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[AMSTELVEEN, Holland] Was lucky enough on a summer art sabbatical to Europe and the Middle East to visit the Cobra Museum, home of contemporary work by artists of the COBRA movement (from Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam). Karel Appel is a favorite, so I was excited to be able to visit and learn more about this movement. A few highlights of the exhibits, and the facilities, can be found at my Flickr photo album.

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From the exhibit signage:

“The biggest source of inspiration for the Cobra artists were children’s drawings and the art of early cultures, in which the doing of something, or process, was more important than the final result. In this way, the artists established themselves in direct opposition to art theory.

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“The group grew quickly. Adherents of Cobra thought included not only painters, but sculptors and word-artists. And people worked together on projects; Read more

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[Photo by Ron Reason]

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A surprise finale to a 4-week tour of Africa was being routed home on Air France, which allowed me to extend my layover in Paris. I only had a day, due to commitments back here in Chicago, but what a day it was. Finally got to visit the wonderful Centre Pompidou, and you can see highlights of what I liked here. Link here to another photo set, 24 Hours in Paris. Weather was fantastic – the first nice day in ages, I was told – and I look forward to returning this summer, for a longer stay!

Too hot (or cold) to leave the house? Can’t afford a plane ticket to the Middle East (or Chicago)? Want to peruse a variety of cool contemporary art? Head over to my collection of photo sets at Flickr.com, where you’ll see some favorite work observed recently at museums and galleries in Cairo and Dubai, art fairs in Tampa and Chicago, and schools including Oxbow, Nettelhorst and Ringling. Enjoy, and let me know if you have similar online galleries I may wish to link to.

[Dubai, UAE] How to do Dubai in 24 hours? Simple. Have a grant, centrally located hotel as your base. Hire a taxi for a few quick spins around the new Burj Dubai for photo ops, and a trip to the old creek area and souks. Finally, get really f***in’ lucky by hopping right across the street from the hotel for the fabulous exhibit, “Word Into Art.”

Sponsored/curated by the British Museum (and based on an earlier original exhibition presented in London), this show was oddly held on the vacant floor of an office building (versus traditional gallery or museum space – welcome to Dubai’s new vision for art!). This truly special collection illuminated the beauty of Arabic lettering in every possible medium. Just stunning. Check out highlights here, or click my photo of exhibition signage above (gorgeous displays and clear explanations of the work throughout, more samples at my Flickr gallery – totally compensated for the office building aesthetic). Below is a closeup of “The Religion of Love” 2003, Hassan Massoudy.

From there, I headed just across the office building concourse to view selections from the JP Morgan Collection of contemporary and modern art. I was just about the sole viewer of each show, which made me feel like art-fan royalty, and made the 24-hour detour through Dubai well worth it. (Was lucky enough to crash with a close friend at the always-luxurious and dripping-with-marble Emirates Towers, an old favorite from my previous visits while consulting with Gulf News. You can check out the rest of my collection of Dubai photos here. I think I somehow took three weeks of photos in 24 hours; a favorite stop, oddly, was my final trip through the airport, where I tricked an angry German nun, a couple of fat and happy Arabs and a few others into wishing my mom a happy 70th birthday.)

This was my sixth visit to UAE but, because I was unencumbered by my day job, it was the first foray here that really allowed me to check out the exploding contemporary art scene, and to explore the place photographically. Missed Art Dubai festival by one week (damn!) but this was a great consolation prize. From here, on to Nairobi ….