The RP’s Weekly Web Gems: The Politics of Beauty

The Politics of Beauty

Paris, je t’adore. If you’ve never visited, lived in, or dreamed of Paris, your ability to see, to feel, to touch, even smell beauty is severely diminished. And despite les fumeurs, the grit and the annoying accordion players, the Paris Métro is a place of rare beauty and life. The RP loves this ode to Paris from the installment of “Sub City” by Sarah Klein and Tom Mason. Amusez-vous bien! Sub City Paris

 Andy Warhol certainly did it. Degas, Edvard Munch and even Henri Matisse all did it. Granted, Bob Dylan is no Edward Hopper, but his new paintings have a caused an uproar recently in some circles because many of them are based closely or entirely on photographs—some taken by equally famous photographers. Just contemporary art, or contemporary plagiarism? Check out Dylan’s work and their sources. The Daily Beast

When you typically think of contemporary American art, you think of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia. But a new collaborative exhibit in California wants to remind you that Los Angeles is a contemporary art capital as well. The new exhibit, Pacific Standard Time: An L.A. Art Story, reminds us that American art has been influenced for decades by Latino, Asian, hippy, feminist, Chicano, gay and African-American artists residing in California. Indeed, “something happened here.” Check out more on the works from NPR