The New York Times profiles the work of the Guerrilla Girls, the anonymous collective fighting for women’s rights and representation among the art world’s vaunted institutions over the past 30 years. “I remember feeling such pride that there were female artists out there giving voice to these concerns that we were sensing and feeling,” says Olga Viso, the Walker Museum’s director. “[They] totally shaped who I am and the artists I worked with.” (more…)

Converse has released a new line in collaboration with the Andy Warhol estate, placing the artist’s iconic banana print from the Velvet Underground’s first album cover onto the heel of a pair of Chuck Taylors.   (more…)

W Magazine visits Jenny Holzer in the artist’s studio this week, noting her techniques and approaches in realizing her various aesthetic interests.  “Whenever possible I work with the same people. It’s a problem now that I’m getting so old that I’m outliving people,” she says.  “It’s regrettable when we’ve known each other and worked together since the 80s.” (more…)

The FBI has officially announced that it knows who was behind the Isabella Stewart Gardner heist, and that the pair of thieves are deceased, shifting the investigation towards locating the works.  “The focus of the investigation for many years was: Who did this heist? And we have through the great investigative work identified who did this heist, and both those individuals are deceased,” Kowenhoven told The Associated Press. “So now the focus of the investigation is the recovery of the art.” (more…)

SAP co-founder Hasso Plattner has threatened to move his collection out of German museums if the government amends its cultural heritage protection legislation.  Plattner has promised his collection of works to Potsdam’s Barberini Museum, but may move the works to Palo Alto if the legislation passes.   (more…)

Cindy Sherman is set to play aging diva Maria Callas in a new film show by Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli, the Art Newspaper reports.  “The video was shot last May in Paris at Théâtre des Variétés, featuring Cindy as the quintessential opera diva. The film depicts fictional, pivotal chapters of the singer’s life and career, in her full glory and darker situations, showing her fading away,” Vezzoli says. (more…)

Ai Weiwei has received assurance from the Chinese government that he will be able to return to his home country following his 6-month stay in Britain.  “They know that I want to make China into a better country, that I am concerned about the young generation,” he said. “There is a basis of trust, otherwise they would not allow me, the former enemy of the state, my exhibitions; otherwise they would not have returned my passport.” (more…)

Brooklyn graffiti artist Joseph Tierney (who paints under the name Rime) is suing designer Jeremy Scott over a design for Moschino he alleges was plagiarized from a mural, Vandal Eyes, that he painted in Detroit in 2012.  “Nothing is more antithetical to the outsider ‘street cred’ that is essential to graffiti artists than association with European chic, luxury and glamour—of which Moschino is the epitome. To anyone who recognizes his work, Plaintiff is now wide open to charges of ‘selling out,’” the court filings read. (more…)

The New York Times notes the increasingly central role Instagram is taking in the art market, used by galleries, artists and collectors alike to promote, publicize and sell works.  “So many people are either artists, collectors or gallery owners or photographers who are using it very actively, so it allows you to preview exhibitions happening everywhere in the world, and to see the works the minute the exhibitions open, rather than waiting to read about it in a review,” says Simon de Pury.  “That’s what makes it exciting.” (more…)

As the art market continues to boom, the business of art lending is seeing an equally impressive bump, with early 2015 estimates by Skate’s noting that lending could top$10 billion in 2015, at least twice as much as its last survey in 2011, and may very well grow to $100 billion.  The statistics note a major impact from Sotheby’s, which recently spun off its finance wing and which claims it can lend up to £1.3bn against art. (more…)

London’s gallery scene, art districts and theatre have resulted in the British capital being named the most Googled cultural center in the world, the BBC reports.  “London is without a doubt the cultural capital of the world,” said Mayor Boris Johnson of the news. (more…)

The New Yorker has an article this week profiling the intertwined lives of artists Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen and Clare Rojas.  Rojas, an artist living in Philadelphia, originally met Kilgallen and McGee through mail correspondence, and became close friends with the married couple.  After Kilgallen died of cancer in 1999, Rojas found herself growing closer McGee as she helped to care for his young daughter, and eventually married him.  “I think most people would just completely head the opposite direction, like, ‘Good luck with this, Barry,’ ” McGee says. “But she walked straight in.”

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As a new wave of strikes start outside the National Gallery, the museum has been forced to close a substantial portion of its galleries.  The protests also come as Gabriele Finaldi prepares to take over for Sir Nicholas Penny as museum president. (more…)

A Picasso painting valued at €25 million was seized from a superyacht belonging to former Santander bank VP Jaime Botín this week, after the work left Spain, reportedly en route to Switzerland.  The work had been placed under export bar by the Spanish government, resulting in its seizure off the coast of Corsica.   (more…)

Commissioned works by Thomas Demand, Olafur Eliasson, Teresita Fernandez and Susan Philipsz, among others, will go on view at the October 9th opening of Grace Farms, a 75-acre public space in New Canaan that also features a new multi-use building design by the SANAA architecture firm in collaboration with OLIN.  “Collaborating with Grace Farms Foundation and SANAA on this project has been highly rewarding,” says Yuko Hasegawa, Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo and Grace Farms’ Consultant for Art Installations. “The concept of Grace Farms is unique. I believe it will serve as a great example of how art, architecture, nature and meaningful programs can all come together to inspire people.”  (more…)

Chelsea Gallery Mixed Greens has announced that it will close at the end of the year, the second mid-size gallery in the neighborhood to announce its closure in the past weeks.  “Together, we look back on our history and take great pride in the work we have done with hundreds of exceptional artists,”the gallery said in a statement. (more…)

The Real Deal profiles the New York real estate world’s most active and avid art collectors, including Aby Rosen and Edward Minskoff, among others, who have become major players in the current market, and who have continued to vie for top works in recent years.  “Whatever the particular occupation may be, the collector becomes something of an addict,” says critic Judd Tully. (more…)

Poor working conditions and substandard pay persist at Abu Dhabi construction sites for the Louvre and Guggenheim, despite ongoing protests and investigations, the Art Newspaper reports.  The news comes from a new report by Gulf Labor, noting few improvements in the past year.        (more…)

Studio Museum head Thelma Golden has been appointed to the board of directors for the the Barack Obama Foundation in Chicago this week.  “I am very much looking forward to joining the Board of Directors, and working to make the Obama Presidential Center a hub for creative expression through the arts,” Golden said in a statement. “The South Side of Chicago has historically been the nexus of several important cultural movements for African-Americans, and I believe the new Center will help usher in a new era of community engagement for this extraordinary neighborhood.” (more…)

An article in Bloomberg this week notes the increasingly difficult challenges of turning a profit for smaller and less commercially-focused galleries, despite a booming art market, and points to writer/art adviser Magnus Resch’s book Management of Art Galleries for potential solutions.  “I could have just said, ‘The revenue numbers are terrible,’ but rather than being so negative I’m actually offering solutions,” Resch says. “It’s based on the analysis that I did.” (more…)

Artist Ai Weiwei has been granted his full 6-month visa by the UK Embassy, following an intervention by Home Secretary Theresa May.  “She has reviewed the case and has now instructed Home Office officials to issue a full six-month visa,” an embassy official said. “We have written to Mr Ai apologizing for the inconvenience caused.” (more…)

The ArcelorMittal Orbit, Anish Kapoor’s sculpture at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, will soon have its own Carsten Höller slide, after Kapoor invited the German artist to collaborate.  “I am thrilled that my tallest slide so far will cling onto Anish Kapoor’s The Orbit, taking an existing artwork as its site,” Höller says. “A slide is a sculptural work with a pragmatic aspect; a device for experiencing an emotional state that is a unique condition somewhere between delight and madness.” (more…)

The Financial Times notes the benefits of major corporations and financial institutions from collecting art, including benefits to the galleries and artists selling work.  “The important thing is that companies run a collection professionally,” says Loa Haagen Pictet, who chairs the International Association of Corporate Collections of Contemporary Art.  “They manage it, show it, and have a proper database inventory and conduct activities directed at the public.” (more…)

In addition to its Chelsea flagship and a satellite in Shanghai, James Cohan Gallery is opening its third location in the Lower East Side at the ground floor space of 291 Grand Street. “After being in business for 16 years, our roster of artist continues to grow and we want the opportunity for them to exhibit sooner than later”, explained Mr.Cohan. Works of Scottish artist, Katie Paterson, will be the first exhibition at the new location in February, followed by the Propeller Group in spring.

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