Friday, March 20
Eye & Art Prize Reveals 2020 Winner
Artist and filmmaker Kahlil Joseph, whose work appeared in the 2019 Venice Biennale, has won the Eye & Art Prize, which is given annually by the Eye Filmmuseum in Amsterdam and the Paddy & Joan Leigh Fermor Arts Fund. Joseph will receive £25,000 (about $29,300) to create a new work. Previous winners of the prize include Hito Steyerl, Ben Rivers, and Wang Bing.
Thursday, March 19
1-54 New York Postpones 2020 Edition
The 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, which planned to have its 2020 edition at the Caldwell Factory in New York from May 8-10, has announced that the event is postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus outbreak. According to a statement from the fair’s founding director Touria El Glaoui, “This decision comes following extensive discussions regarding several factors, including the US-Europe travel ban, and our overriding imperative for the health and safety of our exhibitors and visitors.” El Glaoui added that organizers are currently exploring digital alternatives to the physical fair.
Crystal Bridges Promotes Two Curators
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, has made two curatorial promotions. Mindy Besaw, the museum’s curator of American art, will now also hold the position of director of fellowships and research, leading efforts to advance the museum’s Native American art acquisitions and programming. Lauren Haynes will continue working as curator of contemporary art and begin in the role of director of artist initiatives.
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, has made two curatorial promotions. Mindy Besaw, the museum’s curator of American art, will now also hold the position of director of fellowships and research, leading efforts to advance the museum’s Native American art acquisitions and programming. Lauren Haynes will continue working as curator of contemporary art and begin in the role of director of artist initiatives.
NSW Visual Arts Established Fellowship Names 2020 Recipient
Artist Maria Fernanda Cardoso has won the 2020 NSW Visual Arts Established Fellowship, which is awarded by Create NSW, a government funding apparatus in Australia, and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA) in Sydney. Known for her works made from organic and nontraditional materials, Cardoso will get $30,000 to focus on a self-directed project, as well as an additional $20,000 that will go toward a commission by the MCA.
Wednesday, March 18
Royal Commission for AlUla to Open Arts Hub in Desert X Location
Saudi Arabia’s Royal Commission for AlUla has revealed plans to create a permanent arts destination in the canyon in Ashar, in northwest Saudi Arabia, where Desert X AlUla took place this year. It plans to organize arts experiences in the open-air environment with the hope of nurturing AlUla’s creative scene. Additionally, Desert X has invited the artists hailing from Saudi Arabia and the surrounding region to show work at its next exhibition in California’s Coachella Valley in 2021.
Tuesday, March 17
Gallery Weekend Beijing Announces New Dates for 2020 Edition
Gallery Weekend Beijing, which was postponed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, will now take place from May 26–31, with preview days from May 22–24. In a release, the fair said it was exploring digital initiatives to help include international audiences in the event.
Citing Coronavirus, Photo London Postponed Until Fall
The organizers of the Photo London art fair, which was set to mount its sixth edition at Somerset House from May 14–17, said that they will postpone the event’s upcoming iteration until early in the fall season as a way to “safeguard public health.” They did not immediately provide new dates. In a statement, the fair’s founders, Fariba Farshad and Michael Benson, said that proceeding as planned with the fair is no longer an option: “We had a great edition in prospect, but this has now become an irrelevance in the face of public health and our responsibility to adhere to the latest government advice, as well as the logistical challenges of international travel. We have taken this decision because we simply must do all that we can to keep people safe. There is nothing more important than that.” –Maximilíano Durón
Glasgow International Postponed Until 2021
The upcoming edition of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art in Scotland, scheduled for April 24–May 10, has been postponed because of growing concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. The festival’s organizers said that the decision was “unimaginable only weeks ago,” and added that they will honor the payments for existing contracts with artists and the “Across the City” projects that were planned to open next month. The organizers said in a statement, “Beyond this, we understand that many artists who rely on short term or freelance contracts will be facing particular uncertainty right now, we will continue to work with funders and the wider cultural sector to advocate for ways to support artists and the arts community in these difficult times.” —Maximilíano Durón
Monday, March 16
Marfa Invitational Postpones Dates Over Coronavirus
The Marfa Invitational, a small art fair in the West Texas city known for its associations with Donald Judd, announced a reschedule of its upcoming edition, originally slated to run from April 2–5. The new dates will be August 13–16. All 11 exhibitors that had planned to participate will still be a part of the August iteration, including Night Gallery (of Los Angeles), Anat Ebgi (L.A.), Half Gallery (New York), 12.26 (Dallas), Future Gallery (Berlin), and Lora Reynolds Gallery (Austin, Texas).
Object & Thing Postpones Second Edition in New York
The design-focused fair Object & Thing, which had its inaugural edition in Brooklyn last year, has postponed its second iteration due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Previously set to take place from May 7–10 at 99 Scott in Brooklyn, the event is now scheduled for November 13–15. According to a release, the November edition will feature an expanded version of the fair’s shop, which brings together design boutiques from around the world.
Future Fair Postpones Inaugural Edition in New York
Future Fair, which was set to premier in New York May 7–9, has announced that it has postponed its inaugural event until the fall. Set to bring together 36 international galleries and 5 project spaces, the fair will offer dealers a cut of its profits, acknowledging that “we need to devise new structures that support and connect our community.”
Wolf Kahn, Vivid Landscape Painter, Dies at 92
Wolf Kahn, a German-American painter known for his vivid New England landscapes that blend techniques from disparate movements such as Realism and Color Field, has died at 92. His New York representative, Miles McEnery Gallery, confirmed the news in an email. Kahn was born in 1927 in Stuttgart, Germany, and emigrated to the United States in 1940. After studying under the influential teacher and painter Hans Hofmann, Kahn developed his signature style of natural scenes rendered in soft focus and fantastic colors. “I’d call myself a process painter because I try not to know what the paintings are going to look like,” he said in a recent interview. “I want them to come out spontaneously.” Together with other former Hofmann students, including Allan Kaprow and Richard Stankiewicz, Kahn cofounded Hansa Gallery in New York, where he staged his first solo exhibition in 1953. He joined Grace Borgenicht Gallery in 1956, where he exhibited until 1995. In 1960, his landscapes were included in the exhibition “Young America 1960: 30 Painters under 36” at the Whitney Museum in New York. His work is held in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among other institutions.
Art-agenda Appoints New Editor-in-Chief
Ben Eastham has been named editor-in-chief of the contemporary art publication art-agenda, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Eastham joins the outlet from ArtReview, where he was editor, and he has previously worked as associate editor at Documenta 14 and as founding editor of the art and literary magazine the White Review. He succeeds Filipa Ramos, who helmed art-agenda for six years.