The display of a toppled statue of a 17th-century slave trader at a Bristol museum has renewed controversy over monuments to problematic figures in the United Kingdom. The statue in question, a monument to Edward Colston, was toppled and thrown into a harbor last summer by Black Lives Matter protesters in Bristol, where it had been on public view since 1895. It has now ...
This past weekend, the Detroit Institute of Arts received pushback after it unveiled a mural at the police department of nearby suburb Sterling Heights. After the museum posted images of the painting on social media last week, artists and activists accused the DIA of being “pro-cop.” The museum said that the mural—an enlarged vinyl version of a 2018 painting—had been created with the “input” ...
After enduring a year without art events — and the revenue they bring — local painter Kay Carlson was eagerly awaiting the return of the storied Sausalito Art Festival this Labor Day weekend. But even though COVID cases are dropping, vaccination rates are climbing and pandemic rules are easing, the art festival won’t be back this year. It’s fallen victim to a months-long controversy ...
For the first time, collectors Anita and Poju Zabludowicz have responded to art-world controversy over their reported ties to a pro-Israel lobbying group and military aircraft services company. In a statement posted on social media on Friday by the Zabludowicz Collection, a London museum opened by the couple in 2007, the pair said that escalating violence between Israel and the militant group Hamas “has ...
More than 50 cultural historians have signed an open letter denouncing the Newark Museum of Art’s plan to sell 17 works from its collection at auction. When the museum first announced its plan to deaccession artworks in March, few details were provided about which pieces would appear at Sotheby’s. But it has since been revealed that several pieces by American artists—including a painting by ...
After a group of pro-Beijing politicians and newspapers accused Hong Kong’s soon-to-open M+ museum of violating China’s national security law, the institution said that its presentations will comply with the measure. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, Henry Tang Ying-yen, chairman of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in Hong Kong, said that the arts district “will definitely uphold the ...
The Aichi Triennale 2019 arts festival appears to live on in infamy. When it opened in Nagoya, it was immediately blasted for a section entitled “After ‘Freedom of Expression?,’” which duplicated a 2015 Tokyo art exhibit featuring works that were previously removed from public display after being castigated by right-wing elements, mainly for their depictions of historical matters. The section was eventually shut down ...
CLEVELAND, Ohio — There’s nothing obviously controversial about the current suite of exhibitions at Spaces, the venerable nonprofit gallery and artist resource center in Ohio City.Yet the shows — particularly an exhibition of work by the organization’s artist members — embody complex issues related to racial equity that underscore the importance of changes already underway at the gallery, located at 2900 Detroit Ave. in ...
Amid controversy over his alleged ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein, Leon Black, a private equity investor well known in the art world for his collecting and patronage of museums, will depart the firm that he cofounded. The Wall Street Journal reports that Black, who currently serves as the chair of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, plans to leave Apollo Global Management Inc. ...
The San Francisco Art Institute nearly closed for good in 2020 Courtesy of bart.gov The San Francisco Art Institute announced on Friday that Pam Rorke Levy, who has served as the board chair since 2018, will be resigning her post and is to be replaced by photographer and SFAI-alum Lonnie Graham. Levy’s resignation follows a tumultuous year for the 150-year-old art school, which nearly ...
