Someone paid $575k for This Kissing Cops Painting

from Reuters:

Reuters reported that Kissing Coppers, his iconic picture of two kissing “British Bobbies,” sold at Fine Art Auctions Miami on Tuesday for $575,000, at the lower end of its estimate. Last week in London, Banksy’s sculpture Happy Shopper (2009) fetched £506,500 ($831,691) at Phillips’ Contemporary Art Evening Sale, more than twice its low estimate. According to artnet’s price database, this was the third most expensive Banksy work ever sold at auction (the current record is for his 2007 Keep it Spotless painting, which shows a maid pulling up a Damien Hirst-like spot painting like a curtain).

Who The F*?k is Jonathan Cheban? You Better Ask Somebody!

MR. CHEBAN IN HIS OFFICE

Ever wonder who the hell is the guy with the good head of hair, killer shades and tanned skin who is almost always with Kim Kardashian? Well, contrary to what you may have heard across the web, he isn't some hanger on with nothing to do. In fact when you see him, eating or shopping with Kim K, he is actually working. How you ask? Well he sits a top a growing empire that includes, a top PR firm, restaurants and digital media. His name is Jonathan Cheban, or Mr. Cheban If you're clueless. Jonathan Cheban is the founder and CEO of Command Public Relations a leading PR firm that counts some of Hollywood's brightest names as well as fortune 500 companies as clients. He got one of his biggest breaks working with Sean "P Diddy" Combs back in the day and hasn't slowed down since. As his partner Simon Huck mans the PR ship Jonathan  is focused on expanding his business interests. He recently opened his first restaurant called Sushi Mikasa in Miami which he says isn't your normal sushi joint. The eatery already attracts the top echelon of Miami's social crowd.  There are plans to open another one in Vegas followed by a fast food joint called Burger Bandit. This isn't a shock for those who know Jonathan because he is a self proclaimed foodie and is known for posting pictures of food he is about to inhale on his instagram feed. He also owns Elitedaily.com which is a lifestyle website for "Generation Y" which gets about 7 million page views a month. There is also a jewelry line called Rich Rocks Jewelry which already carries much buzz within Hollywood's young elite circles. Also there are the reality show franchises like E!'s "The Spin Crowd" which takes us inside the inner workings of Cheban's public relations machine. So Jonathan Cheban has his hands full making a sweet living overseeing his growing portfolio of business ventures. When he isn't spending time at his homes in L.A or Miami, he is back home here in New York City, taking care of business and building his rolodex. So if you didn't know, now you know!

Def Jam is Leaderless Again

FORMER DEF JAM PRESIDENT JOIE MANDA

Since Jay Z stepped down as President/CEO of Def Jam, no one after him has held on to the position for long. Its as if the office is cursed. Former Murder Inc boss Irv Gotti campaigned for the spot, even enlisting Def Jam founder Russell Simmons to submit letters on his behalf to the powers that be at Island Def Jam, but Gotti was passed over for Joie Manda who resigned last week and is now back in Los Angeles as President of Urban Music at Interscope. So now that the legendary once dominant hip hop label is without a leader again, all eyes are on Island Def Jam boss Barry Weiss who is expected to name a new President in the coming weeks. The question is, who will be Def Jam's new President? No immediate plans were mentioned in the news release as far as a replacement goes, but there are good picks out there if Barry takes the time to choose the right person. Here now is our short list of candidates who would be good picks to run Def Jam in no particular order.

Irving (Irv Gotti) Lorenzo - As the former head of The Inc, Irv has seen the inner workings at Def Jam. He knows the history and the culture of the company and would no doubt build on the current hot streak the label is experiencing right now. And like we mentioned above, he's been after the job for years now. Perhaps now is the time to give him a shot at the title. Then again, he is rumored to be tied up with former Warner Music Group boss Lyor Cohen in a new music venture. Would he walk away from going into business with Lyor Cohen for his dream job running Def Jam?


Mike Kyser (President black music at Atlantic Records) - A long time protege of Lyor Cohen, MikeKyser would be a good fit for the Def Jam brand. With a career built on urban music, Mike would bring a fresh approach to the Def Jam label. He would also still have people like Lyor Cohen, Julie Greenwald and Jay Z as an unofficial advisory board.




Yandy Smith - Many people are not informed about Yandy Smith's background. She is a power broker in the music business. She's had her hands in the careers of artists like LL Cool J, Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes, Jim Jones and many others. She's consulted for major labels and currently runs businesses in digital media, publishing and eCommerce. Yandy would be a fresh but seasoned face at the top of Def Jam who has some of the most top level resources at her disposal. It would also break the mostly male dominated leadership at the storied label.


Damon Dash - Do we really need to tell you who Damon Dash is? This is our dark horse candidate. Sure he squandered his rep, money and alliances in the music business, but everyone should get a second chance and we wouldn't mind seeing Damon dash land at the top of the label he is known for fighting with during his days running Rocafella. It was rumored about 2 yrs ago that he was relaunching the Rocafella label during the time L.A Reid was running Island Def Jam, but that never came to life.  Dame is hungry to get back in the mix but his history with the company will no doubt be an issue.



Christopher "Tricky" Stewart - As President of A&R at Epic Records, Tricky Stewart is the man charged with finding hits for the now L.A Reid lead record label. He's young, keeps his ear to the streets and is hungry to run his own shop or the shop of someone else. He would shake Def Jam up by pushing the label back into artist development, something many labels aren't doing today.

Viddy Lands Jay Z and Will Smith as Investors

STUNNED BY DRE
Viddy is the it app of the moment. The social video app not only attracted 5.5 million users in 11 days, but it also caught the attention and pockets of some of music's and Hollywood's biggest and richest as investors.

Singers Shakira and Jay-Z and actor Will Smith join other high-profile entertainment and technology types as investors and partners in the Los Angeles-based company, Viddy announced Monday. Viddy is the short-and-sweet, shoot-and-share video application for iPhone that has experienced a remarkable uptick in usage and new users since it integrated with Facebook’s Open Graph platform for Timeline and Ticker in February. The one-year-old company, which surpassed 4.5 million users 11 days ago, now has more than 10 million registered users and is adding 300,000 new users per day. The company partly attributes its recent rapid user growth to its status as the number one free app on Apple’s App Store, a place it’s held for nearly a week.

[source:VB]

Artist Adam Pendleton Talks Black Dada

BY ART + TIMES: 
Upstate New York based artist Adam Pendelton brings his Black Dada paintings to MoMa and signs on with  the powerful Pace gallery. At the age of 28, he's the youngest person to do so since the 1970s

Mr. Pendleton’s Black Dada paintings each contain a partial view, usually a corner, of a starkly rectilinear three dimensional object, accompanied by a single letter or two. The letters, which all derive from the phrase “Black Dada,” something that becomes more apparent when the paintings are arranged in large grids, usually suggest a word—for instance, “D A” or “L C K”—but never spell it out completely. The objects depicted are actually details of the famous cube sculptures by the late minimalist Sol LeWitt.

source: GalleristNY

The Art and Antiques Dealer League of America Welcomes New Participating Galleries

BY ART + TIMES: 
New York City’s Park Avenue Armory, the four-day fine and decorative arts fair which starts on May 2, will debut new participating galleries from here in the U.S. and abroad.

Among the new participants from the U.S. are New York-based galleries: Craig Van Den Brulle (mid-20th century furniture); Gavin Spanierman, Ltd. (American 19th- and 20th-century paintings); Lawrence Steigrad (16th- to 18th-century Old Master and British paintings, drawings and sculpture); Sundial (antique clocks and timepieces); and Jason Jacques, specialist (European Art Nouveau, Japonist pottery and turn of the century decorative arts). And from the West will be tribal specialist William Siegal from Santa Fe and John Atzbach (Fabergé and Imperial Russian antiques), based in Redmond, Washington.

 source: artdaily

15 Years Later

STUNNED BY DRE
15 years ago today, 24 yr old Christopher Wallace - aka - The Notorious B.I.G was gunned down in Los Angeles California. Today the murder sits unsolved in the LAPD's hands. The case was reopened over a year ago in what many say is an effort to patronize his friends and family. But still nothing has come of it even though there were credible leads just months after he died. We may all be shocked at the findings in this case if it ever gets solved.

Sotheby's To Offer Up "Sleeping Girl

STUNNED BY DRE
Sotheby's upcoming evening sale of contemporary art scheduled for May 9th will include Roy Lichtenstein’s Sleeping Girl from 1964. The picture is expected to fetch between $30 and $40 million. Before the auction Sleeping Girl is set for a major city world tour touching hot spots like Los Angeles, Hong Kong, London and New York.

“Lichtenstein’s ‘girls’ are arguably his most desirable works today and Sleeping Girl has been coveted since it was acquired in 1964, the year it was painted. It is astonishingly fresh and vibrant, as if it were painted yesterday,” said Tobias Meyer, Sotheby’s worldwide head of Contemporary Art.

source: ACN

Tonight And Tomorrow, Jay Z Does Carnegie Hall For Charity

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Tonight at the legendary Carnegie Hall, their will be an interesting mix of attendees mingled to watch Jay Z, do what he does best to raise cash for United Way of New York City and The Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation. Select a date: Feb 6 | Feb 7

Will F**k For McNuggets

BY MEGHAN
A California woman must have been desperately hungry when she allegedly offered sexual favors in return for an order of McDonald's chicken nuggets.

A Los Angeles woman was arrested on suspicion of prostitution after she allegedly offered sexual favors in exchange for Chicken McNuggets, Burbank police said. Khadijah Baseer was seen opening customers’ car doors in a McDonald’s drive-through on the 1700 block of Olive Avenue late Wednesday night, Officer Joshua Kendrick told the Burbank Leader. A customer told police that Baseer asked for free Chicken McNuggets in exchange for sexual favors. The man said he declined the offer.

We hope it was at least the 20 piece box she was aiming for.

Will F**k For McNuggets

BY MEGHAN
A California woman must have been desperately hungry when she allegedly offered sexual favors in return for an order of McDonald's chicken nuggets.

A Los Angeles woman was arrested on suspicion of prostitution after she allegedly offered sexual favors in exchange for Chicken McNuggets, Burbank police said. Khadijah Baseer was seen opening customers’ car doors in a McDonald’s drive-through on the 1700 block of Olive Avenue late Wednesday night, Officer Joshua Kendrick told the Burbank Leader. A customer told police that Baseer asked for free Chicken McNuggets in exchange for sexual favors. The man said he declined the offer.

We hope it was at least the 20 piece box she was aiming for.

Vera Wang's Glass House

By Art & Times: 
Fashion Designer Vera Wang is known for creating beautiful wears and wedding dresses. She is known for making people's wishes and visions come true for their special day and has made a pretty nice living from doing just that. But Vera Wang doesn't always get what she wants when she wants it. Take for example a her beautiful Los Angeles home with it's floor to ceiling glass walls and sharp modern design. It took her 10 years to find it, and she knew it was hers the minute she set foot inside. Harper's Bazaar takes us inside her architectural masterpiece with its "insane" sweeping views of the Los Angeles Basin and the Pacific Ocean.

Kanye And Kim K, Can't Get Enough of Each Other

STUNNED BY KERWIN
Is Kanye West auditioning to be the next addition to the Kardashian/Jenner clan? According to the NY Daily News' Gate Crasher gossip section, the rapper and reality bombshell only had eyes for each other during a concert after party. Kim and her whole family sat in an ultra VIP section with Mrs. Carter during the 'Watch the throne' show at L.A.'s Staples Center. After the show, Kim dashed backstage to greet Kanye where he couldn't keep his hands off of her and she him. Is this the start of a future break up? The tabloids would have fun with their name for a Kanye Kim Kardashian coupling. We are guessing KIMYE?

A source who attended billionaire Ron Burkle’s after-party for Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “Watch the Throne” concert in Los Angeles tells us the hip-hop artist and the reality star looked like they wanted to do much more than just talk at the exclusive soiree.

“Kanye was eating Kim up like she was a piece of cake,” says the source. “He was all over her — caressing her head, touching her waist.”

“I think he was dying to kiss her, but there were too many people in the room,” the insider adds.

Wynwood Walls Gallery Exhibition at Art Basel Miami

Andy Valmorbida, Jimmy Iovine, And Sean "Diddy" Combs, Celebrate Culo By Mazzucco

By Art + Times: 
Miami Beach is a art haven this time of year. The good weather, sexy people and talented artists is the perfect recipe for parties and art deals. Another major event that took place during Art Basel was the the launch of Culo, a collaborative book of photographs by thought up by the minds of Sean "Diddy" Combs, Jimmy Iovine and Raphael Mazzucco. See who was on the scene to celebrate the perfection that is a woman's backside.

Nas The Artist

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Talk about artists branching off into new areas to grow their portfolios and income. Rapper Nas apparently sparked a bidding war During Spotify’s Music Loves Art event at Miami’s Ricochet Lounge last night and it wasn't a new unreleased song.

Nas did a cross-over act into the visual arts, painting a piece that sparked a bidding war in the audience. The winner? Political photographer Rashid Johnson, for a cool $14,000.

 [Artinfo]

Photos: Inside The Grammy Nominations Concert

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Music's biggest night is coming up fast and to get an early start on things, the Academy held a live nominations concert last night in Los Angeles where all the nominees performed their biggest hits. The who is who in music came out to support their fellow artist and the night was a rocking one. Check out the photos of arrivals, performances and the after party when you read more...

The Eyes Above: Government Officials OK Drone Missions Over U.S.

STUNNED BY NELSON
Big brother just got his powers expanded. Since the Bush administration, top government officials like former Vice President Dick Cheney wanted the authority to utilize some of the same tools here at home used overseas to track and kill terrorists. Since the Obama admin moved in, drones armed with deadly hellfire missiles have become a key weapon in the U.S. military and and CIA arsenal.  President Obama is so serious and pleased with the robotic planes that he's authorized the construction of secret drone bases all over the world giving him the ability to strike targets even quicker without the potential of loss of American life. Well it looks like we are about to get a little bit of that or something close to it here at home.

An article published Tuesday in the Los Angeles Times reveals that new drone planes could be coming domestically quite soon, as both law enforcement and the agricultural sector are seeing benefits in keeping an arsenal of unmanned planes ready to patrol the skies. For farmers, drones could bring a new method of pumping pesticides into fields of crops from above; for the cops, the aircraft could conduct surveillance over suspected criminals (think police chopper but remote controlled). The Times reports that utility companies see a benefit in drones as well, giving them a new set of eyes to monitor oil, gas and water pipelines.

[RT]

Scene: Stars Come Out For the Moca | Maybach Art Basel Miami Celebration

By Art+Times:  
Every year art lovers, lookers, buyers and dealers invade Miami for the annual Art Basel Miami event. The who is who in the art world plant their feet on the scene to be seen and artists, both establish and up and coming share their masterful creations with the world. This year there was no shortage of celebrity heavy hitters. Familiar faces seen around town included Naomi Campbell, Diddy and Pharrell Williams to name a few. After the jump check out pictures from the MOCA | Maybach event held last night at the exclusive Raleigh Hotel featuring a floating Maybach!

Photos: Stars Come Out For the Moca | Maybach Art Basel Miami Celebration

STUNNED BY DRE
Every year art lovers, lookers, buyers and dealers invade Miami for the annual Art Basel Miami event. The who is who in the art world plant their feet on the scene to be seen and artists, both establish and up and coming share their masterful creations with the world. This year there was no shortage of celebrity heavy hitters. Familiar faces seen around town included Naomi Campbell, Diddy and Pharrell Williams to name a few. After the jump check out pictures from the MOCA | Maybach event held last night at the exclusive Raleigh Hotel featuring a floating Maybach!