The Corcoran School of the Arts and Design has laid off more than half of its faculty in the midst of its ongoing restructuring, raising cries from its faculty and students.  “The past few years have been absolutely exhausting,” says Antje Kharchi, one of the professors who was let go. “As much as I loved the Corcoran, I feel relief that the seemingly endless wait is finally over. We’ve been lied to, undermined, disrespected, while trying to hold the thing together for our students.” (more…)

Jonas Mekas is interviewed in the Art Newspaper this week, as he shows a series of works at James Fuentes’s Art Basel booth, and reflects on the course of his life and work.  “In my life and work, I choose to celebrate the beautiful. I’ve seen enough horror, so why put it in films or on paper?” He says. (more…)

Sotheby’s has announced a string of new hires, adding American Art specialist Peter Kloman as Senior Specialist for the West Coast based in Los Angeles, and Harrison Tenzer as a Specialist in the Contemporary Art Department. (more…)

A piece on WNYC radio today explores efforts to keep artists in New York City through affordable housing initiatives, speaking with Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, one of the nation’s largest grant-making foundations.  “Artists are the essential ingredient to the vibrancy of a city,” he says.  “Without artists, your city is in many ways without life.” (more…)

The WSJ notes Hong Kong developers’ continued success with mixing real estate sales with design and fine art, creating more expressly shaped spaces for the city’s wealthy buyers.  “Instead of just hiring a big designer or a big architect, we treat every object, and the entire space like an exhibition, a museum that we curate,” developer and K11 Art Foundation founder Adrian Cheng. (more…)

One of Zaha Hadid’s final designs, an architectural structure for Zürich’s Galerie Gmurzynska designed to show the compiled works of Kurt Schwitters, has gone on view this week.  “Obviously she died before it was finished: all the ideas were there, the concepts were there, we had talked about every detail, but it hadn’t been realized,” says gallery director Mathias Rastorfer. “It’s literally the last project of Zaha, finished by her team.” (more…)

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…)

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…)

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…)