Art Industry News: Pace Gallery Makes Cutbacks in a Down Market, Furloughing 25 Percent of Its New York Staff + 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 Friday, April
10.

NEED-TO-READ

How to Apply for the NEA’s Emergency Grants
– New guidelines for how to receive funding from
the $75 million allotted to
the NEA through the US government’s CARES Act have been
released. To be eligible for direct grants of $50,000,
organizations must have been given NEA awards within the past four
years (about 3,700 organizations may qualify). The money may be
allocated to staff salary, artist fees, and facilities costs. Local
arts agencies who issue grants of their own may request sums for
either $100,000 or $250,000; the application deadline is April 22,
2020. (Glasstire)

COVID Derails Marina Abramovic’s Opera
– The performance artist has been working for years
on an elaborate, multimedia opera about the singer Maria Callas,
and as recently as late March, at her request, the Bavarian State
Opera was investigating whether the work’s original April 11
premiere could be livestreamed without an audience. On April 1,
however, the opera house concluded that the performance would have
to be postponed to an unspecified later date. “I was hoping
that angels will help us,” Abramovic said. “Every day more and
more. But it’s impossible.” (New York
Times)

Pace Furloughs 25 Percent of New York Staff
– As the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the art
market, the international mega-gallery Pace informed more than 25
employees—around a quarter of its New York staff—that they had been
placed on furlough through mid-August. Pace’s CEO Marc Glimcher,
who recently penned an essay about how his own coronavirus
diagnosis changed his view of the art world, said in a statement
that “this painful decision came after making every non-personnel
related cut we could, which has included drastically reducing the
salaries of the most senior people either to the minimum or
entirely.” (ARTnews)

Why MOCA’s Furloughs
Were a Mistake – Art critic Christopher Knight says the
Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles could have avoided
furloughing 70 staff members by applying for the federal
government’s new Payment Protection Program, as many other museums have
done. Small institutions, he writes, “should be going after PPP
bailout funds to keep the full-time staff secure and in place.
Staffers need it, the art institutions need it, and the American
economy needs it. There’s no good excuse not
to.” (Los Angeles
Times)

ART MARKET

White Cube Launches COVID Fundraiser – The
gallery is teaming up with British artist Harland Miller to
raise £1.25 million for healthcare workers and others fighting
the disease on the front lines. Miller—who himself has experienced
mild symptoms of COVID-19—is selling 250 editions of the
print Who Cares Wins (2020), created in the style of
his popular Penguin dust jacket series, for £5,000 each. Proceeds
will be donated to the National Emergencies Trust in the UK, the
New York Community Trust, and HandsOn Hong Kong. (The Art
Newspaper)

Austrian Galleries Look to Reopen – Some
Austrian galleries are cautiously planning to reopen their doors
next week after the government began to ease restrictions that were
introduced to limit the spread of coronavirus. Beginning on April
14, small shops will be permitted to resume operations, with
limitations: only one customer per 20 square meters will be
admitted and everyone must wear masks. Some galleries fear it is
too early to reopen; others plan to operate with reduced hours.
(TAN)

Artists and Celebs Offer Works to Bonhams
– The auction house is hosting an online-only sale to benefit NHS charities in the midst
of urgent appeals for aid, from April 8 through April 29. The sale
offers works donated by the likes of Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley,
and Julian Opie. Four lucky winning bidders will also be given a
backstage glimpse into the filming of “Call the
Midwife,” the hit BBC series. (Press release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Math Bass Joins the Roster at Vielmetter Los Angeles –
The Los Angeles-based artist, who
previously worked with the now-shuttered Mary Boone Gallery, will
be represented by Vielmetter Los Angeles. Bass, whose work
encompasses painting, sound, sculpture, video, and performance,
will have a debut solo show at the gallery in November 2020. Bass
will also be the subject of a solo exhibition at the Henry Art
Gallery at the University of Washington later this year. (Press
release)

Aspen Art Museum Cancels ArtCrush – The
Aspen Art Museum has become the latest institution to cancel its
major annual fundraiser in an effort to preserve public health. The
museum announced that it would call off its ArtCrush summer gala
and accompanying events, originally scheduled to be held from
August 4 through 7. Last year, the gala raised $2.3 million, a
significant portion of the museum’s annual contributions. Notably,
ArtCrush is among the later events in the year to be cancelled at
this stage—many spring events have been rescheduled to September.
(Aspen Daily
News)

BMW Art Journey Shortlist
Announced – The annual BMW Art Journey shortlist
was announced after what was, for the first time, a virtual
selection process. The jury, which included collector Patrizia
Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, UCCA Director Philip Tinari, and the 2019
winner, Samson Young, selected artists Leelee Chan, Jes Fan, and
the duo Amy Lien and Enzo Camacho for the shortlist. They will
now be asked to submit a proposal for their ideal journey, and the
winner will be announced in June. (Press release)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Robert Wilson Debuts His Own Viewing Room
– The storied theater director has taken a page from
galleries and opened an online viewing room full of his mesmerizing
video portraits, including one of Winona Ryder cast as a character
in a Samuel Beckett play. More will be added over time. “These
portraits are for the most part about interior movement and
stillness,” Wilson said—something we’re all abundantly familiar
with right now. (ARTnews)

Los Angeles Councilman Proposes Artist Emergency Grants
– Councilman David Ryu of Los Angeles has introduced
legislation to convert more than $1.2 million that his
district holds in arts development fees and quickly convert the
money into emergency artist grants. The funding is provided by real
estate developers and is normally used to pay for a work of public
art or contribute to citywide cultural initiatives. But Ryu says
the funds would be better used to help the city’s ailing artists
directly. (TAN)

Maya Lin’s Madison Square Park Commission
Postponed – The artist’s
commission, Ghost Forest, originally planned to open
in June 2020, has been postponed until 2021 due to the coronavirus
pandemic. The artist plans to present a small grove of
sky-scraping cedar trees—some standing nearly 30 feet tall—which
formerly lived in the wilderness of New Jersey’s Pine Barrens until
Hurricane Sandy tore through the region. (Press
release)

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Down Market, Furloughing 25 Percent of Its New York Staff + Other
Stories appeared first on artnet News.