The Week in Art...After Nyne's Hot 9
1) Controversial musician Kanye West continues art world aspirations with latest music video (via The Guardian)
Kanye’s music video for his latest single Famous is inspired by the 2008 work of American realist painter Vincent Desiderio. The video features the rapper and his wife Kim Kardashian lying in wide bed naked, in the middle of 10 more nude celebrities. The grainy footage pans across the bed and is said to have taken influence from the renowned filmmaker Matthew Barney. But the star has been has long faced questions about his place in the art world, despite his own claims that his life is a ‘walking performance art’. The video’s creative muse Desiderio has given his approval, but does that make it art or just another publicity stunt?
2) Public art initiative seeks to bring museum quality art to hospitals (via Refinery29)
The unique form of expression art offers has led to recognition from the medical world, through the beneficial alternative form of therapy. A new public art initiative, Hospital Rooms, founded by curator Niamh White and artist Tim A Shaw aims to bring high quality art to psychiatric wards, communal spaces and outpatient areas in hospitals across the UK. Hospital Rooms works in collaboration with South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, with support from the Arts Council. The first project launched earlier this month, the result of commissions from contemporary artists and photographers including Turner Prize winners Assemble and SHOWstudio’s Nick Knight.
3) Independent Curators International announces dealer Marian Goodman will be presented with the 2016 Leo Award (via Art News)
The Leo Award recognises an ‘extraordinary commitment to artists and pioneering contributions to the field of contemporary art’ and past winners include Roy Lichtenstein and Miuccia Prada. The executive director of Independent Curators International (ICI) stated, “Last year, ICI marked its 40th anniversary, a milestone that Marian Goodman Gallery will celebrate just a year from now. Today, we’re proud to honour Marian Goodman for her steadfast support of many of the artists who move us, impact society and help us make send of the world in which we live.” Goodman founded the publishing company Multiples in 1965 which distributed prints and books by artists such as Warhol, then going onto opening her gallery in 1977 beginning her reputation as champion of innovative European art.
4) Basquiat’s from Johnny Depp’s collection fetch $11.5 million as part of a Christie’s 250th anniversary sale (via artdaily)
On 29th June the Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening Auction caused a buzz of activity in the bidding room, with registered bidders from 39 countries across four continents demonstrating the continued demand in the global contemporary art market. The top lot of the evening was Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Pork (1981) selling for $6,838, 538 and the night’s highlight was two works from Johnny Depp’s collection with Basquiat’s Self Portrait (1981) more than doubling its estimate to reach $4,745,258 after a bidding war unfolded with 10 phone bidders. Edmond Francey, Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, London: “The response to Johnny Depp’s Basquiats electrified the sale room and we continue to see that for the top works collectors will stretch themselves to the highest levels. Christie’s has been able to read the market and offer our consignors and buyers the quality that can continue to attract top collectors to the market.”
5) Glaswegian art student chosen to dress the stars for charity campaign (via BBC News)
An art student from Glasgow has found herself mixing with stars such as Kate Moss after her design was selected as the official t-shirt for this year’s Jeans for Genes Day campaign. The 29-year-old third year student said she was ‘honoured’ to win the competition, with the top being sold to raise funds for Genetic Disorders UK. Genetic Disorders UK chief executive Caroline Harding stated, "It's absolutely brilliant to have so many big names get behind the campaign and showcase this year's winning T-shirt design, which we think is fantastic.”
6) India’s Bourne & Shephard photography studio closes its doors after 176-year run (via artnet news)
The world’s oldest photography studio, Bourne & Shepherd located in Kolkata, India has closed its doors to the public after 176 years of business. The studio was started in 1840 by British photographers Samuel Bourne and Charles Shepherd documenting landmark occasions such as the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. One of the most successful commercial enterprises in India throughout the 19th and early 20th century, the studio is responsible for most of the iconic photographs of the time, with some of these photographs now being displayed in galleries across the world including London’s National Portrait Gallery.
7) Jean-Michel Basquiat gets plaque in New York’s NoHo (via Art Net)
The New York neighbourhood that was once Jean-Michel’s Basquait’s old stomping ground is getting a permanent reminder of Basquiat’s presence, with the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) announcing the installation of a plaque in his honour. Throughout the 1980s Basquait roamed the surrounding downtown area close to his studio, the GVSHP has chosen to immortalise the artist’s legacy by unveiling a plaque on his property on July 13.
8) Liverpool Biennial installation site damaged by arson (via Art News)
The site of Mark Leckey’s video installation for the Liverpool Biennial suffered extensive fire damage resulting from what police have confirmed as a deliberate act of arson. The city’s sawmill caught fire last Friday night and fire fighters spent 15 hours trying to control the blaze. The building was set to be showing Leckey’s autobiographical film installation Dream English Kid 1964-1999 AD inspired by a Joy Division gig the artist attended in 1979.
9) A 400-year-old masterpiece by Rubens rescued from Stalin rediscovered in St Petersburg (via The Telegraph)
A Sir Pete Paul Rubens painting has been rediscovered in St Petersburg more than 80 years after it was rescued from Stalin’s brutal crackdown on religion institutions. Staff in a storeroom of the State Hermitage Museum originally unearthed the canvas believed to be the ‘Resurrection of Christ’ in 2011. An independent expert has reportedly valued the painting at £6-8million but the Hermitage states it will never be sold.
