The WSJ spotlights Carpenters Workshop Gallery, and its challenges to the boundaries between art and design.  “We’re nonconformists, because we’re not interested in design, as such—the functionality of the object is not relevant,” says founder Loïc Le Gaillard. “What we like is the way that there is strong narrative in the object.” (more…)

France has released a concrete timetable for returning works to Benin, Art News reports.“With President Talon, beyond the terms of these restitutions, we discussed the enrichment of cultural cooperation between our 2 countries,” says Franck Riester, the French cultural minister. “The course is clear and our mobilization total.” (more…)

Artist Alexandre Singh gives Art in America a tour of his studio and speaks on his vision for the arts. “I like art because it’s a field where you have the liberty to dabble like a dilettante in anything that you want,” he says. “I often say this rather fatuously, but if someone decided “I’m going to make a restaurant on the moon as an artwork,” that’s an artwork. The logistics are another thing.” (more…)

Maria Balshaw, Director of Tate, and the artist Steve McQueen have warned against the increasing privatization of arts education in the UK.  “We need a level cultural playing field for all children because we want and need visually literate adults,” Balshaw says. “There should be fair access to arts in line with the offer to pupils in Scotland and Wales where the arts are already a core commitment.” (more…)

Brice Marden, Elevation (2018-2019), via Gagosian

On view at Gagosian’s uptown exhibition space, artist Brice Marden has compiled a selection of pieces that continue his investigations of the languages of modernity, and the histories of abstraction that have informed his work over the past few decades. Marking in particular a continuation of his “Letter” series, the works on view incorporate networks of calligraphic lines and strokes, woven through fields of color and tone. (more…)

Peter Halley, Helicon (2019), via Greene Naftali

Working across a range of media over the course of his career, including painting, architectural installation, digital prints, and critical writing, artist Peter Halley has strived to illuminate the structures of social space and communication that shape our experience of contemporary life. Opening his second solo exhibition with Greene Naftali this fall, Halley is presenting Heterotopia II, an ambitious large-scale installation that explores relationships between painting and architectural space. (more…)

The curators for the 2020 edition of MoMA PS1’s Greater New York have been announced, with Serubiri Moses, Kate Fowle, Inés Katzenstein and Ruba Katrib heading up the show.  “We’re going to have to move fast, in terms of the studio visits that we do,” says Fowle. “But you don’t want to move like a pack.” (more…)

Artists weigh in on the recent UK elections in Art Newspaper this week, as they reflect on the Conservative Party victory. “It seems that individualism, greed and consumerism are at the centre of the environmental problems and the voting population of the UK aren’t ready to acknowledge this yet,” says Gavin Turk. “The youth coming through seem to offer a way forward and they should be supported.” (more…)

A piece in The Atlantic this week highlights debates over the collection of the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Belgium, and how ongoing debates over decolonization has put the museum collection under a critical lens. “The collections of the Royal Museum for Central Africa have been composed by Europeans; it remains a challenge, therefore, to tell the colonial history from an African perspective,” reads one recently rewritten plaque at the museum. (more…)

Collector Jean Faurschou has opened the latest location for his private art collection in Greenpoint, NYT reports.  “We’re making shows because that’s actually what we love to do,” he says. “It’s become a passion to make exhibitions.” (more…)

Janette Laverrière and Nairy Baghramian, Seating Platform Eyebrow (2009), via Marian Goodman

In some ways a celebration of the life and work of Janette Laverrière, Marian Goodman is currently hosting an exhibition of works at its New York gallery space that combines the designer’s ideas with that of Nairy Baghramian’s, centering the show on a collaborative project that the two worked on before Laverrièr’s death in 2011. Presenting sketches, drawings and maquettes of Baghramian’s works from 1999 to the present that were never intended to be realized, the show is an intriguing portrait of collaboration and friendship. (more…)

Avery Singer is now represented by Hauser & Wirth, the gallery announced today. (more…)

A new filing in a dispute over a Rudolf Stingel has illustrated more of the background in the case of Inigo Philbrick, particularly how the dealer would move between classifying the transfers of works as sales or loans.  “That is the real story here of what is going on with all of these Inigo deals—there was a lot of easy money allowing him to perpetrate these frauds, not only from the Reubens but others as well,” says attorney Judd Grossman. (more…)

Russian museums are seizing on Vladimir Putin’s idea to open satellite venues in various regions of the country as a move to improve living standards.  “We must organise branches of such museums in regional centers of the Russian Federation, so works of art don’t lie around in storage or in basements, but so people see them,” Putin said. (more…)

The WSJ gives a tour of the $18.5 million New York Townhouse on sale this month, featuring interiors designed by Julian Schnabel.  The colorful home is currently inhabited by his first wife, Jacqueline. (more…)

George Condo is reported in talks to join Hauser & Wirth, according to Art News.  The report cites several sources saying that the artist is being courted by the massive gallery. (more…)

Kiko Kostadinov, OTTO 95.8 (Installation View), via Moran Moran

Currently on view at Los Angeles’s Morán Morán, London-based, Bulgarian designer Kiko Kostadinov presents a series of works unified under the title OTTO 95.8. Kostadinov’s practice, inspired by everyday uniforms and utilitarian work wear, includes objects that he creates to run parallel to his design work. Incorporating readymade and functional items, the compound constructions in this exhibition illustrate Kostadinov’s attraction to alien rather than familiar elements, a recurring theme informing every aspect of his practice.  (more…)

A piece in Ad Age this week looks at the number of companies and advertising agencies piggybacking on a massive popularity of Maurizio Cattelan’s banana sculpture Comedian.  (more…)

A painting believed to be a Gustav Klimt stolen 23 years ago has been discovered in the wall of the Ricci Oddi gallery where it had previously been on display.   “It is very strange, because, immediately after the theft, every single inch of the gallery and garden was checked with a fine-tooth comb,” says Jonathan Papamerenghi, a member of the Piacenza council. “The strangest thing is that the painting is in excellent condition. It does not seem like it has been locked under a trapdoor for 22 years.” (more…)

Bloomberg is throwing its weight behind the Save Venice foundation, fielding donations to help combat the effects of climate change on the lagoon city. “We’re worrying about the foundations of the buildings, as well as the stonework,” says Melissa Conn of Save Venice. (more…)

Sotheby’s has reordered its auction house around two divisions, Fine Arts and Luxury, Art and Objects, with Amy Cappellazzo taking on an expanded role as head of the Fine Arts division. The strategy will look to “reduce the current silos that exists between fine arts, business development and regional organizations,” according to a statement. (more…)

Art News has published the 30th edition of its Top 200 Collectors List, with a number of familiar faces and new names included. (more…)

Friedrich Petzel gets a profile in Art News, as he discusses his vision for his gallery and business model. “My imagination does not allow for 80, 90, 100 artists,” he says. “I think there’s a certain expectation of precision from people who enter the gallery.” (more…)

Rebecca Salter has been elected as new president of the Royal Academy of Arts. “A great day for the Royal Academy as Rebecca Salter is elected the first woman to be president since its founding in 1768,” says artist and academician Cathie Pilkington. (more…)