COURTESY CHEESERANK
Terrence Malick
Song to Song, the new film from the reclusive director Terrence Malick, made its debut at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, where the movie is set. Though he’s earned a near-Pynchonian reputation for staying out of public view, Malick appeared onstagewith Song to Song star Michael Fassbender and fellow filmmaker Richard Linklater for a talk. [Austin 360]
As for the film? It’s getting, um, mixed reviews.One take says it’s “merely the latest borderline-awful Malick movie that risks to undermine the genius and mystery of his best work.” [Entertainment Weekly]
And here’s a write-around profile of Malick, which is pretty revealing even if he didn’t agree to talk for it. One tidbit: apparently the great Terrence Malick is a big fan of the pop singer Jason Derulo. [Texas Monthly]
Museum Business
Has the era of widespread museum expansion come to a close? At an art summit she hosts in Switzerland, Beatrix Ruf, the director of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, called for “de-growth” at art institutions. [The New York Times]
The Hammer Museum in Los Angeles recently opened a big show of work by Jimmie Durham, but he didn’t turn up for the opening—he hasn’t been on U.S. soil for over two decades. Jori Finkel managed to score three Skype interviews with him, from his home and studio in Naples, Italy. [The New York Times]
Here’s a nice look at the recently reopened Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art, located in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. “Expanded Visions: Fifty Years of Collecting,” a show of work from its collection, is on view through May. [The Daily Beast]
And here’s how one of the richest men in Japan built a museum in a tiny town famous for its hot springs. [The New York Times]
Art and Food
New York’s Vulto Creamery, which was started by Jos Vulto, an artist who spent time in a residency program at MoMA PS1 in the late 1990s and later became known as a cheesemonger, has recalled some of its raw-milk cheeses. Authorities believe that they are the likely source of a listeria outbreak that recently caused two deaths and six hospitalizations. [Buzzfeed]
Here’s a more upbeat food-related story: Toiletpaper magazine—the design publication founded by artist Maurizio Cattelan and photographer Pierpaolo Ferrari—has curated a pop-up space at Cadillac House in West SoHo, covering the place in spaghetti and meatballs. There was a cocktail party Friday night hosted byVisionaire that offered attendees that very dish in abundance, and it looked like it was quite the hit on Instagram [Vogue]
Rocket to Russia
Traveling to Moscow might be slightly more problematic than usual given certain geopolitical dealings involving the current U.S. presidential administration, but that didn’t stop Garage Museum founder Dasha Zhukova from luring Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Beatrix Ruf, Boris Groys, and Ugo Rondinone to the Russian capital for the opening of the first-ever Garage Triennial. Zhukova’s husband—Vladimir Putin bestie Roman Abramovich—was there as well. [Page Six[
And here’s a larger look at the exhibition, from Christian Viveros-Fauné. [artnet]
Dustups
Residents in Solana Beach, California, are up in arms about a proposed public art installation that would stand outside the local fire station. It is roiling the town! In a fraught scene at a city council meeting recently, some residents said they wanted something more “dramatic” than the finalists the town’s arts commission are considering.
[The San Diego Tribune]
Art advisor Ivy Crewdson—who works with Art Agency, Partners, the firm that was bought last year by Sotheby’s—has been accused of not paying for $10,000 worth of coats that she picked out at Madison Avenue boutique Yves Salomon. The luxury retailer claims that Crewdson ignored a letter asking for payment, but it looks like this is all pretty silly, because Crewdson sent over proof from American Express that she paid for it, so carry on! [The New York Post]
The 80-year-old Manhattan art supply store A.I. Friedman is closing its 18th Street shop in Manhattan, and the artists who live nearby and rely on it are not pleased. It follows the closure of New York art supply stores such as New York Central Art Supply, Lee’s Art Shop, and Pearl Paint. [Curbed]
Extra
The Berlin-based publication Texte zer Kunst has been in Athens recently, in advance of the Documenta leg that opens there in early April. This weekend, they stopped by LOHAN, the Athens nightclub that actress Lindsay Lohan invested in to thank Greece for welcoming Syrian refugees. Seems like a great time. [Texte zer Kunst Instagram]