Vladimir Putin
Roll Call of Dead Refugees Vanishes – Artist Banu Cennetoğlu’s The List, which records the names of more than 34,000 refugees killed seeking safety in Europe and was on public view for the Liverpool Biennial, has mysteriously disappeared from a local street, leaving organizers baffled. “We were dismayed to see it had been removed on Saturday night and would like to know why,” the biennial tweeted. The city council confirmed that none of its employees had removed the work. (Guardian)
The Battle Over Robert Indiana’s Legacy Gets Personal – Toward the end of his life, the American artist named his studio assistant, Jamie Thomas, as executive director of his foundation. But some question the former caretaker’s ability to look after the artist’s legacy or turn his home-studio on Vinalhaven into a museum. He’s been accused of intentionally isolating Indiana to take advantage of him and unwisely license his art. As lawyers head to court to wrest control of the artist’s legacy, Thomas isn’t commenting—nor is he invited to the artist’s memorial service on September 13. (New York Times)
Russia Orders Destruction of Anti-Putin Work – Activists are protesting an order by Russian authorities to destroy a framed print of 9 Stages in the Decomposition of the Leader (2015) by the art collective Rodina. The work, a time-lapse image that shows a photographic portrait of Putin gradually rotting on top of a box of grass, was seized during an anti-Putin protest in Saint Petersburg last spring. A local court is currently hearing an appeal that seeks to halt the work’s destruction. (Hyperallergic)
A To-Do List for LA MOCA’s New Director – Christopher Knight is skeptical about MOCA’s choice of Klaus Biesenbach as its new leader. By appointing an established curator with a thin administrative record, he writes, “you get the feeling that MOCA’s board, heavily populated by art collectors, is secretly eager for a personal curator of its own.” Nevertheless, he lays out four priorities for Biesenbach that should keep him busy for a few years: make MOCA free, build the depleted curatorial staff back up, remake the board of trustees, and focus on the art of LA. (Los Angeles Times)
ART MARKET
Ulay Will Be Represented by Richard Saltoun – London’s Richard Saltoun gallery now represents the performance artist and (recently reconciled) ex of Marina Abramovic. The gallery will present a solo show of his work next year featuring a rarely seen 1971 film of the former performance power couple driving a van in a circle in Paris, plus Polaroids of Ulay in drag. (The Art Newspaper)
David Mugrabi Files for Divorce – The art mega-collector and trader and his wife Libbie Mugrabi are divorcing. The couple, who have been married for 13 years, had no prenup in place, sources tell Page Six. Their divorce papers are sealed. (Page Six)
Aspen Screens an Art Market Exposé – The Aspen Institute is screening the documentary The Price of Everything, which traces how the art world became a financial market. Its producer Jennifer Stockman, who is a philanthropist and former Guggenheim trustee, will discuss the state of the art market with the film’s director Nathaniel Kahn at the event ahead of its HBO release. (Aspen Public Radio)
English Cathedral Buys Bible It Lost 500 Years Ago – Canterbury Cathedral has bought a 13th-century illuminated Bible that it lost when its library was dispersed after the Reformation. The cathedral paid a hammer price £100,000 ($130,207) at Bloomsbury Auctions to recover the Lyghfield Bible, which is named after a medieval monk. (Antiques Trade Gazette).
Stay Tuned....
Cheers,
Errol