Have a minute? Get caught up with art news people are talking about this week. Expect to find stories on Dan Flavin, a new Michelangelo exhibition, updates on an impending sale of Norman Rockwell paintings at Sotheby's and today's closing of DNAinfo and Gothamist.
Vito Schnabel Gallery in Switzerland is pairing minimalist light sculptures by Dan Flavin with works he collected from European ceramicists Lucie Rie and Hans Coper, announced the gallery. It also marks the beginning of an ongoing collaboration planned between Vito Schnabel Gallery and the Dan Flavin Estate, the gallery stated. The show was organized in collaboration with Stephen Flavin, President of Dan Flavin Estate.
"Dan Flavin, to Lucie Rie and Hans Coper, master potters" will be exhibited from December 19, 2017 to February 4, 2018. The show will explore the affinities among the three artists who use different mediums to both establish and redefine space. It also aims to reveal the way each artist investigated material, harmony and permanence. All three made use of repetition and variation to elevate the ordinary into something sublime.
Major permanent installations of Dan Flavin's work can be found at the Dan Flavin Institute in Bridgehampton, NY and in Marfa, Texas. Both are part of Dia Foundation.
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"untitled (to Lucie Rie, master potter) 1rrr," by Dan Flavin, 1990. Blue, green, yellow, and pink uorescent light, 6 ft. high and 2 ft. deep. © Stephen Flavin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York; Image Courtesy Rubin/Spangle Gallery.
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"Spade" by Hans Coper, circa 1970. 8 1/4 inches in height. © Estate of the Artist; Collection of the Estate of Dan Flavin.
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The fight over the planned auction of two paintings by Norman Rockwell and other artwork from the collection of Berkshire Museum, located in Pittsfield, MA in the Berkshires, had its first day in court on November 1, 2017 to determine if the art sales at Sotheby's would go forward as planned, reported Andrew Russeth for ArtNews. To read an account of the hearing, which Russeth described as heated, click here.
The decision by the museum to sell art from its collection to fund a renovation and endowment that would also refocus its mission toward science and technology has drawn widespread attention and admonishment from the museum community and beyond. Museums are typically discouraged from selling art from their collection for reasons other than to acquire art for their collection. Two lawsuits have been filed to prevent the Berkshire Museum from selling its collection or for two Norman Rockwell paintings in particular.
The Parrish Art Museum in The Hamptons is marking its five-year anniversary in its new Herzog & de Meron-designed building in Water Mill, NY with a weekend of celebrations. Taking place November 10 to 12, 2017, the museum will unveil specially curated exhibitions in their permanent galleries along with a weekend of events, artist talks, a benefit cocktail party, a community day filled with free events and more to mark the occasion. Click here for details.
MoMA has acquired Barbara Chase-Roboud's sculpture The Albino (aka All That Rises Must Converge/Black), 1972, for its permanent collection, announced Michael Rosenfeld Gallery. The Albino joins other artworks by Chase-Riboud in MoMA's collection including an early woodcut, Reba, and three charcoal and pencil drawings (Untitled, 1966; Untitled, 1967 and Untitled, 1971). A solo show of Chase-Riboud is currently on view at Michael Rosenfeld Gallery in Chelsea. "Barbara Chase-Riboud - Malcolm X: Complete" remains on view through November 4, 2017.
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Barbara Chase-Riboud with “The Albino,” (aka “All That Rises Must Converge/Black”), 1972, bronze with black patina, silk, wool, linen, and synthetic fibers, 138 x 137 x 30 inches. Photograph by Grant Delin, 2017; Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery LLC, New York, NY.
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Disclaimers and announcements taking stances against sexual harassment across genders continue this week by Artforum staff and art professionals at large in the wake of a lawsuit and the public reveal of allegations of long-standing sexual harassment by Artforum publisher Knight Landesman. This week, Artforum continues to publish announcements by staffers that distance themselves from the art magazine's initial reaction to the lawsuit as well as announcements by management promising transparency and change. Click here to read Artforum's news dispatches.
In addition, a petition by signed by over 9,000 art professionals is being circulated that proclaims there is a problem with sexual harassment in the art industry with petitioners vowing to speak up when situations arise and unveil future plans to try to stop it, reported Artforum. The petition was published on the website, www.not-surprised.org. Click here to read the list. Signatures are no longer being accepted but the project can be followed through social media with the tag #NOTSURPRISED. Find them on Instagram at @notsurprised2017; on Twitter at @Not_Surprised1; and on Facebook: notsurprised2017.
The Met is set to unveil a major show by Michelangelo that presents the largest number of original drawings by the Master Artist ever presented in public, announced the museum. Opening on November 13, 2017 and continuing through February 12, 2018, "Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer" will present 128 drawings, three marble sculpture, early paintings and his wood architectural model for a chapel vault. The exhibition also presents complementary works by his teachers, associates, students and artists he influenced and was assembled from 50 public and private collections, according to the museum. The show will be presented at The Met Fifth Avenue on the 2nd Floor in Gallery 899.
Two more publications that reported on the arts have closed. Gothamist and DNAInfo were abruptly shuttered this afternoon, November 2, 2017, by Joe Ricketts, chief executive officer of both publications. The decision was announced in an online letter to readers posted on the publication's websites, where editorial content is no long accessible. Ricketts states the decision was a difficult one but the companies were losing money despite millions of viewers and social media supporters. Click here to read.
Ricketts founded DNAinfo in 2009 as a microjournalism website that focused on stories not reported in major publications. He acquired Gothamist this spring. The sites attracted over 9 million viewers per month, according to Rickett's letter. While Ricketts expressed belief in the importance of journalism and community reporting in particular, the publications lost money every month and made it impossible to continue, reported Andy Newman and John Leland for The New York Times.
Today's closure follows close on the heels of last week's decision by the companies's New York-based writers to unionize and join the Writers Guild of America East, which added cost to producing stories, reported the NYT. The closure leaves 115 journalists out of work in New York, which unionized, and in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, who did not, reported the NYT.
Most recently, DNAinfo reported on the Barbara Kruger MetroCards and the opening of Performa 17.
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