Friday Links: “The Fucked-up-ness of American Culture”

Barkley Hendricks, “In the Crosshairs of the States”

Iggy Pop was at the MoCA Detroit for the opening of American Valhalla: The Art of Post Pop Depression. The exhibition features photography from Andreas Neumann and Matt Helders, and will be tour the same cities as Iggy Pop’s concerts this year. [Billboard]

Could the German baugruppe model work here? German would-be homeowners can form LLCs to act as their own developers, building themselves custom, cheaper housing as opposed to buying off-the-rack condos. [Curbed]

Many in Toronto’s Downtown East are concerned that a new LGBTQ-focused sports center development in Toronto’s Moss Park may not serve the area’s large community of homeless people, sex workers and drug users. The Center is promising to “de-institutionalize” the neighborhood by having all community services under one roof, but the development coincides with an Edmonton developer buying up ten properties across the street to turn into three large condo towers. And so far, the condo development’s language—around “safety” and working “closely” with police “to advance law and order”—is raising concern and fears of displacement for the very community the sports center is supposed to serve. [NOW Magazine]

Barkley L. Hendricks has a new show of paintings at Jack Shainman, and in an interview with Lee Ann Norman, speaks to about his return to portraiture and “the fucked-up-ness of American culture”. [Hyperallergic]

The latest art world revelation from the Panama Papers? Turns out billionaire currency trader Joe Lewis bought the Ganz collection before the record-breaking 1997 Christie’s auction with the support of an offshore firm. Lewis bought 100 works from the collection six months before for $168 million, and then set up the Christie’s sale, which then fetched $206 million. [The Guardian]

James R. Miller is suing the Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, Sean Kelly Gallery, Skarstedt, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Guggenheim for copyright infringement. Miller claims he actually staged and shot four iconic Mapplethorpe “self portraits” and is seeking tens of millions in damages. [Hyperallergic]

Dushko Petrovich’s profile of Jerry Saltz is sadly only available in the latest print issue of Tablet, but M.H. Miller provides some highlights here, along with commentary: “Saltz, as one of the few remaining staff art critics in the country, has a lot of power in the art world. He is also a widely known public figure (uncommon for critics of any genre). Negative criticism of him is rare and largely kept private. I’m sure Saltz’s followers would happily—or, more likely, angrily—debate the profile on social media, though in a strange bit of irony for a subject whose persona is so entwined with his presence online, Petrovich’s piece is only available in print.” [ART News]

Earlier this week, I (Michael) asked “Is a graphic diamond a symbol we can attach whatever symbolic associations we want to?” Apparently, yes. Olafur Eliasson’s “Green Light” looks very much like the project “Diamonds Light Baltimore”, but this time, the diamond is about the refugee crisis, not police brutality. [artnet News]

“Any New Yorker who even thinks of voting for Ted Cruz should have their head examined, Really, here’s a guy who refused to sign onto the 9/11 health care act for the cops and fireman. Here’s a guy who talks about New York values.” Even conservatives in New York can’t stand Cruz. That quote’s from Long Island Republican Peter King, who also mocks the Texan’s cowboy boots. [New York Daily News]