Have a minute? Get caught up with art news to know this week. In this edition, Jeff Koons and Gagosian are being sued by an art collector that alleges sales practices akin to a Ponzi scheme, the "Fearless Girl" statue is on the move, Nick Cave wants New Yorkers to dance and "Let Go" and more art news people are talking about.
The top story this week is a lawsuit filed against artist Jeff Koons and Gagosian gallery in New York State Supreme Court by a prominent art collector over the failure to delivery art promised and paid for, reported Reuters. Wall Street investor and New York art collector Steven Tananbaum is seeking $39 million in damages over three sculptures that were not delivered, despite deposits, installment payments and agreed upon delivery dates, in a legal filing that describes a selling practice "...that harkens the name Ponzi." The suit alleges Koons and Gagosian gallery founder Larry Gagosian of engaging in questionable business practices that help fund extravagant lifestyles," according to Fortune magazine. Click here to read more.
Time magazine released its list of the 100 Most Influential People, grouping award winners in the categories of Pioneers, Artists, Leaders, Icons and Titans. Visual artists making this year's list are Kehinde Wiley, Judy Chicago and JR. Click here to discover the full list of T:100 2018.
Jerry Saltz has won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. Winning the award for the New York Magazine senior art critic was his essay “My Life as a Failed Artist” that described how his failure at being an artist pushed him to become an art critic. Saltz received the award at Columbia University on April 16, 2018. He has written for New York magazine since 2007. Previously, he was a senior art critic for the Village Voice.
Fearless Girl is slated to get a new New York City home. The statue by Uruguayan artist Kristen Visbal, installed opposite the iconic Charging Bull by Italian artist Arturo Di Modca, has been drawing crowds since its installation last year on National Women's Day in March by the Boston-based State Street Global Advisors, according to Art Newspaper. Fearless Girl is being relocated to a permanent location outside of the New York Stock Exchange building later this year because the artwork is causing pedestrian pile ups and traffic difficulties, according to City Hall. The plan is to move Charging Bull along with her, so they can continue to partner together in art, according to the Art Newspaper. Di Modca has expressed opposition to the idea as he contends the positional installation relationship alters the meaning of his art in ways that is unintended, reported The New York Times.
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"Fearless Girl" by Kristen Visba and "Charging Bull" by Arturo Di Modica in New York City. Courtesy Anthony Quintano’s Flickr.
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The Moving Image Art Fair has postponed its planned May New York art fair due to economic concerns from galleries, reported ArtNews. Moving Image had announced earlier this year it would hold its fair in May as part of Frieze Art Week instead of during Armory Show Week in March as in years past. A new date for the fair is expected to be announced soon.
Nick Cave is planning a colorful participatory installation this summer at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City where dancing and letting go is encouraged. On view from June 7 to July 1, 2018, The Let Go is meant to conjure a dance hall / town hall experience that is part installation, performance, gathering place and dance hall. According to The Art Newspaper, the artist described the piece as a way to "provide a safe haven for viewers to speak their minds with their bodies, to reflect on how politics are pushing us to a cultural boil and to explore how we can work through our frustrations in ways that are healthy. For me, dance has always been that saviour.” The artwork was commissioned by the Park Avenue Armory and curated by Tom Eccles. The Artist Talk is already sold out. A program featuring artists responses to the work still has tickets as of this column's publication date. Click here for details.
A digital catalogue for art by American Abstract Expressionism artist Sam Francis is now available online and offers free browsing. Presented by the Sam Francis Foundation, there are 201 artworks made between 1945 and 1949 in this first volume. Included are works on paper, panel and canvas. Click here to start looking.
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