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 Wednesday, January 16.
NEED-TO-READ
EU Court Sides With Artist Over Explicit Exhibit – The European Court of Human Rights has sided with a Moldovan artist who was sentenced to two years in prison in 2013 for creating sculptures of male and female genitalia with the faces of politicians and prosecutors on them to protest government corruption. The court found that Anatol Matasaru’s suspended sentence was “manifestly disproportionate” and could chill freedom of expression. (Courthouse News)
Could Art Loans to Senegal Become Permanent? – As the new Museum of Black Civilizations opens amid a heated restitution debate in Europe, some wonder whether the significant objects on temporary loan to the museum could stay put for good. A 19th-century sword that belonged to a prominent Muslim leader, on loan from the Musée de l’Armée in Paris, was recently identified in a major report as an object that should be returned immediately. “We want everything back in Senegal, because these artworks are ours and should be back where they belong,” said culture minister Abdou Latif Coulibaly. (New York Times)
What’s in Lance Armstrong’s Art Collection? – The former pro cyclist shows off his art-filled Aspen home, where he and his family moved full-time last year. Works in his high-octane, bro-tastic art collection include an Ed Ruscha print over the fireplace, a Kehinde Wiley portrait in the kitchen, and works by Tom Sachs, Shepard Fairey, Rob Pruitt, and Barry McGee. The athlete has become increasingly comfortable making art purchases online, he says, including a recent Banksy print that reads “Paranoid Pictures.” “Now the images are so clear and precise that there’s not a lot of guesswork anymore,” Armstrong says. “The Banksy and a Mark Ryden I bought sight unseen.” (Architectural Digest)
Artists Respond to Brexit Deal Rejection – Leading UK artists are angry and frustrated following the rejection of British Prime Minster Theresa May’s Brexit deal last night, and the vote of no confidence today. “Brexit seems to have brought out the very worst in us—Britain is more intolerant, more xenophobic, more insular than I have known it to be since the 1970s,” says artist Anish Kapoor. (The Art Newspaper)
ART MARKET
Hauser & Wirth Will Represent the Estates of Max Bill and Georges Vantongerloo – The gallery will represent the Max Bill Georges Vantongerloo Stiftung, a foundation that oversees the estate of Belgian artist and De Stijl group founding member Georges Vantongerloo and part of the estate of Bauhaus-trained Swiss artist Max Bill. The foundation was established by Bill’s widow, the curator and scholar Angela Thomas Schmid. She is organizing a show about the Bauhaus movement and Bill’s contributions to it at Hauser & Wirth’s Zurich gallery in June. (Press release)
Iran Auction Posts Strong Showing Despite Sanctions – Despite jitters over the return of US sanctions, the tenth Tehran Auction generated a total of $8.1 million last week, more than double the proceeds from last year’s equivalent contemporary art sale. An untitled mirror mosaic by Monir Farmanfarmaian sold for almost $1 million, a record for a local female artist. An estimated 1,000 people attended the auction in Tehran. (Al Jazeera)
Felix L.A. Announces Exhibitor List and Special Projects – The inaugural edition of the art fair, scheduled to coincide with the debut of Frieze Los Angeles, will be held in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. It will host about 40 galleries, predominantly from Los Angeles and New York, including Richard Telles, Smart Objects, and White Columns. Galleries from farther afield include Tanya Leighton from Berlin and Stevenson Gallery from Cape Town. (Hollywood Reporter)
Art Basel Hong Kong Announces ‘Encounters’ Artists – Twelve large-scale installations, including eight new works, will land at Art Basel in Hong Kong this March. Kukje Gallery, Massimo De Carlo, and Perrotin will jointly premiere a hyper-realistic upside-down cityscape by Elmgreen & Dragset, while Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Lehmann Maupin, and PKM Gallery will present a new work by Korean artist Lee Bul inspired by the ill-fated Hindenburg airship. (Press release)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Creative Capital Announces Award Winners – Fifty projects by 58 artists will receive a total of $5 million worth of Creative Capital funding in 2019. Award winners, who receive $50,000 each, include artist Polly Apfelbaum for a craft installation and Karina Aguilera Skvirsky’s video installation How to build a wall and other ruins. (Press release)
Carolyn Glasoe Bailey Foundation Awards Art Prize – The Los Angeles-based sculptor and installation artist Kelly Akashi has won the Carolyn Glasoe Bailey prize. She will receive a $10,000 grant, a residency in Ojai, and a solo show at the foundation in California, opening in June. (ARTnews)
LA’s Craft and Folk Art Museum Rebrands Itself – The museum on Wilshire Boulevard has changed its name to Craft Contemporary. Dropping “folk” and adding “contemporary” to its title “plants us in the now,” says Suzanne Isken, the LA museum’s director, who has overseen a rise in visitor numbers ahead of the rebranding. (Los Angeles Times)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Shanghai Finally Gets a Legit Yayoi Kusama Show – The veteran Japanese artist, who has inspired a host of rip-off Infinity Rooms in China, will now be the subject of an official—and sanctioned—exhibition in Shanghai’s Fosun Foundation. “Yayoi Kusama: All About Love Speaks Forever,” will include more than 40 works, including an Infinity Mirrored Room as well as her latest painting series, “My Eternal Soul.” The survey opens in March and runs through June. (Press release)
Fight Over Diabolical Selfie Sculpture in Spain – A planned bronze sculpture of a smiling devil taking a selfie has upset some Catholics in Segovia, who complain he appears too jolly. The sculptor, José Antonio Abella, says he was surprised by the backlash to his planned gift, which is based on a popular legend taught to local schoolchildren. City councillor Claudia de Santos calls the opposition campaign “unfair and disheartening” and has pledged to support the sculptor. (BBC)
Jeremy Deller Launches Sexy Archaeology Range – The Turner Prize-winning artist’s latest clothing line aims to “make archaeology sexy again.” Deller has collaborated with the fashion photographer David Sims and the brand Aries to create the WiltshireB4Christ collection, which includes sweatshirts, t-shirts, socks, blankets, stickers and other merchandise that stars Stonehenge in Wiltshire and Dorset’s well-endowed Cerne Abbas Giant. An exhibition of work inspired by the giant ancient figure opens today at London’s The Store X, while the line will be available online beginning January 18. (Hypebeast)