Art Movements
This week in art news: the British Museum apologized for a controversial #AskACurator tweet, Documenta's organizers disputed claims that the exhibition has accrued a €7 million deficit, and an 88.5-foot-tall Keith Haring mural in Paris was restored.
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 British Museum issued an apology after an #AskACurator tweet by Jane Portal, a curator in the museum’s department of Asia, was accused of racism and dumbing down.
The organizers of Documenta 14 disputed claims that the latest edition of the German quinquennial has amassed a €7 million (~$8.3 million) deficit.
Conservators William Shank and Antonio Rava completed their restoration of Keith Haring‘s 88.5-foot-high artwork, “Tower,” on the exterior of the Necker-Enfants Malades hospital in Paris — a structure the artist referred to in his writing as the “ugly building.”
Queermuseum, the first major exhibition dedicated to queer art in Brazil, was closed by its sponsor a month before its scheduled end date following a slew of vitriolic and bigoted criticism, primarily on social media.
Preliminary reports indicated that a number of Florida museums, including the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Tampa Museum of Art, and the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, emerged largely unscathed in the wake of Hurricane Irma.
Ann Freedman, the former director of the Knoedler gallery, settled the last of ten lawsuits related to the gallery’s forgery scandal.
The Walker Art Center‘s board hired a law firm to review its handling of Sam Durant’s “Scaffold” (2012). According to The New York Times, several employees anonymously criticized executive director Olga Viso, accusing her of “not always [being] open to criticism or warnings” from staff.
Barry Diller withdrew his support for Mathews Nielsen and Thomas Heatherwick’s $250-million Pier 55 project following a spate of legal battles with the City Club of New York. Developer Douglas Durst admitted to funding the City Club’s lawsuits in a recent interview with The Villager. The admission was the latest twist in the personal feud between the two businessmen.
Several museums hoisted Robert Longo’s “Untitled (Dividing Time)” (2017), the latest artist-designed flag presented as part of Creative Time’s Pledges of Allegiance project.
A number of artists — including Banksy, Rowan Abbott, and Sarah Dosomah — produced works for the Art the Arms Fair, an activist campaign opposed to Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI), the world’s largest arms fair.
Henry Christian-Slane, the winner of the 2017 BP Young Artist Award, donated a portion of his prize money to Greenpeace in protest over the award’s role in promoting the oil company’s image.
The Google Cultural Institute launched Latino Cultures in the US, an online exhibition of works of Latino art, culture, and history.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art‘s board finalized its job description for the role of director.
Liccy Dahl, the widow of author Roald Dahl, revealed in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that her husband originally intended the eponymous hero of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) to be black, but was dissuaded by his agent. Dahl originally described the “Oompa-Loompas” who worked in Willy Wonka’s factory as black pygmies, sparking a controversy that led to a permanent revision of subsequent editions.
Transactions
The Tate acquired Martin Parr’s collection of over 12,000 photobooks.
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation donated $55 million towards the renovation of the New York Public Library‘s Mid-Manhattan branch, the second largest single gift the institution has ever received.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired a gilded coffin lid dating to the late Ptolemaic period.
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden acquired all four current installments of Ragnar Kjartansson’s video series “Me and My Mother.”
The MSU Federal Credit Union donated $1 million towards an expansion at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum (MSU Broad) at Michigan State University.
Yale University’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library acquired the archives of artist and filmmaker Barbara Hammer.
The Schlesinger Library at Harvard University acquired the personal papers of William Moulton Marston, best known as the creator of Wonder Woman.
Transitions
Lynn Zelevansky stepped down as director of the Carnegie Museum of Art (CMOA).
Benedict Heywood was appointed executive director of the Bellevue Arts Museum.
Cathleen Chaffee was promoted to chief curator of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
Declan Kiely was appointed director of exhibitions at the New York Public Library.
The Indianapolis Museum of Art appointed Dr. Annette D. Schlagenhauff and Kjell M. Wangensteen as curator of European art, and assistant curator of European art respectively.
Christine Eyene was appointed artistic director of the 2018 Casablanca Biennial.
Raquel de Anda was appointed director of public engagement at No Longer Empty [via email announcement].
Margaret Pomeroy Hunt was appointed chief development officer at The Shed [via email announcement].
Bonhams appointed Ralph Taylor as global head of post-war & contemporary art.
Deborah Ripley was appointed director of Bonhams’ prints and multiples department.
The University of the Arts and the Philadelphia Art Alliance announced a merger as the Philadelphia Art Alliance at the University of the Arts.
Sixteen new galleries became members of the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA).
Alice Walton announced the launch of Art Bridges, a 501(c)(3) foundation dedicated to loaning art works to exhibitions of American art.
The Texas Contemporary Art Fair cancelled its Fall edition in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.
Stuart Shave/Modern Art will open a second space in London on October 3.
New York’s Claire Oliver Gallery will relocate from Chelsea to Harlem.
Frank Bernarducci, the co-founder and owner of New York’s Bernarducci Meisel gallery, will open a second space dedicated to “precisionist realism” in Chelsea [via email announcement].
The Bruce High Quality Foundation shut down its free school, the Bruce High Quality Foundation University.
Accolades
Japan Art Association announced the recipients of the 2017 Praemium Imperiale Awards: Shirin Neshat (painting), El Anatsui (sculpture), Rafael Moneo (architecture), Youssou N’Dour (music), and Mikhail Baryshnikov (theatre/film).
The Getty Research Institute announced its 2017-2018 Scholars in Residence.
Rhizome announced the recipients of its 2017 Microgrants.
Rashayla Marie Brown and Claire Pentecost were named the recipients of the 2017 Chicago Artadia Awards.
Opportunities
Art Omi is accepting applications for its 2018 artist residency sessions. The deadline is October 15, 2017.
Obituaries
Francis Xavier Atencio (1919–2017), Disney animator.
Pierre Bergé (1930–2017), businessman and longtime partner of Yves Saint Laurent.
James Catterall (1948–2017), arts education advocate. Professor of education at UCLA.
Joan Colom (1921–2017), photographer.
JP Donleavy (1926–2017), writer. Best known for The Ginger Man (1955).
Bernard Dunstan (1920–2017), painter.
Nancy Hatch Dupree (1927–2017), writer and historian.
Halim El-Dabh (1921–2017), composer. Best known for ballets he composed for Martha Graham.
Greg Escalante (1955–2017), gallerist. Founder of Juxtapoz Magazine.
Michael Friedman (1975–2017), composer and lyricist.
Troy Gentry (1967–2017), musician. One half of Montgomery Gentry.
Jeremiah Goodman (1922–2017), portraitist.
Sir Peter Hall (1930–2017), film, opera, and theatre director. Founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Grant Hart (1961–2017), musician, singer, and songwriter. Member of Hüsker Dü.
Anita Thacher (1940–2017), artist and filmmaker.
Len Wein (1948–2017), comic book writer.
Don Williams (1939–2017), country musician.
Edith Windsor (1929–2017), gay rights activist and lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court of the United States case United States v. Windsor.
Gin D. Wong (1922–2017), architect.
