An article in the Guardian reflects on the late David Bowie’s ruse during the 1990’s, in which the musician and former editor for Modern Painters magazine invented a fake artist with writer William Boyd. “He published the book, he organized the launch party (on April Fool’s Day, 1998) in Jeff Koons’s studio in Manhattan – Koons was a friend of Bowie,” Boyd writes, “and it was Bowie who read out extracts of the book, absolutely deadpan, to the assembled New York glitterati.” (more…)

A Los Angeles artist is selling shadowy stand-ins for artist’s iconic works, including Jeff Koons and Constantin Brancusi, billed as a “sustainable” art appropriation.  “Ideas are extremely valuable,” artist Ana Prvacki says of her work. “And making thinner things should have more value than making huge things.  If you can get something to be super thin and really poetic, that should be really valuable. We have to stop thinking in a Costco way.” (more…)

A former schoolteacher and volunteer at the Detroit Institute of Arts gift shop has willed $1.7 million to the institution.  Elizabeth Verdow, who passed away in 2014, gave her full estate to the museum, with $1.26 million intended to buy contemporary art paintings and sculpture, and the additional $450,000 set aside for the museum’s endowment.  “We were delighted and thrilled,” says museum giving officer Deborah Odette. “I have learned never to underestimate people. Just because someone had a long career as a schoolteacher doesn’t mean they might not have means of amassing wealth, if they invest wisely and carefully and live modestly. She obviously loved her work at the museum.” (more…)

As of January 1st, the LEGO Company has reversed its policy on selling bulk orders of its product, considered by many to be a direct result of backlash and worldwide protest over its refusal to provide material to Ai Weiwei for a project in Melbourne.  “If you want to place an order for a large quantity of bricks, we won’t ask what you’re planning to build,” the company website now reads.  “We’ll simply ask you make it clear the work isn’t supported or endorsed by us if it’s for public display.” (more…)

W Magazine has a profile on Josh Roth, the head of United Talent Agency’s new art division, who is using his influence and resources to push new ventures for the company.  “We’re meeting with artists, hearing their dreams, gauging their interest levels,” Roth says. “There’s no expectation of a return on investment in the first 24 months.” (more…)

Gilbert & George
, THE BANNERS
 (Installation View), 9x9x9, White Cube Bermondsey
 © Gilbert & George. Photo © White Cube (George Darrell)

THE BANNERS is the title of Gilbert & George’s ongoing exhibition at White Cube’s Bermondsey location, following the eminent duo’s larger scale installment Scapegoating Pictures for London in 2014. Resuming their sturdily rebellious stand against anything corporate or organizational, this current exhibition, akin to their previous one, appropriates the vocal language of political outrage and public protests that have been normalized and spread widely by the media.  As its self-explanatory title dictates, the exhibition includes thirty banners bearing ten different slogans and each repeating on three different white papers. (more…)

A major dispute has arisen over the sale of a Picasso bust, with Larry Gagosian and the royal family of Qatar facing off in court to determine who purchased the work rightfully from the artist’s daughter Maya Widmaier-Picasso.  Gagosian claims he purchased the work in May of last year for $106 million, while the Qatari royals claim they had arranged to buy the work in 2014 for $42 million, with both parties bringing forward documentation showing a considerable amount of wrangling and attempts to change the conditions of the deal.  “It’s regrettable that this has come to a quarrel between dealers and collectors,” said John Richardson, Picasso’s biographer. “It’s a major work by Picasso.” (more…)

Yoko Ono, THE RIVERBED (Installation View), via Rae Wang for Art Observed

Spread across two gallery spaces, Yoko Ono’s THE RIVERBED demonstrates the possibility and presence of basic human connection through the manipulation of various materials.  Together, the assemblages of stone, string, and ceramic create a process of healing through, as the artist says,”love, and creativity.”  This concept of mending is both internal and external, as string criss-crosses the space of each gallery, continued through pencil and paper on the sketchbooks provided.

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Marion Maneker has an in-depth breakdown of the Sotheby’s/Art Agency Partners deal today at Art Market Monitor, noting the Agency’s $52 million art fund, and the actual expectations of the company in the deal.  “So, for the record, the $50m being paid to AAP represents Sotheby’s estimation of the firm’s profits over the next five years. Sotheby’s believes that the additional revenue to the auction house from those profits will be accretive,” Maneker writes.  “That means revenues will increase more than the purchase price paid. Acting CFO Dennis Weibling made that point more than once on the company’s investor call yesterday.  Weibling is a board member, so his statement should hold extra weight.” (more…)

The Art Newspaper profiles Christo’s ongoing efforts to complete The Mastaba, a massive pyramid constructed from 410,000 barrels, which he has sought to install in the desert of Abu Dhabi.  “The engineering plan is almost finished,” he says.  “We need to have the land secure. That is the difficult part. It’s like the Eiffel Tower: it should remain a monument after I am gone.”  (more…)

Paula Cooper is interviewed in Art Newspaper this week, discussing her vision for her gallery, and her preferred modes of working.  “I could just send in a crew to hang everything eight inches apart, which would make things go faster, but where’s the fun in that?”  She says.  “And I’ve always thought that if you’re interested in making money, you’ll make money.” (more…)

Turkey has arrested two individuals accused of smuggling a 17th Century piece believed to be the work of Flemish master Anthony van Dyck.  The men were arrested in Istanbul after attempted to sell the work, which they purchased from a criminal organization. (more…)

Creative Capital has announced the recipients of its 2016 grants, totaling $4.4 million towards 46 different ventures, which are focused around current issues and events in American culture.  “Artists today are brave, bold and deeply engaged in the world,” says Ruby Lerner, Founding President & Executive Director, Creative Capital. “The 2016 class of Creative Capital awardees are creating important and deeply moving work, with immediacy and passion. This class is diverse, it is extraordinarily talented, and we believe the 2016 Creative Capital artists will shape their fields for decades to come.” (more…)

The Italian state has announced plans to spend over â‚¬300 million to restore restoring over 200 heritage sites around the country in the coming years.  The announcement came shortly after premier Matteo Renzi passed Italy’s 2016 budget. (more…)

Sotheby’s has purchased former Christie’s exec Amy Cappellazzo’s Art Agency, Partners, for $85 million (including potential performance earnings), the NYT reports.  “To the extent that they’re looking to other places to bolster income — to get more regular earnings — it makes sense,” says Steve Blitz of ITG Investment Research. (more…)

An article in the Art Newspaper notes increased calls for the availability of info on the pricing and sales of works, highlighted by Art Basel head Marc Spiegler’s argument that information accessibility increases engagement and transparency.  Spiegler points to auction houses as the most visible listings for art prices, which he feels allows them undue influence to “define what is and isn’t important.” (more…)

Tetsumi Kudo, Untitled (1971), via Hauser and Wirth

A key figure in the development of Tokyo’s Post-War, “Anti-Art” Movement, the work of Tetsumi Kudo explodes with a distinct sense of withered vibrancy: human body parts, plants and hulking, distending forms contend for space on what appear to be plots of earth, colored in sickening tones and rarely, if ever, clustering together beyond a few lilting stems.  The artist’s work, the subject of an exhibition at Hauser and Wirth Zurich (in collaboration with Andrea Rosen, which represents his estate), is a darkly realized challenge to the aftermath of nuclear war in Japan, and the artist’s disillusionment with the modernist notions of progress and “blind humanism.” (more…)

Anish Kapoor, Internal Object in Three Parts (detail) (2013-2015) © Anish Kapoor; Courtesy the artist & Lisson Gallery

Anish Kapoor & 17th century Dutch master Rembrandt van Rijn are placed into a neighborly conversation at the Rijksmuseum this month, as dualisms of flesh and meat, figuration and abstraction underscore the more nuanced connections between the pair, and illustrate the ever-changing focal points, yet unified interests in the shapes and forms of the human body and its depiction. (more…)

Pressure from Dublin continues to mount on London to return works from the collection of Sir Hugh Lane, works which were intended to go to the Irish nation, but which were held after his death in the National Gallery.  “I think it is important that the political representatives of the city of Dublin indicate that they believe the paintings should be returned to their rightful home,” says Fianna Fail councillor Jim O’Callaghan.  “Once the current agreement is up I think the fairest arrangement would be for the paintings to be returned to their proper home.”

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Collector Dorace Fichtenbaum has left an impressive gift to the Dallas Museum of Art, allowing the institution to make its own selections from her collection to strengthen its holdings as it sees fit.  “For us it was a sudden wealth,” says Olivier Meslay, “a changing gift.  The house was packed on the wall with works of art — all the big names of the German Expressionist period were there. “We picked the best of them.” (more…)

The Bruce High-Quality Foundation is moving out of the East Village, consolidating operations in its Sunset Park Studio.  The space will be hosting a new exhibition by House of Ladosha, beginning next week.   (more…)

LACMA has published an article on Frank Stella’s St. Michael’s Counterguard, a work from the museum collection currently on view at The Whitney’s Stella retrospective, documenting the challenges of transport and installation for the work.  “Yes, all the parts were there (with the exception of the original wall cleat), but could we put them together? The only way to make sure was to temporarily install the artwork ourselves at LACMA before repacking and crating it for transport to the Whitney,” writes lead conservator Mark Gilberg. (more…)

A group of artists including Anish Kapoor, Jasper Johns, and Cecily Brown are offering works for auction to benefit choreographer Stephen Petronio residency program in Pawling, N.Y.  Kapoor’s donation alone is anticipated to achieve $1 million in sales, covering a sizable portion of Petronio’s $3 million goal. (more…)

Urs Fischer, Bruno and Yoyo (2015), via Vito Schnabel Gallery

Vito Schnabel has taken over the lease at the former St. Moritz home of Bruno Bischofberger Gallery, marking the curator’s first permanent gallery space with an exhibition of new work by Urs Fischer, as well as a public installation at the nearby Kulm Hotel by Sterling Ruby.  The pair of exhibitions are a strong next step for the curator, paying homage to the history of Bischofberger’s space while emphasizing Schnabel’s vision for a gallery engaged with the broader landscape of his new home. (more…)