Via Culturebot I just learned about ArtHome which sounds like a good organization for artists to investigate.

ArtHome helps artists build assets and equity through financial literacy and home-ownership.

We foster long-term stability in the American Arts and Culture sector by harnessing the economic power of real estate and equity on behalf of individual culture workers.

Through our dynamic financial literacy and home-buying curriculum, and through the creation of home buying programs, access to innovative loan products and down payment assistance, we are building a unique and complementary support structure for American culture.

The founders are the theater artist Aaron Landsman and Esther Robinson of Creative Capital fame.

Reto Boller
Untitled (AC-06.2), 2006
Acrylic lacquer on aluminum
30.7 × 38 × 0.2 inches

I saw this in a group show titled I may be some time... at James Nicholson. It was my favorite piece, and made me very annoyed that I missed his solo show at the gallery. Here is an installation shot from that show:

plus a Brooklyn Rail review.

John White Cerasulo
Untitled, Near Litchfield, 2005
watercolor on paper
26 × 19 inches

This watercolor was in Air, a group show curated by Amy Sillman, at Monya Rowe.

Simone Huelser
Untitled, 2006
Color copies, wheat paste
Dimensions variable

This was in a group show at Hudson Franklin titled Best Played with a Straight Face. According to the gallery, the artist photographs different buildings, digitally manipulates them, has color copies produced and then wheat pastes them to the wall to achieve the pattern she wants.

[All photos courtesy of the respective galleries.]

From Crain's NY:

A major public art project will be unveiled in January as part of the mayor's plan to draw more tourists to New York City during the winter months.

Artist Doug Aitken plans to create a "cinematic art experience that will directly integrate with the city's architecture, while enhancing and challenging viewers' perception of public space."

The project, which will be filmed entirely in New York City, will be projected on the facades of The Museum of Modern Art from Jan. 16 through Feb. 12.

Over the weekend I updated the code for ArtCal so that you can now see things by neighborhood, or just look for exhibitions at museums or non-profits.

Via Crain's NY I learn:

The Metropolitan Opera has received a $1 million gift from Marie Schwartz, an advisory director on the Met's board, to fund a new contemporary visual arts gallery being planned for its lobby.

The gallery, which will open Sept. 22, will be called "The Arnold and Marie Schwartz Gallery Met," after Ms. Schwartz and her late husband. Dodie Kazanjian, the art writer for Vogue, has been hired to curate the gallery.

The space will display original works of art with opera themes. Six artists, including Cecily Brown and Barnaby Furnas, have already produced works for the first exhibition.

The Met's press release is here.

It says that the works in the inaugural exhibiton are "inspired by the heroines of the season’s six new productions." They are:

• Cecily Brown (Suor Angelica in Il Trittico)
• John Currin (Helena in Die Ägyptische Helena)
• Barnaby Furnas (Euridice in Orfeo ed Euridice)
• Makiko Kudo (Princess Yue-yang in The First Emperor)
• Richard Prince (Cio-Cio-San in Madama Butterfly)
• Sophie von Hellermann (Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia).

Other artists planned for future exhibitions include David Salle, Verne Dawson, George Condo, and Wangechi Mutu.

Let's hope the visual arts programming isn't as conservative and dull as the musical (Tan Dun?) and design decisions have been as long as I've lived in New York. This list doesn't make me jump up and down with excitement, but I would hardly expect the Met to display artists that haven't been endorsed by the market. We wouldn't want the Met patrons exposed to unfamiliar "brands." (I must admit I'm not familiar with Makiko Kudo though.)

Jonathan Podwil, Huey, 2006
film loop still

James and I are big fans of the work of Jonathan Podwil.

I'm happy to announce that he has a new website, hosted by ArtCat. Check out the video works, as he did a great job of getting those to a nice web-ready size.

If you want to see a work by him in person, he is in a group show at Plane Space in the Village through July 30.

Here are my picks for tonight's openings in Chelsea:

• Jessia Ciocci at Foxy Production
• Celebrity at Sixtyseven

In addition, other 27th Street galleries like ATM and Wallspace have shows that look worth a visit, plus we may drop by Jeff Bailey and Buia. Check out ArtCal for all you need to know.