemmer controversy Spotlight Katharine Reid: The Lee dynasty New York Looking at the immunity law Newport, Rhode Island Illustration museum standoff Palm Beach New life for old theater
International News
Bremen/Moscow A German-Russian breakthrough Bangkok Thais in a bind Paris Picasso car dispute Arezzo Cross examination Medellín Botero’s peace offering Berlin Public-art problems Melbourne No “Signs of Life” Luxembourg Holding the fort
Art Market
London/New York The antitrust inquiry New York New demand for Diller; Jeffrey Loria: Major league player
City Focus: Seattle
Pacific Heights: Seattle aspires to new levels of activity with a sculpture park and a music museum designed by Frank Gehry
Patricia Failing
Looking at Art
Bringing Life to the Dead: Startlingly realistic mummy portraits created 2,000 years ago appear strikingly contemporary
Sylvia Hochfield
Studio
From Don Quixote to Yiddish Film: Izhar Patkin’s work offers a smorgasbord of historical and literary references
Susan Josephs
Reviews
Our far-flung critics assess exhibitions in New York; North Miami; Philadelphia; Venice, California; Santa Monica; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; Santa Fe; Minneapolis; Dallas; Cologne; Paris; London; Milan; Stockholm; Jerusalem; Tokyo