A recent installation by Paul McCarthy and Mike Bouchet in Bilbao, Spain has raised the ire of the Guggenheim Museum.  Depicting the museum’s Frank Gehry-designed facade covered in guns as if it was a battleship, Powered A-Hole Spanish Donkey Sport Dick Drink Donkey Dong Dongs Sunscreen Model has drawn a removal notice from the museum, which claims copyright over the museum’s image.  “We believe that the image displayed on the said property includes connotations that discredit this institution, so we urge you to withdraw the said canvas ASAP,” Alba Urresola, the Guggenheim’s associate director of legal and internal control, said in a notice sent to Bouchet’s gallery.  (more…)

Artist Xavier Veilhan and dealer Emmanuel Perrotin have lost a court case asserting Veilhan’s work was copied by artist Richard Orlinski, whose installation of several works in the French alps bear a strong similarity to Veilhan’s previous work.   “The court has rightly recognised the originality of Orlinski’s work,” said Orlinski’s lawyer, Julie Jacob. Regardless, Perrotin and Veilhan have stated that they may appeal the decision. (more…)

A set of classical Greek statues have been returned to the Greek state from Qatar, after a recent disagreement between Greek and Qatari officials.  While visiting the Middle Eastern nation, Greek Cultural Minister Costas Tzavaras noticed that the nude statues had been covered to avoid offending visiting females.  Refusing to uncover the statues, the Qatari government opted to return them to Greece. “In a society where there are certain laws and traditions authorities felt women would be scandalised by seeing such things, even on statues,” added an official present at the event. “The minister, of course, said while he totally respected local customs he couldn’t accept the antiquities not being exhibited in their natural state. They were great works of art and aesthetically it was wrong.” (more…)