Plus, Emmanuel Macron launches a "complete diagnostic" of French artist residencies and why Adrian Piper hasn't seen her MoMA show.
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, June 28.
Why Adrian Piper Hasn’t Seen Her MoMA Show – The artist granted a rare interview and unprecedented access to the Adrian Piper Research Archive Foundation Berlin for an in-depth profile. Due to her self-imposed exile from the US, she oversaw the development of her MoMA retrospective only via a scale model of the galleries in her studio. Working on a new sculpture, doing yoga, and cooking helped her “ward off a really bad attack of regret, longing, and self-pity for not being able to be present,” she says. (New York Times Magazine)
Macron Launches Artist Residency Reform – The French state currently supports more than 500 artist residencies with around €7 million ($8 million) each year. Macron has tasked senior official Thierry Tuot with identifying the strengths and weaknesses of existing residencies before September 10. After that report is completed, those residencies that do not meet the state’s strategic objectives may be eliminated, and provisions to create new ones will be provided. (Le Monde)
Artists Denounce Trump’s Travel Ban – Richard Prince, Marilyn Minter, and Raymond Pettibon joined organizations including the Association of Art Museum Directors to voice their dismay when the Trump administration’s travel ban was upheld by the US Supreme Court. Artists and curators from the seven mainly Muslim countries will be directly affected by the move. In a statement on Twitter (aka a tweet), Richard Prince called his country “High Castle America,” referring to The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick’s dystopian novel about a fascist takeover of the US. (The Art Newspaper)
British Museum Director Defends Ivory Acquisition – Hartwig Fischer has accepted more than 500 Chinese ivories collected by Victor Sassoon for the British Museum. Although he says he would never buy modern ivory, rejecting donations of antique ivory “would not save an elephant’s life today.” Noting that historical artifacts tell important stories about practices of different civilizations, he says: “When you come to a museum, you understand that, at different times, different things were part of life and you engage with that and try to understand it.” (Times)
Christie’s Targets 19th-Century Masters – The auction house is staging a curated sale of 19th-century European art on October 31 starring an erotic work by Gustave Courbet once owned by Matisse. The move was prompted by strong prices for Delacroix and Corot in the sale of the Rockefeller collection. (Art Market Monitor)
Initiative Aims to Diversify the Art Trade – Easel, a new UK-based charitable initiative, seeks to “encourage people of all backgrounds to consider [the arts] a viable career choice.” The organization is launching an annual career fair and mentorship program and plans to offer grants to help graduates enter the art world who are not supported by the bank of mom and dad. (TAN)
Tiffany Is the Tops at Bruneau & Co – A Tiffany table lamp, glass vase, and pair of lamp screens sold for a combined $213,750 at the auction house in Rhode Island. Another top lot in its design sale, a 1962 Silver Ghost Rolls-Royce, was snapped up by a Cambodia-based buyer for $55,000. (Press release)
Auerbach and Andre Shine at Bonhams – A 1967 painting by Frank Auerbach, Figure on a Bed II, and Carl Andre’s 14 Steel Row (1968) both sold above estimate for $1.9 million and $513,000 respectively at Bonhams in London on June 27. (Press release)
Copenhagen Launches Kunsthalle – The Danish collective Superflex have brought home their giant swing set, originally commissioned for the Turbine Hall in London’s Tate Modern, to inaugurate Copenhagen Contemporary, a 75,000-square-foot exhibition space that opens today in a refurbished shipyard. (TAN)
Jarman Award Releases Shortlist – The contenders for the £10,000 ($13,000) film award are Larry Achiampong and David Blandy; Jasmina Cibic; Lawrence Lek; Daria Martin; Hardeep Pandhal; and Margaret Salmon. The winner will be announced in November after events exploring the work of the nominees are held in art centers across the UK. (Press release)
London’s Aga Khan Centre Gets Royal Opening – Prince Charles inaugurated the Fumihiko Maki-designed Aga Khan Centre in King’s Cross, which has a monumental commission by Rasheed Araeen. The academic building is devoted to education and research focused on better understanding Muslim culture. (Dhaka Tribune)
Marcel Duchamp Prize Exhibition Arrives – The four finalists for the prestigious $43,000 award—Mohamed Bourouissa, Clement Cogitore, Thu Van Tran, and Marie Voignier—will show work in a group show at the Centre Pompidou between October 10 and December 31. The winner will be announced on October 15. (Le Figaro)
Dealer Sues Polish Government Over 18th-Century Painting – An American art dealer, Alexander Khochinsky, is suing the Polish government after it tried to extradite him in a case centered on a 1754 painting. The dealer had alerted a Polish museum that Girl with Dove could be Nazi-era loot—and then ended up briefly arrested and on a wanted list. (ARTnews)
Elon Musk Upsets Gaseous-Unicorn Artist and His Daughter – Tom Edwards was initially excited when Tesla chief Elon Musk tweeted a photo of a mug featuring his drawing of a unicorn emitting rainbow electricity from its posterior. But his enthusiasm waned when he found out the company had used the image on its Christmas card and integrated it into its operating system without asking permission. Edwards’s daughter tweeted, “Grimes’ boyfriend ripped off my dad’s art!” Musk replied that the artist’s complaint was “lame” and that he should be grateful for the attention. (Guardian)
9/11 Memorial Museum Explores Sports – The role of sports in helping to heal a mourning nation after the 9/11 attacks will be the focus of the exhibition “Comeback Season” at the New York memorial museum. Through testimonies from athletes, coaches, and 9/11 family members, the show emphasizes the unifying power of supporting a sports team. (Press release)
Juergen Teller Reacts to Germany’s World Cup Games – As part of his show “Zittern auf dem sofa” (“Trembling On the Sofa”) at the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow, the artist is broadcasting his reactions to every game Germany plays in the World Cup. See him here celebrating German’s victory over Sweden on Saturday, and stay tuned for the artist’s reaction to yesterday’s upset defeat of Germany by South Korea. (Instagram)
