Art Industry News: Forget Ghost Booths Art Basel’s First In-Person Fair in Over a Year Will Feature Futuristic Holo-Dealers + Other Stories
Plus, the Sharjah Biennial is postponed to 2023 and influential architect and curator Terence Riley has died.
May 19, 2021
Art displays at Art Basel Hong Kong 2017. Photo by Nora Tam/South China Morning Post via Getty Images.
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 19.
NEED-TO-READ
Art Faces Pressure in Hong Kong – All eyes turn to Hong Kong this week as Art Basel opens its first edition in the city in two years against a very different political backdrop than last time. Conservative lawmakers are putting pressure on institutions like the M+ Museum to cull political works from its inaugural display. “It shouldn’t be the politicians who curate this exhibition,” collector and donor Uli Sigg said, addi
Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirror Rooms opens at London s Tate Modern
vman.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vman.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Last modified on Mon 17 May 2021 05.19 EDT
All done with lights and looking glasses, Yayoi Kusamaâs year-long display of Infinity Mirror Rooms is already booked-out until late October. Viewers must queue and wait, at £10 a head, for two, two-minute dives into Kusamaâs universe. Hardly enough time to get your bearings, let alone lose them, which seems to be the point of her disorientating halls of mirrors.
Tate Modern says it is being relatively generous about how long viewers may spend in the artistâs installations: at some venues, visitors get only 30 seconds to adjust to her glimmering darkened spaces. Then youâre out, matey, ready or not, wowed or otherwise. Time for a selfie though, if thatâs your thing. And for many, I fear, it is. Although such installations are perceptually complex and disorientating, their spectacular effects are all too readily assimilable to Instagram. This really is a bit absurd. Many people are hungry, I suppose, for some kin
Ticket sales have been brisk in a pandemic-weary city hungry for more outdoor cultural events.
‘Kusama: Cosmic Nature,’ postponed by a year due to the coronavirus, will remain on view through Halloween.
NY garden show is a major success
Most of the artworks are outdoors and are big enough to enjoy while remaining socially distanced.
Visitors will want to wear their walking shoes; the show features multiple galleries, installations and gardens.
Elaborate flower displays complement some of the works, which are scattered over the 250-acre botanical garden in the Bronx.
The setting could not be more suitable for Kusama’s multifaceted works, all of which relate in various ways to the world of nature.
As communities begin lifting COVID-19 restrictions, many museums around the country are finally able to reopen their doors. Reserve a ticket, venture in and you will find that your favorite artifacts have been waiting patiently for your return and that museum staff have used their time off to mount new exhibitions and create new experiences. Many free museum admission programs are back, too.
“While the museum visit may look a little different, whether that be enhanced cleaning procedures or wearing masks, visitors can expect a safe experience in which their curiosity is sparked and they feel reconnected to their communities,” says Laura Lott, president and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums.
vimarsana © 2020. All Rights Reserved.