Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most consequential developments coming out of the art world and art market. Here’s what you need to know on this Monday, February 27.
NEED-TO-READ
Blake Gopnik Weighs in on MetaBirkins Suit – The ‘s former art critic Blake Gopnik writes in defense of “MetaBirkins”—digital images based on the famous Hermès Birkin bags that were made and sold as NFTs by the artist Mason Rothschild. A court ruled that the artist must pay $133,000 in damages to the Paris fashion house, which sued him over the use of trademarked items, but Gopnik—who was blocked from testifying in the trial—insists the works are a legitimate artistic expression exploring commerce and contemporary culture, not unlike those by Warhol, Hans Haacke and Christopher Williams, or even Manet and Picasso. ()
Is This the Worst Art Job Posting Ever? – Art world workers across the internet have been left reeling by a shameless job ad dubbed by writer Emily Colucci as “the worst art job listing ever created.” The ad seeks an executive/personal assistant for an “Art World Family,” who would receive $65,000-$95,000 to take full responsibility for a long list of extraneous tasks, including domestic chores, management of household staff, childcare and even gardening. The listing has since been taken down. ()
Banksy Stamps Issued in Ukraine – Ukraine welcomed the arrival of Banksy’s uplifting graffiti art on the walls of its war-torn cities last year. Now, the country has marked one year since Russia’s invasion by issuing new postage stamps featuring a work that appeared in Borodyanka, in which a young boy easily flips an older man in judo. His opponent is heavily implied to be Putin, who is known to have a black belt. ()
Personal Photos of Princess Diana, William to Hit the Block – Many of Princess Diana’s personal items have found eager bidders in recent months, including private letters and a necklace, but the latest lot to go on sale is a rare trove of 22 previously unseen family photos taken at Balmoral Castle in 1982. The images, which feature Diana, her son Prince William as a baby, King Charles, and the late Queen, will be auctioned at Willingham Auctions in Cambridgeshire, England on March 4. ()
MOVERS & SHAKERS
DIA Crowned Best Art Museum of 2023 – The Detroit Institute of Arts was given top honors by the annual USA 10 Best Reader’s Choice list, with Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum coming in second, and the Santa Fe-based IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts taking the third slot. In 2022, whistleblowers claimed that the DIA should not receive accreditation and cited allegations of mismanagement and discrimination at the Michigan museum, following years of controversy plaguing director Salvador Salort-Pons. (Detroit News)
Dallas Museum of Art Launches Competition for Redevelopment Designer – The Texas museum is hosting a competition for U.S. and international architecture firms to redesign its grounds to house the more than 26,000 objects in its collection. The deadline for submission is March 15, after which five finalists will be selected and given a $50,000 honorarium to help create concept designs. (Glasstire)
Gallery Climate Coalition & Whitechapel Gallery Symposium – The international Gallery Climate Coalition has partnered with London’s Whitechapel Gallery to plan “Climate Crisis>> Art Action” a two-day symposium taking place at Bishopsgate Institute London on March 2 and 3. With speakers from top arts organisations as well as representatives for charities like Greenpeace, the topics covered will include environmentally responsible exhibition design and the ways in which art institutions can take part in climate activism. ()
Sean Kelly’s Son Takes Helm in L.A. – Son of mega dealer Sean Kelly, Thomas Kelly, will take the helm of his new location in Los Angeles having worked at the family business in New York since 2011. The new space, which opened in September, is located on Highland Avenue nearby to Kohn Gallery and Regen Projects. ()
FOR ART’S SAKE
Olafur Eliasson’s Sky Mirror Sculpture Planned for Cumbria – The Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson has teamed up with writer Robert Mcfarlane to create , a new permanent public artwork to be installed on the coastline in Cumbria, northern England. The pair won the commission with their proposal to build a mesmirizing mirror to the sky: a steel elliptical basin on the beach’s mud flats that will hold water during low tides and, thanks to an optical trick, appear from a special viewing platform, like a circular mirror that reflects the sun, moon and weather above. ()
An artist’s impression of Your Daylight Destination, the provisionally title for a new work by Olafur Eliasson that will be installed on a Cumbrian beach. Photo courtesy of Deep Time.
