From Obama’s Surprise Call for Artists to the Guggenheim’s Animal-Rights Maelstrom: The Best and Worst of the Art World This Week

BEST

• The Turner Prize show is often controversial, sometimes critically derided. But this year it’s great! Partly because it has more mature artists.
• What do Matthew Higgs, Eva Respini, and Adrian Cheng have in common? They’re on our list of art-world influencers to follow on Instagram.
• Pat Steir’s abstract, waterfall-esque paintings have been fan favorites for years. Now, at last, her market is starting to skyrocket too.
• You may not realize it, but some of your favorite burger joints, fashion statements, and edible undergarments started out as art projects. artnet News’s Ben Davis reveals all.
• The beloved philanthropist Agnes Gund gave the Cleveland Museum of Art a few masterpieces—including a giant baseball mitt by Claes Oldenburg.
• Speaking of Oldenburg, the great Pop artist has returned to Chelsea after a 12-year absence from the art world, and his new show is really, really fun.
• Artists around the US perked up their ears in a big way when the Obama Foundation announced it was starting an artist fellowship program.
• We learned that 90-year-old artist Rosalyn Drexler is an accomplished painter and writer. And also a former professional wrestler. Wow.
• Some of the world’s top artists are protesting Trump’s newest immigration ban. How? With posters.

Jim Carrey painting in his studio. Courtesy of the artist.

WORST

• The Guggenheim suffered a tremendous backlash after including several animal-related artworks in its new Chinese art show “Theater of the World,” with animal-rights protesters picketing the museum amid widespread criticism. artnet News’s Andrew Goldstein spoke to the curator, Alexandra Munroe, about why she included a contested work—and Ben Davis also explained the incredibly disturbing story behind the show’s hot-button dog-fighting video.
• The investigation into documenta’s incredible near-bankruptcy yielded some choice details, such as the fact the show’s staff carried literal bags full of cash to Greece.
• MoMA’s Klaus Biesenbach told us about the tremendous challenges Puerto Rican art institutions are facing in the aftermath of two hurricanes.
• The far right wing secured a terrifying victory in Germany’s recent elections. Wolfgang Tillmans and other horrified art-world figures had a lot to say about the rise of the nationalist party.
• Remember when Jim Carrey’s art was featured in a documentary? Now a new show of his paintings opened in Las Vegas, so naturally we took a look.
• After Hugh Hefner passed away, we surveyed the various ways his Playboy brand infiltrated contemporary art history.