Pictures of Mie

"MIE: A Portrait by 35 Artists," on view through Feb. 25 at Freight + Volume gallery in Chelsea, is one of the more unusual group surveys of the new season, and casts a fresh light on the venerable theme of artist and model. The show includes a few star artists (Alex Katz, Robert Frank), many who have stirred recent critical interest (Ryan Schneider, Kurt Kauper, Andrew Guenther, David Humphrey), one pop-cult figure (Paul D. Miller, aka DJ Spooky) and several participants who, well-known abroad, are emerging in the West (Lin Yilin, Noritoshi Hirakawa, Qi Zhilong). Even more striking is the curatorial approach. The exhibition was co-organized by gallery owner Nick Lawrence with the portrait subject herself—Mie Iwatsuki, a Japanese-born model and independent curator who has lived in New York since 1999.
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Half the Sky: Chinese Women Artists in Philadelphia

How do Chinese women see themselves? How do female artists in China represent their private concerns, or register their take on a society undergoing rapid, mind-boggling change? Insights are currently available in Philadelphia, of all places, thanks to "Half the Sky: Women in the New Art of China," an exhibition featuring works by 24 contemporary Chinese women artists. Co-organized with the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), Beijing, the show is on view through Nov. 13 at the Leonard Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University.

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Ai Weiwei Receives First Bianca Jagger Courage Award

The first Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation Award for Courage will go to dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei on Oct. 14 at Phillips de Pury auction house, London. Jagger, once a model and actress, has been an environmental and human rights activist for roughly 30 years, following her seven-year marriage to Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger and her days as a celebrity partygoer at Studio 54. She told the press today that the idea for the human rights fundraising gala came to her earlier this year, while she was campaigning for Ai Weiwei's release from detention in Beijing.
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Ullens Sells More, Yet Names Philip Tinari New Director

At Sotheby's Hong Kong yesterday, Guy Ullens, founder of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) in Beijing, sold 86 works—of 90 offered—for a total of nearly $17 million (including commissions). The partial sell-off (from a collection estimated at 1,500 items from both East and West) has fueled rumors that the UCCA will soon close. Yet just 10 days ago, the institution named Philip Tinari as its new director, replacing Jérôme Sans, who has served since 2008.
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