Baby Marx began as Mexican artist Pedro Reyes’idea for a television sitcom in which puppet versions of key figures in the history of economics are brought back to life. Intended as a way to make the lofty and often distorted fundamentals of socialism and capitalism accessible to a broad audience, the piece has undergone several iterations since its inception four years ago. For his upcoming…

China, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia … and now Minneapolis. Clara Kim arrives here August 1 after some particularly intensive globetrotting (more on that below). She was was most recently gallery director/curator at REDCAT, downtown Los Angeles’ center for innovative visual, media and performing arts, where she has worked since its inception in 2003. In her new role, Kim will…

Of the Venice Biennale exhibitions I have attended throughout my years as a museum professional, the most recent installment fell especially flat. This was true of the main exhibition ILLUMInazioni, organized by veteran Swiss curator Bice Curiger, and the myriad national pavilions curated independently by participating countries and located in the Giardini and many off-site venues throughout…

This morning John Waters shook hands with a fan at the downtown Minneapolis CVS Pharmacy en route to the Walker, where he appeared in front of Claes Oldenburg’s giant French fries sculpture to shoot a short video welcome for his new exhibition, Absentee Landlord. He then proceeded to the Cargill Lounge, where he charmed a group of media folks before leading them on a preview tour of the…

We’re feeling the love. There are two reasons to celebrate today: It’s both the Association of Art Museum Directors’ Art Museum Day and the International Council of Museum’s International Museum Day. (And yesterday was all about sharing your favorite Museum Memories via #MusMem on Twitter.) The theme of International Museum Day this year is Museum and Memory: Objects Tell Your Story. What could be a…

The Walker’s Cargill Lounge is currently altered by a site-specific installation by artist Chris Larson, part of The Spectacular of Vernacular. Looming and curious, the nature of the piece invites viewers to contemplate its function. Certainly there are common inquiries that arise. And there are remarks that run in similar sentiments to one another. Artist-specified solitary experiences monitored by…

Okay, look out you current tenant artworks, there’s a new absentee landlord in town, me. And I’m not going for rent control. Sure, the trustees left a security deposit of the permanent collection but I want to clean house, reward troublemakers, and invite crashers.  Aren’t all curators landlords who allow fine art to live together in a sublet for a while and be uneasy roommates? Or is it closer to a…

Last week the Walker announced its acquisition of a comprehensive collection of some 150 works from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company: set pieces, costumes, painted drops, and props, created over several decades by artists such as Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, and John Cage, Cunningham’s longtime partner. As director Olga Viso notes, “The acquisition of these works is…

Longtime blog readers may recall a 2006 interview with assistant curator for Performing Arts Michèle Steinwald– who was then the Walker’s new program manager – in which she mentioned modeling a dress made of meat, a work titled Vanitas: Flesh Dress for an Anorectic Albino by artist Jana Sterbak. That artwork, also part of the Walker’s collection, is currently on view in the new exhibition Midnight…