NEED-TO-READ
Artist Bakhyt Bubikanova Has Died – The 1985-born Kazakhstani artist’s elaborate installation work is featured in the current edition of Gwangju Biennale in South Korea, making it the artist’s last exhibition. The biennale runs until July 9. ()
Hannah Gadsby’s Picasso Show Gets Panned – The comedian’s Netflix special , in which they took Picasso’s misogyny to task, was a triumph that won them worldwide recognition. Five years later, their new exhibition “It’s Pablo-matic” at the Brooklyn Museum attempts to reconsider the artist’s central influence on modernism—with no shortage of contemptuous quotes from Gadsby—but critics found it lacking in nuance, expertise or a coherent argument. ()
Freddie Mercury’s Drafts – A trove of notes from the 1970s by the songwriting legend going up for sale at Sotheby’s include early lyrics from some of Queen’s best known hits as well as early songs that were never released. In the case of , the pages even reveal an alternative title that was once considered. ()
Hermann Nitsch’s Six Day Play Continues – The late Austrian artist, who died last year aged 83, was a co-founder of the highly transgressive Vienna Actionism movement. He is being commemorated by a performance of his infamously gory , which shocked audiences in 1989. ()
MOVERS & SHAKERS
Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Donates 186 Works to Museums – In honor of the 100th anniversary of the Pop artist’s birth, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation is giving more than 180 artworks and reference materials to international museums as part of a series of events commemorating the centenary. The first round includes works headed to the Albertina in Vienna, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in North Carolina, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. (Press release)
Arp Foundation Gives 200 Busts to Museums – Meanwhile, the estate of German-French artist Hans Arp gifted 200 plaster sculptures to 10 museums around the world, also including the Albertina and the Nasher Museum, as well as the Hepworth Wakefield in the United Kingdom and the National Gallery of Victoria. ()
Frieze Seoul and Kiaf Name Exhibitors – The international art fair will feature more than 120 galleries at its sophomore edition in South Korea, which will take place this September at COEX. Mega-galleries including David Zwirner, Gagosian, Hauser and Wirth, Pace, and Lisson will return to the event, with newcomers including Goodman Gallery, Jessica Silverman, and Antenna Space. Concurrently, Kiaf Seoul, run by the Galleries Association of Korea, will open with more than 210 galleries, also at COEX. (Press releases)
FOR ARTS SAKE
JR Installation at Parrish Art Museum – The French artist has created a new site-specific mural titled Les Enfants d’Ouranos that will cover a 200-foot space on the exterior wall of the museum’s south façade for one year. Visible from the Montauk Highway, the installation is made from aerial photographs of children from refugee camps running and playing. A large-scale work by the artist will also go on view in the museum’s lobby from through October 22, 2023. ()
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