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, July 19.
NEED-TO-READ
Mark Leckey’s Hit Video Taken Down by Google – Mark Leckey’s 1999 video Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, a 15-minute video of appropriated footage that traces the evolution of disco, has been removed from YouTube entirely following a copyright claim from the distribution company Fremantle Media, Inc. The British artist is disappointed that the whole page has gone. “I used to love the comments,” he says. Now Guggenheim curator Nancy Spector told Leckey via Instagram that she is trying to find a way for the museum to host the work. (ARTnews)
Students Cover Up Kipling Poem With Angelou’s – Students in Manchester, England, have covered up a mural of Rudyard Kipling’s poem If with the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou. A spokesperson for the Students’ Union calls the original work by an unnamed artist in the student-run space “a mistake.” Kipling has long been a controversial figure for his vocal support of the British Empire and his coining of the term “white man’s burden.” (Telegraph)
Beyoncé Wants to Film in the Colosseum – How does one top a video shoot at the Louvre? By filming at the Colosseum in Rome, of course! Italian media reports that Beyoncé submitted a request to film at the landmark earlier this month. But some things are difficult even for Queen Bey to pull off: Her first request was reportedly turned down by Italy’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage because of the short notice and a prior booking. The star has since resubmitted her request, which is now under review. (Vulture)
V&A Attendance Boosted by Its Sackler Entrance – Tristram Hunt, the director of London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, attributed the museum’s sharp rise in annual attendance, which is up almost a million to 3.99 million this year, to its popular exhibitions, such as one devoted to Pink Floyd, and its Amanda Levete-designed new entrance. The Sackler Courtyard, a white-tiled piazza off Exhibition Road, “is less, frankly, scary,” he said, compared to its main entrance in South Kensington. (Guardian)
ART MARKET
Christie’s to Sell the Remaining Thaw Collection – The 200-lot auction of the remaining collection built by the late American art dealer Eugene V. Thaw is expected to raise around $10 million. Proceeds will go to his foundation. A co-founder of the Art Dealers Association of America, Thaw advised David Rockefeller’s syndicate to buy the famed Stein Collection in 1968. (Art Market Monitor)
Antiquities Trade Challenges the UK Ivory Bill in Parliament – Members of the House of Lords who are critical of a bill tightening the ban on ivory in the UK have urged changes before it becomes law in the fall, calling the current version bureaucratic and potentially unworkable. Lord Inglewood, the president of the British Art Market Federation, described the plan to register antiques with more than 10 percent ivory “almost Kafkaesque.” (Antiques Trade Gazette)
Jhaveri Contemporary Is Upsizing in Mumbai – The gallery is relocating to a new, larger home in a 19th-century mansion in the city’s historic Colaba district. Co-founded in 2010 by sisters Amrita and Priya Jhaveri, the gallery was the first to show Mumbai-born Anish Kapoor’s work publicly in India. (Artforum)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Spain’s Venice Biennale Pavilion Revealed – The Basque-Spanish performance artist Itziar Okariz and the Spanish sculptor Sergio Prego will represent Spain in the 2019 Venice Biennale. The art critic and independent curator Peio Aguirre will organize the pavilion. (El Pais)
Song-Ming Ang to Represent Singapore in Venice – In other Venice news, Song-Ming will present a musical work titled “Music For Everyone: Variations on a Theme,” inspired by a historical concert series organized by the Singaporean Ministry of Culture in the ‘70s and ‘80s. The pavilion, which will be the country’s ninth at the biennale, will be curated by Michelle Ho. (ARTnews)
Hirshhorn Adds Two Board Members – Collectors Disaphol Chansiri and Steven M. Sumberg bring the number of trustees on the museum’s board to 33. Chansari, who is based in Bangkok, is the CEO of the DCA real estate group in Thailand. Sumberg is a real estate developer based in Washington, DC. (Press release)
Portland Museum Names New Contemporary Curator – Jaime DeSimone is joining the museum in Maine as an associate curator of contemporary art. She previously worked at Florida’s Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville. In her new role, she will organize exhibitions, supervise new acquisitions, and oversee the museum’s existing holdings. (ARTnews)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Studio in a School Students Get a Paint Donation – The artistically engaged students participating in Agnes Gund’s Studio in a School program will have all the acrylic paint and brushes they need for their creations this summer thanks to the art supply company Liquitex. The company’s donation will be used by participants in the teen apprenticeship program, which trains high schoolers in art-making and art teaching. It will supply more than 25 summer camps throughout the city with high-quality acrylic paint. (Press release)
Inside Kansas City’s New Art Hotel – See inside the newly restored historic Savoy hotel, which has reopened as the 21c Museum Hotel Kansas City after a $50 million transformation. The boutique hotel now features a contemporary art gallery and an entryway designed by artist Luftwerk alongside preserved historic elements such as mosaic floors and a stained glass dome. (Kansas City Star)
Jeff Goldblum’s Jurassic Park Statue Wows London – Social media has been going wild for a 25-foot-tall statue of the Hollywood actor that has been installed next to London’s historic Tower Bridge to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1993 film. Goldblum is depicted reclining with an open shirt. The statue is slated to leave the city today. (BBC)
Yves Klein Blue Invades Blenheim – Days after the US President’s controversial visit to the UK, which included a black-tie dinner at the 18th-century historic house in Oxfordshire, Blenheim Palace has been turned over to Yves Klein. The artist’s sculptures and action paintings are in residence amid the palace’s grandeur until October 7 to coincide with what would have been the French artist’s 90th birthday year. (Press release)