Thursday's Art Notes

_A gallery assistant at the Saatchi Gallery admires a sculpture by artist Martin Honert entitled 'Riesen (Giants)' on May 26, 2011 in London, England. The sculpture features in the Saatchi Gallery's exhibition, "'The Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture'":http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/sculpture/ which showcases work from 20 international artists. Photo by Oli Scarff/ Getty Images_ * The New York Times "sums up":http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/26/books/bookexpo-america-underlines-industry-shifts.html this year's Book Expo America, which it describes as having a "Wild West" feel to it, given the huge shifts in the publishing industry. * The Los Angeles Times "looks at the way":http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-lacma-russia-20110525,0,4181728.story the current Russian ban on loaning art works to American institutions will effect an upcoming show at LACMA. * The Wall Street Journal "describes":http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704681904576313861591809884.html a national crackdown on grafitti artists by police, who are pursuing harsher sentences. In Alaska, a prominent street artist named Meno was arrested on Tuesday, via the "Alaska Dispatch":http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/prominent-anchorage-street-artist-arrested. * In Los Angeles County, a sprawling outsider art landmark called Phonehenge West is being challenged by building code officials, via the "Los Angeles Times":http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-phonehenge-west-20110526,0,797986.story. * NPR "shares":http://www.npr.org/2011/05/26/136649653/leatherman-remains-a-mystery-even-in-death the mystery of the Leatherman, a kind of 19th century Connecticut folk hero who spawned a modern quest to figure out who he really was.