Despite there being hundreds of commercial galleries in China’s cities, art by women is hard to come by, yet female Chinese artists most definitely exist.

Whilst art in China was virtually non-existent until the late 80s, it has now become a powerhouse industry, which has created a pantheon of multimillionaire celebrity artists, with one thing in common – they are all men.

In a unique celebration of women artists from China, Drexel University is holding an historic exhibition of contemporary Chinese female artists, titled “Half the Sky: Women in the New Art of China”.

From Friday, September 23, 2011 until Saturday, November 12, 2011, the show will be presented at Drexel University and will be free to attend.

Half the Sky: Women in the New Art of China has been co-curated by the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design at Drexel University and the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC).

Featuring more than 60 works by 22 female Chinese artists, the exhibition, which is the first of its kind to be held in the United States, will display paintings, videos, sculptures, photography and installations.

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‘Haute Couture’ is a concept designed for the world’s most privileged. ‘Haute Couture’ is the French word for the highest and most exclusive work a big fashion house produces – but is it art? In the 20^th century, cinema became commonly known as the seventh art.

Although Haute Couture, as we know it today, was born in Paris, when an Englishman called Charles Frederic Worth opened a Couture House in 1958, it has not been until more recent years that Haute Couture, or made-to-measure tailoring, has emerged as a major form of artistic expression, and has been dubbed as being “the eighth art”.

Today there are approximately 30 Couture Houses in existence that present Haute Couture collections, although only 11 are official members of the ‘Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture’.

These members are: Chanel, Adeline Andre, Dominique Sirop, Givenchy, Anne Valerie Hash, Stephane Rolland, Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix, Maurizio Galante, Franck Sorbier and Christian Dior – all of whom provide tailor-made outfits to Haute Couture clients from around the world, of which only about 200 are regular ones.

Increasingly, Haute Couture is being the subject and focus in art exhibitions, such as the Blue Wrap Project, an installation of Haute Couture held at the Portland Public Library’s Lewis Gallery earlier this year.

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With more than 150 art galleries dotted about this vast, varied and artistically-inspiring region of France, it is of little surprise that the French Riviera has become known as a modern art lovers’ paradise.

With such a large number of art galleries available on this stretch of coastline, art in almost every medium, is crying out to be explored. The artistic merits of street art has, however, always sparked debate, as ‘graffiti’, as some like to refer to it, examines the creative tensions and conflicts within this artistic arena.

When the Greek artist Taki first ‘let rip’ with an aerosol spray can more than 40 years ago, who would have thought that he was starting a movement that would later attract collectors from Moscow, Miami and now even Monaco?

This summer, the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, has been home to 400 examples of contemporary street art, more commonly known as ‘Pressurism’ on the Cote d’Azur, a name that has been derived from the aerosol can that has replaced the artist’s brush.

The ‘Pressurism’ exhibition proved extremely popular, as visitors and locals alike flocked to the Grimaldi Forum to view the works of the Italian architect Alain-Dominque Gallizia, who also curated the exhibition.

This tremendously individual and avant-garde display explored the 40-year history of the street art medium and represented ‘graffiti’ artists from across the globe, including Blade, Toxic, Dibo, Ces, Revolt and, of course, Taki.

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With a potentially limitless and worldwide audience, it is little wonder why businesses and professionals are wanting to make their presence known on the World Wide Web.

Intent on evolving and moving with the times, many art galleries are increasing their online activity and presence. Alongside a surge in activity of art galleries on the internet, gallery owners are also concerting efforts into creating a wider presence at art fairs.

According to Cinoa’s latest report, the physical location is not as important as it once was, with more and more galleries are turning to the web and fairs to do business. “We do much more business at the fairs than at the gallery,” said Dominique Levy of L&M gallery.

But does an increase of advertising and selling art online and at fairs diminish traditional aspects of selling and buying art, such as expert advice from dealers and the relationship between professionals and clients.

The Cinoa report concluded that major pieces of extremely expensive art are generally not sold online and that there are certain features and qualities of art galleries that websites and fairs cannot replace, namely the contact between artists, dealers and buyers.

This said, as we are now firmly entrenched in the digital era, gallery owners and artists alike are wise to be reaping the unique benefits an online presence creates.

We are seeing a growing number of online art galleries and arts communities emerging, designed to help artists showcase and sell their work.

Earlier this year, Artist Become was launched, an online community created and developed by the popular internet art gallery overstockArt.com. Both enterprises provide various resources and tools to help established and emerging artists increase their presence and hopefully sell more work. David Sasson, overstockArt.com’s president spoke of the essence behind Artist Become.

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In July this year, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a decision to extend Executive Park, a 70-acre office park built in the 1970s into San Francisco’s newest residential neighbourhood.

Located between Candlestick Park and Highway 101, Executive Park is to be a compound for creating a new domestic community on the southern side of the city. The site of the project is both owned and developed by the Yerby Company.

Heller Manus Architects is responsible for five of Yerby’s midrise buildings, including one high-rise tower that will accommodate 500 residential units designed to cater for a wide spectrum of family sizes and their incomes.

Talking about how the design project will transform the community, Clark Manus, FAIA, CEO of Heller Manus Architects, said:

“Executive Park is a gateway project that will be a catalyst in creating a new residential community at the southern entry to San Francisco that will unite the Bayview and recently approved Hunter’s Point to the east and the Little Hollywood and Visitation Valleys to the west.”

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