Because of the concerted effort made by museums and galleries to remain connected to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, there now is what seems like an avalanche of terrific content available on the internet. Generally speaking, major museums and art galleries are practically spamming social media with content. Log onto Twitter or especially Instagram to see loads of posts about collections and exhibitions. In an effort to parse some of this information for you, I have made a list of just a couple of my current favorites within different media categories. (Click on the bolded words for links.) Enjoy the distraction and the education, and above all, be well.
Art Journalism:
Artnet news has been enhancing their editorial efforts in recent years, and it is very good. They have different options for newsletters, which you can sign up for at the end of this webpage. I subscribe to the afternoon edition. They also produce a good podcast called The Art Angle. Recent episodes include an interview with art critic and curator Antwaun Sargent discussing the impact of the pandemic on image making by black photographers.
The Art Newspaper has always been excellent. Again, you can sign up for their newsletter or listen to their podcast, The Week in Art. Today they posted an interesting interview with Frances Morris, the Director of Tate Modern; Daniel Weiss, President and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; and Philip Tinari, the Director of the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing to discuss the future of museums.
Podcasts:
Speaking of podcasts, one of my recent favorites is the gallerist Sean Kelly’s Collect Wisely, with interviews with different collectors about their passion for art and their motivations for collecting.
Another standout series of podcasts is produced by the Getty. I especially enjoyed their podcast series, Recording Artists: Radical Women with archival audio of six artists.
Museum Website Content:
Major art museums have always had great content, but some have added more. A favorite of mine has always been The Artist Project produced by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which exists on their website in a series of videos showing contemporary artists talking about art in the museum that has inspired them.
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art has put together a series of videos on art from their collections, called Crystal Bridges Virtual Reality, that are engaging and educational.
Art History Websites:
For good, old fashioned art historical information, the two best websites still are Smart History and The Art Story. These have been around for years and they have lots of very high-quality content.
Galleries:
The big galleries were in the best position to transition to an online business model. David Zwirner and Hauser & Wirth have launched online viewing rooms for exhibitions with loads of accompanying information online.
Speaking of gallery exhibitions, follow the Instagram account @theartofsocialdistancing to see the gallery and museum exhibitions that have been cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. You’ll see art that was intended to be shown in large and small venues.
Dress up:
By now, I am sure you have seen all of the pictures on social media of people re-creating famous works of art. So many of these recreations have been amazingly creative and hilarious. If you want to play along, you can participate in Tang Extra Credit at the website for The Francis Young Tang Teaching Museum & Art Gallery at Skidmore College.
There is so much more to experience in the internet. In crisis, there is opportunity and we now have a new way to learn about and engage with the arts that can only benefit us all.