Sun Blindness?
On Friday, the LA Times covered one Southern Californian's trek through Portland. The tale is largely complimentary, covering such Portland favorites as Le Happy, the Indiana horse project, and serious bicyclists. Of course, the thriving Northwest Portland art scene found him when he stumbled upon Everett Station lofts, and he even managed to pay a visit to PAM. But, unfortunately, the reporter's tour was woefully limited. Reynolds' covered the west side fairly well, but didn't even seem to notice the river. And half a million residents? In Portland proper, perhaps, but Portland is more aptly described by the 2.1 million people living in the greater metropolitan area. Nonetheless, it's an entertaining take on the nostalgia Los Angeles seems to feel for the smaller, "weirder" cities of the northwest.

A Vision of Voyeurism
The New York Times recently covered the photography of Ryan McGinley, a New York native who became successful when his self-published book landed on the desk of Index magazine and got him a job photographing Momus in Berlin. The article touches briefly on the core of McGinley's appeal - his imagery is a fine art translation of the MySpace generation's compulsive desire to make the personal public. Like Portland artist Daniel Peterson, McGinley creates arrestingly intimate portraits out of the world around him. Viewing his work is like taking those blurry cell phone photos you shot at two in the morning and rendering them sharp, graceful, and remarkably beautiful.

Paris Meets the 21st Century
An American ex-pat once told me that Paris is a dead city. But with the Rive Gauche developments covered this week by the New York Times, Paris may be waking up. Structures like the 1,000 foot-long steel Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir bridge and the sleek, imposing new library for the University of Paris are determinedly dragging Parisian architecture into modernity. Of course, the effort is being met with resistance - if Portlanders struggle against waterfront development, imagine the fight put up by the venerable, if decaying, City of Lights? Only time will tell if this new development site will manage to honor the beauty that has made Paris a city of legend while holding on to its 21st century architectural standards.

Keeping His Cool
The Boston Globe this week detailed the rise of Zach Feuer, a New York dealer who went from aspiring artist to one of the hottest art dealers in the country. The article describes Feuer's progress from a disorganized 10th grader to the brains behind The Apartment, the ingenious installation in his Mission Hill apartment in 1999 that first brought him recognition. Beyond Feuer's life story, the Globe tries to uncover what made such a nervous and unassuming figure the it-man of New York galleries - a critical and clever eye, the right artist connections, and the driving ambition to reach the top.