Art Industry News: Is This Video Installation by Ragnar Kjartansson the Best Artwork of the 21st Century? + Other Stories

by admin

Sep 17, 2019

artnet

Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most
consequential developments coming out of the art world and art
market. Here’s what you need to know on this Tuesday, September
17.

NEED-TO-READ

Is the Middle-Class Collector a Thing of the Past?
– Many look back with
nostalgia at a time when collectors like Dorothy and Herbert Vogel,
a librarian and postal worker, could assemble a world-class art
collection on modest salaries. Today, the middle market has largely
been hollowed out by growing income inequality, the rising cost of
living, changing tastes, and speculators who gobble up lower priced
work to make a quick profit. The phenomenon is confirmed by a new
report, “Under Pressure: the Squeezed Middle Class,” published in
May by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development, which found hat the cost of living has risen for
middle-class people while wages have stagnated. (The Art
Newspaper)

France’s Culture Minister Wants to Send Art to the Regions
– The French culture minister
Franck Riester plans to introduce small-scale digital museums
around France that will share high-resolution digital copies of
works from the country’s 12 national public collections with people
in remote urban and rural regions. Dubbed “Micro-Folies,” the small
digital museums are expected to number 1,000 within three
years. Riester has secured an extra €3 million ($3.3 million)
for the project and promises that regional cultural authorities
will be closely involved in its development. (France
TV)

Is This the Best Art of the 21st Century?
– The Guardian‘s art critics teamed up
to tackle an impossible task: selecting the 25 best works of visual
art from the 21st century. Among the selections are: Arthur
Jafa’s White Album (2018), a video montage that
tackles white identity, which comes in at number 18; Olafur
Eliasson’s The Weather Project (2003), the
installation that brought the sun inside Tate’s Turbine Hall, at
number 11; and Pussy Riot’s Putin protest performance Punk
Prayer (2012), in fourth place. The surprise number one
pick? Ragnar Kjartansson’s melancholic, musical video
installation The Visitors (2012). “The
Visitors is a kind of extended farewell to romanticism, to
which Ragnar is both drawn and deeply suspicious of,” critic Adrian
Searle writes. (Guardian)

An Artist Says Hermès Ripped Off His Work
– German artist Martin Wojciechowski has called out
the luxury brand Hermès on Instagram, alleging that the company
ripped off one of his works for a display in its airport shops in
Japan and Korea. “Inspiration or plain copy?” he wrote on social
media. “It’s actually really not flattering to see my works
being reused for the background of boutique displays.” Page
Six says Wojciechowski’s lawyer sent Hermès a cease and
desist letter in June. (Page
Six)

ART MARKET

Andy Warhol’s Athlete Portraits Are Coming to Christie’s
– The collection of the late
businessman and dedicated Warhol collector Richard L. Weisman is
hitting the block at Christie’s in a series of auctions this fall.
Among the works on offer is the Pop artist’s “Athletes” series,
executed between 1977 and 1979 and commissioned by Weisman himself.
The top lot, a silkscreen of Muhammad Ali, is estimated to fetch
between $4 million and $6 million on November 13. All told, the
collection is expected to bring in around $15 million.
(ARTnews)

Maximillian William Opens London Gallery – The formerly itinerant Maximillian William
gallery is opening its first permanent space in London’s Fitzrovia
neighborhood at 47 Mortimer Street. The inaugural exhibition of a
new series of paintings by the gallery artist Reginald Sylvester II
is titled “Nemesis,” and will run September 27 through November 7.
(Press
release)

Ed Dolman on the Flattening Art Market – Phillips CEO Edward Dolman says that the art
market is much less “boom-and-bust” than it used to be, partly due
to the introduction of the third-party guarantee system. “[The
market has] been much more managed,” Dolman says. “The pricing is
more stable, but the management of the market has led to slightly
less vibrant activity in people’s tastes in the weeks or the days
running up to the sales themselves.” That might be due to change
soon, however: As you’ll read in the latest artnet Intelligence Report,
guarantees are becoming less popular than they used to be.
(ARTnews)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Americas Society Names New Director
– Argentinian curator
Aimé Iglesias Lukin has been appointed the new director and chief
curator of visual arts at the Americas Society. The New York-based
arts organization aims to foster an understanding of the political,
social, cultural, and economic issues facing the Americas. Lukin is
currently a PhD candidate at Rutgers University specializing
in modern and contemporary Latin American art. (Artforum)

Yuki Kihara to Rep New Zealand at the 2021 Venice
Biennale – This year’s Venice Biennale isn’t over yet, but
at least one country has already chosen its artist for the next
edition. New Zealand has tapped Samoan artist Yuki Kihara
to represent the country at the 2021 Biennale. The first artist of
Pacific descent to represent the country, Kihara examines the
effects of colonialism through photographs, video, and
performance. (ARTnews)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Officials Deny Reports That Prince Philip’s Statue Will
Displace the Fourth Plinth – Contemporary art fans
were dismayed to read a report in the Sunday
Times that a memorial statue of Prince Philip, the Duke
of Edinburgh, might displace the beloved series of sculptural
commissions that began 10 years ago atop the fourth plinth in
Trafalgar Square. The rumor was that the sculpture of the Duke, who
is turning 98 this year, would be commissioned after his death. But
city authorities have denied the plan. “There are currently no
plans for a permanent statue or sculpture of any description to
occupy the plinth,” said Justine Simons, London’s deputy mayor
for culture and creative industries. (TAN)

Charles Ray Tries His
Hand as a Curator – The sculptor Charles Ray is
dabbling in curating: He will organize the exhibition “Three
Christs, Sleeping Mime, and the Last Supper / Pagan Paradise” at
the Hill Art Foundation in New York, which runs from September 28
to February 15. Bronzes from the Renaissance and Baroque periods
drawn from J. Tomilson Hill’s celebrated collection will be
displayed alongside Ray’s sculpture. The show will also include
never-before-seen work from Ray’s personal holdings.
(Press
release)