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What We're Reading: 9/22/23

Bob Ross' 1st painting from famed TV show up for auction. How much is it?

Happen to have $10 million lying around?

If so, the first-ever painting that legendary artist Bob Ross created on his show could be yours.

Via USA Today

 

Your NFTs Are Totally Worthless

A team of researchers have crunched the numbers to explain why you don’t see people hawking ugly cartoon apes on the internet as much anymore: NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, once vaunted as a revolution in crypto and digital art, are largely worthless.

Via Artnews

 

The Van Gogh Museum Enters the Pokémon Universe, Teasing a Collaboration With the Beloved Pocket Monsters

The Van Gogh Museum and Pokémon Company have released a teaser trailer for a new and unexpected collaboration set to begin on September 28.

In the video, Pikachu and Eevee can be seen running through a field of sunflowers before something in the sky catches their attention. The pocket monsters look up and see the sun and clouds transforming into the painterly style of Vincent Van Gogh—with loose brush strokes, swirls and all.

Via Artnet

 

Thompson Center transformed for Chicago Architecture Biennial

Artistic directors of this year's Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB) say they're disrupting the traditional way art and architecture are presented. Though the Biennial celebrates Chicago's global reputation for architecture, the event's main goal is to highlight creativity in our neighborhoods and reimagine well-known spaces.

CAB is making closed spaces more accessible and interesting, including those at the Thompson Center, closed to the public since July 2022.

  • As part of the Biennial, the public will be invited inside to experience "HygroShell," a curved sculpture made of malleable timber, at the center's LaSalle entrance.
  • Artists are also transforming an abandoned Sprint store there into an art gallery. Ghanaian artist Ibrahim Mahama is using natural materials to drape artwork around the steel, austere structure of the building.

Via Axios