Art Industry News: Philadelphia Museum CEO Apologizes for the Museum’s Handling of Harassment Allegations Against a Former Employee + 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 Thursday, January
23.

NEED-TO-READ

Artists and Celebrities Back Campaign to Purchase Derek
Jarman’s Cottage – Actor Tilda Swinton and artist Jeremy Deller are
among the boldface names campaigning to save the former seaside
cottage of the artist, filmmaker, and LGBT rights defender Derek
Jarman. The Art Fund is organizing a public fundraising campaign
in an effort to raise £3.5 million
($4.6 million) within 10 weeks to save Prospect Cottage in Kent.
Prints by artists including Deller, Tacita Dean, and Michael
Craig-Martin are available as rewards for donating; half of the
target sum has already been raised. Tate has volunteered to look
after the artist’s archive, while a local organization, Creative
Folkestone, hopes to oversee the cottage and open it up for public
tours and artist residencies. (BBC)

Documenta Benefited From Sindika Dokolo’s Patronage –
Together with his wife,
Isabel dos Santos, art collector
Sindika Dokolo is at the
center of the major Luanda Leaks report, which details the origins
of the wealth of the powerful African couple, some of which was
built on public funds. Currently, their assets in
Angola have been frozen as the government attempts to recover state
money from them. Dokolo, who has an impressive collection of
contemporary and traditional African art, was an important
supporter of documenta 14, which took place in Kassel, Germany, and
Athens, Greece, in 2017. He supported projects like Olu Oguibe’s
headline-grabbing obelisk sculpture, as well as many of the African artists who
participated in the show. An exhibition related to documenta 14 was
planned for Dokolo’s Luanda-based foundation in 2018, but the
editor-in-chief of Monopol speculates that it may have been called off due
to the new government, which replaced dos Santos’s father and saw
the beginning of the end of the couple’s state benefits.
(Monopol)

Philadelphia Museum CEO Apologizes for Former Employee’s
Behavior – The chief executive
of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Timothy Rub, has apologized to
staffers for its response to the behavior of a former manager,
Joshua Helmer, two weeks after allegations of
sexual harassment against him surfaced in the New York
Times. In a general
staff meeting, Rub apologized for putting his confidence in Helmer,
the museum’s former assistant director for interpretation who went
on to become director at the Erie Art Museum. But some members of
staff regretted that he did not offer specific details of policy
improvements that might help avoid a repeat incident. “I hoped for
strong policy statements that empower staff, like, ‘This is how we
will respond consistently to reports of harassment,’” a museum
educator tells the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But I didn’t hear that.” (Philadelphia
Inquirer)

Artist Tobias Madison Pleads Guilty to Assault Charges –
The New York-based artist Tobias
Madison has pleaded guilty to charges of domestic violence. After
it was alleged that he strangled and hit a previous girlfriend in
December 2018, he pleaded guilty one criminal count of assault in
the third degree and one count of harassment. The issue first came
to light last fall, when a group of artists who supported the woman
wrote a letter asking for a
dialogue with the Swiss Institute, where one of Madison’s works
was on view. Madison has now been ordered to attend at 26-week
batterers’ program in his native Switzerland and have weekly
sessions with a therapist over the next year, after which the
charge of assault could be dropped. (The Art
Newspaper)

ART MARKET

Christie’s Will Auction Shakespeare’s First Folio –
Christie’s will sell the First
Folio of William Shakespeare’s collected plays as part of its
Exceptional Sale in New York on April 24. The valuable tome—which
marks the first time the plays of Shakespeare were collected
together—carries an estimate of $4 million to $6 million. This
copy, one of only six in private hands, is being sold on behalf of
Mills College in Oakland. (Salon
Privé)

Artist Torkwase Dyson Joins Pace – Pace Gallery has welcomed the American painter
Torkwase Dyson into the fold. Dyson, who helped inaugurate Pace’s
new performance program
Pace Live, creates drawings, performances, and installations
that explore environmental and racial justice. Pace will represent
Dyson alongside her existing gallery, Rhona Hoffman in Chicago.
(Press
release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

The Shed’s Front-of-House Staff Has Unionized –
Leadership at the Shed in New York
has voluntarily waived the need for an election and opted to
voluntarily recognize the union formed by members of its visitor
experience staff. The gallery assistants, ticket sellers, ushers, and greeters will now
join UAW Local 2110, the same union that represents workers at MoMA
and the New Museum. Maryann
Jordan, the institution’s chief operating officer,  said in a
statement: “We welcome UAW Local 2110 and anticipate forging a
constructive relationship with their representatives.”
(Hyperallergic)

Indianapolis Contemporary Names New Executive Director –
Braydee Euliss is the new director
of Indianapolis Contemporary. She joined the institution’s last
April as the director of development; she previously served as
executive director of the Muncie Arts & Culture
Council. (Artforum)

Austrian Artist Oswald Oberhuber Has Died –
The Austrian artist, critic,
educator, and gallerist Oswald Oberhuber has died at age 89. He
represented Austria at the 1972 Venice Biennale and was for many
years the rector of the
University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Oberhuber is also the father
of Nikolaus and Raphael Oberhuber, directors of Berlin’s KOW
gallery. (Artforum)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Performance Space New York Turns Over Its Management to
Artists – What happens
when you give artists both the keys and the purse strings at a
small arts organization? Performance Space New York is about to
find out. The venue, housed in a former school in the East Village,
has decided to pursue a radical management shake-up for 2020,
giving artists full control of its program and operational budget.
Executive artistic director
Jenny Schlenzka and the choreographer Sarah Michelson will be on
hand to offer advice and guidance. (ARTnews)

Darren Bader’s Salad Gets a Wilting Review – The artist
has turned the eighth floor of
the Whitney Museum into an installation resembling a farmers’
market, offering up more than 40 different fresh fruits and
vegetables. The edible art is sliced and served to visitors when
ripe. But the experience left one reviewer underwhelmed. After a
hungry wait, Cassidy George was not impressed with the “mad salad”
delivered from the kitchen. (The
Cut)

United States Artists Names 2020 Fellows – United
States Artists, the Chicago-based national arts funding
organization, has named its 2020 USA Fellows. Fifty
creatives—including visual artists Howardena Pindell, Martine Syms,
Cameron Rowland, and Nari Ward—will receive unrestricted $50,000
cash awards in recognition of their pioneering work. (Press
release)

Boy George Makes His Environmental Art Debut
– The singer-songwriter Boy George has created a
public artwork for a billboard in Carnaby Street in London. He made
the massive work, titled Punks Against Pollution, for the
Project Zero environmental campaign. A print of Boy George’s mural
will be sold on Paddle8 to raise funds for the London Zoological
Society. (Instagram)

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Apologizes for the Museum’s Handling of Harassment Allegations
Against a Former Employee + Other Stories appeared first on
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