Artist Mike Kelley, known for his found-object assemblages and musical performance art, passed away in Los Angeles of an apparent suicide at the age of 57 on Wednesday, an associate of the artist confirmed to ArtInfo . Read full article > >

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Artist Mike Kelley dies at 57

A chaotic Oscar season found a bit order on Tuesday, as “The Artist” and “Hugo” joined “The Descendants” and “Midnight in Paris” in scoring an array of major nominations, including those for best picture and best director.

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The Carpetbagger: Nine Films Vie for Best Picture

French silent movie The Artist is the big winner at the Film Critics’ Circle Awards in London on Thursday, scooping three awards.

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The Artist wows Critics’ Circle

Black and white silent film The Artist takes home three awards from the Golden Globes in Los Angeles, hosted by Britain’s Ricky Gervais.

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Artist wins Golden Globes treble

Hollywood is gearing up for the Golden Globe awards later, with silent movie The Artist leading the field with six nominations.

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Hollywood set for Golden Globes

If the People’s Choice Awards are any indication, then Katy Perry and “ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 ” may be the population’s most beloved pop cultural creations of 2011. The “Fireworks” singer — who, in the wake of her split from Russell Brand, opted not to attend the ceremony , held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live and broadcast on CBS — snagged six trophies, including Favorite Female Artist, Favorite Tour Headliner, Favorite Song of the Year (for “E.T.”) and Favorite TV Guest Star for her cameo on “How I Met Your Mother.” Read full article > >

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People’s Choice Awards 2012: Katy Perry, ‘Harry Potter’ dominate the meaningless trophies

If you’ve never read anything by Anita Desai, you’re out of excuses. One of India’s most celebrated writers, she’s been publishing for almost 50 years and come close to winning the Booker Prize three times. (Ironically, her daughter, Kiran Desai, beat her to it in 2006 for “ The Inheritance of Loss .”) Now she’s released “ The Artist of Disappearance ,” a collection of three superb novellas that’s a rare gift in the sparse December publishing season. Here, in miniature, you can experience the deceptively subtle, slightly surreal and profoundly insightful fiction of a world-class writer. Read full article > >

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Book review: Gripping novellas in Anita Desai’s ‘Artist of Disappearance’

If you’ve never read anything by Anita Desai, you’re out of excuses. One of India’s most celebrated writers, she’s been publishing for almost 50 years and come close to winning the Booker Prize three times. (Ironically, her daughter, Kiran Desai, beat her to it in 2006 for “ The Inheritance of Loss .”) Now she’s released “ The Artist of Disappearance ,” a collection of three superb novellas that’s a rare gift in the sparse December publishing season. Here, in miniature, you can experience the deceptively subtle, slightly surreal and profoundly insightful fiction of a world-class writer. Read full article > >

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Book review: Gripping novellas in Anita Desai’s ‘Artist of Disappearance’

“ The Artist ” got another awards season boost today after it was named the best film of 2011 by the Washington Area Film Critics Association. The group — which consists of critics and film journalists from the D.C. region, including (full disclosure) this writer — elevated the silent film to best picture status over four other nominated movies in that category: “Hugo,” “Drive,” “The Descendants” and “Win Win.” Read full article > >

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‘The Artist’ named best film of 2011 by Washington Area Film Critics Association

In a strong affront to the Chinese government’s attempt to censor artists and internet users, fans of the artist Ai Weiwei have raised more than $830,000 in three days through social media to help the artist fight a $2.4 million tax bill from the state. Weiwei, who was imprisoned for 81 days this spring without any charges filed against him, has been a target of the Chinese government for his politically outspoken art. On Nov. 1, Weiwei announced that the government had presented him with a bill for $2.4 million in back taxes , and gave him 10 days to pay. Read full article > >

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Ai Weiwei fans raise funds to pay his massive tax bill

Two decades after Nirvana’s “Nevermind” and the documentary “1991: The Year Punk Broke” had an imprinting effect on him as a teenager, the artist Andrew Kuo considers what it all meant.

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Music: Andrew Kuo Looks Back at the Punk of 1991

In this Aslan Media exclusive interview, contributor Flying Dutchslim sat down with flautist Ömer Faruk Tekbilek to discuss his music, inspiration, and Turkish roots. Born in 1951, Tekbilek is known for his performances on the ney, an ancient Middle Eastern cane flute. He also plays the Oud, Saz, Zurna and sings on many of his recordings. Tekbilek is the recipient of the 2003 “Best Artist” award from the Turkish Writers Association and was a nominee for the 2003 BBC World Music Award in the Middle East category. He has become a beloved icon in Turkey, connecting his many fans with historical and religious influences that were once suppressed.

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Interview with Turkish Musician Ömer Faruk Tekbilek

The season begins with a burst of Andy Warhol, as two shows in two major museums explore very different aspects of the pop pioneer. An exhibition at the National Gallery of Art called “Warhol: Headlines” arrives in the late afterglow of the Rupert Murdoch scandal and explores the artist’s fascination with tabloid media, celebrity and appropriation (Sept. 25). Billed as the first comprehensive exhibition to explore Warhol’s use of headlines and newspapers, the show will include some of the source materials on which he based his images, allowing viewers to analyze the road from cheap scandal sheet to high art, via the ironies of pop and the subtle improvements of an artist who was uncommonly good at tweaking the ordinary into something visually compelling. Read full article > >

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Fall arts: Two Warhol exhibits and the (E)merge Art Fair kick off the season

Last week, the Levantine Cultural Center hosted Hybrid , an art exhibition showcasing the works of Khalid Hussein . The public and art enthusiasts alike were also treated to an interesting discussion with the artist himself at the “Art and the Arab Spring” panel discussion on July 28.

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The Art of Revolting: An Evening with Artist Khalid Hussein

SAN FRANCISCO — Much like the caller in the Lady Gaga hit song “Telephone,” some visitors to Amazon’s site received a busy signal Monday when they tried to download the digital version of the artist’s latest album, “Born This Way,” which the online retailer was selling for 99 cents on its release date. Spokeswoman Sally Fouts said Amazon experienced a high volume of traffic that caused delays for those downloading the album — echoing a posting on the album’s product page on Amazon.com. Customers who ordered the MP3 version of “Born This Way” on Monday will get it for 99 cents, she said. Read full article > >

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New Lady Gaga album priced at 99 cents leads to download delays at Amazon