Art Movements

Troy Richards and Knut Hybinette, “the seeing glass” (2017), VR simulation, 5 minutes (courtesy the artists, © Troy Richards and Knut Hybinette)

Art Movements is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world. Subscribe to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter.

The National Endowment for the Humanities announced that it will award up to $1 million in emergency funds for cultural institutions impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The storm has displaced thousands of people and has so-far claimed more than 30 lives. Houston’s theater district was particularly hard-hit, with almost every venue reported to be waterlogged. The Blaffer Art Museum, the Houston Center for Photography, the Menil Collection, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston have reported their facilities and collections as safe. The Rockport Center for the Arts suffered severe damage according to an announcement by its executive director Luis Purón.

The Los Angeles City Council voted 14-1 to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day.

William Eggleston will release Musik, an album of his synthesizer compositions, on October 20.

The Delaware Art Museum unveiled “the seeing glass,” a virtual reality experience created by artists Troy Richards and Knut Hybinette. The work is described as a three-dimensional reimagining of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s 1875 painting “La Bella Mano.”

Thirty-two-year-old Curtis Valentine died following an altercation at the Head Too Heavy Gallery in Bushwick last weekend. Anyone with information can contact the NYPD confidentially by calling (800) 577-TIPS.

A new statue of Martin Luther King Jr. will be unveiled outside the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta on Monday. Designed by Martin Dawe, the King sculpture joins nearby memorials to Confederate general and alleged Ku Klux Klan leader John Brown Gordon, and US Senator Richard Russell, a staunch opponent of Civil Rights legislation and a supporter of racial segregation.

Benjamin Grajeda Regalado, the head of Mexico’s federal police, announced the creation of a task force committed to the protection of the country’s cultural heritage.

The Berkshire Museum declined an offer of $1 million from a group of anonymous donors calling for the suspension of a planned auction of 40 works from the museum’s collection at Sotheby’s. The museum controversially decided to deaccession the works, including two paintings donated directly by Norman Rockwell, last month.

(via ozmarecords.com)

The Voyager golden record was published on vinyl and made available for order online. The original gold-plated copper records were attached to NASA’s Voyager 1 and 2, and contain a selection of photographs, music, and sounds “intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials.” The mission status of the two probes can be accessed here.

Trevor Paglen and the The Nevada Museum Of Art launched a crowdfunding campaign for the Orbital Reflector, a mylar balloon sculpture that will orbit Earth for several weeks before burning up upon re-entry into the atmosphere.

The Washington Square Association — a Greenwich Village neighborhood group — voiced objections to Good Fences Make Good Good Neighbors, a collaboration between Ai Weiwei and the Public Art Fund. The project involves the installation of over 300 site-specific security fences across New York City.

Demolition began on Robin Hood Gardens, the renowned Brutalist estate designed by Alison and Peter Smithson, despite years of campaigning and heritage efforts.

The University of Manchester digitized a collection of over 150 letters by mathematician and codebreaker Alan Turing. The documents were recently re-discovered by Professor Jim Miles during an inspection of an old filing cabinet on campus.

In accordance with his wishes, Terry Pratchett’s hard drives were destroyed by a steamroller at the Great Dorset Steam Fair. The late novelist instructed his estate to destroy all traces of his unfinished work.

Transactions

Dread Scott, “A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday” (2015), nylon, 84 x 52 1/2 in, hangs outside Jack Shainman Gallery on West 20th Street in Chelsea, Manhattan (image © Dread Scott, courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York)

Dread Scott’s “A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday” (2015) was acquired by the Museum of Contemporary Art in San Diego. According to ArtNews, the Whitney Museum of American Art is in the process of acquiring an edition of the work.

The Parrish Art Museum acquired the art, archives, and resources of the James and Charlotte Brooks Foundation.

The South Street Seaport Museum received $4.5 million from the City of New York to stabilize and restore the Lightship Ambrose (LV-87).

The Victoria & Albert Museum acquired a sapphire and diamond cornet designed by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria.

The Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis received a $20,000 grant from the Dana Brown Charitable Trust in support of its ArtReach and LEAP Middle School Initiative youth education programs.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden acquired 11 works by Japanese photographers, including Eikoh Hosoe, Minoru Hirata, Tatsuo Kawaguchi, Miyako Ishiuchi, Kōji Enokura, and Takashi Arai.

Koji Enokura, “Symptom—Lump of Lead to the Sky: Mountain in Nagano (P.W.-No. 47)” (1972), gelatin silver print, 21.7 x 30.2 cm (© Michiyo Enokura; courtesy Taka Ishii Gallery New York)

Transitions

Bo Rothstein resigned as professor of government and public policy at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government. Rothstein resigned after learning that Leonard Blavatnik (for whom the school is named) had also donated funds to Donald Trump’s inauguration. A number of academics signed an open letter in 2015 opposing Blavatnik’s £75 million (~$97 million) donation to the university’s School of Government, insisting that the university “should stop selling its reputation and prestige to Putin’s associates.”

Marek Olszewski, the president of Poland’s national tourist organization, was fired after telling a reporter that he had removed the Auschwitz memorial from the itinerary for foreign journalists’ visits.

The Singapore Art Museum abandoned its search for a new chief executive officer and director.

Jeffrey Herbst resigned as president and chief executive of the Newseum in Washington. The Freedom Forum, the museum’s parent foundation, is reportedly considering an outright sale of the struggling institution.

The Hammer Museum elected three new board members: Linda Janger, Glenn Kaino, and Dean Valentine.

Mary Colleen Heil will step down as president of the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in June 2018.

George-Ann Tobin plans to retire as the National Gallery of Art’s endowment chief later this Fall.

Tessa Praun was appointed director of the Magasin III Museum and Foundation for Contemporary Art in Stockholm.

Lieven Bertels was appointed director of the Momentary, a planned satellite space of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Site work is currently scheduled for early 2018.

Claire Shea was appointed deputy director of Para Site.

William L. Coleman was appointed associate curator of American art at the Newark Museum.

The 2018 edition of the 2018 Biennale de Montréal was cancelled due to its deficit of CAD 200,000 (~USD 160,000).

Housing gallery will open at 424 Gates Avenue, Brooklyn — the former space of American Medium gallery. According to Eileen Isagon Skyers, Housing’s creative director, the gallery aims “de-gentrify the space, effectively supporting the practices of black artists and non-black POC.”

Interference Archive will relocate to a new building three blocks away from its present space at 131 8th Street in Gowanus, Brooklyn.

Accolades

Judith Linhares, “Dance II” (2017), oil on linen, 3 1/2 x 25 1/2 in (courtesy the artist and Anglim Gilbert Gallery, San Francisco)

Judith Linhares received the Artists’ Legacy Foundation’s 2017 Artist Award.

The Bessies 2017 awards for Lifetime Achievement in Dance and Outstanding Service to the Field of Dance were awarded to Jawole Willa Jo Zollar and Eva Yaa Asantewaa respectively.

Danielle Dean was appointed Artist-in-Residence for the Cranbrook Academy of Art’s photography department.

Jochen Volz received Independent Curators International’s 2017 Agnes Gund Curatorial Award.

The Underground Museum received the Ellsworth Kelly Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.

The Seattle Art Museum announced the finalists of the 2017 Betty Bowen Award.

Sarah Branch, Kiana Carrington, Linda Diaz, Donnay Edmund, Claire Kim, Alexandria Ryahl, and Alexa Smithwrick were selected for the Downtown Brooklyn Arts Management Fellowship [via email announcement].