News

Art Industry News: South Korean Student Thought a Museum Wanted Him to Eat the $120,000 Duct-Taped Banana + Other Stories

June 26, 2023

NEED-TO-READ

Barbican Embroiled in Censorship Fracas – London-based Resolve Collective is taking down their presentation at the arts center in the U.K. capital following what it reads as “an act of anti-Palestinian censorship.” A Barbican staff member told speakers due to take part in a talk on June 15 “to avoid talking about free Palestine at length…to further safeguard the audience,” according to a screenshot of the text message shared by Resolve Collective. The show was due to run until July 16 but the exhibition is expected to be taken down today, leaving the gallery empty. ()

Mire Lee Gets the Profile Treatment – The 34-year-old South Korean rising star who’s been featured in the Busan Biennale and the Venice Biennale is commanding solo real estate at New York’s New Museum. Opening on June 29, “Black Sun” will feature the artist’s new, unique machine sculptures that look like organs. “It feels almost like a digestive system of an organism…something that you don’t actually want to see,” said Cecilia Alemani, the artistic director of the 2022 Venice Biennale. And that’s exactly what the artist wants to achieve. “I like it to be a bit unpleasant,” she said. ()

Student Thought He Was Meant to Eat Cattelan’s Banana – Noh Hyun-soo, the South Korean student who ate the $120,000 banana duct-taped to the wall () at Maurizio Cattelan’s retrospective at Seoul’s Leeum Museum in April, said no one tried to stop him from eating the piece. “I think they exhibited it so that someone would eventually eat it,” he wrote. Noh also confessed that eating that famous banana was not the first odd thing he has done over the years, and he plans to pursue art after graduating from his courses in religious studies and aesthetics. ()

British Museum Apologises to Translator – The British Museum issued an apology to Chinese-Canadian writer Yilin Wang, saying that the omission of permissions and acknowledgement of Wang’s copyrighted translation of a 19th century poem featured in exhibition “China’s Hidden Century” was an “unintentional human error.” The museum also offered to pay Wang as compensation. The Vancouver-based writer earlier criticized the London institution on Twitter for not asking her for permission. ()

MOVERS & SHAKERS

U.K. Refused to Loan Fragile Vermeer to the Netherlands – Freedom of information request reveals that English Heritage, which operates the Kenwood House in London, refused to lend Vermeer’s to Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum for the recently concluded blockbuster, claiming that the 1672 painting housed in Kenwood was too fragile to travel. ()

Gwangju Biennale Announces Next Edition’s Theme – “Pansori – a soundscape of the 21st century” is set to be the title and theme of the 15th Gwangju Biennale, to be curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, the artistic director of the edition that will take place in September 2024. “Pansori,” which literally means “the sound of the public space,” is taken from a 17th century southwest Korean musical form accompanying shamanistic rituals. The current 14th edition of the biennale is on show until July 9. ()

Nalini Malani Wins Kyoto Prize – Presented by the Inamori Foundation in Japan, the renowned video artist, along with reproductive biologist Ryuzo Yanagimachi and mathematician and physicist Elliot H. Lieb, are among the three awardees this year. The prize honors outstanding individuals in advanced technology, basic sciences, and arts and philosophy every year. Each will be presented ¥100 million ($706,000) and a gold medal. ()

FOR ART’S SAKE

Damien Hirst Sells Art to Raise Funds for Uganda – All proceeds from the sale of three works— (2016), (2019), and (2019)—at the upcoming Phillips London auction on Friday, June 30, will go to the Ruwenzori Foundation in Uganda. ()