Weekly post from ArtList, the online marketplace for private sales.
1. Seattle Art Fair Gaining Buzz
On July 30, the Seattle Art Fair will make its debut but the fair promises to be one of the biggest in the country with Gagosian, Pace and David Zwirner Galleries already joining the list of exhibitors. Such big name galleries do not frequently join smaller, more regional events (none of the three has shown at Art Los Angeles Contemporary nor Dallas Art Fair).
Robert Goff, a director at David Zwirner, explained that Seattle’s summer weather signals the height of its tourist season, a draw for the galleries. However, with companies such as Amazon, Microsoft and Starbucks also based in Seattle, the city’s new tech money may be a bigger draw than sunny weather. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen is even a co-producer of the event.
2. Damien Hirst Repents…With a New Museum
Damien Hirst has seemed rather reflective lately. The artist revealed to The Guardian that when he would go to work, he would feel a sense of guilt at the size of his own studio (which employs hundreds of people) churning out his art : “That’s why I used to lay on these huge parties. I remember feeling guilty for those people. What have I done? I’ve created a monster. Back to the pub.”
But Hirst even repents in typically grand, Hirst fashion. In an attempt to give back something to the art community, he is opening a free-admission museum that will house pieces from his personal collection (which numbers at over 3,000 works). The museum will open in October 2015 at theNewport Street Gallery in Lambeth, south London.
3. Danh Vō Loses in Court to Bert Kreuk
Dutch collector Bert Kreuk has triumphed in his lawsuit against Danish-Vietnamese artist Danh Vō. Kreuk filed his suit last September, seeking $1.2 million from Vō, who Kreuk alleged had promised a large installation piece for an exhibition of Kreuk’s collection.
While Vō’s legal representation denies that such a promise was ever made, Vō ultimately submitted a smaller artwork. While Kreuk based the amount of money sought off of the damages that Vō’s broken promise did to his reputation as a collector, he also state that he would be satisfied if Vō simply created the piece he originally promised. A Rotterdam judge has ordered that Vō create the piece as it was allegedly agreed upon wihtin the next year, with steep financial penalties for late delivery.
4. Art Authenticators Protected with New Law
The profession of art authentication has gotten increasingly risky over the past years. Authenticators have faced an increasing amount of backlash from collectors, lawsuits from artwork owners and even, in the case of oneModigliani expert, death threats.
With such extreme consequences for a faulty authentication (or even a correct one that a collector disagrees with), it is harder than ever to find an authenticator willing to evaluate artwork. To re-incentivize authentication, the New York State Senate has passed a new bill that prevents plantiffs from forcing authenticators to pay their legal fees in the case of a plantiff victory in court. Critics say that the bill does not go far enough, but only time will tell if it can make authentication sexy again.
5. Frieze Projects Announced for London 2015
Frieze Projects, which is a program that commissions artists to create installations for the annual Freize art fairs has announced the artists that will be featured at its London fair in October.
The artists are: artist collective ÅYRBRB (Fabrizio Ballabio, Alessandro Bava, Luis Ortega Govela and Octave Perrault), Lutz Bacher,Castillo/Corrales, Thea Djordjadze, Jeremy Herbert, Asad Raza, andRachel Rose, who was awarded the 2015 Frieze Artist Award, which allows an emerging artist to be included in the commission program. According to a Frieze press release, the group of selected artists “includes practitioners and collectives from disciplines including architecture, publishing and theatre,” and will “transform, subvert, and interact with the social, structural and cultural dynamics of the fair.”
