Arts Council Funding Cuts Announced Today

It is going to be a very difficult 24 hours for the arts as a body of industries. The wait will be over and Arts Council England will decide who's in and who's out in relation to funding. The list goes public and live at 10 am tomorrow at a press conference. This will hopefully create a clearer picture of how and where the cuts will be made. Speculation has been rife for months and now we will see who will be dead man walking.
There are 1,333 arts organisations that have entered the application process as part of the new National Portfolio. 850 are funded and an estimated 750 will have their projects realised. They will receive funding over the next three years. New organisations applying for arts council grants for the first time will stand alongside well known institutions. A clearer picture of the 15% cuts to frontline arts organisations. will become apparent and It will also allow the first real insight into the Arts Council's collective state of mind under the leadership of Dame Liz Forgan, the newish chair.
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Black Bloc Invade London 26 March 2011

This is the entry point of Anarchist Group Black Bloc to Trafalgar Square 26 March 2011. They are on their way up Charing Cross Rd. to Cambridge Circus. Note: the police don't seem to be following the splinter group. The rest is history.

At around midday a group of around 100 anarchists part of the organisation known as Black bloc, headed through Trafalgar square to the cheers of many, as they made their way up Charing Cross Rd towards Cambridge Circus.
  Watch Video   Black Bloc Attack London 26 March 2011 - ArtLyst

Ai Weiwei Sculpture for Somerset House This Spring

A large scale public sculpture by China's most controversial artists, Ai Weiwei's is to go on display in the courtyard of London's Somerset House. He is best know in London for his massive Tate/ Unilever commission in the Turbine Hall last autumn. Weiwei filled the vast space with over 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds. Read More...

Gaddafi's Son Saif's Eleven Million Pound Squat - ArtLyst

ArtLyst Visits the Gaddafi Mansion photo © 2011

This is a work of art

I visited the palatial Neo-Georgian red brick mansion belonging to Colonel 's son Saif in Hampstead Garden Suburb today. A group of squatters have taken over house but it seemed to be in a state of lock down and no one answered the door.     Read More

Kay Saatchi Collection Goes Under The Hammer - ArtLyst

Kay Saatchi Collection Goes Under The Hammer - ArtLyst

China Overtakes Britain as the World's Second largest Art Market - ArtLyst

China has overtaken Britain as the world's second largest art and antiques market .The dragon economy over took the UK last year as mainland buyers proved they were important players on the world art market stage. British art professionals have voiced concern about the planned EU levy on art, known as the Droit de Suite which comes into effect in 2012 The levy is aimed at the sale of works by living artists and was introduced in the United Kingdom in 2006 via an EU directive.  Read More...

AP Sues Urban Outfitters Over Shepard Fairey Obama Image

OOPS SORRY  Photo:  By Mannie Garcia © 2006 AP ,Iconic image by Shepard Fairey, Collage by Sue Me!

Associated Press has now decided to pour salt on the wounds of the recently settled Shepard Fairey case by suing retailers Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom and Zumiez, seeking unspecified damages. They have pinpointed the revenue generators who monetised  the image on T shirts and accessories and now want blood. They won the case through excessive litigative bulling pumping millions into the case. In 2009 Fairey sued AP,seeking a declaration that he had not violated their copyright with his image. AP counter-sued, stating that he had done so through his uncredited and uncompensated use of its picture. The lawyers representing AP stated that the  photo was used without permission, to create Fairey's image, violating copyright. AP successfully argued in court that using the image was a wilful and blatant violation of the copyright of the photo. Read Full Article...