Are you a rare being?
Hands up all those who DO NOT flourish a pencil, wield a paintbrush, embrace a palette, grip a palette knife, caress a
chisel or get hands wet from clay.
Or, modestly delve into conceptualistic depths. You’re a rare being; one of the minority who is not clambering onto
the artwagon which sweeps through the island.
Sitting rooms are open for viewers, canvases maybe still be wet.
The coffee shop sells turpentine. You turn up to an advertised venue in heavy rain and find the door closed (Nicosia).
Cars charge you into the gutter, knowing full well the pavements are really for them, not for frescoes or friendly graffiti.
It’s quite obvious the next art movement will be painting while you drive.
Yet the going is good, if you are patient. There were good things at the geographically ambitious OPEN STUDIOS which covered
Paphos.
Also the Inside the Walls of Nicosia and Art Awareness somehow kept their chins up.
Manifesta came a cropper.
A GREAT PITY.
That nearly ended up with both sides doing little Jasper Johns of their own.
The excellent Urban Soul Festival at Eleftheria Square Moat in October saved our little island’s face. (Best Mixed
Outdoors).
Thraki Jones goes on forever.
Strong individual shows; Mother and Daughter at Kyklos, Paphos. Former prison teacher Dawn Luing at Marzano (one of the
best). Lots of new figuration by artists who really have observed the human form and at the same time understand abstraction.
The trend for shows may appear to be out from the galleries and into the pizza joint but there have actually been new conventional
galleries opening. Front room. Back Room. Anywhere. Any place. Someone must be making a bomb out of invitation cards mind
you.
The fomer Carob House, Limassol, has got used to its space.
Their very recent exhibition was the tops of the mixed’s (Indoors). Top individual was sculpture at Fasoula, Limassol.
Two outstanding painters exhibited photographs. Still great.
Age was respected with the wonderful Nicholaides exhibition in Limassol.
So many shows were on just for a few days - like a Celtic jumble sale – buying art like socks for seasonal gifts.
However there is great art here. Saw a Henry Moore and an Anish Kapoor last week in Nicosia!
John Sabry has died in Paphos.
Getty curator
'scapegoat' in art
looting case
LOS ANGELES (AP)
The former antiquities curator at the J. Paul Getty Museum has said in a letter that the institution is making her the
scapegoat in an art looting case that has resulted in agreements to return 30 contested works to Greece and Italy, according
to a published report.
Marion True wrote in a letter to the J. Paul Getty Trust obtained by the Los Angeles Times that her superiors were aware
of the risks of buying antiquities and had approved the acquisitions.
True and art dealer Robert Hecht are on trial in Rome for allegedly receiving archaeological treasures stolen from private
collections or dug up illicitly. They deny wrongdoing. Greece recently began legal action against True.
True said in the Dec. 18 letter that the museum has left her to "carry the burden" for the purchases and complained that
the Getty has not publicly defended her innocence or explained her role at the museum.
The Getty's "calculated silence ... has been acknowledged universally, especially in the archaeological countries, as a
tacit acceptance of my guilt," True said in the two-page letter addressed to acting Getty Chief Executive Deborah Marrow,
Museum Director Michael Brand and Getty spokesman Ron Hartwig.
The Getty is paying for True's defence in Greece and Italy and has said that she is being unfairly singled out by foreign
prosecutors.
"We certainly are hopeful that Marion will be exonerated, and based on the evidence we've seen, we believe she should be
cleared of the charges she is facing," Hartwig said in a statement. "It is tragic that Marion has been singled out given her
efforts at trying to reduce the illegal trade of antiquities."
Hopeful
Hartwig acknowledged to the Times that in the past True's criminal problems have complicated negotiations with Greece and
Italy over the return of allegedly looted antiquities.
He said that current Getty officials hope the recent returns of antiquities will build a rapport with the governments and
have a "therapeutic impact" on her legal situation.
But True said in her letter that giving items back to the countries without any public statement in support of her has
not helped her situation.
Retire
In recent months the Getty has agreed to return 30 contested antiquities to Italy and Greece. Earlier this month, the Getty
agreed to return a golden funerary wreath, the focus of the Greek case.
About that latest return, True said: "Once again you have chosen to announce the return of objects that are directly related
to criminal charges filed against me by a foreign government ... without a word of support for me, without any explanation
of my role in the institution, and without any reference to my innocence." True was the Getty antiquities curator from 1986
to 2005, when she was asked to retire. She was responsible for recommending what objects the museum should buy from private
dealers and at public auctions. Approval of her recommendations rested with the museum director, the Getty Trust's chief executive
and members of the board of trustees.
Harry Stang, True's Los Angeles attorney, said the letter "was intended to be a private document and it was unfortunate
it was released to a media outlet."