Art Industry News: Damien Hirst Has Teamed Up With Snapchat to Allow Bored People to Make Spin Paintings With Their iPhones + Other Stories

Art Industry News is a daily digest of the most
consequential developments coming out of the art world and art
market. Here’s what you need to know on this Tuesday, May
5.

NEED-TO-READ

Why It’s Easier to Be an Art Historian Now Than Ever –
The prominent art historian Bendor
Grosvenor says that while he and his colleagues are far from
essential workers, they have been able them to continue their
research in the lockdown era largely uninterrupted, thanks in large
part to the extension of online access by libraries and art
collections. “I am already looking forward to all the new research,
articles, and books that will emerge by the end of the year,” he
writes. Grosvenor does not mention the fairly significant prospect
of hiring freezes and budget squeezes at institutions that employ
art historians—but, to be fair, he doesn’t say it’s a good time to
become an art historian, just that it’s a good time to
be one already. (The Art
Newspaper)

Checking in With Maurizio Cattelan – The Italian artist has been art-world famous
for a long time, but it took him taping a
banana to a wall at Art
Basel Miami Beach to make him real-world famous. In an email
interview, Cattelan explains that he had been toying around with
banana-like sculptures for months before realizing he did not need
to re-create one, but simply use a real one in the work. He also reflects
on his golden
toilet,
America, which remains missing after it was stolen
from Blenheim Palace last year. “I only hope that whoever took it
is enjoying it!” he said. “Seriously, I have been feeling like
being a movie character all the time since it happened.”
(Robb
Report)

Damien Hirst Has Teamed Up With Snapchat – Are you just longing to make a spin
painting, but sorely lacking any kind of spinning table? Well, your
prayers are answered. Snapchat has announced the release of a new
augmented reality experience made in collaboration with Damien
Hirst that enables users to recreate the artist’s vivid and iconic
“spin paintings” using their own camera in the app. The project is
in support of the global charity Partners in Health, a non-profit
that works to provide healthcare and support vulnerable communities
in developing countries during the pandemic. “It’s amazing to be
working with Snapchat on this totally mega spin art lens and making
it possible for millions of people to make their own spin paintings
right from their phones,” Hirst said in a statement.
(New York
Observer)

More Artists Speak Out Against N’Namdi Contemporary –
After news broke that Howardena
Pindell was suing her former dealer, seeking the return of 20
works and punitive damages of
$500,000, other artists have come forward to claim mismanagement on
the part of N’Namdi Contemporary, a gallery that has shown work by
many now-prominent black artists before they became internationally
sought-after. Richard Mayhew, 96, also alleges the
gallery sold works without his knowledge and James Little claims he
was uncomfortable with the gallery’s bookkeeping. “Howardena would
say it’s particularly depressing because George N’Namdi was taking
advantage of his own people, already in precarious positions,” says
her current dealer, Garth Greenan. “Justice would make her feel
like she wasn’t taken for a ride for 20 years.” (New York
Times)

ART MARKET

Christie’s Is Selling a Rare Apple Computer –
One of the few remaining iterations
of Apple Inc’s first run of computers, the Apple-1 from 1976, is
for sale at Christie’s. The naked motherboard, which sold at the
time for  between $450 and $700, is on offer via private sale
for an estimated $300,000 to $400,000. (Art Market
Monitor)

Murakami and Supreme Raise $1 Million for COVID Relief –
Is it possible that making Supreme x Murakami t-shirts is more
effective than printing money? In just a few
weeks, Supreme’s collaborative
shirt made with artist Takashi Murakami raised just over $1 million
for Help USA, which provides services for homeless families and
others in need. (That figure doesn’t even count the money generated by the shirts on
resale.) (Complex)

UK Collector Charged With Money Laundering – Art collector and gold tycoon James Stunt
has been charged by the West Yorkshire Police of money laundering
and forgery. Stunt denies the allegations, calling it the “biggest
miscarriage of justice.” (TAN)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Ludwig Museum Director Will Curate the German Pavilion –
Art historian Yilmaz Dziewior
will organize the German Pavilion at next year’s Venice Biennale.
Dziewior, who has an interest in the social power of cultural
production, has been director at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne since
2015. (Monopol)

Anonymous Donor Pledges to Match NADA Relief Grants –
An anonymous donor has pledged to
match new funds raised for NADA’s COVID-19 relief grants up to
$25,000 through June 30. The relief fund supports commercial,
nonprofit, and alternative exhibition spaces impacted by the
crisis. (Press
release)

amfAR Partners With Christie’s for COVID-19 Research –
The foundation for AIDS research
has partnered with Christie’s to raise funds for COVID-19 research
at a special auction in June after the spread of coronavirus forced
amfAR to cancel its annual Cannes fundraising gala this spring. The
charity auction, titled “From the Studio,” will offer contemporary
works donated by collectors and artists, sourced with help from
Michael Nevin of The Journal Gallery. (Press release)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Artists Campaign Against Studio Eviction in Bristol –
Artists are protesting the eviction
of 73-year-old artist Howard Silverman from his studio at Spike
Island, one of Europe’s largest studio complexes, which he helped
found in the 1970s in Bristol. Silverman’s studio lease was not
renewed after 46 years; some residents suggest his ouster is part
of a broader effort to squeeze out older, established tenants in
favor of younger ones. (Guardian)

Kickstarter Allows Institutions to Fundraise Operating Costs
– For the first time, the
crowdfunding platform is allowing museums to raise money to fund
standard operating costs, like rent and utilities, amid financial
pressure from COVID-19. The new project, called Lights On, marks a
change in policy; previously, Kickstarter only permitted museums to
raise money for new projects or commissions. (Artforum) 

Akron Art Museum Addresses Controversy – The president of the board at Akron Art Museum,
Drew Engles, has responded to allegations of mismanagement and
discrimination against employees who signed a letter last year
calling out the institution for race and gender bias. (According to
an investigation
in ARTnews, only one of the 27 employees who
signed the letter remained employed by the museum after recent
cutbacks.) Engles now says the museum’s CARES Act package will
allow it to call back affected full-time employees within a few
weeks. (Crain’s Cleveland)

See Peter Liversidge’s Signs Supporting the NHS –
The British artist Peter
Liversidge’s Sign
Paintings for the NHS have become a symbol of the UK’s solidarity
with its health workers amid the coronavirus crisis. The colorful
signs with positive messaging, which the artist has been putting up
at an intersection between Roman Road and Grove Road in London,
have been picked up by Getty Images and used to illustrate news
articles about the UK’s response to the crisis. (Roman Road)

The post Art Industry News: Damien Hirst Has Teamed Up With
Snapchat to Allow Bored People to Make Spin Paintings With Their
iPhones + Other Stories appeared first on artnet
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