Monster Mash: Scorsese rages against LACMA; Shepard Fairey discusses Wall Project; Michael Jackson portrait on display

-- Raging cinephile: In an open letter, Martin Scorsese urges LACMA to reconsider the fate of its 40-year-old film program.

-- Pop stars: Andy Warhol's portrait of Michael Jackson, created in 1984, is set to go on view in L.A. today as part of an auction.

-- Public art: Shepard Fairey discusses details about L.A.'s planned Wall Project, which will honor the fall of the Berlin Wall.

-- No joke: Yale University Press has decided to ban controversial caricatures of the prophet Muhammed from an upcoming book. 

-- Deja vu: Times music critic Mark Swed finds a timely parallel to the current controversy over LACMA's film program.

-- Coming home: A Cuban-born dancer tells of his experience returning home with London's Royal Ballet.

-- Avant-garde boost: Center Theatre Group receives a $1-million grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation to support experimental stage productions in L.A.

-- Assessing the damage: Orange County arts groups are finding it especially difficult to stay afloat during the recession.

-- Sounding off: One prominent New York critic's take on the impact of the Internet on theater criticism. 

-- Pay day: The artist Banksy was reportedly paid the sum of 1 pound by the city of Bristol, England, for his recent blockbuster exhibition.

-- High-tech Bard: A new 3-D musical film adaptation of  Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is currently in the works.

-- David Ng

Photo: Martin Scorsese. Credit: Associated Press

Monster Mash: Merce Cunningham dies, starchitect on the brink of insolvency; OCPAC sees drop in revenue, attendance

--End of an era: Legendary contemporary dance choreographer Merce Cunningham dies at 90.

--Stalled projects: Architect David Adjaye, recently selected to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, fights to stave off insolvency.

--Bad news: Orange County Performing Arts Center sees a huge drop in revenue and attendance.

--Another venue added: British Museum joins the Guggenheim and the Louvre on Abu Dhabi development.

--Rocking the West End?: Are London transfers in the works for Broadway musicals "Rock of Ages" and "Hair"?

--'A national resource': Prairie Avenue Bookshop, Chicago's noted architecture store, falls victim to economy, Amazon.com.

--Changing jobs: Salzberg Festival artistic director Juergen Flinn opts to leave the post a year early to join Berlin State Opera.

--High hopes: Recession? Apparently not on Broadway, where business is booming and next season could see a $1-billion box office.

--Pioneering performer: Betty Allen, one of the first black opera singers to reach fame on the international stage, dies at 82.

--In demand: Rupert Holmes, book writer for "The First Wives Club,"  joins the creative team of "Robin and the 7 Hoods," a musical adaptation of the 1964 Rat Pack movie, expected to have a pre-Broadway run on the West Coast.

--Bucking the trend: Despite the troubled economy, Los Angeles-area art galleries are finding ways to expand.

--Keeping deals quiet: Cautious art collectors move away from auction houses in favor of private sales.

--Going viral: Thanks to YouTube and other Internet sites, ukuleles find renewed popularity. 

-- Lisa Fung

Photo: Merce Cunningham. Credit: Oshikazu Tsuno / AFP/Getty Images

Monster Mash: English PEN plans Pinter prize; man accused of violin theft extradited; Germany cracks down on gnome art

--Tribute to his "spirit": English PEN announces new literary prize in honor of the late playwright Harold Pinter.

--Playing the bad guy: Neil Patrick Harris lends his voice to new Batman musical.

--Instruments worth $300,000: Long Beach man accused of violin thefts from Los Angeles Philharmonic musician is extradited from France.

--Poking fun or breaking the law? Germany has a problem with artist's sculpture of a Nazi gnome.

--Lack of tolerance: Museum of Tolerance neighbors sue the city of Los Angeles over museum expansion.

--More transfers: Chicago theater plans its own Broadway invasion.

--Buyer beware: Family claims it was "swindled" out of $400,000 in art auction on a cruise ship.

--Not dead yet: Encouraging signs that off-Broadway still has a pulse.

--Specialized musicals? British theater targets Asian audiences.

--Lisa Fung

Photo: Harold Pinter. Credit: Carl de Souza / Associated Press

Shepard Fairey's latest project: 'Art for Obama'

Always on the move, Shepard Fairey hasn't let a few pesky lawsuits slow down his output. The L.A. artist recently unveiled a new poster dedicated to Burmese political activist Aung San Suu Kyi, and now comes news of his latest endeavor -- a book titled "Art for Obama" that contains new and recent works inspired by our president.

"Art for Obama: Designing for Manifest Hope and the Campaign for Change" (Abrams Image) is set to hit bookstores in October, but some of the details have already been made public. The 176-page book will feature 150 full-color illustrations of art work that depicts or was inspired by Barack Obama and the 2008 presidential election. Some of the artists featured in the book are Ron English, David Choe, Kwaku Alston, Maya Hayuk, Justin Hampton, and Shel Starkman -- and of course, work by Fairey.

Much of the art featured in the book debuted at the Manifest Hope art shows, which took place in Denver during the 2008 Democratic National Convention and in Washington, D.C., preceding Obama's inauguration.

The art that is reproduced in the book includes paintings, collages, photo composites, prints and computer-generated images.

Fairey is co-editing the book along with Jennifer Gross. And lest you think this is just another one of the artist's vanity projects, the publisher has said that profits from the book will be donated to Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the arts throughout the U.S.

-- David Ng

Photo: the jacket cover for "Art for Obama." Credit: Abrams Image

Calling Joel Grey, photographer

Joel Grey always had disdain for people who took photographs with their cellphones.

“To me, that’s like standing in front of the Statue of Liberty or shooting yourself or shooting your friends,” says the 77-year-old Grey. “I never took it seriously.”

Best known for his Tony- and Oscar-winning performance as the malevolent, mischievous emcee in the seminal musical-drama “Cabaret,” Grey has also developed a reputation as a photographer.

He’s published two books — “Pictures I Had to Take” and “Looking Hard at Unexamined Things” — featuring vibrant, colorful images he shot around the world with a Nikon he bought in London in 1972.

“We had a show that sold very well in New York and had another show there about a year ago,” says the father of actress Jennifer Grey. “I have two pieces in the Whitney Museum and one in the New York Public Library.”

And now, with the release of his new book, “1.3:  Images From My Phone,” it seems he doesn’t hate cellphone photos anymore.

So what prompted Grey to reach for his phone?

Monster Mash: Cirque founder sues; arts audience declining; more on OCMA art sale; new Mahler blog

--Controversy continues: Director of Laguna Museum of Art seeks chance to acquire plein air paintings quietly sold by OCMA to a private collector.

--Bad news, good news: Audience for the arts continues to decline, but the Internet offers hope, according to study by the National Endowment for the Arts.

--Unflattering depiction: Cirque du Soleil founder sues to halt bio depicting him as a bed-hopping scoundrel with an inexhaustible appetite for sex, drugs, and a rock 'n' roll lifestyle.

--Moving east: Erik Ehn leaving CalArts to head playwriting program at Brown University.

--Angry over job loss: Architect Richard Rogers claims "abuse of power" and "unconstitutional" behavior by Prince Charles in London residential project.

--Honoring composer: Universal Edition launches a Gustav Mahler blog (via The Rest Is Noise)

--Big-name directors: Film director Jonathan Demme and Tony-winner Joe Mantello to stage shows at MCC Theater.

--Flat-out change: Site of architect Norman Foster's planned 118-floor Russia Tower in Moscow now set to become a parking lot.

--This is a publicity stunt: Edinburgh Fringe announces contest for best publicity stunt.

--At long last: PBS to air "Chess" concert production, featuring Josh Groban and Adam Pascal on Wednesday. (See preview, find time slot here.)

--Looking for laughs: John Leguizamo hits the road with tour of "John Leguizamo Live!"

--More on Twitter: The venerable Royal Shakespeare Company starts Twittering. (Shameless plug: Follow us on Twitter: @culturemonster)

-- Lisa Fung

Caption: Bolton Colburn, director of Laguna Museum of Art, in 1998 photo. Credit:  Los Angeles Times

Portrait of the artist as an artist

At first look, Andy Warhol’s 1966 self-portrait — with its close-up format, large head and direct stare — appears as if he’s inviting you for an intimate conversation. Yet his hand covers his mouth, denying any further communication and distancing himself from the viewer, a typical trait of his public persona.

Then there’s Alexander Calder, best known for his sculptures and mobiles, who created his 1960 self-portrait with ink but made the lines appear as brittle and inflexible as the wires he used in his better-known artwork. The latter image graces the cover of “Reflections/Refractions: Self-Portraiture in the Twentieth Century,” a book-catalog that coincides with the exhibition of the same name at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., through Aug. 16.

Curator Wendy Wick Reaves edited the 224-page book, which contains images of 80 color drawings and paintings, each accompanied by the detailed story  behind the famous 20th century American artist’s self-portrait. 

The majority of the pieces are drawn from a collection of 187 portraits donated to the museum by Ruth Bowman and Harry Kahn in 2002, including works by David Hockney, Edward Hopper, Elaine de Kooning and Robert Rauschenberg.

“Although self-portraits have been a grand tradition dating back to the Renaissance, there were fundamental, significant changes in the 20th century,” Reaves said.

One reason is that the 19th century teachings of Darwin and Freud altered the understanding of the nature of self and identity. “Artists, writers and intellectuals were increasingly confronting and exploring their identities,” Reaves said. “The self-portrait was used to navigate this new intellectual terrain.”

For example, rather than portraying his own face, Jim Dine’s 1964 etching shows an empty black bathrobe, because the inanimate object “looked like me,” he explained. Rauschenberg’s 1968 lithograph “Autobiography” takes a different approach, incorporating biographical details such as an astrological chart, an X-ray, a narrative from his life and a photo from his childhood.

Although many of the works, such as Childe Hassam’s 1933 self-portrait, show a sole figure, some put the artist in relation to others, such as Ruth Weisberg’s 1975 “The Gift,” which shows her reaching out to children.

And in some cases, pairs of self-portraits created at different stages in the artists’ careers highlight the changes they have undergone. With its crisp lines, Isabel Bishop’s 1929 etching contrasts with her 1984-85 ink wash on paper, done in barely there brush strokes, showing a woman in the twilight of her career.

-- Liesl Bradner

Left column: Robert Rauschenberg's three-part "Autobiography" (1968). Credit: Copyright Estate of Robert Rauschenberg / Rowman & Littlefield.

Right: Alexander Calder's self-portrait (1960) is on the cover of "Reflections / Refractions." Credit: National Portrait Gallery / Rowman & Littlefield

Cécile Whiting wins Smithsonian prize for book on L.A. Pop art

Cécile Whiting, a professor of art history at UC Irvine, has won the 2009 Charles C. Eldredge Prize for Distinguished Scholarship in American Art for her book "Pop L.A.: Art and the City in the 1960s."

The prize is given out by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington. Art-related books published in the last three years are eligible for consideration.

Whiting, who previously taught at UCLA for 15 years, said the idea for her book originated from a previously published work that focused on Pop art in New York.

"I wanted to shift toward L.A. and explore how artists became fascinated with the city and how they worked to create an image of it," the author told Culture Monster today.

She said that her book is intended to fill in historical background about the Pop art movement and to bring attention to artists who haven't received adequate recognition, such as Llyn Foulkes, Noah Purifoy and the feminist artists of L.A.'s Women's House.

The award comes with a $3,000 prize. "Pop L.A.: Art and the City in the 1960s" is published by the University of California Press and is available in hardback and paperback editions.

— David Ng

Photo: the jacket cover for Cecile Whiting's "Pop L.A.: Art and the City in the 1960s." Credit: University of California Press.

Monster Mash: Breaking news and headlines

-- Under attack: Director Joe Wright, above left, defends his casting of homeless people from Skid Row in "The Soloist."

-- Inspired idea: Will Alan Cumming be Green Goblin in the reportedly $40-million "Spider-Man" musical?

-- Cautious buying: End of art sales frenzy brings out bargain hunters but also prompts smarter shopping.

-- Thy father's spirit: Supreme Court Justice Steven Breyer, right, makes his Chicago acting debut in "Hamlet."

-- In the works: Helen Fielding plans a Bridget Jones musical, to open on London's West End in 2011.

-- Also in the works: B.D. Wong to join in reading of David Henry Hwang's new musical, "Bruce Lee: Journey to the West."

-- Early look: A sneak peek at the renderings for the new Santa Monica Place mall.

-- It's official: Critically acclaimed "Desire Under the Elms," starring Brian Dennehy and Carla Gugino, to close six weeks early on May 24.

-- A (starry) night at the museum: The Smithsonian Institution hosts its first Hollywood premiere.

-- Revival in sight: Kennedy Center production of "Ragtime" looks for a move to Broadway.

-- New neighborhood: Blankenship Ballet Company of Venice moves to downtown L.A. -- but it's keeping its name.

-- Cambodian dance: Long Beach dancer-choreographer is among the recipients of an NEA Heritage Fellowship

-- Perks of the job: Alec Baldwin, the voice of the New York Philharmonic, tells David Letterman he'll accompany the orchestra to Hanoi. (video on the jump)

-- Lisa Fung

Top photo: Director Joe Wright and actor Jamie Foxx. Credit: François Duhamel / Dreamworks

Bottom photo: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer. Credit: Nicholas Kamm / AFP / Getty Images

A handy arts guide to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is a necessary pilgrimage for any cultural enthusiast, and this year's event (running Saturday and Sunday at UCLA) is typically jampacked with writers, publishers and commentators from all intellectual fields.

For arts lovers, there is plenty to choose from this weekend. To help you make your way through the throngs of bibliophiles and tchotchke hoarders, Culture Monster has assembled this modest guide to the festival's arts-related events.

First, a few words of motherly advice: Be sure to bring a map (pdf), plenty of water and comfortable shoes. Most events require tickets, so plan accordingly. Patience helps too. If you accept the fact that there will be crowds of people, some of the whom move very slowly, your time at the festival is certain to be a more pleasant experience. 

Keep reading for a roster of arts personalities and organizations scheduled to appear ...