Central St. Martins Graduate Student Tina Gorjanc has proposed a conceptual range of leather accessories made from the cloned skin of designer Alexander McQueen.  “The Pure Human project was designed as a critical design project that aims to address shortcomings concerning the protection of biological information and move the debate forward using current legal structures,” Gorjanc said. (more…)

The New York Times reports on the ongoing struggle between the García Lorca Foundation and the city of Granada, which the Foundation alleges has not kept promises over programming and direction of the Garcia Lorca Center that has been constructed there. “From the start, there was never an enthusiastic approach to this project from government institutions,” says Laura García Lorca, the foundation head and niece of the famed playwright.  The foundation is withholding a collection of manuscripts and art, valued at over €20 million, until its demands are met. (more…)

A group of British MPs have introduced a bill proposing the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece, a move they claim would serve as a major diplomatic bargaining chip in Brexit negotiations.  “These magnificent artifacts were improperly dragged and sawn off the remains of the Parthenon,” says Liberal Democrats MP Mark Williams.  “This Bill proposes that the Parliament should annul what it did 200 years ago. In 1816 Parliament effectively state-sanctioned the improper acquisition of these impressive and important sculptures from Greece.” (more…)

Metro Pictures has announced that it is now representing Oliver Laric.  Laric has shown widely on the international circuit, and was included in last year’s New Museum Triennial, but has yet to have a solo exhibition in New York.  The news comes just days after Laric’s British gallery, Seventeen, announced plans to expand to New York City.   (more…)

Douglas Gordon is premiering a film in Locarno, Switzerland this month at Concorso Cineasti del presente, a work that focuses on the life of Jonas Mekas, with little information offered on the artist’s approach or strategy.  “Although I do not want to reveal any more about this extraordinary project, I can say that Douglas Gordon offers us a truly sensorial experience, which challenges the concept of seeing, and links the idea of the present with that of memory,” the Concorso artistic director Carlo Chatrian said. (more…)

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and Downtown Brooklyn Arts Alliance have launched a new initiative pushing for over 30,000 square feet of artist studios in downtown Brooklyn, in conjunction with a series of affordable housing seminars hosted by the Actors Fund, aiming to help artists in finding and securing affordable housing.   (more…)

Art dealer Olivier Thomas has been indicted following new information in the case surrounding the theft and sale of works from the collection of Catherine Hutin-Blay.  Thomas was arrested after photos of the disputed works were found on his computer, after he denied having ever seen them.  His charges were named as “abuse of trust, fraud, concealment, and laundering,” by Judge Isabelle Rich-Flament in Paris. (more…)

The ongoing divorce proceedings between Palm Beach socialite Gina Disabatino and her husband Frederic Bouin has led to Disabatino demanding that dealers David and Joseph Nahmad be jailed for their failure to appear for depositions in the case.  “There’s no need for them to take David Nahmad or Joe Nahmad’s depositions,” lawyer Aaron Richard Golub said.  “They’re just harassing my clients.”  (more…)

London’s Seventeen Gallery has announced plans to open a location on The Bowery in New York.  The location, 214 Bowery, was previously the home of Chair Factory, and has remained shuttered for over a year.  (more…)

LACMA has acquired a selection of 39 works from the archives of famed L.A. print workshop Gemini G.E.L., including works by Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Ed Ruscha and Frank Stella.  “It’s extremely touching to be celebrating 50 years of Gemini after just celebrating LACMA’s 50th, and to receive a group of extraordinary gifts of prints,” LACMA Director Michael Govan says. “LACMA, appropriately, will forever be able to share a broad and deep collection of Gemini prints, made by some of the very best artists of our time.” (more…)

Ai Weiwei is featured on Nowness this week, as he prepares to open a show of new work in Greece, focused around the ongoing refugee crisis. “When you see people arrive, it’s hard to describe that feeling,” he says.  “It’s like you cut your skin and see the blood come out, and you see that the wound will never heal, but there’s no intention to stop it.  The whole situation is so desperate because you don’t see human connections in those events.  It’s completely cut off” (more…)

The MTA is planning to install a series of 12 Chuck Close mosaics around the the 86th and 2nd Ave Subway line, which is currently under construction.  The works will use pieces of tile rather than Close’s often utilized paints, and will consist of works from the span of his career.  “The richness of the city is all the various cultures coming together, and the richness of my art will be to simultaneously let people in on how many ways there are to build an image,” he says. (more…)

Helena Newman has been promoted to Sotheby’s Chairwoman of Europe, adding that prestigious position to her ongoing role as worldwide head of Impressionist and modern art. “I am thrilled to see Helena take on this additional position at the helm of our European organization,” says Maarten ten Holder, Sotheby’s managing director for Europe. “She will bring to the role as chairman not only the experience of 28 highly successful years at Sotheby’s, but also an unparalleled depth of expertise and relationships in the field of Impressionist and modern art, where she has been key, both to our longstanding leadership in the field and to many historic moments and landmark sales.” (more…)

Iranian artist Parviz Tanavoli is facing criminal charges in Tehran after being barred from leaving the country for a July 3rd talk at the British Museum.  “As certain elements of the Iranian regime push for closer relations with the West, other forces within the government push back. And often it is the artists, whose work is well known across Iran’s borders, who get caught in the crossfires,” says a source close to the artist. “As Iran tries to open up tourism and business channels to the West, such moves are chilling.”  (more…)

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will show a rarely seen Frida Kahlo work, Self-Portrait on the Borderline Between Mexico and the United States (1932), as part of a show on Mexican Modernism.  The piece will go on view shortly before the November Presidential elections, a subtle comment on Donald Trump’s pledge to build a wall along the Mexico border.   (more…)

The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Whitney have announced a joint retrospective of the work of Jasper Johns, set to open in the fall of 2020.  “We thought, ‘What if we created a new model for a retrospective that did not try to survey the artist’s career all in one place in one moment, but that could be shared?’” says Scott Rothkopf, who is curating the Whitney’s portion of the exhibition. (more…)

London dealer Timothy Taylor is opening an exhibition space in Chelsea.  The space, titled 16X34 due to the dimensions of the building, will open this September with a show of work by Luis Barragán.  “New York is the engine of the contemporary art world — it sets the tone for the market in many ways,” Taylor says. (more…)

The Andy Warhol Museum’s director, Eric Shiner, will join Sotheby’s as a Senior Vice President, one of Amy Cappellazzo’s first major hires.  “There is probably not a greater Warhol expert on the planet,” Ms. Cappellazzo says. (more…)

The German government has passed its Cultural Property Protection Law, which puts strict limits on artworks and antiques that can be moved outside of the country.  “Germany spends billions in tax money to promote culture,” says culture minister Monika Grütters.  “It is therefore a matter of course that we should protect and keep our own cultural heritage—including the few cultural objects that are deemed to have national value.” (more…)

The New York Times looks at the ongoing trend for large-scale real estate projects to incorporate some sort of public art into its building plan, and maps out some of the more recent additions to the city’s selection of publicly accessible, large-scale pieces.  “We’ve always thought about the collection as a cultural investment, and there’s never been any kind of easy-listening quality to it,” Lisa Erf, the chief curator of the JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, says. “That’s the point of the collection — the importance of art as an extension of daily life.” (more…)

Jussi Pylkkanen is interviewed in Forbes this week, as he recaps the last year of Christie’s sales, and reflects on the impact of Asian collectors in the current market.  “They’re now buying great European furniture, great American pictures by post-war artists, Picasso, Monet, and now moving into other areas where they’ve not been before-European porcelain, works like Meissen porcelain and even works by English manufacturers,” he says. (more…)

The New York Times details a strange lawsuit surrounding Peter Doig, who is currently being sued by a Canadian corrections officer.  The officer claims he purchased a work by the artist while he was staying in a Toronto detention center, yet Doig asserts he was never imprisoned, and points out that the work is signed by a one “Pete Doige.”  “This case is a scam, and I’m being forced to jump through hoops to prove my whereabouts over 40 years ago,” he says. (more…)

Jeffrey Deitch will inaugurate his return to 18 Wooster Street this September with a trio of performances by Eddie Peake.  “Inspired by Eddie Peake’s project for Performa hosted by the Swiss Institute in the Wooster Street space in November 2013, Jeffrey Deitch invited Eddie Peake to inaugurate his new program,” the gallery said in a release. (more…)

The New York Post’s Page Six reports on the $31 million lawsuit filed by dealer Alex Komolov, owner of the Alskom Gallery, against former colleagues for allegedly selling him fake Monet and Renoir pieces.  “My client’s business has been damaged by going out of pocket $40 million to obtain items that are essentially worthless,” his lawyer, Phil Chronakis added. “My client does a lot of business in Europe, specifically in Eastern Europe and now parts of Asia, he’s had a concern that this would affect his reputation, which is of course very valuable in business.” (more…)