Thomas Ruff, PRESS++32.54 (2016), via Art Observed

Process is product for Thomas Ruff.  The German photographer has explored a wide ranging body of work over the course of his thirty-plus years of his practice, frequently using the act of creating a photographic image as the generative locus for his work. Embarking on a new body of work in past years, the artist’s press++ series makes its debut this month at Sprüth Magers in Berlin, a fascinating investigation of the act of image production and consumption. (more…)

Former Scotland Yard detectives have called on London’s Metropolitan Police to maintain its art crimes investigation, following the reappointment of the division’s detectives to investigating the Grenfell Tower fire. “There’s a point when you have to ask when they’re going to come back,” says Vernon Rapley, former head of the art squad at Scotland Yard. “Temporary can become permanent. They are one of the very few international teams that are able to deal with what are incredibly complex and difficult cases that could not easily be dealt with using normal detectives or officers.” (more…)

Njideka Akunyili Crosby is profiled in W Magazine this month, with a profile tracing the artist’s work and her response to her recent successes. “People expect me to be happy, but it put a spotlight on me in a way I don’t like at all,” she says. “I like operating quietly, on my own, in the background.” (more…)

Julien Ceccaldi, Pompeii Bathhouse (2017), via Art Observed

Lomex Gallery, housed in Eva Hesse’s former studio, continues a hot streak of quality programming with their current exhibition of new works by artist Julien Ceccaldi. The show, bluntly titled Gay, is a gathering of Ceccaldi’s paintings on various materials, combining a range of unique, well-orchestrated surfaces. (more…)

London collector David Roberts has plans to close his gallery, and open a 20-acre sculpture park in Somerset, west England, Art Newspaper reports.“We’ll still continue to do things in London,” he says. “The sale of the venue, which is funded mainly by me, means we can take on more projects.”  (more…)

Artist Yayoi Kusama is opening her own museum in Tokyo, the New York Times reports.  The five-story structure has been under construction for some time, but its purpose was just recently confirmed by David Zwirner Gallery. The museum will be directed by Tensei Tatebata, and will feature exhibitions centered around Kusama’s work. (more…)

The Museum of Modern Art will stay open until 9PM on Fridays and Saturdays for the rest of the year, effectively extending its hours of free Friday admission as well. The museum’s late hours will offer extended opportunities for visitors to browse the collection through December 30th. (more…)

A set of drawings found in a London antique shop are believed to be lost works by Alberto Giacometti, The Guardian reports. The works were found while archiving the holdings of antiques dealer Eila Grahame, whose estate records showed some indication that the works might exist, but gave little detail of their contents. “At the time we didn’t know if it was two pieces of paper, two large sketches, whether they were done on the back of a cigarette packet or whether they were done on large canvases,” says Martin Millard, a director at Cheffins auction house, which is in charge of sorting through Grahame’s estate. “We didn’t know what we were looking for.” (more…)

A group of artists have been evicted from their homes and studios in the Caochangdi art district of northeastern Beijing by the Chinese government, Artforum reports. The homes had been slotted for demolition, causing protest and resistance from their residents.  (more…)

The Met Museum has a blog post this week on its continued Open Access initiative, noting impressive gains in traffic and engagement with the museum’s collection, which has been uploaded in full to its website. “Overall traffic to the online collection has increased by 17%, image downloads have increased by 64%, and we’re seeing that users who download an image have a significantly stronger engagement with the collection: they spend five times longer on the site, and visit five times more pages,” Digital Officer Loic Tallon writes in the piece. (more…)

Mexico City-based dealer Brett Schultz has embarked on a new project in the Glendale area of Los Angeles County, opening a collaborative exhibition space run by a group of five Latin American art galleries. Members are Galería Agustina Ferreyra (San Juan), Lodos (Mexico City), Proyectos Ultravioleta (Guatemala City), Carne (Bogotá), and Schultz’s BWSMX, formerly Yautepec (Mexico City). (more…)

A Willem de Kooning painting stolen from the University of Arizona Museum of Art over 30 years ago has been found in a New Mexico antiques shop. “For us, it was the equivalent of finding a lost wallet and returning it,” says David Van Auker, who found the piece. “It was a no-brainer.” (more…)

Following the clashes between white supremacists and counter-protestors in Charlottesville, VA this weekend, Louisville’s mayor Greg Fischer has directed the Louisville Commission on Public Art to begin a review of all publicly held art to determine if any of its pieces could be interpreted as honoring bigotry, racism or hatred. “I recognize that some people say all these monuments should be left alone, because they are part of our history,” Fischer said in a statement. “But we need to discuss and interpret our history from multiple perspectives and from different viewpoints. That’s why a community conversation is crucial.”  (more…)

Installation View. All images via Pace Gallery.

Pace Gallery and Pace/MacGill Gallery present Border Cantos, a collaborative multimedia exhibition by artists Richard Misrach and Guillermo Galindo. Misrach, an American photographer, and Galindo, a Mexican-American experimental composer, have been working together since 2011, blending musical scores and photography, instrumentation and sculpture, to discuss and represent the increasingly militarized 1,969-mile border wall between the United States and Mexico. The work in Border Cantos spans photography, sculpture, and sound, integrated seamlessly to create an impression of the presence of tragedy and tenuousness. (more…)

Robert Grosvenor, Untitled (2014-2017), via Art Observed

Three cars parked side by side make up Robert Grosvenor’s Untitled (2014-17), a single work presented as the artist’s second solo exhibition at Karma’s downtown exhibition space. We can’t be certain that the term “parked” accurately describes these objects, however, as it implies movement that was halted, and a close assessment of the vehicles does not yield a consensus on their past or present mobility. Our fascination with Grosvenor’s sculptures runs parallel to our suspension in this perpetual state of uncertainty, in which the work of art becomes the site of an investigation into the identity of an object.

Robert Grosvenor, Untitled (detail) (2014-2017), via Art Observed

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A piece in the Art Newspaper traces the initially contentious history of Pablo Picasso’s now iconic public sculpture in downtown Chicago, which earned considerable derision and criticism when it was first unveiled in 1967. “The tone, and I remember it so vividly, was that we had been had, this alien beast or whatever it is with no name arrived and some poseur artist has played a joke on the city,” says Mark Kelly, Chicago’s current cultural commissioner of its first showing. “I would like to believe that I became a little more open and curious to my urban surroundings and to what was considered art.”  (more…)

PBS has a piece on the recent controversy over the Berkshires Museum’s decision to deaccession a collection of 40 paintings from its collection, including pieces by Alexander Calder, and the protests raised in response.  The museum has claimed the works it wants to sell were “deemed no longer essential to the the Museum’s new interdisciplinary programs,” but is facing criticism over its treatment of the pieces as a rote financial asset. (more…)

The New York Times profiles Dupont Underground, a former subway station in Washington D.C. that has been converted into an arts space. “It’s one of those spaces in the city that becomes mythical because it just hasn’t been open to the public for so long,” said Brianne Nadeau, a member of the City Council. (more…)

The Guardian has a piece on Vermeer’s extensive range of techniques in the creation of his works, including copying and manipulating images to arrive at their masterful final form.  According to new research, the artist may have also used various technological methods, including polished lenses and camera obscuras to create his works. (more…)

John Currin has painted actress Jennifer Lawrence for the cover of Vogue Magazine this month, part of the magazine’s 125th Anniversary celebration. “To be in a situation of producing a cover for this famous magazine, I’m a little scared,” Currin said in an interview. “I do worry about decorum.” (more…)

The SCMP has a piece on China’s China Guardian auction house, as the organization expands to go head to head against Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, and prepares a move to a massive new compound in Beijing. “With the extra space in Hong Kong, we can experiment with new categories – watches, jewellery – and new formats, such as a dedica­ted sale of local architect James Kinoshita’s art and furniture collection,” says China Guardian Chief Executive Hu Yan Yan. “It will be designed to resemble his home, as we want to encourage buyers to live with their collection rather than just keep it in a warehouse.” (more…)

The NADA New York art fair is moving locations again next year, and will set up shop for its 2018 edition at Skylight Clarkson Sq. in West SoHo this coming March. “NADA is dedicated to producing a distinctive New York art fair in March, and we are looking forward to developing a new environment for exhibitors in the pristine studios at Skylight Clarkson Sq,” Heather Hubbs, NADA’s executive director, said in a statement. “As an alliance of professionals working to stage and support contemporary art, we are always creating unique opportunities to assist galleries, and engage the larger community with cultural programming.” (more…)

Jenny Sabin, Lumen, via Art Observed

Marking its embrace of the hot summer months in New York, MoMA PS1‘s popular Warm-Up summer concert series has returned to New York City, bringing with it the annual Young Architects Program design for an outdoor canopy structure to shade and entertain visitors and concert-goers in the museum’s open courtyard.  This year, the museum has tapped Jenny Sabin Studio, a Cornell-based design group known for its tech-first design concepts and use of woven, photo-reactive materials, spreading a photo-luminescent tent structure, and robotically-woven chairs across the space.  (more…)

New figures released by the UK Government show employment in the cultural sector up by 20% in the past 5 years. “The creative industries are out-gunning the rest of the economy several times over but this is not guaranteed to continue,” says John Kampfner, CEO of the Creative Industries Federation. “The government must make the creative industries a priority in Brexit negotiations and address the Federation’s concerns regarding immigration, trade and intellectual property rights.” (more…)