Plus, Immersive Van Gogh is the most successful attraction in the world on Ticketmaster, and an NFT executive is accused of insider trading.
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 Thursday, September 16.
Immersive Van Gogh Is Ticketmaster’s Most Successful Attraction – The proliferation of “Immersive Van Gogh” shows across the U.S. and North America has, apparently, made the production the most successful event in the world on Ticketmaster, where 3.2 million tickets have been sold to date. (Just don’t confuse “Immersive Van Gogh” with “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” or “Imagine Van Gogh: The Immersive Exhibition,” which are separate companies.) Tickets for the immersive light show, which is operational in 21 cities, can cost up to $70 a pop. (Bloomberg)
Christie’s to Sell the Collection of Late Designer Herbert Kasper – Art owned by the late American fashion designer is expected to rake in as much as $11.5 million at Christie’s this fall. Thirty-five Old Master drawings will hit the block on October 14, with other works, including Fernand Leger’s painting La femme à la toilette (estimate: $1.5 million–$2 million), to follow. A portion of the proceeds from the 129 lots will go to an undisclosed charity. (Women’s Wear Daily)
Art Is Influential, Promise! – A number of artists and art-world figures make appearances on this year’s TIME 100 list of the world’s most influential people. Ai Weiwei penned the entry about Cuban dissident artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcantara, while architect David Adjaye wrote about academics Felwine Sarr and Bénédicte Savoy, the authors of France’s influential report on art restitution. There is Hal Foster on Barbara Kruger, Anita Hill on Mark Bradford, and Thelma Golden on Tracee Ellis Ross. Who ever said art was niche? (TIME)
OpenSea Exec Accused of Insider Trading on NFTs – An unnamed top executive at the popular NFT platform OpenSea has been accused of insider trading, purchasing pieces from NFT collections before they went up for public sale. The exec used secret crypto wallets to buy the NFTs before they were listed, then sold them shortly afterward and funneled the money back to his personal account. OpenSea is reviewing the incident. (Tech Crunch)
The U.K. Gets a New Culture Secretary – In a surprise cabinet reshuffle, Oliver Dowden is out as the U.K’s culture secretary and Nadine Dorries is in. An author and former minister for mental health, she is probably best known for stints on reality TV. “Left-wing snowflakes are killing comedy, tearing down historic statues, removing books from universities,” she has said, “and suppressing free speech.” (Evening Standard)
Amy Winehouse Gets a Museum Show – The Design Museum in London will hold an exhibition devoted to the distinct style of the late singer Amy Winehouse. “Amy: Beyond the Stage,” developed with input from her stylist and her family, opens November 26 with a range of guitars, handbags, and outfits made for the singer by the likes of John Galliano and Moschino. (Evening Standard)
Mega-Collector NIGO Named Artistic Director of Kenzo – The DJ, art collector, and founder of the clothing line A Bathing Ape has been tapped to lead the fashion label Kenzo. NIGO was an early supporter of KAWS and in 2005 commissioned a work from the artist, The Kaws Album. The collector sold that painting and others at Sotheby’s Hong Kong in 2019 for a cool $28 million. (Complex)
Superflex Will Bring a Climate Message to the U.N. – The Danish art collective is planning a 145-meter-tall projection on the façade of the United Nations headquarters in New York during the next General Assembly. The 20-minute video, inspired by a colony of invertebrates that play a key role in removing carbon from the sea, will be shown on a three-hour loop every evening from 8 p.m. between September 21 and 24. (TAN)
