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, February 9.
NEED-TO-READ
Serpentine Taps Youngest Pavilion Architect Ever – The 38-year-old Mexican architect Frida Escobedo will draw on Mexican and British influences for her design of the temporary pavilion in London’s Hyde Park. Her enclosed courtyard with a pool in the middle—typical of Mexican domestic architecture—is made from British materials like roof tile. The project will be unveiled on June 15. (The Art Newspaper)
A Critic Travels to Trump’s Border Wall – Carolina Miranda travels down to the US-Mexico border to see the prototypes for Donald Trump’s wall on a tour organized by artist Christoph Büchel. In person, “they are absurd — bloated security theater in a color palette befitting a suburban subdivision,” she writes. “It was only a matter of time before an enterprising artist horned in on the action.” Locals, however, aren’t so enthusiastic about the idea of turning them into a monument. (Los Angeles Times)
Why Is the World’s Richest Museum Fundraising? – The Getty recently began to solicit annual financial gifts from patrons. But it’s already the richest museum in the world (last year, its endowment from the J. Paul Getty Trust hit $6.9 billion). The new push has other local institutions fearing the flush museum might poach their own reliable sources of funding. The Getty, meanwhile, says it is not targeting board members of other major LA museums. (TAN)
What Does It Cost to Be an Independent Curator? – A survey of independent curators found that many are working below the minimum wage. Curatorial fees are not regulated and a lot of unpaid time goes into preparing for a show. Furthermore, many indie curators are working on short-term contracts, have few benefits, and need other jobs to stay afloat. Those involved say firmer negotiations and salary data-sharing are necessary to keep the job viable. (Artsy)
ART MARKET
Why Iran’s Art Market Is Set to Explode – Modern Iranian art is drawing in wealthy young people who’ve inherited a vast amount of disposable income thanks to the country’s oil economy. Plus, Islamic authorities’ enforcement of censorship is reportedly on the decline, and selling art within Iran mitigates the effects of the ongoing financial sanctions limiting trade and exhibitions abroad. (WSJ Magazine)
Spring/Break Announces 2018 Program – The annual New York art fair’s seventh iteration, “Stranger Comes to Town,” will run alongside the Armory Show from March 6 through 12. Spring/Break has invited more than 100 independent curators, including Dustin Yellin, Mari Spirito, and Anthony Haden-Guest, to present work by emerging and mid-career artists in the former Condé Nast Building in Times Square. (Artforum)
BRAFA Breaks New Attendance Record – The Belgian art fair closed its 63rd edition on February 4, announcing it had broken its attendance record for the fifth year running. The fair accommodated around 64,000 visitors, five percent more than last year, and credited the rise to foreign visitors from surrounding European countries and a keen young audience. (Press release)
Old Masters Market Surging With Unexpected Sales – The results of last week’s Old Masters sales at Sotheby’s were strong, with buyers including new and younger bidders tapping into unlikely places, such as the drawings market, and fighting competition from established collectors. (Art Market Monitor)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Gallerist Frederieke Taylor Dies at 77 – The New York art dealer who co-founded the gallery TZ’Art in SoHo and an eponymous gallery in Chelsea has died of cancer-related causes. She was a force to be reckoned with in the New York art world and was involved throughout the decades in several arts organizations, including ArtTable and Art in General. (ARTnews)
Collector Harry Anderson Dies – The art collector and philanthropist known for his impressive American postwar art collection died on Wednesday. Anderson and his wife Mary Margaret were important figures in the Bay Area who most recently gifted 121 major works, now called the Anderson Collection, to a museum at Stanford University that now bears their name. (SFGate)
MoMA Hires New Latin American Art Curator – MoMA has appointed Inés Katzenstein as the inaugural director of its new Patricia Phelps de Cisneros Research Institute for the Study of Art from Latin America. The Argentina-born curator, who will also serve as a curator of Latin American art at MoMA, is currently the director of the art department at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. (Press release)
Amy Sherald Wins Driskell Prize – The Baltimore-based painter has won the $25,000 David C. Driskell Prize from the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. Sherald was commissioned to paint the official portrait of former first lady Michelle Obama, which will be unveiled on February 12 at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. (Burnaway)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Joan Mitchell Taps Artist Residents – Artists including Ashley Teamer, Bob Snead, and Cecilia Fernandes will take up residence at the foundation’s center in New Orleans as part of its 2018 residency program. Each invited artist will be provided with a five-month stipend and individual studio spaces to create new work. (Artforum)
Diana Al-Hadid to Show in Madison Square Park – The Syrian-born, Brooklyn-based artist will present new architectural sculptures in her first outdoor public art project. Titled “Delirious Matter,” the presentation will open alongside a show of her 2012 sculpture Nolli’s Orders at the Bronx Museum of the Arts. (NYT)
NEA Awards $25 Million in Grants – The National Endowment of the Arts unveiled their newest grant packages, and this year 936 organizations across the US are set to receive aid from the federal agency. Of the total $25 million, $30,000 will be going to the Bronx Museum for its Diana Al-Hadid show, while the Guggenheim Museum will get $30,000 for its Danh Vo retrospective. (ARTnews)
Now You Can Color Museums’ Collections – Coloring is trending as the ultimate de-stressor, and it’s not just for kids. Now, the New York Academy of Medicine has organized its annual weeklong coloring festival, #ColorOurCollections, in which various public libraries and museums upload high-quality content from their image holdings so you can transform them into your personal coloring book. (BoingBoing)