Updates to Ghent Altarpiece project

We reported a while back that the  Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK/IRPA), Lukasweb, and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in collaboration with the Getty Foundation, was digitizing the Ghent Altarpiece in extremely high definition.  In addition to making the digital images of the finished panels available, the project has used Infrared Reflectography (IRR) and x-radiography to look at the work in levels of detail that were previously unimaginable.

Visit the updated project site here, and prepare to be dazzled!

340-ton boulder on its way to LACMA

The 10-day journey begins tonight for the huge boulder from a Riverside quarry destined as the centerpiece of Michael Heizer’s Levitated Mass at LACMA.  It is so huge it has to travel on a custom-built transporter that requires road and utility accommodations throughout the trip (it’s nearly 3 traffic lanes wide!), and must take a very circuitous route for safey.  As it can only move at 5mph, all travel will take place at night.  During the day it will be shrink-wrapped.

You can follow the progress at LACMA’s blog, and follow the route here.    All sites will be posting images as the megalith travels on its journey.

AD&A Museum’s Cliff May exhibition opens February 26

UCSB’s Art, Design & Architecture Museum has been going through an inside-and-out renovation and is ready to open its doors with Carefree California: Cliff May and the Romance of the Ranch House. The exhibition is the first major retrospective of the designer who popularized the ranch house and made it an icon of casual California living in the post-war era. The exhibition previews with a “California-cool” Gala on February 25 and opens to the public Sunday, February 26 from 1-5 pm.

In conjunction with Carefree California, check out Catherine Opie Photographs Cliff May and a supplemental online exhibition.

Gothic Past: A visual archive of medieval Ireland

Gothic Past is an open-access resource of over 3000 images for the study of medieval Irish architecture and sculpture. You can search the site or browse by tag, collection or online exhibition. It is part of a research project in the Department of History of Art and Architecture, Trinity College Dublin.

MOCA announces tribute to Mike Kelley

The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles will open an exhibition to celebrate the work and legacy of Mike Kelley, who died this month. The exhibition will showcase Kelley’s work in the museum’s permanent collection along with other artists’ works donated by Kelley. The show, A Tribute to Mike Kelley, opens this Saturday at MOCA Grand Avenue and will run until April 2, 2012.

Tate Guide to Modern Art Terms app available

The Tate Gallery in Britain has an app for their Guide to Modern Art Terms. The app, designed for both iPhone and iPad, contains over 300 art terms defining and describing art movements, styles, schools, techniques and theory.  Search by keyword or browse by different categories or through the image gallery. This is the first modern art app to be released by Tate Publishing.

Mike Kelley (1954-2012)

Contemporary artist Mike Kelley was found dead in his South Pasadena home on Wednesday.

Obituaries via CalArts (where he received his MFA) and LA Times (with slideshow).