A major show scheduled around the sale of the Marron family collection at Pace and Gagosian will be postponed due to coronavirus. “Given the current climate of uncertainty, it seems that it will no longer be possible to secure the loans from international private lenders and institutions that would be required to present the true scope and influence of Don Marron’s collection,” a Pace spokesperson says. “Our priority is on creating an exhibition that will honor Don to the fullest, and that will celebrate his legacy for local and global audiences.” (more…)

A piece in the NYT this week charts the new project at Performance Space NY, where a cohort of artists have been given free reign over the institution. “It’s so much giving up of control,” says director Jenny Schlenzka. “Like, I’m sitting here with The New York Times, and I don’t even know what’s going on in my place for the next year.” (more…)

The city of Berlin is shuttering all state-owned arts venues for a month in response to coronavirus.  The decision comes as cases of the virus explode in the German capital. (more…)

Art News notes that NYC’s smaller museums and galleries may be eligible for relief under any coronavirus relief packages. “We are facing an existential crisis,” says Jane Stephenson, executive director of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA). “People should be aware that arts organizations are going to face difficulties if we don’t get some relief.” (more…)

Michael E. Smith (Installation View)

Currently at Andrew Kreps Gallery, a line of floor-fans run in a single file through the doorway of the main gallery space, emitting a slight whine that makes the presentation of the work all the more illusive.  Unable to tell if the fans are on or if there is some other element emitting the sound, the arrangement conjures a strange sense of animated material, a sort of life outside the human body that makes the viewer question just what they are viewing.  So goes the work of artist Michael E. Smith, whose arrangements frequently mine this sort of uncertainty from the familiar objects of the world around us. (more…)

A recently rediscovered Ana Mendieta work is set to sell at Sotheby’s, but her family claims its owner has no right to sell it, claiming the work was never returned following a loan. “If an auction house accepts works without doing due diligence and says, ‘You guys fight it out,’ then you put a burden on the original owner that perhaps is not justified,” says Barbara Hoffman, the family’s lawyer. (more…)

The soon to open Tate Modern Andy Warhol show will feature a selection of the artist’s rarely seen, custom fright wigs. “They are incredible objects, which he would have had a say in, in terms of their design … the way they are dark at the back and blonde at the front,” says co-curator Gregor Muir. “The wigs are part of Warhol’s persona, and Warhol himself was an artwork.” (more…)

The UK government is under fire for attempting to withdraw from the European-Union-funded Creative Europe project, depriving the nation of millions in EU funds for the arts.  “By ending our participation, the UK government is erecting barriers to continued cultural exchange. Moreover, this decision makes no financial sense.” an open letter reads. “It is well established that Creative Europe grants have delivered a net benefit back to the UK creative economy on both soft and hard measures (worth €74m since 2014, benefitting 334 organizations), leveraging additional funding, helping to create employment.” (more…)

French Culture Minister Franck Riester has tested positive for coronavirus, shortly after visiting parliament where several ministers had fell ill.  (more…)

Christopher Williams, Footwear (Adapted for Use) (Installation View), via David Zwirner

This spring, Christopher Williams presents his ninth solo show with David Zwirner gallery, entitled Footwear (Adapted for Use). The new body of work reflects the artist’s continued interest in how meaning and information are structured through the processes of staging and adaptation. The exhibition references a wide array of source material like Ikea catalogues and airplane magazines, and features new photographs, hand-painted signs, sculptures and videos, all of which engage with postwar material and cultural histories.  (more…)

A major Raphael exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale has been closed as a result of coronavirus quarantines.  Museums around the country are also closed as a result of the disease.  (more…)

The Public Art Fund will launch a new project at LaGuardia airport featuring art by Jeppe Hein, Laura Owens, and Sarah Sze. “New Yorkers will soon have a major terminal at LaGuardia Airport that reflects the energy, vitality, and innovation of New York City,” said Nicholas Baume, director and chief curator of the Public Art Fund. “Great art and artists are fundamental to New York’s DNA, and we are excited to collaborate with several of the world’s most visionary artists, LaGuardia Gateway Partners and the Port Authority to create a unique new terminal that brilliantly expresses the creative spirit of New York.” (more…)

Shell has dropped its support of London’s Southbank Centre, Art Newspaper reports, as pressure over the fossil fuel company’s support of institutions continues to mount.  “Until it commits to leaving fossil fuels in the ground this decade, Shell will be standing in the way of zero carbon transition we urgently need and should not be welcomed into our arts institutions,” says Chris Garrard, the director of the protest group Culture Unstained. (more…)

Trevor Paglen has joined Pace Gallery, working with the artist’s other galleries to create a global network for his work.  “We are thrilled to announce our representation of Trevor,” says Simon Preston, Senior Director at Pace. “Trevor’s complex research-driven work will expand the vocabulary of the artists represented by the gallery and have the potential to create many exciting dialogues with existing and future artists of the program.” (more…)

A piece in Art News looks at the Tate’s recent declaration of a climate emergency, and how it allows the museum to respond. “Large public buildings, attracting millions of visitors from the U.K. and overseas, require energy,” reads a statement. “We see caring for and sharing a national art collection as a public good, but it also consumes resources. . . . That’s why we pledge to make our long-term commitment ambitious in scope. We will interrogate our systems, our values, and our programs, and look for ways to become more adaptive and responsible.” (more…)

Hikaru Fujii and Chikako Yamashiro have won the second Tokyo Contemporary Art Award, a $30,000 prize that also includes an exhibition of the artists’ work at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo in 2022. (more…)

Sotheby’s auction of work from the estates of Georgia O’Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz has resulted in a $17.2 million result, easily topping its $13.3 million estimate. The sale featured a range of paintings and photos as well as personal items and clothing. (more…)

The Art News has a piece this week featuring Julian Schnabel and Laurie Anderson in conversation about their early days in New York, their work, and Lou Reed. “He had insight into all sorts of things, and he had a lot of heart,” Schnabel says. “Berlin, the record he made in 1973, was one of my favorite records ever—it was like the soundtrack to my life for a long while. The sadness in it just filled me up and made me feel like, If I’m going crazy, it’s OK—he survived.”  (more…)

Sinead O’Dwyer, In Myself (Installation View), via Waves and Archives

Currently on view at New York’s Waves and Archives, artist Sinead O’Dwyer presents a selection of new works, returning to her nuanced silicone works alongside work created for an upcoming performance at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.  The exhibition, which marks the artist’s first in New York, makes for an engaging entry in her body of work, and look at her intricate incorporation of human bodies and synthetic materials. (more…)

The New Yorker has a piece this week on Georgia O’Keefe’s expansive file of recipes.  “Food served in the O’Keeffe household was always nutritious, tasty, and simply but beautifully presented,” says writer Margaret Wood, who worked as O’Keefe’s assistant and regularly prepared her meals. (more…)

A piece in Dezeen charts additional issue at Cooper Hewitt beyond its recent leadership shakeup. “Design is central to how we are going to make our world better,” says architect Aaron Betsky. “The various disciplines that make it up are changing rapidly, but they are doing so based on accumulated knowledge, skill, and beauty that we need to see and understand more fully. We need the Cooper Hewitt to become that institution.” (more…)

A piece in the NYT showcases growing interest in Iranian contemporary art, as tensions escalate with the country itself. “Iranian art collecting was an exclusively Iranian affair among Iranians,” until recently, says collector Mohammed Afkhami.  “We are still in the early stages of that diversification away from purely Iranian patronage,” he added. (more…)

Art Newspaper has a piece charting Sotheby’s recent emphasis on its private sales department.  “We have probably spent 250 of our 275 years pretending it didn’t exist,” says David Schrader, Sotheby’s head of private sales. “But it’s a really important service which we don’t think is cannibalistic to the legacy business, it’s quite complimentary.” (more…)

Michael A. Robinson, all images by Elisa Etrari for Art Observed

As The Armory Show returns to the Piers on the West Side of Manhattan, so too comes the annual opening of the SPRING/BREAK Art Show, the adventurous, curator-driven program that takes up space at a pop-up location for a week of compelling and unique exhibitions and projects.  (more…)