Art Industry News: Jonathan Jones Slams Jim Carrey’s ‘Astonishingly Bad’ Art + More Must-Read Stories

Plus, Iraq steps up efforts to restore ancient Nimrud and a prestigious French art prize lifts its age restriction.

A still from the Jim Carrey documentary I Needed Color.

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 Thursday, August 10.

NEED-TO-READ

If Donald Trump Were an Art Critic – Two jokers on Instagram have imagined what the president might say if he were trying to Make the Art World Great Again. Jeff Koons is his favorite; he is less than impressed with Cindy Sherman’s selfies. (Hyperallergic)

Restoration of Nimrud Begins – UNESCO’s efforts to restore the ancient city of Nimrud in Iraq began last month following the site’s liberation from ISIS in November 2016. The project is part of a 10-year, $100 billion reconstruction plan for regained zones. (Al-Monitor)

The Case of the Missing MoMA Commission – Phillip Denny investigates what became of Gregory Ain’s most important commission: an exhibition space destined for MoMA’s garden in 1950. Details of the project appear to have been suppressed, which may have something to do with the fact that Ain was under FBI surveillance at the time. (The New York Times)

Jonathan Jones Eviscerates Jim Carrey’s Art – The ever-punchy Guardian art critic has no end to the scorn and vitriol he pours on Jim Carrey’s artwork (as seen in the new short film “I Needed Color”), calling him “an astonishingly bad painter and sculptor” and a “deluded character” whose “painful” art is a “joke” and “gives amateurs a bad name.” He then goes on to flame-sear the artistic efforts of other celebs, including Sylvester Stallone, James Franco, and Val Kilmer. (Guardian)

Remembering Martin Roth – Tim Reeve, the deputy director of London’s Victoria & Albert Museum, has penned an obituary for the “maverick” German museum director, who died on Sunday at age 62. (The Art Newspaper)

ART MARKET

Block Museum Wins Purchase Prize at Expo Chicago – The Northern Trust Purchase Prize, which funds a local museum’s acquisition at the fair, will go to the Mary & Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University. The museum will select a work from the fair’s Exposure section, dedicated to young galleries. (ARTnews)

proyectosLA Announces Participants – Sixty-two artists (including Julio Le Parc, Amalia Ulman and Carmen Argote) from 19 galleries in the US and Latin America will participate in the upcoming fair/exhibition hybrid, which is now officially part of the Getty Foundation’s PST: LA/LA initiative. (ARTnews)

Art Advice From the Mouths of Babes – If you’re in London and looking to spend your good money on art, who should you ask for advice? The New York Times, in its eternal wisdom, wants you to know about 23-year-old Lawrence Van Hagen, a floppy-haired “art advisor known for his gilded touch” who has been visiting Christie’s since he was 6 and works alongside his mother,  Susanne Van Hagen, in the “mother-and-son art advisor” LVH Art. (NYT)

COMINGS & GOINGS

New Grants for Latinx Artists – The National Association of Latino Art and Cultures has added a new category to its latest round of funding: a $10,000 grant dedicated to emerging artists working with video and film. (Glasstire)

Elmhurst Art Museum Names New Director – John McKinnon, the former program director for the Society for Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, joins the Illinois museum on its 20th anniversary. He succeeds Jenny Gibbs, who left to join the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. (Artdaily)

FOR ART’S SAKE 

Age Restriction Lifted for French Art Prize – From September 1, the French Academy’s prestigious residency program at the Villa Medici in Rome will no longer limit the age of eligible applicants to 45 and younger. (Le Journal des Arts)

The Trailer for ‘Loving Vincent’ Is Out – The animated biopic, billed as the first-ever entirely hand-painted feature film, takes the shape of a mystery based on the iconic painter’s death in 1890. Watch the magnificent trailer for Loving Vincent below. (Loving Vincent)


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