The Arts
Arts & Life
02/02/2012 07:09 PM
Actor Gary Oldman Plays Not My Job
Gary Oldman, who just got his first Academy Award nomination for his performance in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, answers three questions about Up with People — a horde of wholesome, smiley young people who performed four Super Bowl halftime shows back in the day.
02/04/2012 05:00 AM
Producers Pitch Dream Reality Shows
Two thousand people who make reality television gathered this week for a convention in Washington, D.C. No appearances from Snooki or Padma, but there were representatives from Celebrity Wife Swap, Deadliest Catch and Rocket City Rednecks. Hundreds of producers vied for the chance to pitch network executives their ideas for new shows.
02/04/2012 05:00 AM
Why Would Lady Gaga Hang Around Lancaster, Pa.?
Pop star Lady Gaga has recently been spotted in Lancaster County, Pa. Guest host David Greene looks into the rumors of what she's up to.
02/04/2012 03:08 AM
Media 'Miracle': The 'Big' Story Of Three Whales
In 1988, journalist Tom Rose was sent to Barrow, Alaska, to cover the dramatic rescue of three gray whales. His book has been adapted into a movie called Big Miracle — but the real miracle is how this event became a news story at all.
02/04/2012 03:08 AM
Director Ti West Talks Slow Horror, 'The Innkeepers'
Known to many devoted genre fans for his methodical horror movies, the director of The House of the Devil and Trigger Man talks with Neda Ulaby about his influences and his newest film.
02/04/2012 03:49 AM
This One's For The Chicken: A Super Bowl Party With A Purpose
Over the years, Stephen Thompson's Chicken Bowl has grown into a heated battle in its own right, with contests mirroring the thrilling heroics of the Super Bowl.
02/03/2012 07:29 PM
Veteran Stage, Film Actor Ben Gazzara Dies At 81
Ben Gazzara has died at the age of 81. The actor known for his brooding tough-guy presence died of pancreatic cancer Friday in New York. Gazzara made his big break into film with his role as an accused killer in Otto Preminger's 1959 courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder.
02/03/2012 12:51 PM
'Best Practices': Learning To Live With Asperger's
David Finch was 30-years-old when he discovered that he was on the autism spectrum. In Journal of Best Practices, he describes how he learned to manage the disorder — and become a better husband and father in the process.
02/03/2012 08:08 AM
Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Smash' Talk And Getting Serious About Reading
On this week's show: A discussion about the ups and downs of NBC's new musical drama Smash, and a chat with NPR.org's new books editor about high literature, low literature, and how people read.
02/03/2012 07:00 AM
Going In '50/50' On A Cancer Comedy, With Laughs
Screenwriter Will Reiser coped with his cancer diagnosis by thinking up ideas for cancer comedy movies with his best friend, actor Seth Rogen. Rogen and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt now star in a film based on Reiser's life. Both Gordon-Levitt and Reiser join Fresh Air for a conversation about the film.
Yahoo! News: Arts
02/01/2012 08:03 AM
A Minute With: Street artist Mark Jenkins (Reuters)
Reuters - American street artist Mark Jenkins's human sculptures staged in provocative poses in the middle of cities have proved so uncannily life-like they have sparked calls from passersby to the ambulance service or the police.
01/31/2012 02:55 PM
Christie's 2011 art sales hit record (Reuters)
Reuters - Christie's shrugged off the euro zone crisis and slowing economic growth in 2011 to post record revenues, selling art worth 3.6 billion pounds, or nine percent more than in 2010.
01/31/2012 01:46 PM
Legend, Kennedy Center program honor Marvin Gaye (AP)
AP - Grammy award-winning singer John Legend surprised a high school choir Tuesday at the Kennedy Center to help start a program encouraging young artists to confront social issues with their art, in honor of the late Marvin Gaye.
01/31/2012 08:50 AM
Barter system part of appeal for Brussels art show (Reuters)
Reuters - In the history of currency, earplugs have, unsurprisingly, never been widely used or accepted. So when a man offered Belgian artist Delphine Boël 10,000 earplugs for her print "The Source of Identity" at the Truc Troc contemporary art exhibit in 2006, her reaction was, "God, he's crazy."
01/27/2012 06:54 AM
Old Masters auctions total more than $120 million (Reuters)
Reuters - Old Masters paintings brought in more than $120 million at auction sales this week, with several works selling for more than $5 million each and records set for some artists.
01/26/2012 05:28 PM
NY art dealer charged in $4M fraud (AP)
AP - A New York art dealer has been charged in a $4 million fraud for selling works by Picasso, Matisse and others without informing the owner or giving him the proceeds.
01/26/2012 05:55 AM
Exclusive: Bones and landscapes inspire Danish queen's art (Reuters)
Reuters - Denmark's Queen Margrethe II said that painting landscapes helps to recharge her batteries in an exclusive interview with Reuters ahead of this week's opening of a major exhibition for her art.
01/25/2012 03:30 AM
Saudi artists test limits of expression in rare show (Reuters)
Reuters - Standing on a large floor map in a Jeddah art gallery, Hamza Serafi places a yellow sign inscribed "Caution: revolution (take 2)" over Egypt and then turns to Saudi Arabia.
01/25/2012 01:49 AM
Irishman makes "billion-euro home" of shredded notes (Reuters)
Reuters - An unemployed Irish artist has built a home from the shredded remains of 1.4 billion euros ($1.82 billion), a monument to the "madness" he says has been wrought on Ireland by the single currency, from a spectacular construction boom to a wrenching bust.
01/24/2012 03:21 PM
Michigan Report Shows Arts and Culture Spending Yields High Return (ContributorNetwork)
ContributorNetwork - Creative State Michigan, an annual report by ArtServe, showed every dollar spent in Michigan on arts and culture repays the state back 50-fold. According to Michigan Radio, the purpose of the report was to demonstrate to lawmakers how profitable arts funding can be. Here are details about cultural-to-business connections in Michigan.
Art & Design
02/04/2012 06:00 AM
Vintage View: 1920s Pacific Northwest In Color
Back in the day, the closest thing to Photoshop involved paint and a negative. These colorful lantern slides show Washington State like you've never seen it.
02/02/2012 03:05 PM
The Mona Lisa's Twin Painting Discovered
Conservators at Madrid's Museo del Prado recently discovered that a replica of the Mona Lisa might have been painted by one of Leonardo da Vinci's pupils. The find provides fresh insight into da Vinci's enigmatic masterpiece and studio practice.
01/30/2012 09:01 PM
In Italy, Art As A Window Into Modern Banking
With a nod to the current financial crisis in Europe, an Italian art exhibition looks at the often controversial role that banking played in expanding trade and helping usher in the Renaissance.
01/29/2012 02:53 AM
Film Noir: Weegee Was His Name; Murder Was His Game
He went by Weegee — as in ouija — because in the 1930s and '40s, the prescient photographer and his camera were often the first to show up at crime scenes.
01/29/2012 02:47 AM
Minnesota Festival On Ice Melts Art's Boundaries
Call it the Burning Man of the Midwest: a temporary city, built around artistic expression. On a frozen lake outside of Minneapolis, the ice shanties are filled with art and dance parties.
01/28/2012 10:55 AM
Pollock's Legend Still Splattered On Art World
Even a century since his birth, American "splatter artist" Jackson Pollock still provokes heated debate about the very definition of art. Was a man who placed a canvas on the floor and dripped paint straight from the can actually creating a work of art?
01/27/2012 10:00 AM
Ode To Ice
Discover the secret life of ice--what makes it cloudy or clear, why cracks form on ponds. Science Friday visited Queens ice sculptor Shintaro Okamoto in his studio and spoke with ice researcher Erland Schulson, of Dartmouth University, to find out why ice is an interesting subject for artists and scientists.
01/25/2012 01:06 PM
At The Louvre, A Rare Showcase For American Art
The iconic Paris museum has just four American paintings in its huge permanent collection. But a temporary new exhibit is putting the spotlight on early American art, featuring Thomas Cole's dramatic landscape paintings from the early 19th century.
01/25/2012 10:03 AM
In The Music Box, New Orleans Residents Hear Hope
When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, it left behind a city full of destroyed homes. Now, artists have reclaimed one of the city's blighted properties in the 9th Ward — and turned it into a work of art and music.
01/18/2012 09:00 AM
Gender Controversy Stacks Up Against 'Lego Friends'
Lego introduced a new lineup of toys earlier this month meant to appeal to girls. But a petition posted on Change.org is calling on the toy maker to stop distinguishing between toys for girls and those for boys. So far, the petition has amassed over 47 thousand signatures. Host Michel Martin speaks with one of the sponsors of that petition, Bailey Shoemaker Richards.