Friday, August 20
Former Art Basel Director Noah Horowitz Heads to Sotheby’s
Noah Horowitz, Art Basel’s former director of Americas, has been appointed as Sotheby’s worldwide head of gallery and private dealer services. In July, Art Basel announced that Horowitz would step down from his role as director, a position in which he had served since 2015. He will report to Brooke Lampley, Sotheby’s chairman and worldwide head of sales for global fine art. In his new position, he will focus on leading Sotheby’s strategic relationships with galleries and dealers.
Thursday, August 19
Lehmann Maupin Now Represents Tom Friedman in Asia
Tom Friedman, an artist who produces intimately crafted sculptures, will now be represented by Lehmann Maupin gallery in Asia. He will continue to be represented by Luhring Augustine in New York and Stephen Friedman Gallery in London. Known for his sculptures evoking lanky humans and abstract accumulations of materials, the artist, who is based in Leverett, Massachusetts, creates objects that appear mass-produced, even when they are not. His work is currently on view in a group show at Lehmann Maupin’s Taipei space, and he will have a solo show at the gallery’s Seoul venue in 2022. “Tom’s work touches on my primary interest in the visual arts, which is poetry,” said Lehmann Maupin cofounder Rachel Lehmann.
Park Yang-woo Named President of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation
Park Yang-woo, the former minister of culture, sports, and tourism for Gwangju, South Korea, has been named president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation. Park previously served on the organization’s board from 2015 to 2017 before being appointed minster of culture in 2019. Since his retirement this past February, he has served as the director of the KBS Symphony Orchestra. He succeeds Sunjung Kim, who departed the organization at the end of her contract this past June amid allegations of mismanagement. A recent investigation by the city of Gwangju into Kim upheld those accusations, which she had previously denied.
MFA Boston Names First Assistant Curator of Native American Art
The Museum of Fine Arts Boston has appointed Marina Tyquiengco (CHamoru) as its first assistant curator of Native American art. A scholar of global Indigenous art with an emphasis on Native American art and Aboriginal Australian art, Tyquiengco will help shape and grow the museum’s collection of Native American Art, organize exhibitions and programming around the collection, and help build ties with Indigenous communities. Tyquiengco currently serves as curatorial assistant in the museum’s department of contemporary art and will transition into her new role in September. At the MFA, she has been involved in organizing the current exhibitions “New Light: Encounters and Connections,” which features more than 60 works from across the museum’s collection, and “Garden for Boston,” a project led by artists and activists Ekua Holmes and Elizabeth James-Perry.
Wednesday, August 18
Denny Dimin Gallery Now Represents Pamela Council
Denny Dimin Gallery in New York has added Pamela Council to its roster. Council’s practice includes sculpture, performance, and immersive public installations constructed from a mix of artist-made and mass-produced materials. Their work explores themes of self-care in a capitalist state. A series of fountains, for example, embody an Afro-Americana camp aesthetic that Council calls “Blaxidermy.” Council has exhibited work at Studio Museum in Harlem, the New Museum, and the African American Museum in Philadelphia. A solo exhibition by the artist, titled “Bury Me Loose”, will be on view at the New York gallery this September, followed by a presentation of their immersive public art installation A Fountain for Survivors this October in Times Square.
New York’s Postmasters Gallery Appoints New Director
Postmasters gallery in New York has announced the appointment of Danielle Polovets as its new director. She joins the gallery from Phillips, where she oversaw marketing, strategic partnerships, and events in North America, and focused on global client and business development initiatives. In her new role, she will assume the responsibilities of gallery operations on a daily basis, which includes expanding the gallery’s sales strategy.
White Cube Adds Minoru Nomata to its Roster
White Cube, which maintains spaces in London, Paris, Aspen, Hong Kong, and New York, now represents Japanese painter Minoru Nomata, who lives and works in Tokyo. Nomatu is known for paintings that feature a single monumental structure amid a fantastical landscape. The works speak to the rapid urban and economic growth in Japan. His work has been featured at institutions including the Meguro Museum of Art in Tokyo, the Museum of Modern Art in Gunma, Japan, and the Sagacho Archives in Tokyo. Nomata’s first solo exhibition at the gallery opens at White Cube’s Hong Kong gallery this September. Titled “UNBUILT,” the show will include works from several bodies of work spanning the late 1980s to 2020.
Tuesday, August 17
Fridman Gallery Adds Sahana Ramakrishnan to its Roster
Fridman Gallery in New York now represents painter Sahana Ramakrishnan. Ramakrishnan’s paintings explore identity, death, and the concept of non-duality, a tenet of Hinduism and Buddhism that stresses the importance of individuals as belonging to a greater whole. Her work will be featured in the soon-to-open group show “Beyond Binaries” at Fridman Gallery, and her first solo exhibition there will open in November 2022.
Spring/Break Art Show Names Curators for 2021 Edition
The Spring/Break Art Show has named the curators lined up to take part in its 2021 edition, which is due to take place at the former offices of Ralph Lauren in New York. Due to run from September 8 to 13, the fair is set to include presentations overseen by the CAMP Gallery in North Miami, Frosh&Co gallery in New York, Alejandro Jassan, Queenie Wong, Anthony Haden-Guest, and more. A full list of curators is available here.
Monday, August 16
Investigations Finds That Former Gwangju Biennale Head ‘Abused Power’
An official investigation led by the South Korean city of Gwangju found that Sunjung Kim, the former president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, “abused power beyond her authority.” Kim left her post at the biennial at the end of June when her contract expired. Prior to her departure, she had been accused of unfairly dismissing staff by the biennial’s union. She denied the allegations, calling them “unfounded.”
Banksy Mural in England Gets Painted Over Out of ‘Sensitivity’
A Banksy mural depicting a little girl being flung from an inflatable raft has been painted over in Great Yarmouth, England, the BBC reports. The town said it covered over the work out of “sensitivity” to the 2018 death of a little girl who thrown from a trampoline nearby. The work had been created as part of Banksy’s “Great British Spraycation” spree. In a statement, Great Yarmouth’s borough council said, “We thank Banksy for all the wonderful art work and fully appreciate these circumstances would not have been known by the artist,” adding that there was hope that the work could in some way be restored.
Forge Project Launches Fellowship for Indigenous Creators
Forge Project, a new initiative to support Indigenous communities and leaders working in arts and culture, has launched an annual fellowship program for Indigenous artists. The inaugural Forge Project Fellows are Oneida architect and studio:indigenous founder Chris T Cornelius; artist and filmmaker Sky Hopinka, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation / Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians; Menominee ecologist and researcher Jasmine Neosh; and language preservation activist and Mohican language teacher Brock Schreiber, a member of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans. Each will receive $25,000 to support their projects and studio space at the Forge house, a structure designed by Ai Weiwei and located on the new Forge complex in the Hudson Valley.
