In a peculiar art world team-up, Strokes Drummer Fabrizio Moretti and Italian-born Old Masters dealer and collector Fabrizio Moretti for a selling exhibition at Sotheby’s. “I was attracted to this project by this idea of perspective,” Moretti the musician says. “The goal of this installation is to construct a process of orientation that abstracts and individualizes the experience of witnessing art.”  (more…)

The NYT looks at the growing popularity and the increased exhibitions dedicated to Yayoi Kusama, and how her work has helped reshape the art viewing public.  “Since we started showing Kusama, our audience has grown much more diverse and much younger,” says David Zwirner. “It’s no longer an elite art world gathering, it’s people interested in all kinds of culture.” (more…)

Beatrix Ruf, formerly director of the Stedelijk Museum will head to Moscow’s Garage Museum to work on a long-term development plan and work on various exhibitions and initiatives.  “We started working with Beatrix Ruf a number of years ago, when she became a member of the museum’s advisory council,” says Garage director Anton Belov. “It is clear that her vision for the development of Garage aligns with ours, and expands it. We’re very excited to bring her on board.” (more…)

The Marciano Foundation has laid off all of its visitor services associates, claiming the move was due to low attendance, only a few days after its associates tried to unionize. “This is a gross obstruction of workers’ rights,” the VSA’s potential union wrote online. “A complete disregard for its employees and their livelihoods.” (more…)

London’s National Portrait Gallery will close for nearly three years over a £35.5m redevelopment of its 123-year-old London home, The Guardian reports.  “Where possible, staff will be offered part-time working and career break opportunities and the gallery is looking at a range of secondment opportunities with other institutions during the building period,” a spokesperson says. (more…)

The new Centre Pompidou space is opening in Shanghai, featuring more than 27,000 square feet of exhibition space. “If we really wanted to make money, a better idea would be to sell shows one by one to major international museums,” Pompidou president Serge Lasvignes said in an interview. (more…)

Businessman Jamie Botín could face an $111 million fine for smuggling a Pablo Picasso work out of Spain.  The businessman faced allegations that he was attempting to sell the work when he placed it aboard his yacht and headed to Switzerland.   (more…)

Graham Southern and Harry Blain, founders of Blain Southern Gallery, have ended their partnership.  The company is “going through a period of restructuring but remains fully committed to its artists, program and the three spaces we have in London, Berlin and New York,” according to Blain, who remains head of the gallery. (more…)

A group of workers at the Marciano Art Foundation in LA art moving to unionize.  “The Foundation relies on a system of labor that has historically undervalued its workers, paying workers minimum wage without benefits or basic protections,” the employees say in a statement. (more…)

Forger Tony Tetro has claimed that a number of his forgeries are among the works on loan currently to Dumfries House, a royal residences. “Dumfries House accepts artwork on loan from time to time from individuals and organizations such as the Scottish National Gallery,” a spokesperson for the Prince’s Foundation says. “It is extremely regrettable that the authenticity of these particular few paintings, which are no longer on display, now appears to be in doubt.” (more…)

The final show staged and prepared by curator Okwui Enwezor before his death will open as the 15th edition of the Sharjah Biennial.  The show, “Thinking Historically in the Present,” will open in the United Arab Emirates in March 2021.  “Everybody’s looking back at art history, trying to rewrite the narrative of what we’ve been told,” says curator Hoor al-Qasimi, who serves as president and director of Sharjah Art Foundation. (more…)

Two of Berlin’s most important art awards, the Hannah Höch Award and the Hannah Höch Förderpreis have been awarded to Monika Baer and Natascha Sadr Haghighian, respectively. Haghighian represented Germany this year at the Venice Biennale. (more…)

The LA Times notes drastically increased rents at the Santa Fe Artist Colony, one of LA’s oldest and studio spaces. “The SFAC has been on our radar for some time,” said Adrian Fine, director of advocacy at theLos Angeles Conservancy. “We’d certainly been aware of potential changes down the road. Every time there’s a change of ownership, there’s a risk.” (more…)

The Australian Pavilion at the 2021 Venice Biennale will go to sound artist Marco Fusinato, Art News notes.  Fusinato’s work regularly centers around perception and tactility, including various ways of making listeners . “feel” sound. (more…)

Artist Glenn Kaino is collaborating in a new project with athlete Tommie Smith, famed for the Black Power salute he gave during the 1968 Olympics. “The category of that time was status quo,” Smith says. “Back in 1968, the need was for young people, especially young black men, to take a stand on issues which had not been touched before.”

(more…)

The National Gallery of Canada has tapped Kitty Scott as deputy director and chief curator. “It is exciting to have Kitty Scott return to the National Gallery of Canada at a moment when we are re-engaging with our mandate in new, bold ways,” says director and CEO Sasha Suda. “Kitty’s depth of experience, both nationally and internationally, and her future-forward vision for building collections and programs will enable us to resonate with our audiences across Canada and the world.” (more…)

Following several days of closure due to savage wildfires, the Getty has reopened.  The institution had shuttered as the hills nearby were covered in brushfires. (more…)

RoseLee Goldberg gets a profile in the WSJ this week as Performa 19 opens in New York. “To me it’s the catalyst for the avant-avant garde,” says Goldberg of her programming. “It hasn’t been about commerce or about making sure we can make money back on the productions. It’s about the artists and the ideas that emerge.” (more…)

Bloomberg has a piece on Patrick Drahi and his purchase of Sotheby’s, speculating on how his strategies with previous takeovers might shake out at the auction house. “It’s obvious that you don’t manage an auction house the way you manage a telecom carrier,” says Frederic Ichay a technology lawyer. “Auction houses typically take years to establish long-lasting bonds with families that have art works to sell and families that could be buyers. That’s the heart of the business.” (more…)

London’s Roundhouse has turned down a £1m grant from the Sackler Trust, showcasing the increasing pressure institutions are facing over their patrons. “We are enormously grateful for the trust’s support over the years, but we have made a decision not to accept the donation at this time. To do so risks distracting from our work with young people, and that’s our priority,” a spokesperson said. (more…)

The British Museum has been labeled the world’s largest receiver of stolen goods, The Guardian reports.  “The trustees of the British Museum have become the world’s largest receivers of stolen property, and the great majority of their loot is not even on public display,” says Geoffrey Robertson QC. (more…)

Discovery of a vulnerability to powerful winds has once again delayed the reopening of the Rothko Chapel.  “This is a simple matter of stewardship,” says executive director David Leslie. “I don’t like to use double negatives, but we cannot not do it. … If a weather incident hit the walls at just the right angle, you could lose the chapel. A wall could collapse.” (more…)

MoMA is preparing for the next rotation of its collection come May 1st, with plans to showcase new artists and bodies of work as part of its new programming efforts.“We will do more special shows from our own collection,” says Ann Temkin, chief curator of paintings and sculpture. (more…)

A tape of Lou Reed demos featuring songs based on the writings of Andy Warhol has been discovered at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. “This tape is Lou Reed working out what he does best,” says Cornell music professor Judith A. Peraino, “which is figuring out the character of his song, telling the stories, being as brutally honest as he is in many of his writings.” (more…)