Plus, collector Jaime Botín won't serve his prison sentence after all, and Yayoi Kusama's latest show sold out before it even opened.
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Artnet News
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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 Wednesday, November 10.
Yayoi Kusama’s Retrospective Sold Out Before It Opened – The power of Yayoi Kusama remains undimmed. A retrospective of the Japanese artist at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art sold 150,000 tickets before it even opened to the public. All time slots are now filled through February 2022. The museum is considering expanding its hours while remaining open until midnight on Thursdays to meet the overwhelming demand. (Haaretz)
Barbican Responds to Staff Dossier – The Barbican is preparing its response to a dossier published earlier this year by a group of current and former staff detailing an “inherently racist” working culture at the institution. The board will now consider an “action plan” released by the city of London in response to the allegations, which includes “compulsory anti-discrimination training…rolled out to all staff at the Barbican Centre with senior leaders taking part first.” (Evening Standard)
Art Basel Hosts an NFT Exhibition – Oh, I’m sorry, you thought that Art Basel Miami Beach wouldn’t hop on the NFT train? The Miami edition of the fair, coming up December 2 through 4, is (of course) hosting an exhibition organized by the blockchain currency Tezos titled “Humans + Machines: NFTs and the Ever-Evolving World of Art.” Part of the show lets visitors create A.I. portraits of themselves and mint them as NFTs. (The Art Newspaper)
How the U.K. Government Is Interfering With Museums – The current political climate fostered by the U.K. government is “profoundly damaging” for museums, writes Charlotte Higgins. Over the past few years, appointments to museum boards and other cultural positions have become even more closely monitored and controlled by 10 Downing Street, which is “obsessed” with fears of culture wars. The government can preside over board changes at national museums and the Arts Council England. (Guardian)
Jaime Botín Won’t Go To Jail After All – The art collector and former president of Spanish bank Santander will not serve a three-year prison sentence because he suffers from an “incurable illness.” After authorities raided Botín’s yacht in 2017 and found Picasso’s Head of a Young Woman, he was found guilty of smuggling the work out of Spain despite having been denied an export permit. A medical evaluation conducted by a forensic doctor found that Botín was too ill to serve his sentence. His fine of €91.7 million ($101.2 million) remains in place. (ARTnews)
Anthony Meier Named ADAA President – The Art Dealers Association of America has named the art dealer as its next leader, succeeding Andrew Schoelkopf. Meier, who founded Anthony Meier Fine Arts in San Francisco in 1984, has served on ADAA’s leadership team since 2007, and currently serves as the president of the board of trustees at the Marfa-based Chinati Foundation. (ARTnews)
Board Chair Donates $10 Million to Otis College – Mei-Lee Ney, the chair of the board of Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles, has given the institution $10 million to create a four-year scholarship program named for the American artist and former faculty member Charles White. The inaugural scholarship will go to a first year student from an underrepresented group in Los Angeles County. Beginning in 2023, it expand to one student from L.A. and one from anywhere in the U.S. (Press release)
Art Critic Doesn’t Recognize Rupert Murdoch – Australian art critic Robert Nelson made a bit of a gaffe when he reviewed Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller’s latest work, a pair of gray melting wax sculptures of Fox News magnate Rupert Murdoch and his son Lachlan. Nelson mistook the father-and-son coupling for a Biblical reference. While he could probably have pretended he left the Murdoch name out of his piece as a political statement, he fessed up in a subsequent article. “I’d like to bask in the glow of this subtle gamesmanship,” he wrote, “but in all candor, I just didn’t realize that the two antiquated specimens were the Murdochs.” (The Age, Guardian)
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