Art Industry News: Marina Abramović’s Naked Doorway, a Blushworthy Metaphor for Brexit, Is Heading to London + Other Stories

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 Wednesday, September
4.

NEED-TO-READ

David Bowie’s Tintoretto Returns to Venice – The Belgian collector Marnix Neerman has been
revealed as the buyer of the late musician’s Tintoretto in the
white-glove auction of Bowie’s
collection following his death in 2016. Neerman emerged as the owner of the
altarpiece of Saint Catherine, which he had acquired from
Sotheby’s for £191,000 ($237,432), after he lent it to the Palazzo
Ducale for an exhibition of Flemish and Italian Old Masters. The
painting was originally made for the church of San Geminiano in St.
Mark’s Square around 1560, but it was taken out of Venice more than
200 years ago. The Tintoretto masterpiece was one of Bowie’s first
art acquisitions in 1987, although he went on to build up a strong
collection of Modern and contemporary works before he died.
(The Art Newspaper)

Greece Will Make a
Formal Loan Request for the Parthenon Marbles
– Greek culture minister Lina Mendoni says her
ministry is drafting an official proposal for the loan of the
Parthenon Marbles from the British Museum for its 2021 bicentennial
of Greece’s 1821 revolution. Mendoni told Skai
TV that Greece may lend the London museum antiquities,
but no further details were given. The plan is
for Greek Prime Minister
Kyriakos Mitsotakis to give the proposal to the UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson. (Ekathimerini)

Marina Abramović’s Naked Doorway Is Coming to the RA –
Britain currently has one narrow, discomfiting passage that it
needs to squeeze through with Brexit, the fate of which is now again up in the air
as Boris Johnson’s backfiring prorogue gambit seems likely to lead
to snap elections. Soon it will get another discomfiting passage,
with performance-art pioneer Marina Abramović’s 1977
masterpiece Imponderabilia heading to the Royal Academy in London as
part of a retrospective exhibition planned for fall 2020. The
installation features two naked performers (usually one man and one
woman) who stand facing each other in a doorway while red-faced
visitors negotiate the slender gap between them. The RA is
currently recruiting people to perform in the piece, which was
originally done by Abramović and her partner at the time, the
artist Ulay, in 1977. The planned exhibition at RA, which was a
smash hit when it showed earlier
this year at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence (and
even more so when it appeared at MoMA nearly a decade
ago), will feature more than 50
works, including photographs, videos, installations, and
re-creations of other performances. (Guardian) 

It’s Not Looking Good for the 5Pointz Appeal –
A property developer is making the
case that graffiti art is not protected under the 1990 Visual
Artists’ Rights Act as he tries to appeal an earlier
court decision from the
Second Circuit. Gerald Wolkoff was ordered to pay $7
million in damages after
he whitewashed murals adorning the 5Pointz warehouse in Queens.
Wolkoff’s lawyer is making the case that other artists who paint
over each other’s work would also be in violation of VARA, but the
appeals court is not sympathetic to his arguments because of the
implication that temporary or ephemeral art is less worthy of
protection than permanent installations. (Courthouse News)

ART MARKET

Frieze London Names New Artistic Director – Frieze London has hired Eva Langret, a
curator who comes from Tiwani Contemporary, to be its new artistic
director, taking up her new role in November and working with
Frieze global director Victoria Siddall. (Artforum)

Chinese Tariffs Expand to Books and Maps – Trump has raised the tariff imposed on Chinese
art by another 5 percent this August. The new tariff, which is now
15 percent, came into effect on September 1, and it will extends to
antiques including as books, manuscripts, and maps. The tariff hike
has further frustrated antiques dealing between traders in China
and the US. (TAN)

Art Encounter Director Named – The first executive director of the Chicago
arts-education organization Art Encounter is now Lea Pinsky. The
artist has been teaching at the nonprofit since 2002.
(Artforum)

Alma Thomas Show Coming to Mnuchin – The painter Alma Thomas is about to receive a
major survey at Mnuchin Gallery in New York. “Alma Thomas:
Resurrection,” which runs September 10 through October 19, is named
after a painting by the abstract artist that hung in the White
House dining room during Barack Obama’s presidency.
(ARTnews)

COMINGS & GOINGS

German Photographer Peter Lindbergh Has Died –
The family of the legendary photographer Peter Lindbergh has
announced that 74-year-old artist has passed away. Renowned for his
ambient, black-and-white editorial images, Lindbergh  captured
indelible photographs of celebrities including Kate Moss, Emma
Watson, and Penelope Cruz over the years. (Bild)

Christian Dior Show
Breaks Attendance Record at V&A – Nearly
595,000 people came to see the Victoria & Albert Museum’s
exhibition “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams,” which ran from
February 2 to September 1. The V&A’s “Alexander McQueen: Savage
Beauty” exhibition had previously held the record, seeing over
480,000 visitors when it ran in 2015. (The McQueen show’s run,
however, was two months shorter.) V&A director Tristram Hunt
said the institution is “overwhelmed by the phenomenal visitor
response” to the show dedicated to the French fashion
designer. (BBC)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Barenaked Ladies Band
Member Settles a Lawsuit Over a Forged Painting
– Canadian musician Kevin Hearn, the keyboard
player from the Barenaked Ladies, has settled a lawsuit for a
$20,000 painting he purchased from the Maslak McLeod Gallery in
Toronto that turned out to be a fake. It was alleged to be by the
celebrated Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau, but when Hearn
loaned it to the Art Gallery of Ontario, it was declared fake and
the musician sued the gallery. A top court of appeal awarded
him $60,000. (CTV)

Jennifer Lawrence Visits
the Met – Gladstone gallery director Cooke Maroney
and his fiancée, the actress Jennifer Lawrence, were spotted
visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Labor Day weekend. The
couple is engaged to marry, and Lawrence has called Maroney “the
best person I’ve ever met in my whole life.” They seem very sweet.
(People)

Simone Leigh and Zendaya
Team Up for the Cover of GARAGE – The
Spider-Man actress Zendaya collaborated with the artist
Simone Leigh to embody Leigh’s monumental sculptures, which explore
black female subjectivity. The project for the upcoming issue of
GARAGE was shot by Ryan McGinley and it takes its inspiration from
Leigh’s 16-foot-high sculpture Brick House, which is
on view at New York City’s High Line. (GARAGE)

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The post Art Industry News: Marina Abramović’s Naked
Doorway, a Blushworthy Metaphor for Brexit, Is Heading to London +
Other Stories appeared first on artnet News.