Art Industry News: Artist Olafur Eliasson Just Released an AR App That Brings the Aurora Borealis Into Your Living Room + 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, May
14.

NEED-TO-READ

Josh Smith Plans a Rooftop Exhibition – The artist Josh Smith has organized a novel
offsite exhibition for David Zwirner. The show, titled “High as
Fuck,” was held on the roof of the Brooklyn building where Smith
lives and works. It consists of paintings he made in isolation of a
deserted New York as well as older ceramic works installed six feet
apart (get it?). Documentation of the project will be viewable on
David Zwirner’s website from May 21 through June 21, where the work
will also be for sale. (ARTnews)

MoMA Steps in to Protect Oslo’s Picasso Murals –
New York’s MoMA has become
embroiled in a battle to save historic Picasso murals in an Oslo
building that is slated for demolition. MoMA curators Martino
Stierli and Ann Temkin have written to Norwegian officials to ask
them to reconsider destroying the Brutalist government building,
known as the Y-Block. Two fragile murals designed by
Picasso, The
Fishermen and
The
Seagull, were
sandblasted onto the building’s concrete walls, and heritage
experts warn that they may be destroyed in the process of trying to
salvage them. (The Art
Newspaper)

Olafur Eliasson Launches an AR App – The Danish-Icelandic artist has partnered with
Acute Art on a new AR project that places natural phenomena such as
the aurora borealis in your living room. The initiative,
called Wunderkammer (Cabinet of Curiosities), offers up a menu of
wonders, including insects, a puffin, and a virtual compass that
points north. “Today, where physical distancing guides our lives,
it’s as crucial as ever that we surround ourselves with things and
atmospheres that really matter to us,” the artist said in a
statement. The project is available on the Acute Art app beginning
today. (Le
Figaro)

William Kentridge on
Johannesburg Under Lockdown – The South African
artist has been spending his time sheltering in place
making drawings, which are on view at Marian Goodman’s virtual
booth in Frieze New York’s online viewing room. In an interview, he
describes life in Johannesburg under lockdown: “[I]t’s been very
interesting how it’s pushed us back into a kind of apartheid-era
world of the separation of whites in privileged enclaves—with their
houses and gardens and space to move about—and the majority of the
black population in townships and informal settlements policed by
soldiers keeping the lockdown rules enforced.” (ARTnews)

ART MARKET

New Asia Chairman Appointed at Phillips – Phillips Hong Kong has appointed Jonathan
Crockett as its new chairman of Asia. Since Crockett joined the auction
house from Sotheby’s in 2016 as its new deputy chairman of
Asia, its auction sales in the region have grown 77 percent.
(Press
release)

Max Hetzler Opens Berlin Space – Galerie Max Hetzler is expanding in Berlin,
opening a new space in an Art Nouveau building at Bleibtreustraße
15/16 with an exhibition of recent works by German painter André
Butzer. The gallery, Hetzler’s third in the city, will open on May
29. (Press
release)

Berlin Galleries Go For Transparency – A new
online project by a group of 25 Berlin dealers is seeking to create
more transparency when it comes to their programs, their artists,
and their price points. Berlin Views, which launched
at the beginning of the month, is sharing featured artworks and
their prices via the new and evolving platform that hopes to engage
emerging and young collectors. (Berlin
Views)

Daata Launches New Online Platform for Video Art –
The video art commissioning and
streaming platform has launched Galleries at Daata, a new
initiative to showcase and sell video art. Galleries on board
include Goodman Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Monique Meloche, Peres
Projects, and Simone Subal. (Press release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Cleveland Museum Plans
to Reopen in June – The institution, which closed March
14, is set to reopen June 30, becoming the first museum in the
state to announce such plans. Museum leadership will strictly limit
the number of visitors—capped at 500 a day—and require health
precautions including mandatory masks. (Cleveland
Plain-Dealer)

Tyler Mitchell Signs
With UTA – The celebrity photographer
has signed with UTA, which plans to assist in the Brooklyn
artist’s expansion into narrative film and
television. Mitchell made history as the first black
photographer to shoot a cover of American Vogue when
he shot Beyoncé in 2018 at the tender age of 23. (Hollywood
Reporter)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Miami Beach Launches
Emergency Cultural Arts Fund – The city of Miami
Beach is launching a $1 million emergency fund to support local
institutions who have reported a
collective loss of more than $7 million, as well as hundreds of job
reductions, as a result of the shutdown. The money comes from an
emergency reserve fund maintained by the city council.
(Press
release) 

Museums Reopen, But Nothing Feels the Same –
Across Germany, France, and Asia, museums are slowly reopening. But
going to see art is a very different experience than before.
Taped-off pathways, masks, and plexiglass walls have become the new
normal for art-lovers. (Artnet
News)

The post Art Industry News: Artist Olafur Eliasson Just
Released an AR App That Brings the Aurora Borealis Into Your Living
Room + Other Stories appeared first on artnet News.