Plus, Irish fashion designer Simone Rocha curated a show, and the Baltimore Museum gets a new contemporary art chief.
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 on this Friday, April 8.
Hew Locke Works Will Adorn the Met – The Guyanese British artist will create four sculptures to adorn its Fifth Avenue facade. The project, titled “Gilt,” is the third in the Met’s ongoing series of site-specific commissions for the museum’s exterior. Locke’s project will run from September 16 to May 22, 2023. (New York Times)
Simone Rocha Is a Curator Now – The acclaimed Irish fashion designer Simone Rocha has organized a new show at Lismore Castle Arts titled “Girls Girls Girls.” The exhibition, which runs until October 30, includes works that engage and challenge femininity, and features Louise Bourgeois and Petra Collins. (Guardian)
Inside South Africa’s Art Industry – A lack of regulation in the South African art market makes its industry ripe for exploitation and the circulation of fakes, a report says. Works by 20th-century artists, like the late Lucky Sibiya, who died in 1999, are particularly susceptible. (South Africa Art Times)
People Are Stealing Street Art – Once considered vandalism, street art on walls or trains have become sought-after items in the marketplace, leading to a spike in street-art theft. Works by artists such as Phase 2 from New York and Banksy and Stik from the U.K. have become ripe targets of robbers, who have been holding some for ransom or selling them on the black market. (Daily Beast)
Guggenheim Fellowships Awarded – The Guggenheim Foundation has announced the 2022 recipients of its fellowships. Among the grantees are Ja’Tovia Gary, Maria Gaspar, and Cannupa Hanska Luger. (ARTnews)
SP-Arte Champions New Artists – Salespeople at the 18th edition of SP-Arte, open until April 10 and with 100 art galleries, said the show was upbeat. It included a new section titled “Radar” exclusively for artists without formal gallery representation. (The Art Newspaper)
New Contemporary Art Chief at BMA – Jessica Bell Brown has been named the head of the contemporary art department at the Baltimore Museum of Art. Formerly a curator at the museum, she will now manage the department’s collection, program, and oversee its curatorial team. (Artforum)
San Diego Art Museum Opens – The Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego opens to the public Saturday after a five-year, $105 million overhaul. Nearly half the work on view are examples by artists including Ruth Asawa, Jo Baer, Helen Frankenthaler, Dorothy Hood, and Miriam Schapiro. (L.A. Times)
What’s With the Mellon Foundation’s New Logo? – The Mellon Foundation has a new logo designed by Eddie Opara that brands a whole new identity for the organization. Its designer, Eddie Opara, said it suggests “the type of artistic expression that the Mellon Foundation fosters.” (It’s Nice That)
