Drawing by Leonardo da Vinci (image © Queen Elizabeth II/V&A)

Here are a few things that rise above the current (but ever popular) cult of mediocrity:

Walter Robinson points out out why Murakami kicks just so much ass on ArtNet, the secret to his talent is his G E N E R O S I T Y. He doesn't put on airs of passive aggressive shyness and gives others a chance to shine. One can be great and generous, no other living artist on the planet comes close to this kind of effect and Ill be there for his mid career retrospective at MOCA a year from now. Where Americans got all soft when adopting the kawaii (cute) culture, Murakami (and the original Japanese version) had teeth.

Also, Artinfo had an interview with John McCracken a while back, a brilliant artist of the asymptote (lines that reference infinity).

And last but not least Leonardo's (no not the Ninja Turtle) show at the V & A gives Adrain Searle a mental workout. Somehow da Vinci makes others raise the bar for themselves and Searle's quick phrase of "knight'-move thinker" has me smiling. In these times when people consider mere sincerity an adequate stand in for intellectual acuity this does my heart some good.