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 on this Friday, May 19.
NEED-TO-READ
Right-Wing Backlash Over Benin Bronzes in Germany – Germany has led the way in repatriating these precious bronzes but, since it became clear that they will enter the possession of Benin’s king rather than the Nigerian state, their return has become controversial. Several right-wing politicians are speaking out, with one calling the news a “wake-up call to end the hyper-moralism in the whole restitution debate.” (Financial Times)
Stephanie Dinkins Wins Guggenheim Prize – The American artist is the inaugural winner of the new $100,000 LG Guggenheim Award, which recognizes artists working with art and technology. She was selected for her long-running experiments with AI, which have also seen her work to improve access to new technologies for marginalized communities. (The Art Newspaper)
Wim Wenders’s Anselm Kiefer Doc Drops at Cannes – The German filmmaker premiered his new documentary Anselm, about the life and work of the celebrated post-war German artist. Captured in 3D, Wenders uses the technique to convey the richly textural surfaces for which the painter and sculptor is best known. (Variety)
Dia to Steward Cameron Rowland Project – The nonprofit art foundation will protect Rowland’s 2018 piece of land art Depreciation. The work consists of a plot of land in South Carolina, which was once part of a plantation and is not open to visitors, as well as the documentation asserting both the artist’s ownership and their restrictive covenant forbidding future development of the land, which will go on display at Dia Chelsea. (Press release)
MOVERS & SHAKERS
UCLA Names Leader of Center for the Art of Performance – Mexican-born Los Angeles-based Edgar Miramontes will be the first leader of color to helm CAP UCLA since it was founded in 1936. Miramontes was appointed by the School of Art and Architecture dean Brett Steele after an international search to replace Kristy Edmunds, who left in 2021 to lead MASSMoCA. (LA Times)
Eugenie Tsai Departs Brooklyn Museum – After 15 years the senior curator will depart the Brooklyn institution on June 30, writing that her plans include “new projects and revisiting some that have been on the back burner,” with a renewed focus on Asian American art and history. In her post on social media, Tsai acknowledged that “all institutions are flawed,” an especially prescient comment as workers have recently staged protests over stalled union negotiations at the museum. (Instagram)
Denver Museum Shutters “Problematic” Hall – The Denver Museum of Nature an Science will close its North American Indian Cultures Hall following years working to address the problems in consultation with representatives from the Indigenous community. Built in 1978, the museum acknowledged that “the Hall reinforces harmful stereotypes and white, dominant culture.” (Denver Post)
Ortuzar Projects Plans Major Expansion – The Manhattan-based gallery is planning to expand into a new 10,000-square-foot space at 5 White Street in Tribeca, some three times the size of its first location, which is literally next door. Founded by former Zwirner partner Alex Ortuzar, the gallery is focused on presenting works by overlooked international artists, including the former NFL star Ernie Barnes, whose estate the gallery has just begun representing along with Andrew Kreps, following the breakout sale of Barnes’s Sugar Shack at Christies for $15.3 million, more than 80 times its low estimate. (ARTnews)
FOR ARTS SAKE
Sarah Sze Opens New Installation at London’s Peckham Rye Station – The station’s dusty, disused Victorian waiting room has been lit up by Metronome, the American artist’s exploration of how digital media, smartphones and other electronic devices flash and flicker into our everyday lives. “We are in the middle of an extreme hurricane where we are learning to speak through images at an exponential pace,” explained the artist. The work is reminiscent of Sze’s recent Guggenheim show Timekeepers, and remains on public display until September 17. (Press release)
Sarah Sze, Metronome (2023) a The Waiting Room, Peckham Rye Station. Photo: Thierry Bal, courtesy the artist © Sarah Sze, commissioned by Artangel.
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