Top art news of 2010

1. Exit Through the Gift Shop is a film that claims to be "The incredible true story of how the greatest graffiti film of all time was never made." It's a riveting watch, and I join the ranks of people who don't really care if it's a "prankumentary" masterminded by British street artist Banksy or a true story about the ridiculousness of some artists, art collectors and the art market in general (with several incredible shots of big-time street artists like Swoon, Space Invader and Shepard Fairey thrown in for kicks). Watch it. Think about it. In the end, I hope you'll agree that Exit Through the Gift Shop is actually one of the best films about art ever made.

2. Art theft is both vulgar and sexy. Stealing is a naughty thing, but stealing art is admittedly more sophisticated than robbing a bank or hot-wiring a car. It proves that a dark underbelly of the art market does indeed exist and ostensibly "cultured" people with millions of dollars at their disposal are out there buying up these stolen goods. The most memorable art heist of 2010 is the stealing of Vincent Van Gogh's "Poppy Flowers" (a painting also known as "Vase with Flowers") from the Khalil Museum in Cario, Egypt. The heist makes the list partly because it's the second time the painting has been stolen, but mostly because of all the mistakes the museum and the investigators in the case have made. Another notable art heist of 2010 was the lone robber who managed to grab five paintings from a museum in Paris. The theft included pieces by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse and is said to have cost the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris just under 100 million euros.

3. Preserving performance art is a challenge. Putting together a relevant retrospective of one of the world's most prolific performance artists is a near impossibility. But, for the most part, the Museum of Modern Art seems to have pulled it off. Marina Abramovic's retrospective, Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, was probably the most talked about show of the year. And no, I didn't get to go see it, but I read about it and listened to more radio pieces covering the show than any other art exhibition in the past. The art reviews that came out of the show are some of the most interesting I've ever read. Do yourself a favor, and if you haven't done so already, Google her name and get lost in hours of interesting writing.

4. To be fair, I got so sucked up in San Diego art stuff that I didn't know the name Eli Broad until I read this fascinating piece in The New Yorker. See, in August of this year, the Broad Foundation formally announced that it will build and endow a museum to house Broad's personal collection of art. The museum will reportedly be built on Grand Avenue in Los Angeles and both Broad's strange character and the fascinating story behind the museum make for quite a memorable read. I also enjoyed this follow-up blog post on the Los Agneles Time's Culture Monster, which, in part, defends the early art scene of LA.

5. And this story is still unfolding, but people are pretty pissed about The Smithsonian Institution's censorship of artist David Wojnarowicz's video piece, "A Fire in My Belly." People are protesting. Other museums and art galleries are organizing screenings. Another story that's still unfolding is the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) decision to paint over a commissioned mural by street artist Blu. Everyone loves a little controversy when it comes to art, right? 



Top San Diego Art Stories of 2010

1. Shepard Fairey's mural in Hillcrest got dissed. Read more about why contributor Seth Combs thinks the tagging of the piece by an unknown street artist is one of the most interesting artistic acts of the year.

2. The Here Not There: San Diego Art Now exhibition was the biggest regional roundup at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in years. Again, you can read more about why contributor Baudelaire Shepherd respects most of the decisions made by the show's curator.

3. Also in the Dec. 22 CityBeat issue, I talk about the success of the first-ever Summer Salon Series at the San Diego Museum of Art. A guy by the name of Alexander Jarman is one of the driving force behind the always-interesting lineups at the event, which is coming back in 2011. Jarman is an artist himself, too. Read more about why I think the Summer Salon Series was one of the best art acts of 2010, and check in on CityBeat's cover-artist profile series to read more about him.

4. Space for Art opened in the East Village. If our print product didn't demand such a strict word count, the opening of the experimental art space built and run by artists themselves would have surely gone on the upcoming "Best Acts of Art of 2010" page. At every Space 4 Art opening I attended this year, I found at least a few works of art that left a lasting impression. Chris Warr's work knocks my socks off (Warr lives and works at Space 4 Art). The current installations in the public gallery spaces by Lea Dennis and Judit Hersko are impressive. The only reason the opening of Space 4 Art didn't make the page was because I expect even better things from the sprawling space for artists and art undertakings in 2011. Keep an eye on these guys and gals.

5. The Art San Diego Contemporary Art Fair made it through its second year. Sales were made. People showed up. I personally had a good time and enjoyed exploring the local and international art on display.  I think we can officially call the art fair a success. The move from North County to Downtown was an excellent idea, as was the name change (in it's inaugural year, the fair was called "Beyond the Border" and was held in Del Mar).

6. The California Center for Art San Diego put together an interactive art show that I won't soon forget. Leveled: An Interactive Experiment in Art is only up through the end of the year. If you haven't done so already, go see this show.

7. The U-T laid off its longtime art critic, Robert Pincus. Later in the year, Katherine Sweetman got back at the U-T by using the paper's new arts blog as a forum for trashing their arts coverage and the decision to lay off Pincus.

8. The 2010 California Biennial at the Orange County Museum of Art included lots of San Diego artists. Basically, SD represented.

9. In the public-art realm, the Port of San Diego announced that the team led by artist Peter Fink will be putting their environmentally-friendly light design on the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.

10. Barrio Logan and East Village held their first-ever community-wide art walk. The two downtown neighborhoods have welcomed galleries and art spaces like Voz Alta, The Bakery, Periscope Project, The Machine Shop Gallery, The Glashaus, The Roots Factory, House of Elements (which may or may not still be open) and more.

11. Mike Maxwell is slowly but surely adding his famous blue faces to walls in the East Village and Barrio Logan. Follow the artist on Twitter and make sure he's on your list of young San Diego artists to watch.

12. Kim MacConnel sure got a lot of love this year.

13. Gustaf Rooth opened his new gallery in Hillcrest.

14. Alexander Salazar is busily scooping up local artists (seriously; the guy represents so many local artists, I've lost count), putting on new exhibitions every few weeks and, most recently, opening up San Diego's first-ever art-auction house. Keep up with this guy if you can.

15. San Diego-based artist Kadir Nelson is the artists responsible for Michael Jackson's first posthumous album cover.