British Museum head Hartwig Fischer is facing criticism after saying that the removal of the Parthenon marbles from Greece in the 19th century could be interpreted as “a creative act.” The full quote reads: “We should appreciate this opportunity. You could, of course, be saddened by the fact that the original environment has disappeared. When you move a cultural heritage to a museum, you move it outside. However, this shifting is also a creative act.” (more…)

Former Sotheby’s auctioneer Jeremy Cooper has donated 1,000 artist postcards he has collected over the years to the British Museum.  “The more I looked, the more I discovered that it’s a field of unrecognized historical significance – it just seemed completely neglected,” Cooper says. “These postcards were made by artists as individual expressions, not just the reproduction of a work of art, which is what most postcards are.” (more…)

The Smithsonian Institution is planning on reopening this Tuesday, following the conclusion of the government shutdown.  The closure has affected a number of runtimes for shows either soon to open or close.   (more…)

The newest iteration of the Desert X art festival has announced its artist list, with curator Neville Wakefield reprising the show with works by Pia Camil, Jenny Holzer and more. (more…)

A daring heist at Moscow’s New Tretyakov Gallery saw a thief walk out of the gallery with a painting after removing it in broad daylight, The Guardian reports. The man, apprehended hours later, removed a painting Arkhip Kuindzhi from the wall and walked out, mistaken by many for a museum employee. (more…)

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Artist Melissa McGill will set a a navy of about 50 traditional Italian vela al terzo sailboats on the Venice this summer, all colored blood red.   “It’s not a competitive regatta,” she says. “It’s more of a presentation. Basically, we are presenting these regattas as a way to bring together all these local boat owners with these beautiful traditional boats.” (more…)

HBO Films has acquired artist Rashid Johnson’s first directorial effort, an adaptation of  Native Son in advance of the film’s premiere at Sundance, Variety reports. The cast includes Ashton Sanders, Margaret Qualley, Nick Robinson, KiKi Layne, Elizabeth Marvel, David Alan Grier, and Bill Camp.  (more…)

The National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts will reopen Monday, as a crucial season for grantmaking begins in D.C.  “I want to underscore that since they are being taken off furlough, [employees] will receive all of their salary and benefits,” says NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. (more…)

An open letter in USA Today from David J. Skorton, the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, has called for an end to the government shutdown, noting that the closures cost the institution $1 million a week.  “Most important from a humanitarian perspective is the effect of loss of salary on our more than 4,000 furloughed employees,” he says.  “It is reassuring and appreciated that the president and Congress have agreed to supply back pay once the government fully reopens. But to many of our employees, particularly those with more modest salaries, the loss of each paycheck causes direct and significant harm.”

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In a landslide vote, the employees of the New Museum have voted to unionize. “We have a union—that’s the big news,” says Dana Kopel, a senior editor and publications coordinator. “From here, we go into negotiations.” (more…)

MOMA has received nine projects from Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, including 23 pieces related to projects overseen by the firm between 1994 and 2018.  “For more than three decades, Herzog & de Meuron’s practice has been a singular and defining voice in the discourse of contemporary architecture,” says Martino Stierli, MoMA’s chief curator of architecture and design. “Thanks to the generosity of the office and the Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron Kabinett, we will be able to include these key works of contemporary architectural production in our changing collection displays.” (more…)

The Getty Trust has named artists Ed Ruscha and Lorna Simpson among this year’s recipients of its J. Paul Getty Medal, recognizing significant contributions to the arts.  “We are honored to present the medal this year to three leaders who have helped transform and deepen our understanding and appreciation of the visual arts and the humanities,” Maria Hummer-Tuttle, chair of the J. Paul Getty board of trustees, said. (more…)

Camden, New Jersey will be the next recipient of a $1 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies for a public artwork examining the city’s issues with illegal dumping sites. “Illegal dumping is unsightly, unlawful, and costs the city over $4 million annually,” says mayor Mayor, Francisco Moran. “This winning project provides a unique way to bring together residents and artists to address this issue with creativity and create a brighter future for Camden.” (more…)

The Singapore Biennale has revealed the title for its show, “Every Step in the Right Direction,” and named Patrick Flores as head of the curatorial team. “What is the responsibility of the artwork, its making, and its experience in the prospects of future action?” Flores and his team ask in a statement. “As we believe, every effort to change the world for the better matters. The Singapore Biennale 2019 puts its faith squarely in the potential of art and its understanding to rework the world.” (more…)

Artist Miroslaw Balka gets a profile in The Guardian this week, discussing his current show at White Cube, and its relation to current political situations in the US and Europe. “We used to think demolishing walls was a sign of progress. Now everywhere we are building them up again. So I wanted to say we have been here before,” he says. “It’s a gesture of warning, in a way.”  (more…)

The art activist group W.A.G.E., which advocates for artists to be compensated for their labor, has published an open letter calling for artists participating in the 2019 Whitney Biennnial to “demand to be paid for the content they provide and withhold that content until the demands of Whitney staff are met.”  The letter addresses current protests within the museum over Whitney vice chair Warren B. Kanders and his ownership of Safariland, a defense company producing tear gas canisters used against asylum seekers along the U.S.-Mexico border.  (more…)

The Park Avenue Armory and Studio Museum will partner for the “Culture in a Changing America” symposium, bringing together artists, activists, scholars, and others across disciplines on February 17th.  “Showcasing an impressive range of leaders from the social and artistic spectrum, this series presents opportunities to address some of the most pressing issues of our time,” Park Avenue Armory president Rebecca Robertson said in a statement. (more…)

Expo Chicago has tapped Jacob Fabricius, current artistic director of the Kunsthal Aarhus, as the curator of its 2019 “In/Situ” section. “I have been visiting and collaborating with Chicago’s incredible art institutions since the late 1990s, drawing from the diversity, architecture and history of the city,” he said in a statement. “Chicago has inspired my work a great deal, and Expo Chicago’s immersive ‘In/Situ’ program provides the perfect framework for my exploration into pressing issues of sustainability and political systems.”

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Following the continued protests against the Sackler Family, a number of politicians and activists are pressuring Harvard to remove the Sackler name from a number of its buildings, including its arts museum. The news comes a day after The Met announced it was reviewing its gift acceptance policies over similar criticism and legal threats. (more…)

Lehmann Maupin Gallery filed suit against former director Bona Yoo, accusing the dealer of “stealing trade secrets” and altering the gallery’s files before moving on to Lévy Gorvy Gallery in New York as sales director.  “Lehmann Maupin brought this lawsuit purely out of spite towards a former employee who, in Lehmann Maupin’s own words, was ‘a valuable leader at the gallery.’ Ms. Yoo intends to vigorously defend herself against her former employer’s baseless and vengeful claims,” Yoo’s lawyer, Tibor Nagy says. (more…)

The Foundation for Contemporary Arts in New York has named 18 artists who will receive unrestricted grants of $40,000, including Tania Bruguera and Mika Tajima. “It’s always an overwhelming but fantastic experience seeing how much amazing stuff is out there that you might not otherwise know about,” says board member Cecily Brown. “One big thing is that [receiving a grant] is a sign of respect from your peers, and hopefully it can really help someone to not do their day job for a while and buy the time to really put into one’s own work. Even just being able to focus on one’s work full-time is a huge difference.“ (more…)

Another arts project suffering from the US government shutdown is artist Trevor Paglen’s sculpture Orbital Reflector, which remains undeployed more than a month after it was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.  “A division of the United States Air Force known as CSpOC is faced with the task of properly identifying each of those satellites so that they can be tracked as they orbit the earth,” says commissioning institution the Nevada Museum of Art. “Six weeks post-launch, that task is still not complete; only half of the satellites from the launch have been properly identified. Many of the satellites that launched together remain in a cluster and until they separate it is difficult to correctly identify each one.” (more…)

Hauser & Wirth has donated $1 million to California State, Los Angeles for the school’s department of television, film, and media studies. “Cal State L.A.’s commitment to civic engagement and public service aligns perfectly with our gallery’s desire to contribute to the communities where we work,” says Marc Payot, vice president and partner of Hauser & Wirth. “We want to support scholarship in all forms, from art historical research and the preservation of artists’ archives, to the efforts of young students seeking to become community activists themselves through the art and films they are learning to make.” (more…)