Art Industry News: Bored Archeologists on Lockdown Have Discovered Dozens of Hidden Roman Sites in England’s Backyard + 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 Wednesday, May
13.

NEED-TO-READ

Inside Arts Leaders’
Regular Zoom Meeting – Typically not in communication and
competing for audiences, up to 200 of New York’s cultural leaders
have been meeting daily on Zoom since the pandemic hit to help each
other face this moment of adversity. Heads from Museum Mile on
Fifth Avenue to tiny cultural centers in Brooklyn and the
Bronx are sharing information about how to access funds,
create digital strategies, and plan summer
programming. The call takes place on weekdays at 3 p.m.
for up to an hour and is led by Taryn Sacramone, executive
director of the Queens Theater, and Lucy Sexton, executive director
of New Yorkers for Culture & Arts. “We have kids enter the
frame all the time, and people asking a question with somebody
sitting in their lap,” Sacramone said. “That’s the reality right
now.” (New York
Times)

Jerry Saltz on Coping in
Quarantine – The art critic Jerry Saltz has been
teased endlessly on Twitter for his unusual coffee-drinking and
eating habits, which involve gas-station coffees, a Big Gulp, and
endless deli chicken paillard. In a moving personal essay, he
assures the public that he and his wife, art critic Roberta Smith,
are living well. “I am a hunter-gatherer-microwaver providing for
my wife, who is my eyes and mind,” he writes. His journey to
unorthodox sustenance was shaped by his upbringing in Chicago, from
the loss of his mother to an uncomfortably blended family. Today,
he writes, “I lose my defensiveness and embarrassment about the way
I eat. In this terrible pause, I can say that… I took my
limitations and pared my life down to art, work, and Roberta. I
couldn’t be happier.” (Vulture)

Locked-Down
Archeologists Are Making New Discoveries – Scholars may be
stuck at home, but they are still finding ways to keep
busy. While archaeological digs are on pause during the
lockdown, scientists and amateurs alike have
been searching aerial images using LiDAR scans to uncover
previously hidden Roman, prehistoric, and medieval sites. The
project is organized by researchers from the University of Exeter
in the UK. So far, the volunteer team has found two Roman
roads, 30 prehistoric or Roman settlement enclosures, and 20
prehistoric burial mounds, in addition to medieval
farmlands. (Daily
Mail)

Baltimore Gets a
Grant for Its Matisse Center – The Baltimore Museum of Art
has received a $3.5 million gift to endow the directorship of the
Ruth R. Marder Center for
Matisse Studies, a 3,500-square-foot facility dedicated to the
artist and currently scheduled to open in fall 2021. Katy Rothkopf,
the museum’s senior curator and department head of European painting and
sculpture, will be its new director. The gift comes from Anne and
Ben Cone, relatives of the late sisters Claribel and Etta Cone, who
first established the Matisse collection at the BMA.
(Artfix
Daily)

ART MARKET

Eye of the Collector
Opens Its Online Viewing Room – The inaugural
Eye Viewing Room will launch May 12, the original opening date
for the boothless fair’s
inaugural edition at Two Temple Place in London. The
online version of the fair, founded by a former head of
Masterpiece, will offer a selection of works chosen in
collaboration with 21 international galleries. (Press release)

Xavier Hufkens Sets an
Opening Date – The Belgian gallery will reopen
its two spaces on May 19, welcoming a maximum of eight visitors at
a time. It will also open a third exhibition space in Brussels
designed by the Belgian architect Bernard Dubois with a show
of work by Sterling Ruby. (Press release)

COMINGS & GOINGS

Museum Director Alan Shestack Dies at 81 – The museum veteran, who retired in 2008
as deputy director and chief curator of the National Gallery of Art
in Washington, DC, has died at 81. Shestack’s extensive career in
art institutions included tenures directing the Yale University Art
Gallery, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston. (MinneapolisStar-Tribune, Culturegrrl)

Artist Plans Bamako Art Center – The Malian painter Amadou Sanogo is opening a
new arts center in Bamako in 2022. The center, called Makoro, will
offer studio spaces for Malian artists under 30 and will host
exhibitions and workshops for schoolchildren. (The Art
Newspaper)

One-Third of Scottish Artists Lost All Income in April –
A COVID-19 impact survey of 100
organizations and artists in Scotland has revealed that a third
have lost all income in April. The survey, conducted by the
Scottish Contemporary Art Network, also found that 70 percent of
institutions are likely to cancel some of their programming as a
result of the shutdown and resulting budget cuts.
(Press
release)

FOR ART’S SAKE

Samson Young Wins the Inaugural Sigg Prize – The Hong Kong-based artist, known for making
inventive art with sound that touches on themes of identity,
migration, and military conflict, has won the inaugural Sigg Prize,
a biennial prize for artists in the greater China region backed by
art collector Uli Sigg’s museum M+. Young will receive HK$500,000
($65,000). (Press
release)

The Mormon Church Will Only Let the “Art of Jesus” in Meeting
Rooms – The leaders of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have directed local
representatives to place only artwork depicting Jesus in all church
foyers and entryways. A news release from the church explains the
move is to “testify further of our central belief in Jesus Christ.”
(Salt Lake
Tribune)

How the Virus Affects Art Insurance – With the public health crisis locking down
art-storage units and forcing delays in shipments, many collectors
are wondering what impact the current situation will have on their
holdings’ insurance values. Advisors say collectors could negotiate
lower rates with their provider by axing transit coverage in favor
of a “stay only” or “limited transit” plan until things normalize.
(ARTnews)

Supreme Releases Capsule Collection Honoring Daniel Johnston
– The late outsider artist
Daniel Johnston, a cult figure best known for the cassette tapes he
hawked while working at an Austin McDonalds in the ’80s, is an
unlikely partner for the streetwear brand Supreme. But the company
is unveiling its second collaboration with Johnston, who was also a
dedicated artist. The line featuring his original art—including a
frog figure that became famous when Kurt Cobain wore a shirt with
the image at the 1992 VMAs—will be available beginning May 14.
(Juxtapoz) 

The post Art Industry News: Bored Archeologists on Lockdown
Have Discovered Dozens of Hidden Roman Sites in England’s Backyard
+ Other Stories appeared first on artnet News.