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, December 15.
NEED-TO-READ
Bristol Didn’t Consider Removing Colston Statue – The city council of Bristol in the U.K. did not consider taking down the statue of slave trader Edward Colston despite concerns from the local community, a local court heard during the trial of four young people between the ages of 22 and 33 who were accused of pulling down the statue and dumping it in the river during a Black Lives Matter protest last year. The four accused—who have gotten support from none other than Banksy—denied criminal charges. (Guardian)
No, That ‘Succession’ Still Doesn’t Look Like a Renaissance Painting – A still shot from HBO’s hit series Succession has gone viral on social media. It’s the latest photograph or still from pop culture that has drawn comparisons to a Renaissance painting. There’s just one problem with all those analogies. “None of these things really look like Renaissance paintings,” argues Alex Greenberger. “Photographs and film images are meant to be composed in evocative ways… And why not just call the Succession image in question an example of good cinematography?” (ARTnews)
Xi Jinping Says Culture Workers Must Have Good Character – Culture workers, including artists, writers, entertainers, deemed to be of “poor conduct” will not be tolerated, the leader of China told a 3,000-strong crowd at a meeting with the arts and cultural sector in Beijing on Thursday. Xi emphasized his “five hopes” to cultural workers, reminding them of the role they play in “rejuvenating the great Chinese nation” and “tell[ing] great Chinese stories.” Arts and culture should keep a distance from money and not become slaves to the market, “treating artworks as commodities,” he added. (Ming Pao)
Italy Sends Treasures Out to the Regions – Artworks stashed away in storage at 14 state-run museums including Florence’s Uffizi Galleries and Milan’s Pinacoteca di Brera are making their way to lesser-known regional museums across the country as part of the new initiative, One Hundred Works Return Home (“100 opere tornano a casa”). Paintings, sculptures, and artifacts will be sent to local institutions where they have historical ties in an effort to boost attendance at off-the-beaten-path museums. (The Art Newspaper)
MOVERS & SHAKERS
A Climate Award for Emerging Artists – The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation and the Asia Society are joining hands to launch the Frankenthaler Climate Art Awards in a bid to engage emerging artists, who will likely face the impact in their lifetimes. Organizers will begin taking submissions of climate change-themed art from U.S.-based artists in January. Three winners will receive a cash prize of $15,000 each. (ARTnews)
A New Art Podcast Asks the Big Questions – A new podcast, Hope and Dread, asks some daring questions: Who has power in the art world? Who is trying to change that balance? And who is resisting it? It is created by the team behind the popular podcast In Other Words: art advisor Allan Schwartzman and his new editorial platform Art& with Charlotte Burns of Studio Burns, which produced the series. Hope and Dread: Tectonic Shifts in Power launches today. (Spotify)
Black Art Museum Comes to Inhotim – The Black Art Museum, founded by the late Abdias Nascimento, will get a wider audience through a two-year initiative from Institute Inhotim and the Institute for Afro-Brazilian Research and Studies. Until December 2023, the Black Art Museum will take up residence in Brazil’s most popular sculpture park with a series of exhibitions. (The Art Newspaper)
Berlin Biennale Names Curators – Ana Teixeira Pinto, Đỗ Tường Linh, Marie Helene Pereira, Noam Segal, and Rasha Salti have been named members of the curatorial team for next year’s Berlin Biennale. The event previously tapped the artist Kader Attia, whose work focuses on colonialism, as its artistic director. (ARTnews)
FOR ART’S SAKE
Remembering Etel Adnan the Guggenheim – The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York will host “An Evening of Poetry for Etel Adnan” on January 10, the final day of the artist’s solo exhibition “Light’s New Measure.” A cross-generational group of poets, including Ammiel Alcalay, Omar Berrada, and Stephen Motika, will read selections of their work alongside that of the trailblazing painter, writer, and poet, who died last month. (Press release)
Etel Adnan, Untitled, 2010. Collection of Karen E. Wagner and David L. Caplan, New York. © Etel Adnan