A piece in the New York Times this week looks at the current turbulence at MOCA LA, and Klaus Biesenbach’s attempts to move beyond it. “We’re coming out of a year of a lot of internal focus, pause, reflection,” he says. “Every day is a chance to improve.” (more…)

The estate of Isamu Noguchi has left Pace Gallery to join White Cube. “Isamu Noguchi’s extraordinary oeuvre places him among the masters of Modern sculpture,” says Jay Jopling, the founder and chief executive of White Cube. (more…)

Former MoMA PS1 curator Peter Eleey has joined the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, Art News reports. “I am thrilled to join UCCA and its terrific team during this exciting period of the museum’s growth,” he says. “I look forward to working together with the staff to engage new audiences and build on UCCA’s pioneering legacy of vibrant programming.” (more…)

Eli Broad, the billionaire art collector, entrepreneur and philanthropist, has passed away at the age of 87. Broad was a force in Los Angeles, redefining and reshaping the city’s art scene.“As a businessman Eli saw around corners, as a philanthropist he saw the problems in the world and tried to fix them, as a citizen he saw the possibility in our shared community, and as a husband, father and friend he saw the potential in each of us,” says Gerun Riley, president of the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. (more…)

Mathieu Malouf at House of Gaga, via Art Observed

It’s been a challenge to imagine the same art world in the wake of Covid-19. Even as spaces start to reopen and events prepare for their first outings in over a year, the needed precautions and considerations have made for both questions and reinventions of just what a massive show or fair might look like. Enter the 2021 edition of Zona Maco, a notably reduced affair by comparison with previous years, the exhibition has spread out across a series of galleries and temporary in Mexico City, allowing for a more engaged approach towards the city while cutting back on the large-crowds of the usual Banamex crush.  (more…)

Marie-Josée Kravis, the current president emerita of MoMA, will replace Leon Black as chair of the museum’s board, the New York Times reports.“I know it’s a huge responsibility,” she said during a meeting this week. “I will try to live up to it.” (more…)

Jeff Koons has joined Pace Gallery, ending his long relationship with both David Zwirner and Gagosian Gallery. “I always liked the idea of having more of a home gallery, that if people were interested in work they would know directly where to go,” Koons says. (more…)

The Armory Show is planning a September edition in New York, running from September 9th – 12th. “For over 25 years, the Armory Show has been a cornerstone of New York City’s cultural scene and an economic driver for the global art market,” says director Nicole Berry. “We believe NYC will emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever, and we’re excited to anchor the fall arts season at this pivotal moment when the city’s cultural organizations are reopening and experiencing art in-person is becoming possible again for everyone.” (more…)

The Maine Attorney General has alleged that the lawyers handling Robert Indiana’s estate were significantly overpaid after charging $8.4 million to handle the artist’s legal matters. “The attorney general remains concerned that the very existence of the foundation is threatened by the liquidation of estate assets,” the office says. (more…)

The Andy Warhol Foundation has filed an en banc petition with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to reconsider a court ruling against it over a Warhol depiction of Prince. “We respectfully disagree with the panel’s decision in this case,” says Roman Martinez, of Latham & Watkins, which represents the foundation. “The fair use doctrine plays an essential role in protecting free expression and advancing core First Amendment values.  We are hopeful the Second Circuit will reconsider its ruling and confirm that Andy Warhol’s transformative works of art are fully protected by law.” (more…)

Simon Denny, Mine (2021), via Petzel

Currently on at Petzel Gallery in New York, artist Simon Denny has launched a new body of work under the title Mine. The product of a multi-year project exploring themes of technology, labor, and humanity’s relationship with the earth, Mine touches down in New York in a fitting time for consideration, as Amazon workers contend with failed unionization efforts, cryptocurrency once again dominates the news cycle and we move further into the post-digital landscape. (more…)

Art handling firms UOVO and Crozier have both announced expansion plans, with UOVO opening a facility in Miami, and Crozier making an acquisition of British logistics company Martinspeed. (more…)

A group of researchers are claiming they have created a shade of white said to be the “whitest on record.”  (more…)

Arghavan Khosravi, On Being a Woman (2021), via Rachel Uffner

Curently on at Rachel Uffner in New York, artist Arghavan Khosravi’s marks her first solo exhibition at the gallery with an impressive selection of new works building upon previous explorations of techniques taken from historical painting genres — such the use of stacked perspective in Persian miniature painting — while also incorporating new sculptural and three-dimensional elements that further emphasize qualities of illusion and artifice. Titled In Between Places, the show is a striking introduction to the artist’s work. (more…)

Rirkrit Tiravanija has joined David Zwirner, the gallery has announced, and will open a show in Hong Kong in 2022. “Rirkrit Tiravanija is a longtime friend,” Zwirner says. “I have known him as long as I have had a gallery, and have been collecting his work since the early 1990s. Rirkrit is a transformational artist.” (more…)

A Claude Monet work, Le Bassin aux Nymphéas, estimated at $40 million, will close out Sotheby’s New York Impressionist and modern art evening sale May 12. (more…)

Senior Curator Mia Locks is out at MOCA LA after reporting resistance over diversity initiatives at the museum. “MOCA’s leadership is not yet ready to fully embrace IDEA,” she said in an email, referring to a new initiative designed to promote inclusion and diversity. (more…)

Peter Hujar, Ray Johnson (1975), via David Zwirner

Marking an ambitious exploration into the work of the enigmatic and expansive practice of Ray Johnson, David Zwirner has opened a show focused in particular on the artist’s collages and drawings from the the 1950s through the 1990s, focusing on Johnson as a seminal and influentially queer artist as well as on his recurring fandoms and obsessions. Showcasing the artist’s work within an array of archival materials from his friends and collaborators, the show presents Johnson’s work as part of a broader constellation of artists working during the post-war contemporary movement. (more…)

Giuseppe Penone, Leaves of Grass (2013), via Marian Goodman

Artist Giuseppe Penone returns to Marian Goodman this month, presenting a new body of works that draw on his long fascination with breath, meditative gesture and poetry, turning his attention here in earnest towards the work of Walt Whitman’ particularly the writer’s early editions and his physical connections to his work.  (more…)

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Artist Sam Durant has installed a predator drone on the High Line, an attempt to make visible the United States’ secret drone bombing policies. “I was very concerned with using unmanned aircraft to essentially assassinate people,” he says. “It was seen as popular in the United States because U.S. soldiers didn’t have to go to the battlefield. But what about the casualties in the countries that were attacked by our drones? The idea was to bring this conversation home to America.” (more…)

Marking its 13th gallery worldwide, Hauser & Wirth have opened in Monaco. “In former times, Monaco was a destination for artists, writers, and filmmakers who were as captivated as we have been by the Côte d’Azur,” says Iwan Wirth. (more…)

A new studies shows that 43% of museum workers have lost income due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “As we recover and rebuild, we must focus on equity, empathetic leadership and actions that support the people who make museums possible,” Laura Lott, president and chief executive of the American Alliance of Museums says. “The resiliency and future vitality of our field relies on them.” (more…)

Ann Craven, Woodpecker (and the Moon), 2021, 2021, via Karma

Currently at Karma’s East Side space in New York, the gallery has brought forth a series of new works by painter Ann Craven, titled Animals Birds Flowers Moons. Working between paint and watercolor, the artist’s new series of pieces bring together the titular bodies in a series of varying arrangements, displaying bear cubs, peacocks, woodpeckers, and horses as an exploration of graphical nostalgia and its expressive capacity. (more…)