A group of artworks exploring artificial intelligence and the human genome have been banned in China, and barred from exhibition in the Guangzhou Triennial. “The news is really filled with concern about the gene editing of babies,” says Heather Dewey-Hagborg, an American artist whose work “T3511” was among those pulled from the show. “It definitely seems like a moment where I can imagine that art or any kind of content that deals with biotechnological futures and some of the vulnerabilities and the dark side of those futures might seem to be dangerous.” (more…)

The Hammer Museum has added Jay Brown and Cindy Miscikowski to its board, and two new appointees to its board of overseers, Bill Block and Darren Star. “Cindy Miscikowski, Bill Block, Jay Brown, and Darren Star are all extraordinarily talented individuals who are passionate about art and the creative culture of Los Angeles. I am so thrilled to work with them during this exciting transformational time at the Hammer,” says Hammer director Ann Philbin. (more…)

A New York judge has ordered collectors Harry and Linda Macklowe to sell their collection and split the proceeds. The collection spans a vast selection of contemporary and post-war works, and is valued at over $700 million. (more…)

Kevin Beasley gets a profile in the NYT this week, as he prepares to open a show at the Whitney Museum. “There’s a story here that I think talks about migration, geography and ancestry,” he says. “But it’s really a Conceptual work.” (more…)

Brian Faucette, a director at Derek Eller Gallery, will head to Night Gallery in Los Angeles, Art News reports. “It’s been an honor working at Derek Eller Gallery these past years,” he says, “and I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank Derek and Abby for giving me the opportunity to organize some amazing exhibitions.” (more…)

Tania Bruguera will not attend the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, and instead will stay in Cuba to fight the implementation of the newly announced Decree 349 in the country, which limits artistic speech. “We are all waiting for the regulations and norms the Ministry of Culture will put forward to implement Decree 349 in the hope that they include the suggestions and demands so many artists shared with them,” she said in statement. “I would like to add that the instructor from the Ministry of Interior who is in charge of my case [threatened] me yesterday, saying that if I didn’t leave Cuba and if I did ‘something’, I would not be able to leave in the future.” (more…)

A protest at The Whitney this past Sunday called for the departure of Warren B. Kanders, the vice chair of the museum’s board, from his post. “We are not fools,” the group Decolonize This Place said in a statement. “We know law is not justice. Your statement makes it clear which side you are on: the side of Safariland, and this we simply cannot accept.” (more…)

Kimberly Drew is profiled in the New York Times this week, as she moves on from her position at The Met and embraces writing full-time. “I want to give my whole heart to this skill that I have been cultivating,” she says. (more…)

Walmart is acquiring the art and framing company Art.com, which claims to be the “world’s largest online specialty retailer of high-quality wall art.” “This will enhance the customer experience with millions of additional choices for art, wall décor and personalized print-on-demand capabilities while creating a richer, deeper shopping experience across the home category,” the company said in a statement. (more…)

Kaywin Feldman, the director of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, will be the new director of the National Gallery of Art. “For more than two decades, she has had a distinguished career as an art museum director with major successes,” says NGA president, Frederick W. Beinecke. (more…)

The Guardian profiles how Cuban artists are fearing a government crackdown on artists in the wake of Tania Bruguera’s arrest this week over a new law restricting artistic speech in the country. “The decree criminalizes independent art activity,” the Cuban-American artist Coco Fusco says. “It allows a cadre of roving censors to go around issuing fines, to take away your equipment. These are not liberal individuals – if you are a rap musician and they simply don’t like your lyrics, they will shut you down. These draconian actions already take place but this law systemizes it.” (more…)

Art Newspaper profiles the increasingly high popularity of street art in mainstream art fairs, and questions how it is affecting the medium. According to adviser Lisa Schiff, sales of street artists like the recent bidding war for KAWS prints at Art Basel “encourages pure speculation; it’s an empty value-making system. Street art should disrupt the commercial and institutional setting. I don’t want it in a museum or a fair.” (more…)

The NYT profiles the recent protests by MoMA PS1 art handlers over pay and worker rights at the museum, as they demand equal pay to the museum workers across the East River at the main museum space. “I feel as an artist worker you’re betwixt and between,” handler and artist Marley Freeman said in a telephone interview. “You aren’t seen as a professional art handler. At PS1 they are always treating us like this is just temporary work we’re doing between other things.” (more…)

A piece in Art Newspaper this week documents the challenges of a US Supreme Court ruling demanding companies take on responsibility for sales tax, and its effects on the art world. “Our industry is being watched with greater diligence,” Robert Dimin says. “As a young gallery, even a small mistake could send us into a spiral with legal problems.” (more…)

Anish Kapoor has won his case against the NRA, preventing the organization from using an image of his work Cloud Gate in a recent propaganda video. “Their bullying and intimidation has not succeeded. This is a victory not just in defense of the copyright of my work, but it is also a declaration that we stand with those who oppose gun violence in America and elsewhere,” he said in a statement. (more…)

A recent report has noted the impact on climate change on a number of historical and natural sites, noting the increased risk of flooding in places like Venice and Ravenna, and the likely damage caused by continued climate change. “Italy is a rich country and it needs to take its responsibilities seriously; it is time to act on this,” Mechtild Rössler, the director of the Unesco World Heritage Centre, says. (more…)

Artist Larry Bell gets a profile in Art Newspaper this week, as he opens his new show at ICA Miami. “I’ve always considered everything I’ve done to be experimental,” he says. (more…)

The Hammer has announced the curators for the 2020 edition of the Made in LA Art Biennial, tapping Myriam Ben Salah, a Paris-based writer and curator, and Lauren Mackler, a Los Angeles-based curator, artist, and graphic designer. “I look forward to what Myriam Ben Salah and Lauren Mackler will bring to this exhibition. They are both deeply engaged with the contemporary art scene in Los Angeles, so we’re eager to see the fresh perspectives they bring,” says Ann Philbin, director of the Hammer Museum. (more…)

Artist KAWS has sparked a feverish demand for a series of prints at Art Basel Miami Beach, with collectors lining up for a lottery to win a chance to buy one of 100 prints priced at $65,000, showcasing the artist’s thriving market. “They always sell out and as soon as they sell out the price goes up,” said Anna Becker, a potential buyer who arrived too late. “Anything you buy by KAWS at this point is an investment. It’s like scalping tickets.” (more…)

A new UBS Investor Watch Pulse Report notes increasing movement towards online arts purchases.  “The technological trends changing the economy are increasingly changing the art market,” says Karl Ruppert, the market head of Florida private wealth management at UBS.  “There are potential opportunities presented through future growth of the online art market to attract new buyers at different price levels, which is beneficial to the health of the overall market. For gallerists, fairs, auction houses, artists and collectors, digital tools will be a key area of growth over the next five years.” (more…)

Canada Gallery will leave the Lower East Side for TriBeCa, Art News reports, setting up at 60 Lispenard Street, just below Houston between Church and Lafayette. “Sometimes being on the earlier end of everyone’s lease coming up, you are kind of at an advantage,” co-founder Phil Grauer says. “This place in Tribeca was one of the few spaces that made sense.” (more…)

Don and Mera Rubell are profiled in Bloomberg this week, taking the publication on a tour of their collection and discussing their place in Miami’s thriving collector class. “It was very selfish of us thinking ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing to bring Art Basel here?”’ Mera Rubell says. “And that’s what happened.” (more…)

Bloomberg Philanthropies has named Jackson, Mississippi, a winner of its 2018 Public Art Challenge, bringing a $1 million grant for a project around the concepts of food access and nutrition. “The city is overjoyed to have been selected in this process,” mayor Chokwe Lumumba said in a statement. “To be able to aid in the aesthetic appeal of the city while delivering a message of healthy eating for the citizens of Jackson is a truly remarkable opportunity, and we are ecstatic and look forward to seeing this project come into fruition.” (more…)

Frieze Magazine will tap Rebecca Ann Siegel as its new publisher, promoting her up from her place as publisher and co-founder (alongside NYT’s Jason Farago) of Even, which will end its run. “Jason and I did something that most people thought was impossible—we started a serious, high-quality print art magazine from scratch, and it actually made a little money,” Siegel said. “As a founder, you’re responsible for just about everything, from the mail room to customer service to advertising to logistics.” (more…)