Censorship, Looted Treasures, and Artists Under Watch

A major antiquities case in Germany ended with convictions in Hamburg. ARTnews reports that two people were convicted in a Hamburg court on Monday of money laundering in a case whose details closely match those involving the children of Serop Simonian, the German art dealer described as the alleged leader of an Egyptian antiquities trafficking ring. Arab News reported the conviction, though it did not name the convicted parties or mention the Louvre Abu Dhabi. The court ordered them to turn over €32 million and pay fines of more than €ninety thousand. Prosecutors described alleged sales that included the burial complex of Princess Henuttawy, an ancient bust of Cleopatra, and a stele of Tutankhamun, with sums and artwork descriptions aligning with the Simonian investigation.

The Art Newspaper reports the US Department of State has removed a Kehinde Wiley painting it commissioned for the US embassy in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The work is Young Artists After Siamesas 1960 (2015), created through the Art in Embassies programme and paid for with taxpayer funds. A senior State Department official said the department is discussing with legal representatives whether the art can be sold, and that if feasible, selling it would be Art in Embassies’ goal. Leah Campos, appointed by US president Donald Trump to serve as ambassador to the Dominican Republic, called for embassy art and décor to reflect “the beauty, strength and commitment to liberty” of the United States. In an Instagram post dated 11 August, she celebrated turning away from “globalist and woke ideologies.”

The Art Newspaper looks at how a new generation of Indigenous artists is redefining Taiwan’s contemporary art scene after the Indigenous artist Sakuliu Pavavaljung was stripped of Taiwan’s National Award for Arts following his conviction for sexual assault this April. The article points to two breakout projects: in May, Taipei Performing Arts Center presented the Taiwan debut of Hagay Dreaming, a collaboration between Shu Lea Cheang and Truku artist Dondon Hounwn, following its 2025 premiere at Tate Modern. In June, Tai Body Theatre became the first Indigenous collective to receive the grand prize at Taiwan’s Taishin Arts Award. Curator Wei-Lun Lu says academy-trained artists have increasingly used video and performance and engaged “white-cube” contexts, reshaping how Indigenous contemporary work is made and shown.

ARTnews reports that Fabrizio Plessi, a pioneering Italian video artist, died on August 23 in Venice at 86, with La Repubblica reporting the death. Plessi was known for installations that engaged history and tradition with the digital and often took on an “architecture of their own.” After moving to Venice as a teenager, he completed his degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1962 and was appointed professor in painting. He began researching water as a subject and conceptual medium in the early 1960s, and created his first video works in 1973 in collaboration with the Visual Activities Center at Palazzo dei Diamanti in Ferrara. He presented Underwater at the Venice Film Festival in 1981, and later represented Italy at the 1986 Venice Biennale with Bronx (1986).

ARTnews reports that photographer Justin Thomas filed a copyright infringement lawsuit last week in the Southern District of New York against Elizabeth Peyton, Sotheby’s, and David Zwirner Gallery. Thomas says Peyton willfully copied a photograph he took at an after-party in London’s Earls Court in 1995 showing Oasis band members Liam and Noel Gallagher embracing. Peyton’s painting, titled Earl’s Court (Liam + Noel) (1996), sold for one point nine million dollars at Sotheby’s in New York in May. The complaint argues the painting is a “slavish copy,” alleging the main changes are the medium itself plus slight cropping, different coloring, and brushwork. The filing also describes Sotheby’s contacting Thomas in April to license the photograph for an online catalogue as a comparative illustration, with fees later adjusted.

The New York Times reports that Chinese dissident artist Gao Zhen, 70, was sentenced to three years in prison for his sculptures of Mao Zedong. The verdict was issued in the Sanhe City People’s Court in Hebei Province on Tuesday, August 25. Prosecutors cited a 2021 amendment under People’s Republic of China leader Xi Jinping that prohibits perceived slander of heroes and martyrs, and pointed to sculptures made between 2005 and 2009. Those works include depictions of Mao repenting, aiming fire at Jesus, and an enlarged bust with a cartoonish nose and enlarged breasts. Gao Zhen works with his younger brother Gao Qiang as the “Gao Brothers,” known for satirical and critical sculptures, including the Miss Mao series made from 2006 to 2009.

ARTnews reports that Tai Kwun Contemporary in Hong Kong will present Anne Imhof’s first solo exhibition in Asia, opening next month. Titled “House of Swans,” it will span three floors of the venue’s JC Contemporary and F Hall galleries and is curated by Ying Kwok and Tiffany Leung. Tai Kwun says Imhof will juxtapose oil painting, bronze sculpture, and ballet with sonic installations, performances, and videos to explore bodily presence, restriction, and authority. As part of the opening, Imhof’s collaborators and the Hong Kong Ballet will stage House of Swans on September 25 and 26, with further performances appearing at points during the run. The project is described as a companion piece to DOOM, her three-hour work shown at New York’s Park Avenue Armory last year.

ARTnews reports that a former member of Pussy Riot says she was recruited by Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, to spy on artists and other Kremlin critics. Rita Flores—real name Margarita Konovalova—described the experience in an interview with her lawyer Dmitry Zakhvatov on Port Media’s YouTube channel. Konovalova says she began working for the FSB in 2023 after pressure and threats to her family, and was tasked with passing information on artists and anti-war activists and reporting works that portrayed Russia negatively. She described payments that included a one-off thirty thousand rubles, later regular fifty thousand rubles on the 15th of each month, with her last payment in June. Targets she named included Philipp Kozlov (Philippenzo), Pavel Krisevich, and Pyotr Verzilov.

Hyperallergic reports from the Santa Fe Indian Market, describing an ethos of “By Us, for Us” in this year’s edition. The 104th market, hosted by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, ran August 15–16 and included over one thousand Native artists from more than 200 Tribal Nations. The piece opens with Seneca artist Mary Jacobs and her daughters Kathryn Hopkins and Samantha Jacobs sharing a booth: Mary showed Iroquois raised beadwork adornments; Samantha won a first-prize ribbon for her “Once Upon a Story” box; and Hopkins showed beadwork earrings featuring large rabbit-fur puffs and reef-inspired designs. The report also highlights emerging artists, including Diné artist Nikyle Begay, a first-time participant who won first place in traditional textiles for a saddle blanket with curly sheep hair fringe.

Hyperallergic reviews Barbara Forever (2026), a documentary about the late filmmaker Barbara Hammer. The film distinguishes itself early by eliding the first three decades of Hammer’s life, using Hammer’s own voiceover to say her life did not truly begin until she started making films and came out as a lesbian in the early 1970s. It follows her life and work chronologically, and is constructed almost entirely from archival material, with some new interviews with Hammer’s longtime partner, Florrie Burke. Director Brydie O’Connor’s editorial approach keeps the timeline linear while allowing Hammer’s thoughts—many recorded in her final years amid endometrioid ovarian cancer—to move more freely. The film also connects this late period to her 2018 performance, The Art of Dying or (Palliative Art Making in the Age of Anxiety).

That’s today’s download—links to all ten stories are in the show notes. Come back tomorrow for another round of art world urgency and intrigue; until then, Chinga la migra.

Today's Stories