Doug Aitken has executed a new work in Monte Carlo, employing a sky-writer to execute a swirling, twisting whorl of smoke that stretched eight miles wide, accompanied by a live orchestration.  The work, titled Modern Soul, was part of the Monaco “Nuit Blanche.” (more…)

The UK has seen the founding of the first union for visual artists, the Artists’ Union England (AUE), operating on behalf of artists in the country.  “These core workers now have a trade union to represent them, which will work for better pay and conditions across England, where they can work together to challenge exploitative practice, be represented independently and democratically and raise the bar for artists,” the group said in a statement. (more…)

Jeffrey Deitch will return to New York this fall at his former 18 Wooster Street space, presenting a traveling survey of the works of Walter Robinson.  “When I found out that [curator] Barry Blinderman had not been able to find a New York venue for his Walter Robinson exhibition, I volunteered that this would be the ideal project to inaugurate my return to my Wooster Street gallery,” Jeffrey Deitch said. (more…)

The Art Newspaper speaks to Nicholas Serota about the opening of the new Tate Modern extension, and his vision in developing the museum since 1988, particularly his awarness of a need to expand even before the museum itself was complete.  “The Tate was struggling to discharge its responsibilities to British art and to international Modern art in a building that was much too small,” he says, “but we did an analysis pretty early on and we realized that there wasn’t going to be enough space to do justice to the international Modern collection and the collection of British art.” (more…)

Protestors showed up at previews for the Tate Modern’s new extension yesterday evening, challenging the museum’s failure to exhibit any work by Ana Mendieta in its new extension.  “It’s to do with canonization,” one passerby said. “The Tate is art history. What’s potentially troubling is that Carl Andre’s in the new wing of Tate Modern; it serves to entrench what’s already been established.” Most passersby, however, seemed to have no idea who either Andre or Mendieta were, though they were curious about this voluble, unruly gathering. (more…)

Art Basel, via Andrea Nguyen for Art Observed

The doors have opened on the 46th edition of the annual Art Basel fair in Switzerland, marking another flagship entry in the ever-growing fair’s yearly calendar of events.  Capping its first round of early previews today, the fair, which opens to the public on June 16th, has put forward a well-balanced event this year, mixing historical perspective with a series of eye-popping installs and strong selections.

Ai Weiwei, White House (2015), via Andrea Nguyen for Art Observed

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Norwegian shipping magnate Petter Olsen will open a private museum to show his collection of works next year, funded in part by the $120 million sale of Edvard Munch’s The Scream in 2013.  The museum will be based on Ramme, south of Oslo.  (more…)

New York art collector and philanthropist Charlotte Feng has donated $2.5 million to Smith College to fund a curatorship of contemporary art at the Smith College Museum of Art, the Boston Globe reports. “I spoke with them about a donation and I wanted to do something meaningful that would have some impact,” she says. “We talked about this curator position. I hope it will generate a lot of interest from really great candidates, and I think it will have a lot of impact on students. I hope this will be great for the college.” (more…)

Ryan McGinley is featured in GQ this week, showing the magazine some of his favorite books of photography, ranging from a lo-fi, photocopied Harmony Korine book to Philippe Halsman’s Jump Book.  “He was photographing celebrities, right, and he got all these people—Marilyn Monroe, Richard Nixon—to jump for him, presumably when he was with them for other assignments,” he says.  “It’s such a simple idea, so telling of his personality. And the pictures are so carefree and fun.” (more…)

The Smithsonian has announced plans to collaborate with the Victoria & Albert Museum on an exhibition space in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, named V&A East.  “What we learn through this collaboration will enable us to better tell our stories not only in London, but in the United States and around the world,” says Smithsonian secretary David Skorton. (more…)

Kevin Beasley, Untitled (Shrink) (2016), via Casey Kaplan

As summer gets into full swing, the art world once again flocks to the Swiss city of Basel for the flagship entry of the Art Basel fair, which once again sets up shop at the expansive Messe Basel, near the banks of the Rhine.  This year’s edition continues the event’s reputation for capitalizing on the space and scale afforded it in the Messe’s impressive exhibition halls, bringing 280 galleries from around the globe, and showing over 4,000 artists inside its spacious confines. (more…)

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the next in a string of major institutions planning exhibitions of Iranian art, as lifted sanctions see continued engagement with the country.  “The V&A is in the early stages of planning an exhibition that will showcase an important private collection of Iranian art supplemented by the V&A’s own holdings,” a museum spokeswoman said. (more…)

Ai Weiwei is working with Hollywood agency UTA to find funding and support for his documentary on the Syrian refugee crisis, titled The Human Flow.  “Weiwei is a modern-day Renaissance figure whose work speaks to all citizens of the world,” UTA Arts head Josh Roth says. “It is a privilege to work with Weiwei and to help expand his brilliant artistic vision across virtually innumerable opportunities.” (more…)

David Zwirner is opening a new space in Hong Kong, the New York Times reports.  “We have seen literally explosive growth in the interest for Western art among Asian collectors,” Zwirner says. “About two years ago, I had this moment, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, if this is how people are learning and engaging, then we’ve got to have a gallery in the region.’” (more…)

Paris Gallery Almine Rech has announced plans to open a 3,000-square-foot New York location this coming October.  “It is an honor to inaugurate Almine Rech Gallery’s newest location in New York City with an exhibition by two of the most iconic artists of the twentieth century,” says Paul de Froment, who will lead the new space.  “The exhibition is not only an exploration of the creative dialogue between these two formidable artists, but an insightful and intimate story shared from the families’ perspectives.” (more…)

The Guardian sits down with Françoise Gilot, the celebrated painter and former lover of Pablo Picasso, to discuss the artist’s life and work, and her relationship to the Spanish painter.  “It was not what we call in French l’amour fou! Non! It was an intellectual dialogue as well. I could not say that it was a sentimental love. It was maybe an intellectual love, or a physical love, but certainly not a sentimental love,” she says. “It was love because we had good reason, each of us, to admire the other.” (more…)

Maurizio Cattelan is interviewed by Artnet this week, as the artist prepares to premiere new work at Manifesta 11 in Zürich, a piece in which a paralympics athlete rides a wheelchair across water.  “Let’s say that I pretended to be dead for a while, but, as Dante did, after the hell’s tour I’d rather come back to life…and if it’s true that you never really lived until you never nearly died, now I’m ready to start my new life!” (more…)

Richard Prince has reportedly broken ties with Gagosian Gallery, Artnet reports.  The split was suspected as the result of issues “over representation.”   (more…)

In an interview with the New York Times, Alex Rotter confirmed that he will be leaving Sotheby’s to join the staff at Christie’s next year as chairman of postwar and contemporary art at Christie’s Americas.  “Christie’s over the last 10 years has been the Yankees,” he says. “I might as well go to the best team and make them even better, hopefully, with me coming there.” (more…)

David Nahmad gives a rare interview this week with the New York Times, insisting that the disputed Modigliani work in his collection is not Nazi war loot.  “Looted art, hidden art — they made me look like a crook instead of doing real battle in the court,” he said. (more…)

The Menil Drawing Collection in Houston has received a massive, 110-work gift from the holdings of two trustees, featuring an impressive collection of works by Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, and other mid-Twentieth Century masters.  “I’ve never been a collector with a capital C,” says donor Louisa Stude Sarofim. “It’s just been a matter of looking, and loving art.” (more…)

Icelandic musicians Sigur Ros have announced an ambitious multimedia performance at the Tate Modern’s new building.  The work explores “the past, present and future of Tate Modern, the Bankside building that hosts it in London and its new extension.” (more…)

The New Yorker has an interesting piece on tech start-ups and the art world this week, comparing initial valuations of tech companies to the often abstracted valuations of the art market. “The point of sale, rather than the point of creation, came to take precedence in determining the primary meaning for certain works of art,” says writer and critic James Panero. (more…)

Hauser and Wirth has announced plans to temporarily occupy the former home of Dia Chelsea at 548 West 22nd Street, until the gallery completes construction on its new exhibition complex in the neighborhood.  “We are honored and delighted by the prospect of presenting Hauser and Wirth exhibitions in the birthplace of the West Chelsea arts scene,” the gallery said in a statement. (more…)