Hours after her appointment, Mélanie Joly, Justin Trudeau’s new minister of Canadian heritage, has pledged to double the annual federal contribution to the Canada Council of the Arts from $180 million to $360 million.  “I like to think that the Ministry of Canadian Heritage is the ministry of symbols, and after a Harper government of nine years, which was a Conservative government, it’s time to have a government that shows symbols of progressiveness,” she said. (more…)

James Turrell is interviewed in The Guardian this week, discussing his recent work, and the legion of people who have recently discovered his work thanks to Drake’s “Hotline Bling” music video.  “I’m sort of astonished by it, I have to say. It’s humbling that more people have probably heard about me through this than anything else,” he says. (more…)

The Independent art fair has announced its dates and gallery list for the 2016 New York edition of the fair, its first in Tribeca, as well as plans for another edition of Independent Project in November of next year.  The fair includes a number of frequent attendees, including The Modern Institute and David Kordansky, but has also added some considerably larger spaces this year, including Mitchell-Innes & Nash and Maccarone. (more…)

Ellsworth Kelly is interviewed in The Guardian this week, as the artist reflects on his long career and his desire to continue working, even at age 92.  “I give what I’ve got. It’s harder. I can’t work on really big pictures any more, so the ideas are blocked a bit,” he says. “But then, the visions were always too much.  I feel like the world is over there, and it keeps coming at me, and I want to do it, respond to it.” (more…)

French-born, Shanghai-based Alexandre Ouairy has stepped forward after more than a decade making and exhibiting work under the name Tao Hongjing, although the “conceptual project” of the artist had long been acknowledged by both artist and gallery.  “At the beginning, the first year or two, only the gallery and myself knew that I was Tao Hongjing,” Mr. Ouairy says, “but after that, it was always revealed that this was a project by a French artist.” (more…)

A series of works attributed to Jackson Pollock are being contested, after an analysis of the work uncovered paints not commercially available until after the artist’s death.  “The earliest forms of this class of pigment appeared on the commercial market in 1910 (PY1), with others following in the 1920s (such as PY4-6),” the report reads.  “However, the date of introduction of PY74 is commonly given in the literature as 1957. This consequently raises a number of issues.” (more…)

Russian artist Pyotr Pavlensky, who previously gained notoriety for nailing his genitals to Red Square in Moscow, for torching the wooden doors of the FSB security service building.  The artist could face at least 5 years in prison for the act.  “I think it will be a criminal case, everything points to that. It’s hard to say what charge: anything can happen in our country,” his lawyer said. (more…)

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An unidentified Italian man in Piacenza has contacted police, demanding â‚¬150,000 for the return of a Gustav Klimt work stolen in 1997.  While police declined the ransom, some local sources are considering raising the funds.  “It happens more and more,” says Belgian art expert Jacques Lust. “Not all details make it to the media, of course. If a case is solved there’s no mention of the amounts paid, nor of the works having been stolen. But there’s an increase in such cases.” (more…)

Frank Stella is the subject of a profile in The Economist this week, as the artist opens his retrospective exhibition at The Whitney Museum.  The article traces Stella’s ongoing formal inventions and investigation of the act of viewing and experiencing his work.   “What you see is what you see.” he quips. (more…)

Richard Serra has been named the 2015 WSJ Art Innovator of the Year, and is profiled in the magazine discussing his practice, and the recent completion of his work East-West/West-East in the deserts of Qatar.  “A lot of people wanted to reduce sculpture to object making,” says art critic and historian Hal Foster, “but he reclaimed sculpture for space making.” (more…)

In a letter to stakeholders this morning, ArtPrize has announced that it will be withdrawing from its first attempt at a franchised event outside of Grand Rapids, MI, and that ArtPrize Dallas will no longer be taking place.  “During the process of planning and working with stakeholders it became clear that many were thrilled and excited to see new avenues of growth and opportunity for all,” the organization wrote.  “Despite the visionary understanding of our supporters, there were a few who saw the concept as threatening to the status quo.” (more…)

The Art Newspaper looks at the increased rates of giving by wealthy collectors to museums in recent years, and questions the motives, speculating whether increased philanthropy is merely a cover for ever-larger tax write-offs.  “Every donor I’ve ever worked with has been interested in the tax incentives and implications of their philanthropy,” says Scott Stover, head of philanthropy advisory Global Art Development. (more…)

Blue Checkers, a recent painting by artist and director Harmony Korine, has been stolen from the lobby walls of Soho’s Puck Building this week.  The work is valued at $120,000, and was shown in the artist’s last show with Gagosian Gallery on Park Ave.   (more…)

Artist Jonas Mekas has received an apology from lawyer Gerald Harris over his 1963 prosecution for obscenity, following Mekas’s screening of Jack Smith’s iconic avant-garde film Flaming Creatures.  “I feel I owe you an apology,” Mr. Harris wrote. “Although my appreciation of free expression and aversion to censorship developed more fully as I matured, I should have sooner acted more courageously.” (more…)

The Whitney Museum has named Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks as the co-curators for the 2017 Biennial, first Biennial presented in the Whitney’s new building in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District.  “Every Whitney Biennial is a galvanizing process for the Museum, a tradition that goes back to the institution’s roots while retaining its freshness and immediacy,” says Director Adam D. Weinberg.  “Endeavoring to gauge the state of art in America today, the Biennial demands curators who are attuned to the art of the current moment and there is no question that Chris Lew and Mia Locks have their fingers on the pulse.” (more…)

Joe Bradley is reportedly leaving Gavin Brown’s Enterprise and Eva Presenhuber for Gagosian Gallery, the Observer reports.  The news comes on the heels of the artist’s inclusion in last year’s Forever Now painting show at MoMa, and a recent profile in W Magazine.   (more…)

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC has launched initial talks with the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art over a the possibility of borrowing works from the Iranian museum’s collection.  “We have received a number of requests,” said Ehsan Aghaei, deputy director of the museum. (more…)

The Guggenheim has launched its first online arts initiative, the Ã…zone Futures Market, which allows participants to play an imagined market influenced by the emergence of various new technologies, including innovations in space travel and green energy.  “I see the museum as a machine for making sense of history for a public audience, both distant histories and those unfolding in the present” says curator Troy Conrad Therrien.  “For museums to fulfill their mandate in this environment, they need to experiment with new types of exhibitions to address contemporary issues that will shape our future.” (more…)

The Italian culture ministry is making moves to classify museums and historical sites in the country as “essential services,” limiting workers’ rights to strike, and complicating already tense relations between the organization and union workers.  “It is a question of whether the strike call responds to the need to protect workers, or if it is nothing but the continuation of an arm wrestle between the unions and the government over culture, to the detriment of consumers,” Roberto Alesse, the president of the Commissione di Garanzia per gli Scioperi, which acts as arbitrator between the unions and the government, said of recent clashes between the sites. (more…)

The Telegraph notes the increased popularity of the Impressionist and Modern sales this week in New York, as a strong trove of works shifts focus away from the recently popular Contemporary auctions, charting over $1 billion in pre-sale estimates among the three major auction house. (more…)

MoMA has announced that it will be moving over to a timed-ticket program for its blockbuster Picasso Sculpture exhibition, currently on view.  “The reaction to the exhibition has been overwhelmingly positive,” Margaret Doyle, a spokeswoman for the museum, says, “so we anticipate that it will grow during the busy holiday season.” (more…)

Artist Christo has been announced as a 2015 recipient of the Insignia of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters.  The award presentation will take place next week at the Payne Whitney Mansion in New York, the headquarters for the Cultural Services of the French Embassy.   (more…)

The Washington Post notes Director Melissa Chiu’s unprecedented fundraising since taking her position as head the Hirshhorn last year, having raised $1.55 million from this year’s museum fundraiser gala (a tally several times higher than the museum has ever achieved), held in New York City.  “I would characterize my first year as doing all the tough foundational work that is largely invisible to the public,” Chiu says. (more…)