The Week in Art...After Nyne's Hot 9
1. Queens Museum closes for US Open (via artnet)
As thousands of tennis fans descend on New York for the US Open the Queens Museum, which draws 150,000 visitors annually, is for the first time being forced to close until 11th September. The closure is the result of security measures for the sports event; currently on view at the museum is Nonstop Metropolis, a multifaceted project with writer and activist Rebecca Solnit.
2 Artists marks 350th anniversary of Great Fire of London with flames (via The Guardian)
Artist Martin Firrell’s projections lit up St Paul’s Cathedral with flames in celebration of the 350th anniversary of the most devastating fire in London’s history. The installation was part of London’s Burning festival commissioned by the art charity Artichoke, including a bonfire on the Thames over the weekend and a fire garden created by the French company Carabosse.
3. Art World labelled a boys’ club by Tate Modern director Frances Morris (via artnet)
After becoming the first female director of the Tate in January, Morris criticised the art world’s ‘bias’ against women, calling it ‘a boys’ club’. Morris stated that sexism doesn’t just impact art institutions it permeates the art market as well, where pieces by male artists being valued much higher than the work of females. “It’s taken me a long time to work my way up the institutional hierarchy, which I suppose typifies the situation for many women,” Morris stated. “They’re allowed to do great projects and author individual aspects of their work, but to take institutional responsibility has been much more difficult.”
4. Bjork builds bridges between tech and humanity with new digital exhibition (via The Guardian)
Icelandic singer Bjork brings her 360-degree VR show to London’s Somerset House as part of the Bjork Digital exhibition. The show presents the visual universe the singer has created to accompany Vulnicura, set to be her most emotionally exposed album yet. Bjork Digital aims to showcase how technology has enhanced creative expression, “I see myself as someone who builds bridges between the human things we do every day, and technology,” she stated.
5. Anish Kapoor rumoured to drop of Yinchuan Biennale over exclusion of Ai Weiwei (via artnet)
As the opening of China’s Yinchuan Biennale approaches the exhibition runs the risk of finding itself one artist down. It has been reported that Anish Kapoor is considering pulling his work from the biennial in protest of the exclusion of Ai Weiwei. ‘Since they’ve excluded Weiwei, I think it’s problematic,’ Kapoor told journalists. ‘To take part,” Kapoor added, “means to be on the side of the authorities and to collude with it, and I’m not sure one can.’
6. Royal Academy announces major Jasper Johns retrospective (via The Art Newspaper)
The Royal Academy of Arts announces it will stage a major exhibition of the US artist Jasper Johns, tackling ‘different chapters’ of artist’s vast career spanning more than 60 years. The exhibition will focus on the artist’s innovations in sculpture and his use of collage within his paintings. ‘You may be most familiar with the vivid realism of his 1950s paintings of flags and targets, but as you’ll discover, with every new decade Johns has explored new themes and ideas, as well as new ways of working,’ Tim Marlow, executive director of the Royal Academy stated.
7. V&A announce Pink Floyd exhibition (via BBC News)
London’s Victoria and Albert Museum hope the major Pink Floyd retrospective will replicate the success of its David Bowie exhibition. The exhibition, Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains, marks 50 years since the release of the brand’s debut single, with an immersive show featuring 350 objects and artefacts. The V&A state the show will be ‘a multi-sensory and theatrical journey through Pink Floyd’s extraordinary world’.
8. Burning 2016: In Pictures (via Curbed)
As Burning Man 2016 gets into full swing in the Nevada desert, new structures and art pieces continue to appear over night. The festival features ships, pop-art cars and illuminated skateboards alongside the infamous burning man himself. The photos from the festival give an insight into the mysterious and wacky world of the sun scorched event.
9. Bloomberg New Contemporaries welcomed back to London’s ICA (via Artlyst)
Bloomberg New Contemporaries, showcasing new and recent fine art graduates, is welcomed back to London’s ICA with a selection of 46 artists. The showcased artists join an influential roster of New Contemporaries alumni including Mona Hatoum, Damien Hirst and Mike Nelson. The exhibition brings together artists working across a range of media, with this years’ selection featuring Jamie Fitzpatrick, Lisa Porter, Victoria Adam and James Berrington.
