Google, Wikipedia, Flickr, Oasis and Bob Dylan

What do Google, Wikipedia, Flickr, British rock band Oasis and American icon Bob Dylan have in common?

Not welcomed in China, at least partially.

According to a report by StarPulse, Bob Dylan has canceled his planned Asian tour this month after he was reportedly refused permission to play in Shanghai and Beijing. His tour should have included stops at Beijing, Shanghai, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

According to the report, "Jeffrey Wu, of Taiwan-based promotion company Brokers Brothers Herald, says, 'China's Ministry of Culture did not give us permission to stage concerts in Beijing and Shanghai, so we had no alternative but to scrap plans for a Southeast Asian tour. The chance to play in China was the main attraction for him. When that fell through everything else was called off. What Björk did definitely made life very difficult for other performers. They are very wary of what will be said by performers on stage now.'"

Björk made an onstage protest about the Chinese occupation of Tibet at a concert in 2008.

Social Studies of Graffiti - Graffiti as Art

Last year, I blogged about Crescat Graffiti, Vita Excolatur.

Crescat Graffiti, Vita Excolatur is a project by Quinn Dombrowski documenting graffiti in public study areas in the Regenstein Library, the main library at the University of Chicago. Started in summer 2007, the collection contains over 700 pieces of graffiti. I had the honor of knowing Quinn and on occasions, translating some graffiti written in Chinese.

Her documentation records not only a sub-culture but a most detailed inner dialogues amongst the best people in the youth generation, and serves as a great tool of social study.

Quinn has been making rounds in media circle lately. BBC, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Der Spiegel (leading German magazine, similar to Newsweek or Times) and Chicago Tonight TV Show have reported or interviewed her and her book on the documentation.

Visiting her Flickr photo collections of graffiti is an experience like no others, hard to forget!

Tips for Artists from ArtSlant

ArtSlant, a most up-to-date news website on art events and artists in the great art cities of the world is an amazing resources for artists and art lovers. Periodically, it gives marketing and promotional tips for artists, often witty:

How Not to Get a Gallery

Some tips:

1. Keep your art in a closet so no one can see it - because you know it is so good that the world will discover it anyway. Maybe posthumously.

2. Don't visit any galleries. But if you must go, pretend to be a buyer. Gallery staff treat buyers so much better than unknown artists. Then leave before they realize that you are the talented artist they have been trying to track down for months.

3. Avoid contests, juried shows, artist calls, and any requests for portfolio reviews. If they are so easy to get into, they must have very low standards.

Or:

Thinking of Promoting Your Art?

hmmmm - here are 10 things you could do instead:

1. Take your partner to the movies - go Dutch

2. Convince someone to pay your bills

3. Cut your own hair (30 mins, plus 4 hours to get it fixed)

4. Buy a sweater (see #2 above)

5. Pick wild flowers and hand deliver to your mom

6. Wash the dishes

7. Organize your bench

8. Plant a vegetable garden

9. Cancel your phone service

10. Go to a bar

No more dishes washing, yeah!

A Wonferul Art Gallery of the People - City Art Gallery, San Francisco

Today is the first Friday of the month and many galleries have openings in the evening. One of these galleries in San Francisco is a very eclectic and extremely vibrant one - City Art Gallery.



City Art Gallery is a cooperative gallery, owned and operated by local artists. The idea of making artwork accessible and affordable to hundreds of potential art buyers each week attract numerous local talents. In addition to selling their art, these artists understand the importance of belonging to a network of peers who promote and support their creativity. City Art includes artists who have never before show their work in a gallery setting and members with established art careers. The gallery does not insist on exclusive contracts with the artists, and it boasts a wide range of artistic mediums and styles. Almost 200 local artists are members of City Art Cooperative Gallery.

City Art Gallery also have well curated theme shows several times a year. The past popular ones include "Naked August", "Sacred and Profane", "Erotic", "San Francisco", San Francisco Opening Studio, and "Holiday shows" in different months.

This month's show is "Green". Opening reception: 7-10 pm, 2 April 2010.
Location: 828 Valencia, Between 19th and 20th, San Francisco, next door to the famed 826 Valencia: The Writing Center.

One can also join the gallery on Facebook and follow it on Twitter.

Below is a sampling of artwork by some of the artists who show at City Art:

Michael Barbee	Staci Batchelder	Michelle Blomstedt	Robin Bordow	Carol Nelson Ceres
Ryan Darcey	Alex Darocy	Angelo Di Pietrantonio	Michele de la Menardiere	Richard Dodds
'Spot' Scott Draves	Marisa Escolar	Tedda Hughes	Kytha Gernatt	Katie Gilmartin
Robert Grüttner	Joshua Aaron Guthals	dk haas	Niqui Hill	Glenn Hummel
Adam Krammer	Mike Kimball	Victoria Q. Legg	Maria Carmella Luna	Dan Lydersen
Celia Marais	Lorinda Menchavez	Leslie Morgan	Kevin Mosley	Hadley Northrop
Sandra O'Brien	Rebecca Peters	Camille Porter	Marina Vendrell Renaut	Brad Robinson
Heather Robinson	Will Russell	Hiroko Sakai	Lilia Scott	Betsy Sergeant
Colin Sjostedt	Lauren Shahroody	Matthew Felix Sun	Trish Tunney	Antonio Torrez-Solis
Delve Withrington