Grayson Perry is under fire this week after a statement about coronavirus clearing the “dead wood” from the arts. “‘It’s awful that the culture sector has been decimated, but I think some things needed to go. Too often, the audience for culture is just the people making it – theatres with whole audiences of actors, or exhibitions only put on to impress other curators,” he said in an interview. (more…)

Sam Falls,  Paradise (2020), via 303

A look at the work of Sam Falls illustrates a vibrant interior universe, one populated by swirling undergrowth, alien forms and a series of linkages connecting human and non-human agents. This sensibility hits a high point at his most recent exhibition with 303 Gallery, where Falls has selected a series of new works for his fall show.   (more…)

A number of U.S. Museums served as polling locations in yesterday’s election, Art Newspaper reports. “We expect to see a big turnout on election day and are honored to be a part of this process,” says Ann Philbin, director of the Hammer Museum. (more…)

Artist Howardena Pindell gives an interview with The Guardian this month, discussing her work and the trauma of racism in the United States. “The trauma of racism, I feel, is there for everyone to see,” she says. “If you are not a person of color, you may not even notice what is going on.  When you look different, you can become a target for others’ unresolved issues, where they take out their rage on people who do not look like them.” (more…)

A new report in the Art Newspaper reveals a Venetian city flood plan that sacrifices St. Marks’ Cathedral to save the city’s industrial port of Marghera. The decision comes amid the recent completion of the city’s new flood prevention system. (more…)

The Treasury Department has issued statements warning of vulnerabilities in the art market that could serve as sites for malign actors to evade U.S. sanctions, the Wall Street Journal reports. “The mobility, concealability, and subjective value of artwork further exacerbate its vulnerability to sanctions evasion,” says the Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. (more…)

Jim Shaw, One Percent for Art (2020), via Simon Lee

Jim Shaw returns to Simon Lee Gallery this month for a show of new works in London, continuing the artist’s incisive and often comical adaptations of recent events, comic book iconographies and the last 75 years of American history.  (more…)

The Art Newspaper has a piece today on the cultural stakes of the election, recapping a series of articles on the current moment in arts and culture. (more…)

A new study into Vincent van Gogh’s psychiatric health has put forth that the artist had delirium, caused in part by alcohol withdrawal. “Those who consume large amounts of alcohol in combination with malnutrition, run the risk of brain function impairment including mental problems,” the study reads. “Moreover, abrupt stopping with excessive alcohol consumption can lead to withdrawal phenomena, including a delirium.” (more…)

A Japser Johns flag print valued at at least $1 million has been donated to the British Musuem.  “This is a hugely important print,” says Catherine Daunt, a curator of modern and contemporary art. “It is beautiful, complex and technically a great achievement. We now have 16 works by Johns in the collection, all of which are outstanding in their own way, but visually this is undoubtedly the most spectacular.” (more…)

Lockdown is back on in London this month, with museums and galleries closed until December. “Solidarity from Museums Association to all museums that reopened & now have to close; to all those furloughed, unfurloughed & soon to be refurloughed & to those that have been made redundant or face the prospect,” says Sharon Heal, the director of the Museums Association advocacy group. (more…)

Henry Taylor has an interview in the NYT this week, as he displays a new portrait of his brother made this year. “I was home in my garage studio, and I just like to paint. You know what I mean? I mean, my incentive is just wanting to make work and not be so complacent,” he says. “If I’m painting, I’m feeling good. So what inspired me? Just being allowed to paint. I don’t need a lot of inspiration, I just need time.” (more…)

A range of works will be screened on a massive “digital canvas” near  Tottenham Court Road tube station in London. “At this scale I don’t think there is anything like this in the world which is so exciting,” says artist Marco Brambilla, who is curating the program. “Once it starts, hopefully it will become like the Turbine Hall. Think of those epic installations which we all remember like Olafur Eliasson’s Weather Project and Bruce Nauman’s sound installation. The ambition of it is to create a series of installations similar to that.” (more…)

Amy Sillman, Split 2 (2020), via Gladstone Gallery

Colorful, bold flourishes and deliberate brush strokes greet the viewer upon entry to Gladstone Gallery’s Chelsea exhibition space, a dynamic and enervating tableau orchestrated by painter Amy Sillman.  Taking over the gallery for a show that now opens after its earlier postponement in the wake of covid-19, the show introduces a flourish of energy that underscores Sillman’s ongoing work, and offers a moment of reflection and repose for viewers in the midst of the current turbulence of the world outside the gallery.    (more…)

A Jewish family who recently lost a court case over the requested return of a €20 million Wassily Kandinsky obtained by the Stedelijk Museum during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands has accused an advisory committee of discrimination. “The restitutions committee has performed its task properly. There is no reason to revisit or redo the work. They are competent and able to assess the case. There are also no indications that the painting was stolen,” says Paul Loeb, who represents the museum. (more…)

Jean-Marie Appriou, The Blood Drop (2020), via Clearing

Taking over the expanses of Clearing Gallery’s Bushwick exhibition space, artist Jean-Marie Appriou presents a body of new work delving into Medieval aesthetics and the legends of the era, creating a range of works that mine the lore and mythologies that sprung from the era following the fall of Rome.    (more…)

Josh Smith, Untitled (2020), via David Zwirner

Marking a new entry in his ongoing practice of obsessive painterly documentation and flowing, lyrical canvases, artist Josh Smith has opened a string of shows at David Zwirner in New York and London, continuing his exploration of landscape and space, here focusing on a series of empty streetscapes.   Reflecting on the experience of creating these new works during the 2020 pandemic, the artist’s work explores the meaning of creativity and artistic purpose in the midst of global crisis.   (more…)

Germany and France are facing another round of extended museum closures as lockdowns begin in the countries. “We have to act in order to avoid an acute national health emergency,” says German Prime Minister Angela Merkel. (more…)

The MoMA PS1 leadership is shifting, with longtime chair Agnes Gund heading over to manage the museum’s diversity, equity, and inclusion committee. Former board co–vice chair Sarah Arison is taking over as museum chair. “I am honored to take on this role as Chair of the PS1 Board of Directors, and humbled to continue Aggie Gund’s legacy of inspirational leadership,” Arison says. (more…)

In an interview this week with the Guardian, Tracey Emin revealed she is in remission after a cancer diagnosis and surgery this summer, an experience she says has renewed her passion for work.  “At my age now, love is a completely different dimension and level of understanding,” she says. “I don’t want children, I don’t want all the things that you might subconsciously crave when you’re young. I just want love. And as much love as I can possibly have. I want to be smothered in it, I want to be devoured by it. And I think that is OK.” (more…)

Michelangelo Pistoletto gets an interview in the NYT this week, as the artist discusses a fraught battle with COVID-19, and a string of new shows the artist has opening this fall.  “I’m still alive,” he says. “It was very, very hard to retake life.”  (more…)

Cindy Sherman, Untitled #609 (2019), via Metro Pictures

The ever-shifting visage of Cindy Sherman touches down once again at Metro Pictures this month, installing a selection of new works that continue her explorations of iconographies and cultural trappings, bodies and time as suspended within the frame of the photograph.  Considered among the most influential voices of her generation, Sherman opens the show as she installs a major body of work at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.

Cindy Sherman, Untitled #611 (2019), via Metro Pictures

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After harsh criticism, the postponed Philip Guston show has been moved up to 2022, the NYT reports. “We never would have identified 2024 as a possible timeline if we were not serious about doing the show,” says National Gallery spokeswoman, Anabeth Guthrie. (more…)

In a last-minute decision, the Baltimore Museum of Art called of its decision to sell a set of works from its collection, removing them from the sale just hours before it sits start time. “On behalf of AAMD, I am gratified to learn that the Baltimore Museum of Art has decided to reverse course,” says Brent Benjamin, president of the AAMD, said in a statement. “As we have said consistently, our April 2020 resolutions were not intended to address needs beyond current, pandemic-related financial challenges.” (more…)