In the news:  Hiroshi Sugimoto uses dioramas to photograph; a Spegelman mural installed in a Manhattan H.S., an act of vandalism claimed as high art that cites Surrealism as a defense in a minor modification of Mark Rothko’s art.

Now… I love Sugimoto.  His horizon and lightening series have been among my favorites ever in Chelsea galleries. To frame lightening, Sugimoto created it in his studio, using a miniature generator. It was gorgeous stuff that raised questions about reality and art within the serene style I love in his other work.  Taking place near the High Line, the diorama series seems to raise similar questions.

Spiegelman continues to establish his NY creds by supporting the HS he attended.

The vandalism case raises the most far-reaching questions, though it will probably be treated as crime and not art, as the artists involved, Vladimir Umaneta and Marcin Lodyga, claim.  Raising the innteresting question:  if Surrealism lives, does it live in moments like this? Art and private property might not mix but are long established facts of life. Or is publicity the name of the game—Warhol moments?

This is a random note on how the visual arts seem to be claiming not just the day but the major thinking about the arts—

and a-popping.