Art Industry News: Art Basel’s Parent Company Just Canceled Baselworld’s 2021 Edition Amid Mass Exhibitor Defections + 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 Friday, May
8.

NEED-TO-READ

England’s Museums Seek a £250 Million Bailout –
Museums in the UK estimate it could
cost them up to £250 million ($309 million) to reopen safely and
enforce proper sanitation and social-distancing measures over the
next few years. Arts Council England is currently taking the lead
in negotiations with the government in an effort to increase public
funding for institutions to soften the blow. In the meantime,
London museums are bracing for a huge drop in international
tourists; the director of the V&A, Tristram Hunt, estimated
attendance could fall as much as 80 percent in the coming year.
(The Art
Newspaper)

Art Workers Band Together to Fight Racism Against
Asian-Americans – A group of
art workers have come together to launch StopDiscriminAsian, an
online project that compiles stories of racism against
Asian-Americans during the ongoing coronavirus crisis. The group is
also working with the LA-based nonprofit GYOPO, a group of artists
from the Korean diaspora who use contemporary art to call attention
to social-justice issues. The project comes as the FBI has reported
a surge in anti-Asian sentiment in the United States.
(ARTnews)

Baselworld Cancels 2021 Edition – The next edition of the world’s oldest and
largest trade fair for watches and jewelry has been axed following
a series of postponements stemming from the pandemic. After the
initial change from April to late January, angry exhibitors
demanding refunds left en masse to strike out on their own with an
alternative fair scheduled for April 2021 in Geneva, which likely
prompted parent company MCH Group—the owner of Art Basel—to pull
the plug entirely. (Forbes) 

Christie’s Plans Collaboration With China Guardian
– The two auction houses
are teaming up for 2020+, a series of exhibitions and sales slated
to take place in September, amid an already crowded market
calendar. Many of the events will be held at Christie’s outpost in
Shanghai with Beijing-based China Guardian traveling for the
occasion in an attempt to “broaden the market in the region.”
According to Christie’s, the move is not intended to capitalize on
the loosening of restrictions taking place in Shanghai, but that it
is the result of like-minded entities hoping to encourage
“cross-cultural dialogue.” (TAN)

ART MARKET

Christie’s and the Warhol Foundation Team Up for Artist
Relief – The auction house
joined forces with the Pop artist’s foundation to hold an
online-only sale of Warhol photographs. The sale’s $272,125 total
will be used to support the foundation’s efforts to provide
emergency relief to American artists. (Press release)

Artnet Auctions Launches Peter Beard Sale – The first sale of work by the late photographer
Peter Beard since his death last
month begins today on Artnet
Auctions and runs
through May 21. The auction offers 25 works by the adventurous,
larger-than-life artist dating from the 1960s to the ‘80s,
including his signature photo collages depicting endangered
wildlife in Africa. Estimates range from $4,000 to $60,000.
(Press
release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Hearst Foundation Offers Grants to California Arts
Organizations – The William
Randolph Hearst Foundation and the Hearst Foundation Inc. are
joining forces to award $1.9 million in grants to 18 California
organizations, including San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum, the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Autry Museum of the
American West. Rather than direct COVID-19 relief, the grants are
targeted to fund education programs and community outreach.
(San Francisco
Chronicle)

Museum Leader Thomas Sokolowski Has Died – The forward-thinking former director of the
Andy Warhol Museum and current director of the Zimmerli Art Museum
at Rutgers University has died at age 70. In 1988, Sokolowski
became one of the four founders of Visual AIDS, a widely
influential organization that worked to raise awareness for AIDS
and support the legacies of HIV-positive artists. (ARTnews)

Royal Academy Elects New Keeper – Artist and sculpture professor Cathie
Pilkington has been elected as the new Keeper of the Royal Academy,
a charmingly British term for the overseer of the Royal Academy
Schools. Pilkington became a Royal Academician in 2014 and served
as professor of sculpture at the UK’s oldest postgraduate art
school from 2015 to 2019. (Press release)

Artadia Announces 2020 Award Winners – This year’s winners, artists Alexandra Bell and
Joiri Minaya, will receive $10,000 in unrestricted funds. Now in
its fifth cycle, the Artadia awards are open to any visual artist
who has worked in New York for more than two years. Winners were
selected by Legacy Russell, curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem,
and Kelly Taxter, curator of contemporary art at the Jewish Museum.
(Press
release)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Akron Museum Donor Calls for Director’s Ouster
– A longtime patron of the
Akron Art Museum, Richard Rogers, has issued a letter calling for
the resignation of the museum’s director, Mark Masuoka, and the
rest of the management team. The letter follows allegations from
employees who said that the current managers had “created and
promoted a pervasive culture of race and gender discrimination and
bullying.” (Cleveland Plain
Dealer) 

Construction Workers at the Smithsonian Have Contracted
Coronavirus – Although museums
around the world have closed indefinitely while the pandemic
continues, construction projects at those sites remain open. At the
Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, at least three construction
workers have tested positive for COVID-19, though none have been on
site since April 30, a spokesperson said. Some portions of the
renovation have been put on hold to allow for deep-cleaning and
workers who were in contact with those affected have been asked to
self-quarantine. (Huffington
Post)

Allison Zuckerman Designs Cover Art for Charli XCX –
The young artist, who burst onto
the scene with a solo show at the
Rubell Collection in
2017, has designed the cover art for pop star Charli XCX’s new
song, “I Finally Understand.” The cover, which shows the singer
reclining on a checkered floor, fuses digital collage and painting.
(Instagram)

The post Art Industry News: Art Basel’s Parent Company Just
Canceled Baselworld’s 2021 Edition Amid Mass Exhibitor Defections +
Other Stories appeared first on artnet News.