- The Knoedler forgery trial kicked off this week, and the plaintiffs introduced their first witnesses yesterday, among them curator John Elderfield. The trial will determine whether or not Knoedler’s former president Ann Freedman knowingly sold a Rothko fake to collectors Domenico and Eleanore De Sole. The trial, of course, follows one of the art world’s biggest scandals, when the 165 year old Knoedler abruptly closed in 2011, and it soon emerged they had been selling fakes for the past 15 years. Elderfield testified about two fake Diebenkorns, following the defence’s opening argument about the “highly dysfunctional” AbEx generation of painters and their so-called questionable record keeping of business transactions. [Art News]
- Evan Hughes, the son of Sydney gallerist/collector Ray Hughes on closing the gallery to pursue philanthropy and politics: “it was almost as if we were given permission to declare that the art world had been taken over by dickheads. Too much of the commercial art trade has become about the selling of product and the accumulation of capital,” and on his conservative political rival’s commissioned portrait: “Unhappy with the work, Turnbull confronted my father at a function and exclaimed: ‘That artist of yours is no good; he’s made me look like a big, fat, greedy cunt’, to which my father replied, ‘He is a realist painter, you know’.” [The Art Newspaper]
- Meet Puppies Puppies, your new favourite artist to check out at the upcoming Material Art Fair in Mexico City. The artist is redefining readymades by sourcing materials ranging from Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter fanart to eBay and Etsy “mall kiosk kitsch”, and speaks in the first and third-person. (At NADA New York last year, the artist presented a dead monster surrounded by leeches at Courtney Blades.) [Artspace]
- Here’s another must-see in Mexico City. Last week we debated the merits of getting an MFA. In Mexico, there’s an accredited non-profit art school, SOMA, churning out work that looks great. We can’t wait to see their thesis show. [Hyperallergic]
- This interview with Ricardo Dominguez, a former Critical Art Ensemble member and professor at UCSD, is fascinating. Who knew early net artists and the Zapatistas ran in the same (digital) circles? [Rhizome]
- “I suspect you have always been a racist but never had to admit it because you were hitherto surrounded mainly by people of your own ethnic group. Fortunately, for you and our troubled society, you’re now fully aware of your racism and you want to address it.” An “urban etiquette” advice column from Calgary addresses the age-old “I’ve never been a racist before, but I am now and I need help” question. [Metro News]
- The Art Institute of Chicago has received $35 million, the biggest cash bequest in its history. The money will go towards helping the institute acquire new Asian art, and help grow its prints and drawings holdings. [Artforum]
- The different approaches to “reserving” dug-out parking spots in Washington, DC and Philadelphia perfectly illustrate the difference in pathos and ethos between the two cities. [The Blaze]
- To protest the UK’s draconian film censorship laws, Charlie Lyne created a two-day long, crowd-funded movie of paint drying. Now, the censors who sit on the board have to watch the whole thing. [Boing Boing]
- The Union Arts building in Washington DC, home to numerous art collectives and studios, is facing potential sale, demolition, and redevelopment as a luxury hotel. The artists are asking for support in their resistance to the plan. [Facebook]
- The Tate Modern’s new extension will open in June of this year, with a Louise Bourgeois exhibition. The expansion project will increase the museum’s square footage by 60% in an asymmetrical ziggurat designed by Herzog & de Meuron—arguable the only starchitects with a track record of never disappointing. This might just put the new Whitney to shame. [Observer]
- New York is finally getting a handful of open-gangway subway cars. They greatly reduce overcrowding by creating room for passengers in the otherwise wasted space between cars and facilitating more efficient distribution of crowds. For some reason, everyone talks about this as if it’s a wild and untested concept. See: Gothamist’s moniker “Poop Trains”. In reality, almost every major city outside the United States uses conjoined trains. If you’ve ever ridden a subway anywhere else in the world, the improvement is obvious. Why are we so behind and oblivious when it comes to public transportation? [Gothamist]
- The MoMA expansion has been scaled back with a revised timeline. Nobody liked the art bay so it’s been trashed. (Good riddance.) Now the only way to enter the building is through the main museum. [The New York Times]
Wednesday Links: Artworld Overtaken By Dickheads, Mexicans Dodge MFA Debt
by Paddy Johnson Michael Anthony Farley Rea McNamara on January 27, 2016 Massive Links
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