A rendering of Deborah Kass’s “OY/YO.” Two Trees Public Art Commission (courtesy Two Trees)
Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world.
Deborah Kass‘s monumental sculpture “OY/YO” will go on display at Brooklyn Bridge Park next month. The work, which visually recalls Ed Ruscha’s “OOF” (1962), simultaneously riffs off the Yiddish phrase “oy vey” and the statement “I am” in Spanish.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, ISIS executed three unidentified individuals by attaching them to ancient columns rigged with explosives. The executions were held in the ancient city of Palmyra, where the terrorist group have already destroyed the Arch of Triumph, and two 2,000-year-old temples.
According to Bloomberg, over $1 billion in guarantees have been agreed upon ahead of November’s contemporary auctions at Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and Phillips.
The de Blasio administration appointed 19 new members to NYC’s Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission, including Steve Buscemi, Thelma Golden, Arnold Lehman, and Fred Wilson.
The Charter for the Society of Artists of Great Britain and its Roll of Obligation (1765), part of the RA Collections (photo by David Parry)
The Charter for the Society of Artists of Great Britain (founded 1765), along with its associated Roll of Obligation, were rediscovered by archivists at the Royal Academy of Arts. Archivist Mark Pomeroy told the Guardian that the documents had been mislaid in a box marked “artists’ memorabilia.”
The Guardian published a full page print advertisement listing over 300 academics who have committed to boycotting Israeli academic institutions.
Artist Lech Szporer protested the US prison system by locking himself into a cage opposite the Manhattan Detention Complex. In a press release, Szporer described America’s prison complex as “horrific, inhumane, and an issue of grave urgency.”
Goldsmiths is offering six new scholarships for refugees and asylum seekers as part of its response to the ongoing migrant crisis.
The Richard Avedon estate blocked the sale of a 1962 work by the photographer.
Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush will hold a fundraiser in Miami during this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach art fair.
The new overseas owner of Rembrandt‘s “Portrait of Caterina” (ca. 1657) decided to withdraw his export application so that the painting will remain in Britain. Ed Vaizey, the UK’s culture minister, had placed an export bar on the work last week.
A rendering of Hank Willis Thomas’ commissioned sculpture (courtesy Jack Shainman Gallery)
New York’s Department of Cultural Affairs commissioned Hank Willis Thomas to design a sculpture for the base of the Brooklyn Bridge — a monumental bronze arm and index finger raised to the sky.
Conrad Milster, Pratt Institute‘s chief engineer, is one of five staff and faculty members facing eviction from the art school’s Brooklyn campus.
LACMA’s director Michael Govan, as well as the museum’s senior curator Stephanie Baron, lambasted curatorial studies programs during a recent visit to New York. “I don’t believe in programs for curatorial practice,” Baron stated. “They’re trade schools. I’d much rather take a chance on someone who wants to come do an internship.”
CCS Bard launched aCCeSsions, a new student-run journal.
Chicago’s city council approved the construction of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
LURA, a cafe in Providence that was purportedly reviewed by The New York Times, turned out to be a parody art project ridiculing foodie culture.
A new Tumblr, Bad Art Museum Reviews, spotlights the worst museum reviews submitted to Yelp.
Yelp reviews of the New Museum (top) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (bottom) (via badartmuseumreviews.tumblr.com)
Italian fashion house Fendi moved into its new headquarters, the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana. The building, which was designed by Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Bruno La Padula, and Mario Romano, was commissioned by Benito Mussolini.
London’s controversial Jack the Ripper Museum caused a fresh uproar for promoting a Halloween event in which visitors can pose for selfies with the serial killer’s victims.
Internet radio host Josh Hadley received a takedown request from the George Orwell estate over the sale of T-shirts with ‘1984’ printed on them. “First off is the irony of the estate of George Orwell being all Orwellian,” Hadley told TorrentFreak. “But second is that you can’t copyright a number.”
Transactions
Head of Herakles, (Italy, c. 1st century A.D), marble. Dallas Museum of Art. Gift of David T. Owsley in memory of Professor Alan R. Bromberg, via the Alvin and Lucy Owsley Foundation, Cecil and Ida Green Acquisition Fund, and Wendover Fund (courtesy DMA) (click to enlarge)
The Dallas Museum of Art acquired a first-century bust of Herakles (aka Hercules).
The Helen Diller Family Foundation donated $3 million toward the creation of the Helen Diller Institute, a collaborative space at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco.
Joe and Sharon Muscarelle donated $2.5 million to the Muscarelle Museum of Art. Joe Muscarelle’s parents, Joseph and Margaret Muscarelle, donated $1.35 million toward the construction of the museum in 1985.
Artlifting, a website for homeless, disabled, and disadvantaged people to sell their art, raised $1.1 million in seed funding.
Dasha Zhukova donated $1 million to establish a new visiting artist program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
David Zwirner joined the board of Paddle 8. The online auction company announced that they received $34 million in series C funding.
Auctionata acquired London-based valuation company ValueMyStuff.
The Art Gallery of Ontario acquired works by four contemporary Canadian artists — Michael Dumontier, Luis Jacob, and Seth and Jacob Whibley — with funds raised at Art Toronto’s Opening Night Preview.
Bank of America awarded conservation grants to 13 projects, including the conservation of Édouard Manet’s “Woman in Evening Dress” (1877–80) and Stuart Davis’s “The Mellow Pad” (1945–51).
Stuart Davis, “The Mellow Pad” (1945-1951), oil on canvas, 26 1/4 x 42 1/8 inches (via Brooklynmuseum.org) (click to enlarge)
Transitions
Julia Peyton-Jones will step down as the director of the Serpentine Gallery next summer.
Daniel Keegan, the director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, will retire in May.
Peggy Fogelman was appointed director of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Chantal Pontbriand was appointed CEO of the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art.
Judy Kim was appointed deputy director of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
The Museum of Russian Icons in Clinton, Massachusetts, was accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
Douglas M. Woodham was appointed president of collections management services at the art storage company UOVO.
The National Academy Museum and School inducted 19 artists and architects as National Academicians, including Nick Cave, Suzan Frecon, David Salle, and Andres Serrano.
Accolades
Njideka Akunyili Crosby was awarded the Studio Museum in Harlem’s Wein Prize.
Abbas Akhavan was awarded the 2015 Sobey Art Award.
Mischa Kuball was awarded the 2016 German Light Art Award.
The inaugural Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize was awarded to DW Gibson and Atticus Lish. Gibson was awarded the non-fiction prize for The Edge Becomes the Center: An Oral History of Gentrification in the 21st Century, while Lish won the fiction prize for his debut novel Preparation for the Next Life.
Obituaries
Murphy Anderson’s cover for the July 1972 issue of Ms. magazine (via msmagazine.com)
Murphy Anderson (1926–2015), comic book artist.
Stanislav Filko (1937–2015), artist.
Wojciech Fangor (1937-2015), artist.
Philip French (1933–2015), film critic.
Lisa Jardine (1944–2015), historian and broadcaster.
Chun Kyung-ja (1924–2015), painter.
