Art Industry News: How Banksy Controls Collectors, the Media, and the Art Market to Protect His Legacy + 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 Thursday, February
6.

NEED TO READ

Suspected Banksy Thieves Are Arrested in Paris
– Two men suspected of stealing a Banksy work in Paris
have been arrested. The 32- and 35-year-old suspects are thought to
have been involved in the theft last September of Banksy’s street
art tribute to the May 1968 uprising in France. The work, which
depicted a rat holding a box cutter, was taken from a billboard
near the Centre Pompidou. The men are currently in police custody
and it is yet to be determined whether they will be placed under
investigation. While the missing work was not found, other Banksy
works or copies were uncovered in a search. (Le Monde)

Yale Addresses Controversy Over Its Art History
Changeup – In a letter to the
College Art Association, Yale defended its decision to cut its
popular course “Introduction to Art History: Renaissance to the
Present,” once taught by Vincent Scully, in favor of a selection of
less Eurocentric classes. “Art history is a global discipline,” the
letter reads. “[N]o one survey course taught in the space of a
semester could ever be comprehensive, and that no one survey course
can be taken as the definitive survey of our
discipline.” (ARTnews)

Inside Banksy’s Efforts to Control His Legacy –
Banksy’s rise to global fame has
been managed through the careful control of his message, his
market, and his mystery. The anonymous street artist’s former
dealer Steve Lazarides has said that the artist is “a total control
freak.” Indeed, Banksy has tried very hard to control his resale
market by creating his authenticating agency, Pest Control, which
has also been cracking down on knockoff merchandise on his behalf.
He speaks to media only through a spokeswoman or his surprise posts
on his Instagram account, and allegedly controls his anonymity with
a team of lawyers and nondisclosure agreements. (New York
Times)

Barnes and Noble Scraps Its Diversity
Covers – Before it even launched, the
bookstore chain Barnes and Noble has suspended its campaign to
incorporate diversity onto the covers of classic American novels
such as Treasure Island and The Count of Monte
Cristo. The initiative was intended to “reimagine protagonists
as people of color,” but backlash characterized the effort as
“literary blackface” and Barnes and Noble scrapped it before
the books appeared in stores. (Slate)

ART MARKET

Gagosian Gets a New Communications Head
– Michael Sherman, who formerly served as chief
communications officer at Phillips, has joined Gagosian as
worldwide head of communications. He previously worked at
Christie’s and as a reporter at Bloomberg News and as a press
secretary in Bloomberg’s mayoral administration. Sherman, who will
work alongside the gallery’s longtime communications chief Virginia
Coleman, said, “Larry has built the world’s greatest gallery, and I
look forward to helping my new colleagues tell the gallery’s story
to collectors around the world.” (Email)

Psst, Wet Paint Will Return Next Week – An
update for all the dedicated readers of “Wet Paint,” Artnet News’s
gossip column. Writer Nate Freeman is out this week, but look out
for an extra juicy Frieze edition from Los Angeles next week.
(Artnet News)

The Art World’s Love Affair With Leverage – Art collectors are increasingly borrowing money
against their paintings, seeing enormous potential in the $67
billion art market. In recent years, art secured loans have risen
40 percent, with many Wall Street aficionados getting in on the
action, including the hedge fund manager Daniel Sundheim, who has
been benefitting from a credit line from JPMorgan Chase & Co.
against the top works in his collection. (Yahoo!
Finance)

COMINGS & GOINGS

David Hockney’s Portrait of Ed Sheeran Is Coming to the UK
– David Hockney’s 2018 portrait
of the musician Ed Sheeran will be on display in the UK for the
first time this winter at London-based Annely Judah Fine Art. The
work shows Sheeran, with his vibrant red hair and various arm
tattoos, sitting comfortably in a green armchair. The work is going
on view as part of the show “Video Brings Its Time To You, You
Bring Your Time To Paintings and Drawings,” and will also feature a
portrait of singer Bruno Mars. (Guardian)

Finland Selects Its Artist for the Venice Biennale –
Finland has elected the video and
performance artist Pilvi Takala to represent the country at the
2021 Venice Biennale. The pavilion will be curated by Christina Li.
Takala’s work often involves challenging normative social
structures by staging performative interventions in various
specific communities. (e-flux)

French Strikers Stage a Die-In at the Ministry of Culture
– As the opposition to
France’s controversial pension reforms forges on, affected culture
workers are kicking
their protests up a notch. Protesters were seen staging a die-in on
the steps of the French culture ministry. (Twitter)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Overlooked Figures Get Sculptures in New York –
The Socrates Sculpture Park in
Queens, New York, has launched an open call for artists to propose
public monuments dedicated to “overlooked” historical figures.
Monuments by artists including Jeffrey Gibson, Xaviera Simmons, and
Paul Ramírez Jonas will be showcased in the park’s fall
exhibition. (The Art
Newspaper)

Antony Gormley’s Public Sculpture for New York –
Antony Gormley has debuted a
monumental abstract sculpture in Brooklyn. The looping aluminum
sculpture at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 3 is called
New York Clearing
(2020), and was made possible as
part of an international public art project commissioned by the
K-Pop band BTS. (designboom)

Billie Eilish Performs Conceptual Art at MOCA –
See pop star Billie Eilish
participating in the Chinese conceptual artist Xu Zhen’s
performance work In Just
a Blink of an Eye. While
on a visit to the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Eilish
took part in the work, which makes it look like the performer is
eerily suspended in mid-air. (Vogue)

The post Art Industry News: How Banksy Controls Collectors,
the Media, and the Art Market to Protect His Legacy + Other
Stories appeared first on artnet News.