Hasta La Ideas

(Courtesy of the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation)

Artist Uta Barth and photographer An-My Lê (pictured) are among this year’s MacArthur fellows, the annual mix of thinkers, writers, artists, geochemists, and pediatric neurosurgeons that are awarded $500,000 in no-strings-attached “genius grants” over five years. “These extraordinary individuals demonstrate the power of creativity,” said MacArthur President Robert Gallucci, in a press release issued today. “The MacArthur Fellowship is not only a recognition of their impressive past accomplishments but also, more importantly, an investment in their potential for the future. We believe in their creative instincts and hope the freedom the Fellowship provides will enable them to pursue unfettered their insights and ideas for the benefit of the world.” Other 2012 fellows include documentary filmmakers Laura Poitras and Natalia Almada, writer Junot Díaz, International Contemporary Ensemble founder and CEO Claire Chase, and Benoît Rolland, a master bow maker who is experimenting with new designs and materials to create violin, viola, and cello bows for the twenty-first century. Meet all 23 MacArthur fellows here.
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Très proches visuellement de peintures abstraites, ces images sont des photos aériennes proposé par le photographe Andre Ermolaev. Des décors splendides et des rivières capturés en Islande par cet artiste qui s’est spécialisé dans les paysages sauvages peu accessibles. Sa série est à découvrir dans la suite.

The search for a worthy successor to Anthony Bannon has concluded, and Bruce Barnes (pictured) is the new director of George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in Rochester, New York. He’ll take the helm of the world’s oldest museum of photography and one of the largest motion-picture archives next week. Barnes, who holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, is the president of American Decorative Art 1900 Foundation, a private foundation based in New York that works to foster understanding and appreciation of American decorative art from the period around 1900. Before founding ADA1900, he served as CEO of Rochester-based online education company Element K.

“Having devoted most of the last seven years to collaborating with major museums across the country and furthering art scholarship, I am eager to apply my strategic and management skills to leading George Eastman House,” said Barnes in a statement announcing his appointment. “The house and a great many of the museum’s objects fall precisely within my longstanding interest in American art, decorative art, and architecture of the period from 1876 to 1940. My background in innovative online education will be invaluable to the creation of a virtual museum that will provide global access to its superb collections.” Barnes succeeds Bannon, who retired from George Eastman House earlier this year after 16 years in the position.

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Limited-edition cans of Campbell’s Soup with labels derived from Warhol artwork.

Andy Warhol would surely have been one of the first people aboard the social media bandwagon, and while we’ll never know how he might have translated his “Pop art is for everyone” ethos into pixels, tweets, and status updates, a new photo app hazards a guess. Seizing the Warhol-mania moment, Campbell Soup Company has introduced “Pop Art Portrait,” a nifty tool for transforming your Facebook photos into a Warhol-style silkscreen. “A few lucky fans will receive their 15 minutes of fame by being displayed on the Campbell’s Condensed Soup Facebook cover photo,” promises the company on its “Art of Soup” site, created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Warhol’s “32 Campbell’s Soup Cans.” Once you’ve tired of the DIY portrait app, test your recall with a round of Soup Can Memory. Meanwhile, back in the non-virtual world, limited-edition cans (pictured) of Andy’s favorite–Condensed Tomato–are available at Target stores nationwide, reprising similar collaborations (between Campbell’s and The Andy Warhol Foundation) with Barneys and a Pittsburgh supermarket. In a true pop twist, the cans that sold at Barneys for $12 in 2006 during its Simon Doonan-helmed “Warholidays” campaign are now priced at just 75 cents each.

Got an app we should know about? Drop us a line at unbeige [at] mediabistro.com

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Voici le photographe Alban Grosdidier qui nous propose de découvrir « The Drowning Project ». Actuellement étudiant à l’ESAG Penninghen à Paris, il étudie le thème de la noyade et propose des clichés de personnes immergées imprimés puis exposés en public. Plus d’images dans la suite de l’article.