Art Industry News: In a Turnaround, Trump Says He Will ‘Obey the Law’ and Not Bomb Iranian Art Sites + Other Stories

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 Wednesday, January
8.

NEED-TO-READ

Santiago Calatrava’s Church Begins Construction at the World
Trade Center – After a
three-year delay due to financial concerns, construction will
resume on a Greek Orthodox church at the site of the World Trade
Center in New York. The original church was destroyed during 9/11.
Its replacement is being designed by architect Santiago Calatrava
and funded by a nonprofit organization, the Friends of St.
Nicholas. It is slated to be complete within two years, in time for
the 20th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2021.
(Designboom)

The Untold Story of Art’s Greatest Model – You might
recognize the 19th-century model
Elizabeth “Lizzie” Siddal from paintings by Dante Gabriel Rossetti,
John Everett Millais’s Ophelia, and other Pre-Raphaelite
masterpieces. Now, she is
getting attention in her own right as part of the National Portrait
Gallery’s exhibition, “Pre-Raphaelite Sisters,” dedicated to
the female artists, models, and writers who were also a part of the
movement. While Lizzie began as a model, she also became a painter
and a poet after she was thrust from her hat-making day job into
the artistic milieu. But her story is tragic: She ended up marrying
a serially unfaithful Rossetti, became addicted to laudanum, had a
stillbirth, and died by suicide. (BBC)

Trump Walks Back His Threat to Bomb Iran’s Heritage –
The US president has tentatively
walked back his provocative statements about bombing Iran’s
cultural heritage sites. He softened his earlier statements on
Tuesday, telling reporters: “They are allowed to kill our people.
They are allowed to maim our people. They are allowed to blow up
everything that we have, and there’s nothing that stops them. And
we are, according to various laws, supposed to be very careful with
their cultural heritage. And you know what, if that’s what the law
is, I like to obey the law.” The mollification comes after his
controversial statements prompted
international outrage from politicians, museum directors, and
academics, and after Pentagon officials
earlier in the day told reporters that the US government will work “inside the
international laws of war.” (The Art Newspaper)

Will the He Art Museum Change China’s Art Scene? – The He
Art Museum, which is set to open in March 2020, is trying a novel
approach. Named after founder, collector, and electrical
appliance heir He Jianfeng, the new museum in Foshan will focus on
the 20th-century Lingnan painting from the surrounding region,
as well as shows by international contemporary artists including
Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, and Anish Kapoor. (ARTnews)

ART MARKET

How Will the Art Market Change in 2020? – As the market for fine art and antiques
shrinks, experts are predicting that 2020 will see a shift in the
way auction houses do business, with the help of digital technology
and a focus on the market for luxury goods, including fashion.
Perhaps inspired by Christie’s online-only auctions of designer
goods, which have seen tremendous success in Asia, Sotheby’s is
restructuring to create two global auction divisions: “Fine
Arts” and “Luxury, Art and Objects,” which new CEO Charles Stewart
stresses will be as important as art. (TAN)

Spinello Projects Adds 9 Artists – The
Miami gallery with an eye for emerging artists has added nine to
its roster, including Eddie Arroyo (best known for his
inclusion in—and temporary withdrawal
from—last year’s Whitney Biennial) and Juana Valdes, whose
work has been included in exhibitions at the Pérez Art Museum
Miami, El Museo del Barrio, and MoMa PS1. (Press
release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Hoor Al Qasimi Names
Artists for the Lahore Biennale – More than 70
artists will participate in the second edition of the Lahore
Biennale in Pakistan between January 26 and February 29. Hoor Al
Qasimi, the director of the Sharjah Art Foundation and the
biennial’s curator, has selected artists including Kader
Attia, Barbara Walker, and John Akomfrah, most of whom focus
on the global south in their work. (Artforum)

The Sculptor Bob Wade
Had Died – The artist nicknamed “Daddy O,” who
was known for her large-scale sculptures— including an outsize
Iguana named “Iggy” that stood atop the Lone Star Cafe in
Manhattan—died on December 24 in Texas at the age of 76.
(NYT)

Remembering Brazilian
Artist Wanda Pimentel – The Rio de Janeiro-based Pop art
painter died on December 23 at the age of 76. A prominent figure in
a spate of exhibitions that focused on the international Pop art
movement in recent years, she was best known for her
Constructivist-inflected paintings of geometric interiors.
(Artforum)

Philippine Artist Gabriel Barredo Has Died
– The Manila-based installation artist has died at
the age of 62. Barredo created large, kinetic works from found
objects that often addressed existential themes around mortality.
(Art
Asia Pacific)

FOR ART’S SAKE

The English Coast Gets
Another Gormley Sculpture – New works by
British sculptor Antony Gormley and Portuguese artist Leonor
Antunes will be part of the inaugural commissions at the Box, a new
£40 million ($53 million) museum in Plymouth, UK, that opens this
spring. Gormley’s planned LOOK II will consist of 22
cast-iron blocks that resemble an abstracted human
figure. (Guardian)

The Prado Breaks Its
Attendance Record – The Prado Museum in Madrid recorded
3.2 million visitors in 2019, the highest number in its
history. Its program last year, which was also its bicentenary,
included a show on Alberto Giacometti and a blockbuster
presentation comparing the work of Rembrandt and Velázquez.
(Diario Vasco)

Giant Seesaws Crop Up in
NYC’s Garment District – The new installation, called
Impulse, consists of 12 large seesaws that glow and make
sounds when someone hops on one end of them. The traveling work was
first created in 2016 by Lateral
Office and CS Design.
(Colossal)

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Will ‘Obey the Law’ and Not Bomb Iranian Art Sites + Other
Stories appeared first on artnet News.