Josh Smith is now represented by David Zwirner, the Art News reports. “I make art for myself, to see what it will look like. I also effectively let viewers, myself included, take or leave what they want,” the artist said in a statement. “The message is indefinable, but the gist of it is; we are alive, and here together….Here is a group of painted poems, if you like…take a look and absorb what you want from them.” (more…)
National Gallery of Art Director Earl “Rusty” Powell will step down in 2019, bringing to close a tenure that saw steady growth and development for the museum. “I think I have run a pretty good race here, and it seems sort of a logical time,” Powell said. “I turn 75 next year. And this will be after that. I still have some gas in the tank. I’m not particularly interested in sitting on the porch looking at sunsets.” (more…)
A recent report by Deloitte notes the vast sums of money, upwards of $2.7 trillion, the ultra-wealthy will spend on art in under ten years, and notes the ongoing concerns over the security and transparency of the field among collectors. The report notes advanced analytics as “an important development and could contribute toward improving transparency, valuation accuracy, and risk management of art-related wealth.” (more…)
David Zwirner is interviewed in Forbes this week, as the gallery opens its massive new show of works by Yayoi Kusama. “This is exactly the kind of exhibition that Kusama wants us to have in New York and what she wants the New York audience to see, and we have the space to show the work just the way the artist wants to see them,” he says. “So, our primary clients are not the ones that buy the art, but the ones that entrust the art to us. And those are the ones we have to look after first and foremost. And that is what we are doing here. Kusama is very happy.” (more…)
In her first interview since leaving the Stedelijk Museum, the ousted Beatrix Ruf has stated that she did nothing wrong in her operation of outside art consulting. “I am confident that I reported everything in good faith,” she says, noting her agreements with the museum on continuing to lead while running an art advisory. (more…)
Following the conclusion of a lengthy renovation project, Performance Space 122 will return to its home in the East Village in January, the NYT reports. The space will be inaugurated with the the 13th and final edition of the organization’s Coil festival. (more…)
A new report from the UK’s Center for Economic and Business Research has found that the arts are growing five times as fast as the rest of the nation’s economy. “Not only does arts and culture have a positive impact on the lives of individuals who participate, but it demonstrates how far public investment in the arts goes to stimulate growth in the creative industries,” says arts minister John Glen. (more…)
The Armory Show has announced its exhibitor list for the 2018 edition of its New York fair, with 186 galleries included this year, as well as the launch of a new Curatorial Leadership Summit program. (more…)
Jeff Koons is interviewed in Businessweek this week, as the artist discusses his recent collaborations with Louis Vuitton and Jay-Z. “What art is, for me, is the possibility that when someone views something, they’re able to pick up on the essence of their own potential: It’s a vehicle—something that stimulates their own excitement,” he says. (more…)
Maureen Bray, a former director at David Nolan Gallery and Sean Kelly Galley has been named the new executive director of the Art Dealers Association of America. “Maureen brings two decades of experience in leadership positions at our member galleries, and understands every facet of the role that dealers play in the greater arts ecology,” said ADAA President Adam Sheffer, who is also a partner at Cheim & Read gallery. (more…)
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is set to open this weekend, and is the subject of a lengthy spotlight in Bloomberg this week. The piece spotlights the museum’s collection, its first shows, and the completion of its ambitious design by architect Jean Nouvel. (more…)
Cindy Sherman is profiled in W Magazine this week, as the artist embarks on a new commissioned project creating warped, distended selfies for the magazine’s art issue. “I actually hate the idea of selfies,” she says. “People say, ‘oh, but you’re, like, the queen of selfies.’ I really kind of cringe at that thought.” (more…)
Lisson Gallery is now representing artist Mary Corse, who adds the gallery for joint representation with Lehmann Maupin. Corse is currently preparing a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art. (more…)
Bonn, Switzerlands Bundeskunsthalle is placing the first works from the Gurlitt Art Trove on public view, featuring work by Albrecht Duerer, Claude Monet and Camille Pissarro, the first time these pieces will be on view in public since their confiscation. (more…)
Rome’s Galleria Borghese will launch an ambitious study center dedicated to Caravaggio, done in partnership with Italian luxury goods brand Fendi. The project “seeks to reintroduce within museums the most advanced research to make them producers of culture and not mere producers of blockbuster exhibitions,” says says the Galleria Borghese’s director, Anna Coliva. (more…)
Sotheby’s posted a loss of $23.5 million in its third quarter this year, improving slightly on expectations after a moved Hong Kong Sale and unexpected tax benefits saw the auction house perform better than expected. “There was a lot of uncertainty,” says CEO Tad Smith of recent months following the U.S.’s complex political situation. “But there was a breath of fresh air and you saw that in the marketplace.”
Artist Frank Stella is interviewed in the NYT this week, and notes his favorite travel experiences over the course of his life. “I find many cities in Europe compelling for art including Munich, Berlin and Madrid, but Rome truly overwhelms me,” he says. (more…)
Forbes has a piece this week on the widespread proliferation of artist books in recent years, and speaks with longtime sister publishers onestar press and Three Star Books in France about the popularity of the medium. “Our offices and competences could be transported anywhere; ideally we would love the idea of becoming nomads,” says founder Mélanie Scarciglia. (more…)
Alex Katz is profiled in the New York Times this week, as the artist prepares for a massive three-floor show at Gavin Brown’s Enterprise in Harlem. “This is the most productive time in my whole life, right now,” he says. “You try to do about five things at once, one of which is dare the other guys to try, raise the bar.” (more…)
David Zwirner will finally open his first outpost in Hong Kong on January 27, 2018, staffing it with directors Leo Xu (formerly of Leo Xu Projects and James Cohan Gallery) and Jennifer Yum (formerly of Christie’s). The gallery will open its new gallery with a show of works by Michael Borremans. (more…)
Artist Simone Leigh has been named the 2017 winner of The Studio Museum’s Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize, the Art News reports. Leigh’s work is currently included in the New Museum’s “Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon” show. (more…)
The New York Times profiles the string of construction delays and funding hiccups that have ultimately scuppered the deal for a British Museum collaboration with the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi. The museum has terminated an arrangement for a string of loans between museums over the course of ten years. (more…)
A string of major galleries have been the victims of a cyber-attack, with hackers intercepting payment invoices and making off with the money from various transactions. Afflicted galleries include Hauser & Wirth, Simon Lee, and Thomas Dane, among others. “We know a number of galleries that have been affected. The sums lost by them or their clients range from £10,000 to £1m,” says the insurance broker Adam Prideaux of Hallett Independent. “I suspect the problem is a lot worse than we imagine.” (more…)
The Art Newspaper spotlights the impact that former Tate Britain Director Penelope Curtis has had on the Museu Calouste Gulbenkian in Portugal, uniting the museum with the collection of the Centre de Arte Moderna. “You might think they were chalk and cheese, but for me it was an interesting challenge to think about how they speak to each other,” she says. (more…)