A piece in The Guardian this week remembers curator and museum head Okwui Enwezor, featuring a range of stories and profiles celebrating his life and work. “I have never met in all my life such a brilliant man. He had a goal and a purpose and he never swayed from the path,” says artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen. (more…)
A piece in The Guardian this week recaps the recent family dispute over Botticelli’s Madonna and Child (1485), as Tanya Dick-Stock, daughter of Canadian businessman John Dick alleges her father used an offshore company to purchase the painting under her name. “No we don’t know what happened to it or who owns the painting,” says the spokesperson for Dick-Stock. “But we intend to commit resource and energy to finding out.” (more…)
The Bronx Museum of the Arts has tapped Klaudio Rodriguez as its new executive director. Rodriguez had been working as the museum’s interim director for several months. “Klaudio’s leadership really brought out the best of the entire staff,” said Joseph Mizzi, chairman of the museum board. (more…)
A piece in the Art Newspaper details criticism of UNESCO for allegedly exaggerating a $10bn figure as the scale of the illegal art trade worldwide.“The landscape has changed enormously, says Clinton Howell, president of the international association of dealers’ unions CINOA. “Ethical practice is not an abstract concept but an essential business tool.” (more…)
The Hammer Museum’s latest iteration of the Made in LA Biennial is open, but its run is in question over the surging cases of coronavirus, the LA Times reports. “When can we reopen is not a question I can answer, except to say we hope it’s soon,” says museum rep Scott Tennent. “We’re following the lead of the state and the county. We really want to share this exhibition with everyone — it’s ready — but until we’re actually told we can reopen, we’re in stasis.” (more…)
John Waters has donated his collection of 372 contemporary art works to the Baltimore Museum of Art. “I’ve always said you have to know good taste to have good bad taste,” Waters says. (more…)
Sun & Sea (Marina), the Venice Biennale performance that earned the Lithuanian Pavilion its Golden Lion last year, will go on view next year at E-Werk Luckenwalde outside of Berlin. “The Luckenwalde presentation will be essentially the same work as Venice, except for the qualities that the venue brings to the piece when experiencing it—an empty swimming pool comes with a whole different kind of underlying catastrophe, at least for me,” says curator Lucia Pietroiusti. (more…)
An outdoor installation by Nick Cave at Jack Shainman’s Kinderhook, NY space is causing controversy in the town, as residents rally to have the work removed, claiming it’s signage and therefore not legally displayed. “It’s an artwork,” Cave says. “It’s freedom of expression. It’s not complicated.” (more…)
The Met will have two joint chairs for the first time, with Hamilton E. James and Candace K. Beinecke taking over at the museum. “These are exceptionally challenging times,” says former chair Daniel Brodsky, “and the opportunity to have two leaders with strong yet different experiences is a win-win for the museum.” (more…)
Uffizi Galleries director Eike Schmidt has tested positive for Coronavirus. Schmidt is asymptomatic and working from home. “I can dedicate all my time and energy to the Uffizi as usual,” he said. (more…)
Tracey Emin has an interview in The Guardian this week, opening her show at the Royal Academy just as the UK descends back into COVID-10 lockdown. “They sold 16,000 advance tickets but when Boris announced the second lockdown, we knew we couldn’t open,” she says. (more…)
Artist Glenn Kaino has an interview this week in the LA Times, as he prepares to open a show of new work at MOCA Los Angeles, and looks back at his career. “They’re intended to create moments of visibility for things that are invisible around us. Most people don’t feel seen, understood. Making things visible is a form of empathy,” Kaino says of his new works. (more…)
Artist Senga Nengudi has an interview in the NYT This week, discussing several decades of work and its intersections with her life.“I felt that you could live forever and still be an artist,” she says. “You can live to 100 and still have the ability to express yourself.” (more…)
The art world’s attention has turned to Shanghai as the city holds its annual art week, even as positive COVID-19 tests are popping back up in the city. “I think that at this point any display of normalcy is a good sign and an ‘in-real-life’ fair is one manifestation,” says Mathieu Borysevicz, founder of Shanghai gallery Bank. (more…)
An end is in sight in the lawsuit over the estate of Robert Indiana, Art Newspaper reports, after the late artist’s lawyer James Brannan settled with with Morgan Art Foundation. “I think this is a great deal for the Star of Hope Foundation [established by the artist before he died] and Bob’s legacy,” Brannan says. (more…)
Sotheby’s has been sued by the State of New York over its role in allowing a collector to escape taxes on works purchases. The company sold $27 million tax-free to Porsal Equities, although the auction house allegedly knew the client a dealer buying tax free. “Millionaires and billionaires cannot be allowed to evade taxes while every day Americans pay their fair share,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. “Sotheby’s violated the law and fleeced New York taxpayers out of millions just to boost its own sales.” (more…)
A piece in the Art Newspaper catalogs artists’ response to Joe Biden’s win over Donald Trump in the presidential election last week, with a selection of works and images circulating online.“We still must come to terms with the extent to which the structures of governance have been damaged and the government itself delegitimated—wantonly and steadily—by Donald Trump and the third-rate bottom feeders whom he empowered as his wrecking crew,” says artist Martha Rosler. (more…)
A new database of Vincent Van Gogh works has gone live courtesy several Dutch arts agencies, featuring an impressive collection of data on each work. (more…)
A piece in the New York Times this month looks at the psychological and emotional impact of re-entering lockdown for the art world. “The British government has been supportive this financial year, but our real problem is looking into the future, and this builds up more problems,” says Tristram Hunt, the head of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. (more…)
David Hockney has released a series of new paintings from his self-imposed lockdown in Normandy. “Remember they can’t cancel the autumn either,” he said. (more…)
The Guardian has a piece this week on how Times Square has become a new hub for protest art and installation. “People needed to laugh, dance and sing, even if they were masked and socially distancing,” says performer Ebony Brown, who recently launched a performance in the area. “Ultimately, what we created was performance art, it just happened to be an act of multicultural, civic engagement. “We shut down Broadway on a Saturday night, reclaiming the streets in the name of all the lives stolen by racial violence and police brutality.” (more…)
Jersey City has approved a new tax specifically targeted for funding the arts, the New York Times. “It shows that the arts are important to people even in the toughest of times,” says Robinson Holloway, former chair of the Jersey City Arts Council. (more…)
Sam Orlofsky has been fired from his directorship at Gagosian as part of an investigation into what the gallery called “unacceptable and repugnant” behavior towards women. “I want to first emphasize emphatically that the behavior alleged is unacceptable and repugnant,” says Larry Gagosian in a letter to staff. ” The Gallery expects all employees to adhere to our values, which include mutual respect, dignity, collaboration, and honesty. The Gallery is committed to fostering a workplace where employees are safe, are empowered to do their best work, and can express concerns freely.” (more…)