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 Tuesday, September 12.

NEED-TO-READ

A Look at Kara Walker’s Grim Perspective of Trump’s America – Art writer Priscilla Frank reviews Walker’s new show at Sikkema Jenkins & Co in New York City, analyzing the work and ultimately calling it “abusive, cartoonish, obscene.” But don’t take that the wrong way, the exhibition is praised for its contemporary look at racism in America. (Huffington Post)

LA Artists Open Museum to Raise Awareness on Displacement – Artists Michael Parker and Alyse Emdur have transformed their shared studio into the Artists’ Loft Museum Los Angeles (ALMLA) with the aim of bringing attention to the rising rents and evictions in the city’s arts district. But the project, which opened on August 31, may be short-lived: The landlord has notified Parker and Emdur that the rent has been raised to $2,050, which is about 200 percent more than what they paid six years ago. (Artforum)

Santander Cultural Shuts Down Brazil’s “Queermuseum” – Santander Cultural, an arts and cutural center in Porto Alegre, Brazil opened “Queermuseum: Queer Tactics Toward Non-Heteronormative Curating,” a show which included 85 artists and 263 artworks, making it Brazil’s biggest queer art exhibition ever. However, the gallery, sponsored by the Spanish bank Santander, was forced to close the show following criticisms from visitors who accused the artwork of blasphemy, pedophilia, and bestiality. (Hyperallergic)

A Mondrian Shown at Bozar Is Perhaps a Fake – A painting attributed to Piet Mondrian included in an exhibition at Bozar in Brussels is a fake, according to the investigation of Leon Hanssen, a Dutch specialist on the work of Mondrian. The museum has yet to confirm Hanssen’s assertion, stating that  “He claims the work is not authentic but we are awaiting an official report.” (Xpats)

ART MARKET

Here’s What the Top 200 Collectors Bought in Last Year – The works range from big-name artists to lesser-known emerging artists, but collectors Daniel and Estrellita B. Brodsky—who were included in the survey—could agree that “it has been a busy year.” Included in the list are Samson Young’s We Are the World, Kevin Beasley’s Untitled (Panel 4), and works by Laura Owens and Anicka Yi. (ARTnews)

How to Properly Consign an Artwork – A step-by-step guide to making sure you don’t get the wool pulled over your eyes when consigning an artwork. The biggest tip? Never rely on a verbal agreement. (Burnaway)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Christine Eyene to Curate 2018 Casablanca Biennial – In a bid to forge an intercultural dialogue between African artists and the international art scene, Eyene has been named artistic director of the fourth edition of the biennial, set to run in October 2018. Eyene is a research fellow in contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire and the cofounder of YaPhoto, a photography platform based in Yaounde, Cameroon. (Artforum)

MSU Broad Receives $1 Million Gift – The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University was awarded $1 million from MSU Federal Credit Union to expand the museum into a new space across the street. (Artforum)

Top Curator Resigns from AGO – Andrew Hunter, curator of Canadian art at Art Gallery of Ontario, has stepped down to explore other community arts initiatives. He leaves AGO at the risk of the museum being set back in its commitment to programming exhibitions around marginalized histories and indigenous art. (The Star)

No Longer Empty Hires Raquel de Anda – The nonprofit that organizes site-responsive exhibitions in empty public spaces has hired independent curator Raquel de Anda as director of public engagement in an effort to draw the public into cross-cultural, generational, and socioeconomic dialogue. (Press release)

FOR ART’S SAKE 

The Broad Releases 40,000 More Kusama Tickets – After the initial release of 50,000 tickets sold out in less than an hour, the museum will temporarily extend its opening hours during the exhibition to accommodate the extra visitors, whose tickets will go on sale October 2. (LA Times)

Rachel Whiteread Derides ‘Plop Art’ – The English artist has criticized public artworks that don’t engage with their surroundings, making them difficult to notice. “Art has got extremely popular which is great for many reasons but I think a lot of public sculpture is ill-thought-out and put in places it shouldn’t necessarily be,” she said. She goes on to say that London is one of the biggest culprits of this unfortunate phenomenon, since it’s “completely full of sculptures which no one bears a blind bit of attention to.” (The Guardian)

Hirshhorn Acquires Landmark Ragnar Kjartansson Series – All four installments of the Icelandic artist’s acclaimed ongoing video series, “Me and My Mother,” as well as any future iterations of the work, will head to the Hirshhorn alongside 17 other new acquisitions. (Press release)

FROM OUR PARTNERS

Lin Jingjing’s “Take Off”
De Sarthe Gallery – Hong Kong
September 16 – October 14

In this solo exhibition by Lin Jingjing, the Beijing- and New York-based conceptual artist refashions the gallery space into the airport of the imaginary People’s Republic of Dreamland—embracing anthropologist Marc Augé’s theory of such “Non-Places” to explore such heady themes as the anxieties of today’s society, and the feeling that people have lost their individuality.

Lin Jingjing’s Our Only Security is Our Ability to Change, 2017. Courtesy of De Sarthe Gallery.

Critical Thinking Matters- It’s Time to Reinvent, Rethink, Re-strategize, and Grow, 2017. Courtesy of De Sarthe Gallery.