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The Headlines
A DISPATCH FROM THE BIRTHPLACE OF DEMOCRACY. Some key museums in Greece are closed this week, as staffers protest a new law that severs the institutions from the nation’s culture ministry and forces them to undertake individual fundraising, as Alex Greenberger reported in ARTnews. Riot police and demonstrators were on hand outside a press conference held on Wednesday to publicize David Chipperfield Architects’ plans to renovate and expand the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, the Art Newspaper reports. Meanwhile, over in London, the British Museum’s chair, George Osborne, said that the United Kingdom and Greece are continuing to negotiate a deal on the Parthenon Marbles . He is “reasonably optimistic,” he said, while also noting that “it may well not come to anything.” Last month, Greece said that it would reject any deal that recognizes U.K. ownership of the treasure.
UPDATES: ● Marco Goecke, the German choreographer who smeared dog feces across the face of critic who gave him a negative review, is out as ballet director of the Hanover State Opera. The company said that the Goecke’s attack had “massively damaged” its reputation and that it had agreed with him to dissolve his contract, the Guardian reports. ● An online Christie’s auction of material from the estate of André Leon Talleybrought in $2.16 million, CBS News reports. A live auction of Talley’s belongings earlier this week totaled $1.4 million. Proceeds are going to churches that were important to the late fashion editor. ● And for a second time, Karen K. Ho reports in ARTnews, Banksy‘s latest mural has been partially dismantled.
The Digest
ARTISTS IN THE MEDIA. In the Los Angeles Times, Kehinde Wiley spoke with writer Jessica Lynne about his new show at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles (his latest work is about “radical freedom,” he said) and the inspiration provided by his mother. Photographer Texas Isaiah provided portraits for the story. Meanwhile, over on the FT Weekend podcast, Nick Cave spoke about police violence, his inimitable Soundsuits, and his current exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum in New York.
Details have been trickling out about Moss & Freud, the upcoming biopic about the friendship between artist Lucian Freud and supermodel Kate Moss: James Lucas is writing and directing, Moss herself is producing, Ellie Bamber is playing Moss, and Derek Jacobi is playing Freud. Here is a primer to the production. [South China Morning Post]
Chris Burden’s glorious 40 Foot Stepped Skyscraper (2011), made with around a quarter-million Erector-style components, is on view at Frieze Los Angeles this week, via the artist’s estate and his longtime gallery, Gagosian. Reporter Jori Finkel has a time-lapse video of how the sculpture was constructed on site. [The Art Newspaper]
Want more Frieze L.A. coverage? Check your inbox for a dedicated edition of Breakfast. Maximilíano Durón has a roundup of the fair’s best booths.
The Gilbert & George Centre—the London exhibition space created by the artists to present their art—will open to the public on April 1, April Fool’s Day. Next month, the two will unveil a show at White Cube‘s Mason’s Yard venue in the capital city, and in April they will exhibit at its branch in West Palm Beach, Florida. [Ocula]
Architectural Digest has a list of “Works of Wonder,” compiling “new feats of architecture, art, and design.” They include Michael Heizer’s City (1970–2022), the Sydney Modern museum project, and the Munch museum in Oslo. [AD]
The Kicker
NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT. While there have been price increases, the market for insuring auction houses has remained relatively stable in recent years, with none of the volatility that some other sectors have seen, according to a report from Business Insurance. Talking with the magazine, Robert Read, of the insurer Hiscox , offered this frank assessment of his industry: “You’re insuring generally wealthy people and their objects they buy for personal pleasure. It’s less of a hostile market, than, say, if you’re providing legal advice or you’re an accountant providing advice.” [BI]