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 Tuesday, July 31.
NEED-TO-READ
Government Drags Its Feet on the US Pavilion in Venice – The State Department has been slow to pick an artist and institution to represent the US at the Venice Biennale next year. Is it any wonder? When the White House asked the Guggenheim for a Van Gogh, the foundation offered Maurizio Cattelan’s gold toilet instead. “There is a perception among those who are perhaps somewhat right-leaning that the art world is such a monetized sphere that it could fund itself privately rather than being, in any sense, state-supported,” says Christopher Bedford, who co-curated Mark Bradford’s US pavilion in Venice last year. (Guardian)
Pussy Riot Arrested (Again) – Immediately after they were released from a 15-day prison sentence following their stunt at the FIFA World Cup final, members of the art activist group Pussy Riot have been arrested—again. According to the group’s Twitter account, Veronika “Nika” Nikulshina, Olga Kuracheva, Olga Pakhtusova, and Petya Verzilov were charged with “the organization and holding of public events without prior written notice,” which adds another 10 days to their sentence. (Pitchfork)
How Trump Made Jim Carrey a Cartoonist – Since the day before the US presidential election, the actor-turned-artist has created more than 100 cartoons protesting Donald Trump and his administration. “It makes me feel better if I can alchemize all of this,” he told the New Yorker in an interview at his LA home and studio. Citing the Bhagavad Gita, he said, “It’s my Arjuna moment—my responsibility to pick up the sword.” (New Yorker)
Vogue’s Fall Issues Are Full of Surprises – Beyoncé has reportedly been given unprecedented control over Vogue‘s September issue, including the ability to hire a photographer of her choice to shoot the cover. Her pick: 23-year-old Tyler Mitchell, the first black photographer to shoot the magazine’s cover in its 126-year history. Also on the docket is Annie Leibovitz’s portrait of Stormy Daniels, which is due to run in the September or October issues. The magazine won’t confirm or deny the developments, but sources say the shoot with the porn star, who allegedly had an affair with Donald Trump, has been in the works for months. (Huffington Post, Mail Online)
ART MARKET
Dealer With de Koonings Is in Demand – David Killen, who claimed he found six paintings by Willem de Kooning in a New Jersey storage locker, says that he’s been flooded with interested buyers since the New York Post broke the story last week. He claims he’s been fielding calls from—among others—Sotheby’s, which he said previously turned him away, but says he now plans to auction the works himself. “After the article came out, they were suddenly interested,” he says. “Well, it’s too late.” (New York Post)
Hollis Taggart Consolidates in Chelsea – The New York gallery is moving from the seventh floor of its Chelsea home to the first and moving its Upper East Side storage unit to a space across the street. All told, the gallery and annex will measure nearly 4,000 square feet. Running two sites was “a little bit cumbersome,” Hollis Taggart says. (ARTnews)
The Market Grows for the “Female Gaze” – As demand for historic works by female artists grows, the market for paintings and sculpture by dead white male academic artists is down (but not out). Fewer than 10 people turned up for the recent Sotheby’s sale of 19th- and early 20th-century figurative sculpture, although 70 percent of the works still managed to find buyers. (Independent)
COMINGS & GOINGS
Norton Museum Gets $16 Million Gift – The Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, has received the single largest gift in its 77-year history from the Kenneth C. Griffin Charitable Fund. The eponymous hedge fund mogul’s donation will support the museum’s $100 million campaign to construct a 59,000-square-foot wing, among other updates. The new building will now be named the Kenneth C. Griffin Building. (Press release)
Mead Art Museum Acquires Shonibare Library – Amherst College’s Mead Art Museum in Massachusetts has acquired a large installation by Nigerian-British artist Yinka Shonibare titled The American Library Collection (Activists). Its colorful 234 books name different activists and are wrapped in Dutch wax print fabric. Another installation from the same series is currently on view at the FRONT Triennial in Cleveland. (ARTnews)
Museum Launches Initiative to Buy Work by Female Artists – The Krannert Art Museum in Illinois has raised $10 million over five years to strengthen its collection of work by female artists. The initiative, which concludes this summer, has allowed the museum to add a number of new works by artists including Linda Connor, Doris Derby, Bea Nettles, and Melanie Yazzie. (Press release)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Indigenous Artifacts and Remains Mysteriously Surface – There are more questions than answers in the curious case of a box of Inuit human remains and artifacts that was anonymously dropped off at an Inuit organization in Ottawa, Canada. Accompanied by an unsigned note that read “apologies for keeping them so long,” the box was “unceremoniously” left on the organization’s doorstep. (CBC)
Inside Britain’s Troves of Hidden Art – UK museums have collected a significant number of works by black and Asian British artists, but most of it remains hidden in storage. A new documentary follows the artist Sonia Boyce—the one involved in the temporary removal of Waterhouse’s Hylas and the Nymphs—as she tracks down some of the 2,000 works spread across 30 collections for her show at Manchester Art Gallery. (Guardian)
Italian Street Artist Released from Israeli Prison – Agostino Chirwin, also known as Jorit Agoch, was arrested on Saturday for painting a large mural of 17-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi at the Israeli separation barrier in Bethlehem. Israel released the artist yesterday, but his visa has been cancelled and he must return to Italy within 72 hours. (Euronews)
Artist Andrew Kuo Gets a New Instagram Handle – After the social media platform removed his old account following complaints over a lack of attributions in his posts, Kuo has started up a sequel account—@earlboykins2—right where he left off. Replete with cat pictures and other Internet curiosities, Kuo—who has had shows at Marlborough Contemporary in New York and Green Gallery in Milwaukee—says he mostly ‘grams while he’s waiting for paint to dry. (ARTnews)