Ellsworth Kelly has released the first volume of his catalog raisonné, tracing his evolution towards the cut canvas abstraction that he built his career on.  “I was on the way, but it was too soon. I wasn’t able to just throw out everything,” he says of his early experiments. (more…)

The Guardian profiles painter Rachel Howard this week, Damien Hirst’s first assistant and spot painter, who is stepping into the spotlight on her own this year with her first UK public gallery solo exhibition.  “We were mates and he needed someone to paint spots, and I was waitressing and I didn’t want a proper job – so I ended up working for him to earn enough money to make my own work,” Howard says. “It was a very good symbiotic relationship.” (more…)

In response to a court order compelling Danh Vo to create an “impressive” installation for collector Bert Kreuk, the artist has issued a letter to the collector telling him in no uncertain terms to “shove it.”  “This whole case is so bizarre it is unbelievable,” Kreuk has responded. (more…)

An article in the New York Times this week looks at the benefits of the thriving, community-focused art scene in Detroit, as well as the challenges artists in the city face.  “The thing I love about Detroit — if you want it done here, you have to do it,” says choreographer Marcus White. “You have to work.” (more…)

David Hockney is interviewed in The Guardian this week, discussing his recent practice using digital technology and his lifestyle in Los Angeles.  “It’s a reasonably sophisticated city down the hill,” he says. “It’s very nice. It’s home, really. But I’m not that interested in what’s happening outside. I like my way of life. I just work.” (more…)

London’s Royal Academy has launched a Kickstarter page to fund the £100,000 installation of Ai Weiwei’s Trees at the museum’s London courtyard.  “It is an experiment and a gamble, but a sensible one,” says Tim Marlow, the RA’s artistic director. “If it comes off, brilliant; if not then it was worth trying.” (more…)

Germany’s Cultural Minister is pushing to pass a new law that will strictly limit the international sale of works deemed of particularly high cultural value, as well as potential fakes and illegally sold antiques, particularly works valued over €150,000 ($164,000) and/or older than 50 years.  The proposal has seen staunch opposition from a number of artists, including Gerhard Richter.  “No one has the right to tell me what I do with my images,” the artist said this week. (more…)

Oscar-winning director Laura Poitras, who recently collaborated with Ai Weiwei, has filed suit against U.S. Security Agencies, demanding the release of records documenting the six years that she experienced long searches, questionings, and security screenings at U.S. and international airports. “I’m filing this lawsuit because the government uses the U.S. border to bypass the rule of law. This simply should not be tolerated in a democracy,” she says. “I am also filing this suit in support of the countless other less high-profile people who have also been subjected to years of Kafkaesque harassment at the borders. We have a right to know how this system works and why we are targeted.” (more…)

Noah Horowitz, who has served as Executive Director of The Armory Show since 2011, has announced that he is accepting a position as Director Americas for Art Basel, placing him in charge of the Miami Beach edition of the fair.  “The Americas have been a leading center in the art world for many decades, and the region continues to show distinctive and ongoing growth in many different countries,” Horowitz says. “I look forward to working with collectors and arts institutions throughout the two continents – from Canada to South America, and across the entirety of the United States – in an effort to bring the fair in Miami Beach to ever-greater heights.” (more…)

An article in Crain’s Business reports that the Museum of Modern Art is the loudest museum in New York City, following a series of impromptu tests at New York’s most prominent museums. The Frick clocks in as New York’s quietest museum. “The Whitney constantly has helicopters outside—you won’t necessarily hear them, but that noise will come through the glass,” says Alan Fierstein, founder of Acoustilog, a New York acoustical consulting firm. “You can’t hear specifics — ‘Oh, that’s a helicopter, that’s a 737, that’s a truck,’ because by the time it makes it to your ears, it’s mixed up and just sounds like an overall din.” (more…)

Artist Shepard Fairey has turned himself in in Detroit over the arrest warrant for his vandalism in the city.  He is accused of over $9,000 in damages to properties.  “Can’t talk about anything,” Fairey said in a short comment following his arrest in Los Angeles last week. (more…)

Artist Tania Bruguera, following the return of her passport, has been named the first artist-in-residence in the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA), in part of an effort to bring more attention to the benefits for immigrants in the city, and in the ownership of a City ID Card. “This project provides a unique opportunity to enhance the notion of art as a useful tool to materialize a vision of a more inclusive society,” Bruguera says. “I’m excited to explore new ways of collaborating with New York’s immigrant communities to make a real impact on the lives of city residents.” (more…)

Despite fierce protests from researchers, curators and museum heads, the Louvre is pushing forward with its decision to move 250,000 artworks and artifacts to a new storage facility north of the city, in Liévin, a move that many say will cripple research attempts in the capital.  “A museum without its reserves is like a plane without engines: it looks all beautiful and glittering, but it won’t move,” says an open letter from 42 of the museum’s 45 curators. (more…)

The New Yorker’s Peter Schjeldahl offers his take on the “fearful frenzy” of the art market this week, and the ominous notes that the current focus on the market by the über-wealthy strike.  “Alongside global prosperity has come a lot more political instability, and it’s in the interests of the social elite to keep their options open as to where they relocate,” he quotes from Artnet’s J.J. Charlesworth. (more…)

The Cuban government has returned artist Tania Bruguera’s passport, having held it for the past six months.  Despite its return, the artist has expressed her desire to remain in the country.  “My argument has never been about leaving Cuba; my argument is about working so there is freedom of expression and public protest in Cuba,” she says.  “People should feel free to say what they think without fear of losing their jobs or university standing, of being marginalized or imprisoned.” (more…)

Nicholas Serota has reportedly won an additional £6 million in government funding for the Tate Modern expansion set to open next year.  The move is particularly noteworthy, as it comes in the midst of widespread cuts to arts funding around the nation. (more…)

President Obama has designated three new sites for federally protected land in the United States, including Basin and Range in Nevada.  The site serves as the home of Michael Heizer’s landmark installation City, effectively preserving the work within the 704,000 acres of desert being set aside for protection. (more…)

Collector and former MoMA President Agnes Gund is profiled in the Wall Street Journal this week, discussing the state of the market, her focus on female artists, and her organization Studio in a School, an arts program offering training in teaching art to young students.  “If it’s taught well, art really is important to kids early on,” she says. “It helps children develop language and allows them to see themselves in a way that isn’t right or wrong, because if they draw an animal with five legs instead of four, nobody’s criticizing them for it.” (more…)

Tullio Lombardo’s Renaissance statue of Adam, which famously fell from its pedestal at The Met and was smashed to pieces, is back on view after a lengthy restoration, accompanied by a digital video project and performance that gives the work a multi-faceted, occasionally irreverent voice.  The project is a continuation of The Met’s ongoing emphasis on direct engagement of visitors with its collection through performance and new technology. (more…)

Artist Marc Quinn is interviewed in the Telegraph this week, as he prepares to show new work at White Cube this month.  “I’ve always loved beaches,” he says, noting the connections between the ocean’s form and landscape and his own work.  “I love that we come from the sea. I think that’s where my interest in liquid and solid comes from. The beach is where liquid and solid meet, so it has this incredible sense of possibility.” (more…)

Art Daily has an interview with Art Recovery Group’s founder Christopher Marinello, whose work investigating claims of Nazi-looted art and stolen works has made him a trusted authority on reclaiming lost art.  “This is one of our specialities,” Marinello says of his recent case returning a stolen Rodin to a Los Angeles family. “Getting in the middle of a case and finding a way to twist everybody’s arm to settle the case.”  (more…)

An Auguste Rodin sculpture stolen 24 years ago has been recovered after it was offered for sale to Christie’s, and returned to the owner. “In accordance with the insurance policy to which this work was subject, Young Woman with Serpent was offered back to the theft victim upon its successful recovery,”says Spokesman Jerome Hasler of Art Recovery Group, the company that assisted in the recovery of the piece.  “In this instance, however, the victim has decided that the work should be sold, and it will now be consigned later this year for a new owner to enjoy.” (more…)

The Art News published its annual list of the Top 200 Collectors this week, featuring short profiles on the collectors on the list this year, including Roman Abramovich, Agnes Gund, Paul Allen, and Leonardo DiCaprio.   (more…)

The Museum of Modern Art and Basel’s Schaulager Collection are partnering to present a major retrospective focused on the work of Bruce Nauman, set to open in Switzerland in March of 2018.  The show will then cross the Atlantic to MoMA for a September opening. (more…)