LT. ZACHARY WEST/U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Flooding in Texas
At least five people have died in the wake of the catastrophic Hurricane Harvey, which hit the Gulf Coast of Texas over the weekend. [The New York Times]
Several museums in Texas closed for the weekend because of the storm. The Menil Collection in Houston said in a statement that “at this time, and thankfully, our buildings have not been impacted by the storm.” [ARTnews]
The Museum of Flight in Chattanooga, Tennessee, said it would help with relief efforts by chartering planes into affected areas. [News Channel Nine]
Between the hurricane and the pay-per-view boxing match acting as distractions, the Hollywood box office had its worst weekend since the days after 9/11. [The Hollywood Reporter]
A West Bank Museum
The Palestinian Museum, which is located in West Bank city of Birzeit, opened its fist exhibition. [Yahoo]
The exhibition, “Jerusalem Lives,” includes works by nearly 50 artists that address the city from “cultural, economic, political, ideological and environmental perspectives.” “How do we decolonize our minds?” Reem Fadda, the show’s curator, said. “For me, these are the means. This is how you do it. You bring this wealth of culture and knowledge-making, put it together, and you start to think together, how do we strategize ways of getting out of this?” [Al Jazeera]
Domestic Museums
The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., will add 11 photographs by Japanese photographers to its permanent collection. [ARTnews]
The Utah Museum of Fine Arts in Salt Lake City has reopened after 19 months of renovations. [The Salt Lake Tribune]
The president of the Berkshire Museum’s board rejected a donation of $1 million from an anonymous group on the condition that the museum delay a planned auction of works. “Although we must decline, we are grateful for the offer,” the president, Elizabeth McGraw, said. [The Berkshire Eagle]
Art World Personalities
Stefan Simchowitz went on Vanity Fair’s Inside the Hive podcast, hosted by writer Nick Bilton. In the intro text, Bilton notes that Simchowitz is “frequently, and equally unironically, known as the Donald Trump of the art world” but also claims that he’s “misunderstood.” [Vanity Fair]
Lena Dunham will play Valerie Solanas, the radical feminist who shot Andy Warhol, in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: Cult. Warhol will be played by Evan Peters. [Deadline]
Ai Weiwei discusses his new documentary, Human Flow, which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival before appearing in theaters in October. [Variety]
Cai Guo-Qiang gabbed and noshed for that most lovely of columns, “Lunch with the FT.” [The Financial Times]
And More!
The 2018 edition of the Biennale de Montreal has been canceled due to lack of funds. It will attempt a comeback in 2020. [The Art Newspaper]
An interview with the art director for the late music legend Prince. [The New York Post]