Week in Review is a weekly collection of news, developments, and stirrings in the art world. Subscribe to receive these posts as a weekly newsletter.
The US Department of Homeland Security banned Eyal Weizman, director of Forensic Architecture, from entering the US. Set to attend the opening of his exhibition at Miami’s Museum of Art and Design, Weizman was told by an officer at the US Embassy in London that his visa was revoked for triggering a “security algorithm.”
Six trustees of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York City have resigned in protest of former director Caroline Baumann’s removal. Baumann was discharged from her position after the Smithsonian investigated an alleged conflict of interest regarding the dress and venue for her 2018 wedding.
British artist Felicity Hammond penned an open letter saying she was never paid the fees owed to her by the Dutch art fair Unseen, which declared bankruptcy last month. The fair’s new owners, Fons Hof and Johan de Bruijn, initially brushed off her missive, but are now promising to pay her invoice and 26 other outstanding payments out of their own pockets.
Over 220 artists and cultural workers have signed an open letter that decries over-policing of NYC subways. Penned by advocates from the Black School and the Laundromat Project, the letter condemns the recent vote to spend nearly $250 million on the deployment of 500 additional MTA officers in the city’s subways.
“Isfahan III”, MSSA Collection. (photo courtesy MSSA Collection. Courtesy MSSA/Frank Stella. © 1968 Frank Stella / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York)
Frank Stella’s painting “Isfahan III” (1968), donated to the Museum of Solidarity (Museo de la Solidaridad) in Chile in 1972, disappeared for nearly 20 years after a coup d’etat. As the museum conserves the painting with the help of the Getty Foundation, its unconventional story is coming to light (apparently, the work at one point operated as a lunch table for unwitting museum workers).
Posture specialist Mark Josefsberg coined the term the “Museum Walk” to describe the unhealthy way in which we move in museums, along with a guide on posture improvements that can help you avoid it. He shared with Hyperallergic some tips to avoid lower back pain and exhaustion while walking through an exhibition.
A former Hamptons gallerist gave an anti-Indigenous rant at a screening of Conscience Point, Treva Wurmfeld’s documentary about tensions between the Shinnecock Nation and the Hamptons population occupying its ancestral land. According to Tela Troge, a tribal attorney for the Shinnecock legal department, Ruth Vered said she “was proud to have white privilege and called herself the ‘queen of white privilege.’”
Berlin nightclubs are seeking the same federal protections as theaters, opera houses, and other cultural spaces. Last Wednesday, February 12, the nightclub advocacy group Clubcommission asked the German Parliament to protect the nation’s clubs from gentrification.
Rembrandt van Rijn’s “Portrait of a Young Woman” (1632), formerly attributed to “Studio of Rembrandt,” before restoration (left) and after (right) (all images courtesy of the Allentown Art Museum)
A restoration of “Portrait of a Young Woman” (1632), formerly credited to Rembrandt’s studio and residing at the Allentown Art Museum, has been re-attributed as an original by the Dutch Master. Over the centuries, conservators applied thick, dark varnish over the painting to create a sheen, sacrificing the clarity of the portrait, muting its colors, and concealing Rembrandt’s brushwork.
The prominent Turkish arts philanthropist Osman Kavala, imprisoned since 2017, was found not guilty of attempting to overthrow the government, but re-detained on new charges. Just hours after an Istanbul court acquitted Kavala and eight co-defendants, he was ordered to remain in detention as part of a previous investigation against him.
The Sistine Chapel in Vatican City (via Richard Mortel/Flickr)
To celebrate the 500th anniversary of the death of Renaissance artist Raphael, a number of his designed tapestries will return to the lower walls of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City. Raphael, who was a rival to Sistine Chapel painter Michelangelo, will share the same space for the first time in centuries.
The Drawing Center in New York City will be free through 2023. Starting February 20, coinciding with the opening of the Curtis Talwst Santiago and Guo Fengyi exhibitions, guests can visit the center without paying admission.
President Trump’s new border wall is threatening the cultural heritage of the Tohono O’odham people, including burial grounds and a biosphere reserve. Construction of the 30-foot steel fence, which began in September in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, destroyed swaths of desert plants, among them saguaro cacti, which the O’odham consider ancestors; last Monday, February 10, construction crews blasted Monument Hill, a significant burial ground.
The French nonprofit Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions (AWARE) will recognize a solo booth of a woman artist by a gallery at this year’s Armory Show with a $10,000 award to either a living artist or her estate. AWARE co-founder Camille Morineau has also curated an audioguide walk-through of the fair highlighting the work of female artists, such as Betye Saar, Alicja Kwade, Olga de Amaral, and Zanele Muholi.
Amoako Boafo, “The Lemon Bathing Suit” (2019), oil on unstretched canvas, 205.7 x 193 cm (80 7/8 x 75 7/8 in.) (courtesy of Phillips)
Phillips London’s 20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale realized $27,665,782, with 86% of the lots sold. The first lot to the auction block, Amoako Boafo’s “The Lemon Bathing Suit” (2019), sold for $881,550, 14 times its high estimate, and an artist record of $568,110 was set for Tschabalala Self, who is currently the subject of an exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston. This and other notable sales and acquisitions are chronicled in our latest Transactions story.
This Week in the Art World
Still of Aria Dean’s “Notes on Blaccelerationism” (2017) (courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali, New York)
Aria Dean is now represented by Greene Naftali. | via email announcement
Madeline Hollander is now represented by Bortolami. | via email announcement
Tishan Hsu is now represented by Miguel Abreu. | via email announcement
Jasmine Wahi has been named Holly Block Social Justice Curator at the Bronx Museum. | via email announcement
Joshua Liner Gallery in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood has closed. | Hypebeast
The Museum of Modern Art has appointed Clément Chéroux as its new chief photography curator. | NYT
The Noguchi Museum has selected architect Sir David Adjaye OBE and artist Cai Guo-Qiang as recipients of its 2020 Isamu Noguchi Award. | via email announcement
Laura Creed has been named executive director at Ballroom Marfa. | via email announcement
Charles Moffet Gallery is moving to 511 Canal Street in Manhattan. | via email announcement
The Canada Council for the Arts has named the eight winners of its annual Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts: Anna Torma, Zainub Verjee, Deanna Bowen, Ruth Cuthand, Michael Fernandes, Kenneth Robert Lum, Jorge Lozano Lorza, and Dana Claxton. | ARTnews
Eugene Hernandez has been named director of the New York Film Festival. | Variety
Pace Gallery, Acquavella Galleries, and Gagosian have joined forces to sell the Donald B. Marron Family Collection. | via email announcement
The Spring/Break Art Show in New York City has announced exhibitors and a new location for its 2020 edition. | ARTnews
The Meadows Museum has appointed Anne Kindseth as its new director of education. | via email announcement
The Joan Mitchell Foundation has added artist and educator Paul Ramírez Jonas to its Board of Directors. | via email announcement
Seattle Art Fair has named Deana Haggag, president & CEO of United States Artists, artistic director of its 2020 edition. | via email announcement
The Pérez Art Museum Miami has awarded its 2020 Pérez Prize to Puerto Rican artist Daniel Lind-Ramos. | via email announcement
The High Museum of Art in Atlanta has appointed Monica Obniski as curator of Decorative Arts and Design. | via email announcement
Galerie Templon now represents artist Robin Kid (“THE KID”). | via email announcement
In Memoriam
Kamau Brathwaite (1930-2020), Caribbean poet and scholar | NYT
Zoe Caldwell (1933-2020), four-time Tony Award-winning actress | NYT
Pearl Carr (1921-2020), British singer | Guardian
Jean Daniel (1920-2020), French journalist | NYT
Peter Dreher (1932-2020), German artist | Badische Zeitung
Bashar Jackson (“Pop Smoke”) (1999-2020), Brooklyn rapper | NPR
Buzzy Linhart (1943-2020), singer-songwriter | NYT
Bonnie MacLean (1938-2020), psychedelic poster artist | NYT
Lawrence Tesler (1945-2020), who invented computers’ cut, copy and paste functions | United Press International
Barbara Remington, Tolkien book illustrator | NYT
Esther Scott, American actress (1953-2020) | NYT
