Art Industry News: Leaving Germany, Ai Weiwei Calls the Country That Gave Him Asylum Too ‘Self-Centered’ + Other Stories

Art Industry News is normally 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 Friday, August
9.

NEED-TO-READ

Lisa Spellman and Richard Prince Get Nostalgic
– The artist Richard
Prince interviewed the New York art dealer Lisa
Spellman (who happens to be his ex-wife) ahead of her 303
Gallery’s 35th anniversary, and they recalled how she presented the
debut of Jeff Koons’s basketball tanks, priced only $3,500, in
1985. “It was a surreal space, all a white cloud,” gallery founder
Spellman recalls. “I think access all around was much easier,
easier to meet artists, collectors, writers; everything fit into a
storefront.” When Prince asked her how she feels about the art
world’s size today, Spellman said: “The bigness is like getting
shot of Novocaine, it just dulls everything around it. It takes all
the oxygen out of the room; at this point, it’s a little boring and
expected.” (Vulture)

David Adjaye’s Holocaust Memorial May Be Nixed –
A proposed Holocaust Memorial and
museum near the Houses of Parliament is likely to be rejected by
planners, according to leaked correspondence from the leader of
Westminster Council. The multimillion-pound memorial and education
center, which was co-designed by architects David Adjaye and Ron
Arad, has the backing of two ex-UK Prime Ministers as well as
senior religious leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Opponents argue that the site in a small park is the wrong location
for such a large building, although much of it would be
underground. Others claim the memorial and its visitors would be a
“soft target” for extremists as the site is just outside the Palace
of Westminster’s high-security zone. The leader of the council
wrote that the proposed design is “heading towards an unfavorable recommendation”
by its planning officers. (Times)

Ai Weiwei Says Germany is Too
“Self-Centered” – Ai Weiwei is leaving the country where he found
asylum after his detention in China, but not before criticizing his
hosts for being “self-centered.” Germany is not an open society, he
told Die
Welt. “It’s a society
that wants to be open, but above all protects itself.” Though he
did not confirm when and where he is going, he hinted in
previous reports that he will relocate to Upstate New York.
“German culture is so strong that it does not really accept other
ideas and arguments. There is hardly any room for open debates,
hardly any respect for dissenting voices,” said Ai. “My family and I loved
living here very much, but I am leaving Berlin anyway. This
country doesn’t need me because it’s so self-centered.”
(FAZ)

Warring Faction Asks State to
Investigate Robert Indiana Estate – The Morgan Foundation, a for-profit
organization that represents the artwork of deceased artist Robert
Indiana, is asking Maine’s Attorney General to investigate his
estate. The foundation is accusing the Indiana estate of “reckless
conduct” in managing the creator of the iconic
LOVE sculpture’s legacy, of selling artwork from
Indiana’s private collection to raise money for his legal bills,
and for rejecting a settlement with the foundation that would have
been worth $10 million. A legal dispute has
been ongoing between the
two parties since Indiana died in
2018. (Press Herald)

ART MARKET

Why Don’t More Museums Collect
Performance? – In Just a
Blink of an Eye, a work by Shanghai artist Xu Zhen that
was recently purchased by LA MOCA, is an example of the ephemeral
nature of hard-to-collect works of performance art. While Tate,
MoMA, and the Guggenheim are leading collectors of performance
work, many other museums are relative newcomers to the genre. This
is only the second performance work LA MOCA owns, but rumor is that
Biesenbach also has his eye on a historical work by Simone Forti
and a contemporary piece by Simone Leigh. (Los Angeles Times)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Philadelphia Museum Fundraising
Exceeds $455 Million – The
director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Timothy Rub, is
delighted that its fundraising for its Frank Gehry-designed revamp
and endowment is ahead of schedule. But he is not resting on his
laurels. “We need to add
another $70 [million],” he says, adding that the final stretch to
$525 million “will be the real test.” (Philadelphia
Inquirer)

An Anonymous Donor Gave 170 Works
to a University Museum – A
very generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous just gave
the Mead Art Museum at
Amherst College in Massachusetts 170 works by artists including
Mark Bradford, Laura Owens, Cindy Sherman, Candice Breitz, and
Laura Owens. A selection goes on show on September 10.
(ARTnews)

National Museums of Scotland’s
Chief Steps Down – After 16
years at the helm of the National Museums of Scotland, Gordon
Rintoul is retiring next year. He oversaw the $97 million revamp of
the National Museum in Edinburgh. (Times)

UK Science Museum Staff Vote to
Strike – Trade union members
have voted overwhelmingly to strike for 24 hours on August 30 at
the Science Museum Group. The dispute is over low pay at the
national museums, which includes the Science Museum in London, the
National Media Museum in Bradford, and Manchester’s Museum of
Science and Industry. (Press release) 

FOR ART’S SAKE

Tracey Emin Wins Munch Museum
Commission – A monumental
bronze of a woman by the British artist will be installed outside
the new Munch Museum in Oslo. Emin’s The Mother was chosen from a six-strong shortlist that
included efforts by Olafur Eliasson and Ragnar Kjartansson. She will also show her work
alongside Munch’s in a show next spring when the new museum opens.
The exhibition will travel to the Royal Academy of Arts in London
in late 2020. (The Art Newspaper)

See Mark Bradford in Action –
“One of the perks of @moca is
visiting some of the museum’s trustees at their workplace,” writes
the museum’s director Klaus Biesenbach on his Instagram with a
wink. The director shared a sneak peek of Mark Bradford at work in
his 50,000-square-foot studio, midway through creating a monumental abstract
work. See the virtuoso with a high-powered hose, evidently enjoying
his work. (Instagram) 

The post Art Industry News: Leaving Germany, Ai Weiwei Calls
the Country That Gave Him Asylum Too ‘Self-Centered’ + Other
Stories appeared first on artnet News.