Hirst discovers that art is expensive: It’s no secret that Damien Hirst is worth a lot of money. Well, worth the most of any living artist, actually, at $364 million. But then his Beautiful Artemis Thor Neptune Odin Delusional Sapphic Inspirational Hypnosis Painting (what?), estimated at $3 million, refused to sell at Sotheby’s last week. Now Hirst is making a brave call: he’s declaring the art market too expensive and considering lowering his prices. That’s noble, but here’s a suggestion: maybe if people could remember the name of the painting they’re buying they’d be more willing to bid. [Independent]
Koh’s new art good enough to eat: Terence Koh’s new exhibit opened last week in New York (in Sarkozy’s brother’s gallery aka Richard Avedon’s former studio). The canvases look like little squares of wall, but they’re made from corn syrup and sugar. We hear things got a little messy at the opening, with people accidentally knocking into the paintings ending up covered in the sweet powdery substance — wonder what that’s a metaphor for… [Cool Hunting]
Foster good at his job both below and above ground: Toronto has hired Norman Foster and Will Alsop to extend the city’s subway system, and the architects intend to create six new “bold and beautiful” stations that will bring light and air into the harsh, cold underground. And in Foster news on this side of the border, his Hearst Tower has won the prestigious 2008 International Highrise Award. This New York building resembling a sci-fi tangram was also recognized as the greenest skyscraper in the city’s skyline. [Toronto Star, Inhabitat]
L.A. art scene to reach Broader audience: Billionaire Eli Broad has decided to open a public art museum in Beverly Hills, a year after he declined to donate his collection to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. His proposal includes offices for his art foundation, which has total assets of around $2.5 million and includes Damien Hirst’s lamb in formaldehyde, Jasper Johns’s paintings and Andy Warhol’s Statue of Liberty silkscreen. The museum would replace a Starbucks — we say we’d rather have Warhol’s Americana than a tall Americano any day. [Bloomberg]
UN gets its own Sistine Chapel: The United Nations unveiled a $23-million ceiling painting yesterday at its headquarters in Geneva. Completed by Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo, the domed painting consists of 16,000 square feet of abstract splotches and hundreds of dangling aluminum icicles and took a year to complete. [Artinfo]