NEW YORK – It isn’t often that the words “grotesque” and “highly collectible” are used to describe decorative objects, but such is the case with Martin Brothers birds. The wildly eccentric stoneware avians were the offbeat creations of British siblings who operated from several locations between 1873 and 1923, although little was produced during or after World War I. “Grotesques” was the common (and affectionate) term often used to describe their offbeat flock.
BALTIMORE (AP) – Only Baltimore bad boy John Waters would create a sculpture that envisions a babyhood encounter between the pop star Michael Jackson and the serial killer Charles Manson. In “Playdate,” the late singer, attired in a powder-puff pink romper beneath his surgically altered adult face, crawls on his hands and knees toward the bearded cult leader.
NEW YORK (AP) – New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he is nominating New York City’s statue of Christopher Columbus to the National Register of Historic Places.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Ralston Crawford, who celebrated the modern American industrial landscape in a precisionist style and captured the vitality of New Orleans jazz culture, is the subject of a photography exhibition opening at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City Oct. 26 through April 7, 2019. Structured Vision: The Photographs of Ralston Crawford, showcases the museum’s deep holdings of his work.
LONDON (AP) – On Friday, art prankster Banksy has struck again — this time on a worldwide stage.