Art Industry News: Ai Weiwei Says He Fears a Tiananmen-Style Crackdown on Hong Kong’s Protesters + Other Stories

by admin

Aug 19, 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 this Monday, August
19.

NEED-TO-READ

Dealers Will Move Art to Avoid Fallout of a Messy Brexit
– Art dealers are expected to
move works of art from the UK to the EU ahead of October 31 as
a hard Brexit looks
increasingly likely.
Gallerists who don’t want to run the risk of a new VAT and customs
regime—not to mention shipping delays—are making sure works due to
go on show arrive in Europe before November. Nervous international
collectors with homes in London are already rumored to be sending
their works abroad, too. (Financial Times)

Artists Trapped by Kashmir Lockdown – Two young artists from Kashmir due to take part
in a residency for students run by the Kochi Biennale in southern
India have been trapped in the northern state that borders
Pakistan. They are caught up in the lockdown imposed by India’s
Hindu nationalist government, which is attempting to end the
Muslim-majority state’s special status. The artist Owais Ahmed, who managed to leave
Kashmir for Kochi the day before the borders closed, says: “We feel
like we have lost our identity.” (The Art Newspaper)

Ai Weiwei Says He Fears a Tiananmen-Style Crackdown in Hong
Kong – The Berlin-based Chinese
artist fears that Beijing will crack down on pro-democracy
protesters in Hong Kong with violence reminiscent
of the government’s reaction to student protests in Tiananmen
Square in 1989. “I don’t think
any prediction is too big,” Ai told the AFP.
He believes that China
will send in troops from the mainland if the protests
continue. “There
is no other way, they can’t talk about the situation or negotiate,”
he said. “That’s not a skill they have. All they have is the
military and the police.” The artist’s assistants have been filming the
protests since the unrest began in June. (AFP)

Family of Tate Victim Says He Is Stable – The French parents of a six-year-old boy who
was allegedly thrown from a viewing platform at Tate Modern still
do not know the full extent of his injuries. In a statement
thanking the donors
to a crowdfunding campaign, they said their son is stable, and has had
two operations. “He is struggling with all his strength, and we
remain hopeful,” they wrote. “You cannot imagine how [the gift] helps us to see so much humanity in this tragic ordeal.” So far,
the campaign launched by a London nurse has raised more than
$50,000. Tate Modern has since reopened the viewing balcony, which
it closed after the incident. The mental health of the 17-year-old
accused of attempted murder is being assessed ahead of his next
court hearing. (Guardian)

ART MARKET

Christie’s Nabs Ed Ruscha Trove – Looking to buy an Ed
Ruscha? Now is a good time. Thirty-five works on paper, prints, and other
works by the California artist from the collection
of architect Fred Clarke and his wife Laura Weir Clarke are
heading to auction at Christie’s New York in a dedicated sale on
September 27. The top lot is
Ruscha’s A Person Who is
Very Nice (1988), which
has an upper estimate of $700,000. (Press release)

Investment Group Acquires Clars Auction Gallery – In the
latest in a string of shifts for
regional auction houses, the
Bay Area business Clars Auction Gallery has been acquired by a private investment
group. Richard G. Unruh, who is on the board of directors and also
served as Clars’s director of fine arts, has been named the auction
house’s new CEO and president. (Press release)

FIAC Announces Exhibitor List – The Paris art fair, which takes place from
October 17 to October 20 in the Grand Palais, will feature
197 galleries from 29 countries.
Newcomers to this year’s event include Soft Opening (London), The
Box (Los Angeles) and Contemporary Fine Arts (Berlin).
(Press release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Middle East Institute Launches Art Gallery – The Middle East Institute, a non-profit think
tank, is opening an art space on September 14 in Washington, DC.
The non-commercial gallery will examine art and cultural production
from Morocco to Afghanistan. The first show, “Arabicity|Ourouba,”
looks at contemporary art in the Arab world. (Art Daily)

Toronto Biennial Announces Exhibitor List – The first edition of the Toronto Biennial is
set to open on September 21 across various locations in the
Canadian city. Called “What does it mean to be in relation?,” the
show will include work by 44 artists, including AA Bronson, Judy
Chicago, and Moyra Davey. (Art Daily)

Wallach Art Gallery Names New Director – Betti-Sue
Hertz, who most recently served as the director of visual arts at
the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, has been
named director and chief curator of Columbia University’s
Wallach Art Gallery. She will take up her new role on September 1,
succeeding Deborah Cullen-Morales, who took the helm of the Bronx
Museum of the Arts last year. (Artforum)

FOR ART’S SAKE

The Case for Taking Photos in an Art Gallery
– A communications
official from Tate Liverpool pens a defense of the much-maligned
practice of taking photographs in museums. “The important thing
about art is just that you experience it, not how, and for
many people, taking photos on your phone is a natural extension of
that experience,” Tom Emery writes. “Factors such as the safety of
people and the art itself must be taken into consideration, but by
regulating how people should behave in art exhibitions, we’re
ultimately saying that some people are less welcome than others.”
(Guardian)

What It’s Like to Be a Nude Life Model – Modeling nude is
not everyone’s idea of a good gig, but life models tell the
Guardian that the work can be incredibly liberating,
moving, and even collaborative. But like any job, there are
challenges, too: it is difficult to remain still that long, and
models and artists sometimes disagree over compensation. “Some
painters who have asked to work with me are selling works for
£40,000,” says nude model Dominic Blake. “It would be grotesquely
unfair if my cut was £200.” (Guardian)

Shepard Fairey Donates Work to Fight the Arms Trade
– The artist
Shepard Fairey has donated
three prints, all of them artist’s proofs, to support a campaign
against the arms trade. They will be on show in “Art the Arms
Fair,” a protest exhibition coinciding with a big arms fair in
London next month. In a statement, the artist said: “I’m proud to
contribute to a show that shares my values along with a group of
outspoken peers.” The 70 participating artists include
Hito Steyerl, Peter Kennard, and
the Guerrilla Girls.
Fairey’s work will be auctioned on September 13 at
Maverick Projects in Peckham, South
London. (Press release)