Quick Notes 2

A New Gursky Record: $2.48 million
[EV+/-] (via Modern Art Notes)
Surprising all but the most optimistic commentators, the record price of Gursky prints continues to rise. EV+/- briefly describes some of the digital alterations the artist has made to his most famous pieces. In light of such changes, defining records based on medium seems to be increasingly suspect. Is a digitally altered image really a photograph? Is it fair to put a vintage Man Ray (or, for that matter, a vintage daguerreotype) in the same category as a Gursky?

Jasper Johns Has Some Things to Say
[The Art News Paper] (via Art News Blog)
Johns has a tendency to be a bit quiet, though that holds for most of the artists of his generation. He decided to speak to the Art News Blog recently, though. No real news here, but it's nice to have a quick update on what's up. Things I didn't know: Johns is a major collector of Chris Burden's work, and he considers 1954 his greatest year (too bad the show at the National Gallery is from 1955 to 1965). (The photo is by Rauschenberg.)



CAPC Curators in Trouble with the Law
[Flash Art Online] (via Off Center)
I thought the French were supposed to be open-minded about art (and pornography). Maybe not. The director of Centre d’Arts Plastiques Contemporain (CAPC), Bordeaux's contemporary art museum, and two curators have been hit with pornography charges over, according to the Walker (whose coverage is superb), "Gary Gross painting of a girl taking a bath, an Elke Krystufek video showing a masturbating girl, and photos by Annette Messager of children with their eyes scratched out." (Ironically, the exhibition was entitled Presumed Innocent: Contemporary Art and Childhood.) Thomas Hirschorn has even weighed in, claiming this is the first time any such thing has happened in French history. They face five years in prison and a stiff fine.