Art Industry News: Hollywood Darling Cate Blanchett Is the Mega-Star of a New Video Artwork You Can Watch at Home + Other Stories

Plus, Frieze London announces its October exhibitors, and Christie's is selling a "mixed reality" artwork by performance art star Marina Abramović.

Australian actress Cate Blanchett at the 77th Venice International Film Festival 2020. Photo by Marilla Sicilia/Archivio Marilla Sicilia/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images.

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, September 16.

NEED-TO-READ

Artists Sign Open Letter in Support of Tate Workers – More than 300 artists, including Lawrence Weiner, Eddie Peake, Anicka Yi, and former Turner prize winner Mark Leckey have signed an open letter to the Tate demanding the museum use 10 percent of the £7 million it received in government aid to stop layoffs, and that no further cuts be made to workers so long as senior staff make over £100,000 in annual salary. The letter says that multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multilingual staff are those most affected by cuts in the arts sector. (Guardian)

Former Director of Human Rights Museum Accused of Embezzlement – Yoon Mee-hyang, the former president of the Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance, has been indicted on charges of embezzling 360 million won ($304,000) intended for the War and Women’s Human Rights museum in Seoul, which serves as a memorial to the women and girls forced to “comfort” the Japanese military during the Second World War. (Observer)

Supermodel Emily Ratajkowski Hits Back at the Male Gaze – In a story for New York magazine, Ratajkowski explains how she tried to take back control of an Instagram image that Richard Prince used for one of his own artworks. “Everyone, especially my boyfriend, made me feel like I should be honored to have been included in the series,” she writes. “Richard Prince is an important artist, and the implication was that I should feel grateful to him for deeming my image worthy of a painting. How validating. She also alleges that photographer Jonathan Leder, who has published several releases of a book of images of Ratajkowski, sexually assaulted her during a photoshoot. (New York Magazine)

Faith Ringgold and Jordan Casteel in Conversation – In a discussion mediated by ARTnews, painter Jordan Casteel recalls reading Faith Ringgold’s seminal children’s book, Tar Beachas a three-year-old. “To have a representation of a young Black girl as the central character in a story was the main thing I identified with,” Casteel says. The two also discuss how Black Lives Matter protests have figured into their work. “If I am going to commit to painting Black and Brown bodies—and I will continue to do that—it is going to be an act that contributes to the conversations that are happening right now,” Casteel says. (ARTnews)

ART MARKET

Frieze Announces London Exhibitors – The London edition of Frieze, which has moved online, will include 250 galleries for the edition slated to run from October 9 to 16, with preview days on October 7 and 8. Blue-chip galleries including Marian Goodman, Hauser & Wirth, Xavier Hufkens, Pace, Skarstedt, and Sprüth Magers will be exhibiting. White Cube will present a solo booth of new works by Theaster Gates. (Press release)

Christie’s to Offer Marina Abramović “Mixed Reality” Work – One of three editions of Marina Abramović’s augmented-reality work The Life will be offered for sale at Christie’s. The auction house will sell it on a yet-to-be-announced date in October, and claims that it is the first work of its kind ever to go to auction. (Press release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Peter Williams Wins Artists’ Legacy Foundation 2020 Award – The Delaware-based artist, who has spent four decades documenting current and historical events in brightly colored works that highlight the Black American experience with wit and humor, has won the annual $25,000 award. Williams incorporates scenes of police brutality, slavery, environmental damage, and cultural stereotypes into his work, and his most recent series chronicles the life of an Afrofuturist superhero. Williams’s work is on view at Luis de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles through October 10. (Press release)

Taipei Dangdai Pushes 2021 Edition – The Taipei Dangdai art fair in Taiwan has postponed its 2021 edition from January until May. The fair’s new dates are May 21 through 23 at its usual venue at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center. Applications for galleries to take part are open through November. (Artforum)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Photographer Once Tracked by the Stasi Gets a Retrospective in Berlin – The documentary photographer Harald Hauswald, who was heavily surveilled by the secret police as he documented life in East Germany, is getting a retrospective in Berlin. More than 250 of his photographs, taken between the late 1970s and the mid-1990s, are on view at the Amerika Haus through January 23. (DW)

Cate Blanchett Stars in Video Work – Hollywood actress Cate Blanchett features in a video and sound installation by Marco Brambilla on view at Michael Fuchs in Berlin through November 28. The actor’s face is multiplied by four to represent the four personality types categorized by the Greek philosopher Galen, with each head repeating “I love you” or “I don’t love you.” An augmented-reality edition of the work is viewable online through Acute Art’s app. (LA Times)

On Instagram, Anonymous Employees Call to Cancel Galleries – An art-world Instagram account called Cancel Art Galleries is airing anonymous complaints from the gallery world. Users have written in to share their experiences of racism and sexism as part of a wider public scrutiny of the art industry. (The Art Newspaper)


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