Art World
Art Industry News: Welsh Garage Owner Sells His Christmas Present From Banksy for Six Figures + Other Stories
Plus, the new editor of New York magazine is also a sculptor and star Tate curator Zoe Whitley heads to London's Hayward Gallery.
Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most consequential developments coming out of the art world and art market. Here’s what you need to know this Friday, January 18.
NEED-TO-READ
Did a Developer Ruins MoMA PS1’s Skyspace? – James Turrell’s serene installation Meeting at MoMA PS1 is a well-loved favorite. But the skyspace no longer offers an uninterrupted view of the sky, as the artist conceived it. The tips of high-rise scaffolding have begun to creep into the skyspace’s view. The culprits are two residential buildings, which, ironically, have replaced the legendary graffiti haven 5Pointz. A PS1 spokeswoman says the interruption is temporary and the view will be restored once construction on the buildings is complete. (Gothamist)
The Incoming New York Magazine Editor Is a Sculptor, Too – It turns out that David Haskell, who will succeed Adam Moss at the helm of New York magazine in April, has a second life—as an artist. Haskell, who is currently deputy editor of the magazine, is also a ceramicist and a sculptor. He has a gallery, Donzella, in Tribeca. His gallerist describes his work as “an exploration of the natural world via wheel-thrown forms.” (New York Times)
Garage Owner Sells Port Talbot’s Banksy – The Welsh owner of the garage that Banksy transformed his into latest canvas over Christmas has decided to sell the mural after all. Despite being helped by the Hollywood star Michael Sheen, who grew up in Port Talbot and donated thousands of dollars to protect the artwork, the steelworker Ian Lewis found the cost and responsibility for maintaining the work too much. He sold it to gallerist John Bandler for a reported six-figure sum. He says Season’s Greetings will remain in Port Talbot for two or three years, but might be moved after that. (Guardian)
Jerry Saltz Loves Dana Schutz’s Comeback – The art critic thinks the artist’s new show of 11 paintings and five bronzes at New York’s Petzel Gallery is among the best work she’s ever made. He says her new approach suggests she “won’t be reduced to just being ‘the Open Casket artist,'” referring to her divisive painting of Emmett Till at the 2017 Whitney Biennial. What’s more, Saltz says, in the years preceding the biennial, “her work had stalled in an overly controlled, flattened fracturing Cubo-Futurism. Schutz’s light was flickering off. Here it blazes back on.” (Vulture)
ART MARKET
Victoria Miro Will Represent Howardena Pindell – The American artist, who gained overdue exposure with last year’s traveling retrospective “Howardena Pindell: What Remains to Be Seen,” is now working with the London gallery Victoria Miro in collaboration with her New York gallery Garth Greenan. The artist will have her first exhibition in the UK at Miro’s Mayfair space in June. (Press release)
April Gornik Gets a New Gallery – Miles McEnery Gallery in New York is now representing the American landscape painter April Gornik. She previously worked with New York’s Danese/Corey gallery. (ARTnews)
Sarah Watson Joins Kayne Griffin Corcoran – The veteran dealer has left Sprüth Magers to join Kayne Griffith Corcoran Gallery as its president. Two artists are also joining the gallery: Hank Willis Thomas and Llyn Foulkes. The latter has previously had two exhibitions at Sprüth Magers in Los Angeles and Berlin. (ARTnews)
COMINGS & GOINGS
CAA Announces 2019 Award Winners – The College Art Association has awarded the American abstract painter Howardena Pindell its lifetime achievement award. The sculptor Ursula von Rydingsvard earned the CAA’s 2019 artist award for a distinguished body of work, while its distinguished feminist award went to Senga Nengudi, best known for her sculptures made from pantyhose. (ARTnews)
Star Curator Zoe Whitley Joins the Hayward Gallery – Whitley is leaving her role as curator of international art at Tate Modern to join London’s Hayward Gallery as a senior curator. During her time at Tate, Whitley co-organized the exhibition “Soul of a Nation,” which is now on view at the Brooklyn Museum. She succeeds Vincent Honoré, who left the Hayward in January to become artistic director of MoCo Contemporary Art Center in Montpellier. (Press release)
Art Historian Leaves Millions to the University of Michigan – Ilene Forsyth, a professor emerita of art history at the University of Michigan, has given the institution $8.2 million. The gift will go toward art history fellowships, study visits, faculty research, and a visiting scholars program. It will also establish a professorship in medieval art in honor of Forsyth’s late husband, who led the art history department and the university’s Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. (Inside Higher Ed)
MAD Names Curators-at-Large – New York’s Museum of Arts and Design has named two new curators-at-large. Andrew Blauvelt, who remains the director of the Cranbrook Art Museum in Michigan, will focus on design, while John Underkoffler, a science adviser to films including Iron Man and Hulk, will organize exhibitions that fuse design and technology. (ARTnews)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Tokyo Hopes It Has a Genuine Banksy Rat – Could Banksy be in Japan? Tokyo officials believe that a new piece of graffiti found on a door near the Hinode monorail station in the center of the city could be the work of the famous British street artist. Tokyo’s governor tweeted an image of the work, positing it might be a “gift” from the artist to the Japanese capital. Officials have now removed now the work—which resembles another well-known Banksy work, Umbrella Rat—for safekeeping as they work to verify its authenticity. (Independent)
Artist Banu Cennetoglu Looks Back – The Istanbul-based artist known for her epic documentary projects—most notably The List, which documents the death of refugees and migrants—is presenting an introspective video for her first US solo show. Cennetoglu suspects she may be the only person to watch 1 January 1970 to 21 March 2018, a 128-hour montage of stills and videos of her life, in full at SculptureCenter in Queens. (New York Times)
Artist Drops $100 Million “Museum Cartel” Lawsuit – The artist who sued the Metropolitan Museum of Art and four other major New York museums for allegedly conspiring to eliminate competition in the art market by showing only a small group of predetermined names has given up his quixotic legal quest. In December, a judge rejected Robert Cenedella’s lawsuit, but the left the door open for him to try again. The artist now confirms he is not pursuing the case, though he maintains he is in the right. (Press release)
Jim Carrey Makes His New York Debut at the Outsider Art Fair – Los Angeles-based Maccarone Gallery has brought Jim Carrey’s satirical portraits to New York’s Outsider Art Fair this week. Signed prints, produced in an edition of 200, are available as well as unique works in Carrey’s signature unflattering style. His portrait subjects include the US President and various members of Team Trump, including White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. (Instagram)
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