Friday, April 10
P.P.O.W. to Represent Guadalupe Maravilla
The New York–based gallery P.P.O.W. announced that it will now represent the artist Guadalupe Maravilla, who splits his time between Brooklyn, New York, and Richmond, Virginia, where is an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. Maravilla works across a variety of mediums, including sculpture, performance, video, drawing, and more, to create works that combine pre-colonial histories from Central America and his own personal story of migration to the United States from El Salvador as an unaccompanied child in the 1980s. His most recent series—“Disease Throwers,” currently the subject of a solo show at the Institute of Contemporary Art VCU—is a group of large-scale sculptures that take the form of headdresses, shrines, and other objects, and function as “healing machines,” according to Maravilla. Other artists that the gallery represents include David Wojnarowicz, Martin Wong, Carolee Schneeman, Ramiro Gomez, Carlos Motta, and Betty Tompkins.
The New York–based gallery P.P.O.W. announced that it will now represent the artist Guadalupe Maravilla, who splits his time between Brooklyn, New York, and Richmond, Virginia, where is an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. Maravilla works across a variety of mediums, including sculpture, performance, video, drawing, and more, to create works that combine pre-colonial histories from Central America and his own personal story of migration to the United States from El Salvador as an unaccompanied child in the 1980s. His most recent series—“Disease Throwers,” currently the subject of a solo show at the Institute of Contemporary Art VCU—is a group of large-scale sculptures that take the form of headdresses, shrines, and other objects, and function as “healing machines,” according to Maravilla. Other artists that the gallery represents include David Wojnarowicz, Martin Wong, Carolee Schneeman, Ramiro Gomez, Carlos Motta, and Betty Tompkins.
Thursday, April 9
NYC Labor Union Files Charges Against Art Storage Company UOVO
The Teamsters Local 814 union has filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board against the art storage company Uovo Fine Art, per a report in Hyperallergic. The suit claims Uovo leadership leveraged the Covid-19 crisis to lay off six workers in retaliation for their support of last year’s unionization campaign. In a statement to Hyperallergic, Uovo denied the union’s allegations, saying, “Perceived support of labor unions was not a factor in our decision and management was also affected.”
Wednesday, April 8
Nonprofit Coalition Launches $10 M. Artist Relief Fund
A group of seven nonprofit grant-making organizations have created Artist Relief, a fund to provide unrestricted grants of $5,000 directly to artists impacted by the coronavirus. Artists over 21 year old who have worked primarily anywhere in the United States (including territories and Tribal Nations) over the past two years in any discipline are eligible to apply, and the fund will prioritize those with the most need. (Grants will be given to artists regardless of citizenship status, so long as they can receive taxable income.) So far, the group—which includes Artadia, Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and United States Artists—has raised $10 million from numerous foundations, including $5 million from the Mellon Foundation. In a statement, artist and Artadia board member Nick Cave said, “The economic security of most artists is already so precarious, and this crisis could have an irrevocable toll on our community. There needs to be immediate intervention.” More information on how to apply can be found here. —Maximilíano Durón
National YoungArts Foundation Launches Emergency Microgrant Program
The Miami-based National YoungArts Foundation said it would create an emergency microgrant program to give $1,000 unrestricted grants to its more than 20,000 alumni whose work spans 10 different visual and performing arts disciplines. Over the next three months, between April and June, the foundation will distribute $250,000 in three cycles, which will be based on a lottery system for all applications received for the grants. Since 1981, National YoungArts has given $10,000 to high school students between the ages of 15 and 18. The foundation also is a participant in the Artist Relief fund. In a statement, Sarah Arison, the foundation’s chair, said, “National YoungArts Foundation’s mission is to provide accomplished young artists with creative and professional development opportunities throughout their careers. In the face of this unprecedented economic crisis and as one of the country’s largest funders of individual artists, YoungArts is doing all that it can to support artists–past and present award winners included–across the country.”
The Miami-based National YoungArts Foundation said it would create an emergency microgrant program to give $1,000 unrestricted grants to its more than 20,000 alumni whose work spans 10 different visual and performing arts disciplines. Over the next three months, between April and June, the foundation will distribute $250,000 in three cycles, which will be based on a lottery system for all applications received for the grants. Since 1981, National YoungArts has given $10,000 to high school students between the ages of 15 and 18. The foundation also is a participant in the Artist Relief fund. In a statement, Sarah Arison, the foundation’s chair, said, “National YoungArts Foundation’s mission is to provide accomplished young artists with creative and professional development opportunities throughout their careers. In the face of this unprecedented economic crisis and as one of the country’s largest funders of individual artists, YoungArts is doing all that it can to support artists–past and present award winners included–across the country.”
Shortlist for Art Basel’s BMW Art Journey Revealed
Art Basel and BMW have announced their shortlist for the BMW Art Journey award, which supports one emerging artist each year. Leelee Chan, Jes Fan, and Amy Lien & Enzo Camacho have been nominated for the 2020 prize, which supports its winner as they do research for a new artwork. The winner will be chosen by a five-person journey to be announced in June.
Art Basel and BMW have announced their shortlist for the BMW Art Journey award, which supports one emerging artist each year. Leelee Chan, Jes Fan, and Amy Lien & Enzo Camacho have been nominated for the 2020 prize, which supports its winner as they do research for a new artwork. The winner will be chosen by a five-person journey to be announced in June.
Tuesday, April 7
Mark di Suvero Reads Poetry
The Tippet Rise Art Center in Fishtail, Montana, has launched a video series featuring artist Mark di Suvero reading poems that have inspired his hulking sculptures over the years. Since some of his earliest exhibitions, di Suvero has paired photos of his sculptures with various poems. Each piece of writing read as part of the video series also corresponds to one of his works. Timed to April being Poetry Month, the first two entries in the eight-part series show di Suvero reading the first stanza of the 1803 version of “Mnemosyne” (also known as “All the Fruit”) by Friedrich Hölderlin, which he pairs with his 1990 sculpture L’Allumé, and 1992’s Schubert Sonata with “Evening” by Rainer Maria Rilke, whose Letters to a Young Poet have inspired generations of artists. Each video is accompanied by text from Tipper Rise cofounder Peter Halstead. The first two videos are accessible here.
Monday, April 6
Postal Service Mints Ruth Asawa Stamps
The United States Postal Service announced that it will create a set of stamps dedicated to the work of the American artist Ruth Asawa, who died in 2013. The page of 20 stamps will feature 10 unique designs showing various examples of Asawa’s famed wire sculptures, ranging from throughout her career. The images range from details of the work to full views of select sculptures to installation views that give a dizzying effect to the pieces. Among the works highlighted are Untitled (S.039, Hanging Five Spiraling Columns of Open Windows), 1959, which has the effect of elongated, twisting and interlocking, leaves of plant, and Untitled (S.055, Hanging Asymmetrical Nine Interlocking Bubbles), ca. 1955, which features nine connected orbs in various colors. The postal service did not immediately provide a date for when the stamps will be available to purchase.
Met to Stream Gerhard Richter Documentary
The Met Breuer‘s Gerhard Richter survey—the New York museum’s final exhibition planned for its contemporary art annex—was among the many major shows closed by the coronavirus shutdown last month. But there is a way in which viewers can commune with Richter’s art from home—in the form of a documentary on the artist. Starting this Saturday, the Metropolitan Museum of Art will have the acclaimed feature-length film Gerhard Richter Painting, directed by Corinna Belz and first releaed in theaters in 2012, available to stream on its website for free. The museum plans to continue hosting the documentary in full until July.
Centre Pompidou Extends President’s Contract
As it prepares to expand its operations with satellite spaces planned for Brussels and Massy in France, Paris’s Centre Pompidou has renewed the contract of its president, Serge Lasvignes, according to the Art Newspaper. Lasvignes has headed up the museum since 2015, and in that time, he has helped the museum move beyond the French capital, opening major spaces in Malaga and Shanghai. (Lasvignes had intended to sign a deal for another in Seoul, but the coronavirus prevented that from happening as expected.) His term has now been extended three years.