Not yet summer and the heat is on

The weather is heating up in New York, so anyone who has a place to go outside the city has already started hightailing it out of here on the weekends. Surprisingly, though, the city has been fairly pleasant so far. Some members of the porcupine clan insisted on watching the US-Italy match in the World Cup on Saturday, a truly bizarre game for both fans and the uninitiated.

But back to art . . .

A band I like - Feathers - was written up in the New York Times.

"Four sculptures by Ursula von Rydingsvard, on view for the rest of the year in Madison Square Park, make a delightful exception to [public art's] tradition of mediocrity. Not only do they appear vibrantly at home in one of the most successful parks in New York City, but they also nourish this particular park’s character."

Apparently successful artists get restless: "Defections seem to be contagious in Chelsea these days. Long-settled artists are suddenly playing the field, ditching their dealers in favor of galleries with bigger spaces, better locations, stronger connections to museums and collectors and — perhaps most important — a star-studded roster of artists." Oh my, just like Wall Street! Ed Winkleman chimes in that "As an art dealer, I can't help but feel for my colleagues experiencing the frenzy of defections by their big-name artists in these heady days of art market madness."