Friday, September 11
Peter Williams Receives Artists’ Legacy Foundation 2020 Artist Award
Peter Williams is this year’s recipient of the Artists’ Legacy Foundation’s annual Artist Award, which comes with an unrestricted $25,000 purse. Williams is known for his vibrant paintings and works on paper that address racism, mass incarceration, environmental destruction, and other current issues. The artist’s works often contain references to allegories, personal experiences, pop culture, and art history. “I’m trying to be subversive by saying underneath all this humor is something we’d better start paying attention to,” he has said of his practice. “And I’m using the signs and symbols and signifiers that I learned from the Western tradition of oil painting.”
Peter Williams is this year’s recipient of the Artists’ Legacy Foundation’s annual Artist Award, which comes with an unrestricted $25,000 purse. Williams is known for his vibrant paintings and works on paper that address racism, mass incarceration, environmental destruction, and other current issues. The artist’s works often contain references to allegories, personal experiences, pop culture, and art history. “I’m trying to be subversive by saying underneath all this humor is something we’d better start paying attention to,” he has said of his practice. “And I’m using the signs and symbols and signifiers that I learned from the Western tradition of oil painting.”
Miart Names Nicola Ricciardi as Artistic Director
Curator and critic Nicola Ricciardi, who has previously served as artistic director of Officine Grandi Riparazioni di Torino, will work as artistic director of the Miart fair in Milan from 2021 to 2023. Ricciardi will join Miart in October, organizing the 25th edition of the fair, which is set to take place next year from April 9–11. A digital edition of Miart is taking place this year from September 11–13.
Jessica Silverman Now Represents Clare Rojas
San Francisco–based gallery Jessica Silverman has added painter and musician Clare Rojas to its roster. Rojas is best known for her magical realist paintings whose references include Peruvian and American folk art, Bauhaus design, and Native American textiles. Her works are currently held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Jose Museum of Art, and the Berkeley Art Museum, among elsewhere. A solo exhibition of new work by Rojas will inaugurate Jessica Silverman’s new gallery space in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
San Francisco–based gallery Jessica Silverman has added painter and musician Clare Rojas to its roster. Rojas is best known for her magical realist paintings whose references include Peruvian and American folk art, Bauhaus design, and Native American textiles. Her works are currently held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the San Jose Museum of Art, and the Berkeley Art Museum, among elsewhere. A solo exhibition of new work by Rojas will inaugurate Jessica Silverman’s new gallery space in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Thursday, September 10
Creative Time Appoints Associate Curator
Creative Time, a New York–based arts organization, has appointed Diya Vij as associate curator. Vij joins Creative Time from the High Line in New York, where she oversaw live events, including performances and workshops, as associate curator of public programs. Prior to the High Line, Vij led special projects for the Commissioner’s Unit in the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. In that role, she created a municipal residency that embeds artists in city agencies for a year to address social issues. Participating artists in the residency have included Tania Bruguera, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, and Onyedika Chuke.
Academy Museum Details Inaugural Temporary Exhibition On Hayao Miyazaki
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which will open in Los Angeles on April 30, 2021, has announced that its inaugural temporary exhibition will explore the work of the Japanese filmmaker and animator Hayao Miyazaki. The show will mark the first North American museum retrospective dedicated to Miyazaki, and it will feature over 300 objects related to his films, from image boards and posters to large-scale projections and immersive environments.
Wednesday, September 9
Moderna Museet Receives Funding for Acquisitions
The Moderna Museet in Stockholm has been allocated 25 million SEK (roughly $2.9 million) to acquire artworks for the museum’s permanent collection. The news was announced by Swedish deputy minister for finance Per Bolund and minister of culture Amanda Lind at a press conference on Tuesday. “It is with gratitude that I received this information,” the museum’s director Gitte Ørskou said in a statement. “The Moderna Museet collection belongs to the Swedish people, and therefore it is especially gratifying that we can now buy several works—for all our citizens—at a time when art is needed more than ever.”
The Moderna Museet in Stockholm has been allocated 25 million SEK (roughly $2.9 million) to acquire artworks for the museum’s permanent collection. The news was announced by Swedish deputy minister for finance Per Bolund and minister of culture Amanda Lind at a press conference on Tuesday. “It is with gratitude that I received this information,” the museum’s director Gitte Ørskou said in a statement. “The Moderna Museet collection belongs to the Swedish people, and therefore it is especially gratifying that we can now buy several works—for all our citizens—at a time when art is needed more than ever.”
Metropolitan Museum of Art Appoints Curator of Modern Architecture, Design, and Decorative Arts
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has named Abraham Thomas as its first-ever curator of modern architecture, design, and decorative arts in the department of modern and contemporary art. Thomas joins the Met from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where he has worked for four years as curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery and most recently as senior curator at the Arts & Industries Building. He has previously served as director of Sir John Soane’s Museum in the United Kingdom.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has named Abraham Thomas as its first-ever curator of modern architecture, design, and decorative arts in the department of modern and contemporary art. Thomas joins the Met from the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., where he has worked for four years as curator-in-charge of the Renwick Gallery and most recently as senior curator at the Arts & Industries Building. He has previously served as director of Sir John Soane’s Museum in the United Kingdom.
Autry Museum President and CEO to Retire
The Autry Museum of the American West in Los Angeles has announced that current president and CEO W. Richard West, Jr. will retire in June 2021. He will be succeeded by Stephen Aron, a professor of history at the University of California, Los Angeles. The founding director and director emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, West is credited with reinvigorating the Autry’s educational and curatorial programming during his eight-year tenure. Among his achievements is the construction of the Autry’s Resources Center, a collections and research facility in Burbank. Upon his retirement, he will be named president emeritus and ambassador, Native communities. Aron, who recently collaborated with the Autry on an exhibition focused on Covid-19 and Black Lives Matter protests, will retire from UCLA prior to joining the institution.
Marfa Invitational Announces 2021 Dates
The Marfa Invitational, an art fair in West Texas, has revealed its 2021 dates. The upcoming edition, which was postponed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic, is slated to run from April 22–25. Among the participating exhibitors are Half Gallery (New York), Night Gallery (Los Angeles), Carl Kostyál (London), Natalia Hug (Klön), Bill Brady Gallery (Miami), and Anat Ebgi (Los Angeles).
1893, lithograph. MMFA, in process of acquisition
Tuesday, September 8
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Acquires Three Toulouse-Lautrec Posters
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has added three posters by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec to its collection. Titled La Revue blanche, May Milton, and Divan japonais, the works were made between 1893 and 1895, and they depict an advertisement for a literary and art publication, a stage performer, and the interior of a music hall, respectively.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has added three posters by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec to its collection. Titled La Revue blanche, May Milton, and Divan japonais, the works were made between 1893 and 1895, and they depict an advertisement for a literary and art publication, a stage performer, and the interior of a music hall, respectively.
New Art Dealers Alliance Welcomes 21 New Members
The nonprofit New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) has added 21 new gallery members from 13 cities and 8 countries. Among the new NADA members are 1969 Gallery (of New York), Fragment Gallery (Moscow), Ginsberg (Lima), High Gallery (Warsaw), The Hole (New York), Kapp Kapp (Philadelphia and New York), Project Pangée (Montreal), and Rectangle (Forest, Belgium).
The nonprofit New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) has added 21 new gallery members from 13 cities and 8 countries. Among the new NADA members are 1969 Gallery (of New York), Fragment Gallery (Moscow), Ginsberg (Lima), High Gallery (Warsaw), The Hole (New York), Kapp Kapp (Philadelphia and New York), Project Pangée (Montreal), and Rectangle (Forest, Belgium).
Almine Rech Adds Genesis Tramaine to Roster
Almine Rech, which maintains spaces in New York, London, Paris, Brussels, and Shanghai, now represents Newark-based artist Genesis Tramaine in collaboration with Richard Beavers Gallery in Brooklyn, who has shown Tramaine’s art since 2018. Tramaine’s practice explores gender binaries and social structures through provocative mixed-media portraits. This past spring, Tramaine had a solo show at Almine Rech’s London gallery. Her work is held in the collections of the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami and the Contemporary Art Foundation, Tokyo, among other institutions.
Danziger Gallery Will Move to New Space in New York, Present Exhibitions in Los Angeles
The New York–based Danziger Gallery, which is currently located at 980 Madison Avenue on the city’s Upper East Side, will move to a new space at 76th Street and 5th Avenue in November. The new space overlooking Central Park will have three rooms for exhibitions. Additionally, the gallery will start showing exhibitions at Peter Fetterman Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, California, this fall.
The New York–based Danziger Gallery, which is currently located at 980 Madison Avenue on the city’s Upper East Side, will move to a new space at 76th Street and 5th Avenue in November. The new space overlooking Central Park will have three rooms for exhibitions. Additionally, the gallery will start showing exhibitions at Peter Fetterman Gallery at Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, California, this fall.