As we bring our Best of 2014 series to a close, our final selection comes from executive director Patricia Maloney, who writes, “Is there a more succinct and scathing critique of institutional staunchness—in the dried up, weary etymological sense of the word—than the one Adam Rompel lobs at the Tate Britain? ‘Precedent is the opposite of cool, and Tate Britain reveled in its gray soul,[…..]

Can you remember the last time you were really excited about seeing your local museum’s pre-modern permanent collection? Familiarity is the antagonist for the seasoned art viewer, and growing weary of a permanent collection becomes inescapable. Perhaps this is excusable in the case of a small collection in a provincial museum—but quite a different thing when the collection bills itself as the nation’s definitive authority[…..]

As the most notorious art world prize in Britain, the Turner Prize is known to ignite controversy – from Damien Hirst’s dead sheep and Martin Creed’s lights going on and off, to Tracey Emin’s drunken appearance and the expletives Madonna released on live television the year she presented the prize. However, it seems as if the Turner Prize might be growing up – emerging out[…..]