From the World’s Most Perfect Private Museum to the Artist Who Attacked Marina Abramovic: The Best and Worst of the Art World This Week

Catch up on this weeks news—fast.

The Passageway in the Pavilions. Photo: Iwan Baan, courtesy of Glenstone Museum.

BEST?

Hollein Takes the Helm – The new director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art spoke to artnet News editor-in-chief Andrew Goldstein about his vision for the future of the museum, and how he plans to change the way we think about contemporary art.

Basquiat Goes Broadway – Jean-Michel Basquiat was, and remains, a rock star in the art world, so it’s fitting that he’s about to get the musical treatment, with an ace team of theater veterans taking his tragically short life to Broadway.

Las Vegas Gets Some High Art – Sin City’s newest museum is devoted to the joys and counterculture lore of cannabis, featuring cinematic paraphernalia and the world’s largest glass bong.

A Picture-Perfect Art Oasis? – artnet News’s Julia Halperin reports on the slightly discomfiting vibe at the newly renovated private Glenstone Museum in Maryland, which is more refined and micromanaged than any perfectionist could ever hope for.

From Lecture Hall to the Museum Wall – PhD student Denise Murrell’s research on the history of African American models throughout art history is going to be the subject of a major exhibition at Columbia University, which will then travel to the Musée d’Orsay in Paris next year.

Kava-Nope! – The artist Robin Bell teamed up with women’s activist group UltraViolet to project an anti-Brett Kavanaugh message onto the DC Courtroom where he presides. Bell has previously used his guerilla-art tactics to wage accusations against President Trump, using the Trump Hotel in DC as his backdrop.

Is AI Art the Next Great Art Movement? – Naomi Rea and Tim Schneider investigate whether artificial intelligence art is going to take over the art world, requiring human artists to go back in time and recruit Leonardo da Vinci to defeat it in a high-stakes paint-off, or whether it’s still in a very nascent stage of its development and we don’t need to worry too much… yet.

WORST?

Attack on Marina Abramović – The internationally renown performance artist was the victim of an attack by a Czech artist who struck her with a frame. After the incident the artist spoke to her assailant, who claimed he did it for his art.

Turner Prize Protest – Artist Luke Willis Thompson’s work was the subject of a protest at Tate Britain’s Turner Prize exhibition. The collective BBZ London organized against Thompson, whose film work has delved into police violence in the black community, with the message that “black pain is not for profit.”

Censorship at Serralves Museum – Curator João Ribas resigned from the Portugal museum, saying that they censored a show of Robert Mapplethorpe. The museum says they didn’t change a thing.

Jim Carrey’s Gallery Debut – The funnyman-turned-political satirist is showing works at Maccarone’s L.A. gallery space. The reason that this is in the “Worst” category is because some of the people he satirizes are just the worst.

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