Icons Fall, Museums Wobble, Art World Under Watch

The art world is mourning Yayoi Kusama, the pioneering Japanese artist whose polka dots, pumpkins, and immersive Infinity Mirror Rooms made her one of the most recognisable contemporary artists. The Yayoi Kusama Foundation announced on Thursday, 27 August, that Kusama died on 14 August in a Tokyo hospital from multiple organ failure, aged 97. The foundation said she “continued to paint until shortly before her passing,” and “remained steadfast in her lifelong belief that love can save the world.” Born in Matsumoto in 1929, she moved to the US in 1957 and settled in New York in 1958, building her avant-garde reputation with Infinity Nets and mirrored installations.

Crisis has engulfed Sydney’s major Anine hundred fifteen dollarsm museum project, Powerhouse Parramatta, with its chief executive officer Lisa Havilah stepping aside just over two months before the official opening. New South Wales arts minister John Graham announced on 27 August that Havilah had stood aside pending “investigations into governance and procurement.” Staff learned via an email from Melanie Hawyes, secretary of the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism, Hospitality and Sport, which said the investigation was ongoing and that the opening on 7 November would not be impacted. Powerhouse Trust president David Borger told the ABC it would still open as planned, with a community day, ribbon-cutting, and access to five exhibitions, including Task Eternal about space travel.

Chinese artist Gao Zhen has been sentenced to a maximum of three years imprisonment by the People’s Court of Sanhe City, Hebei Province, for “infringing upon the reputation and honour of heroes and martyrs.” The charges relate to three satirical sculptures featuring Mao Zedong that were exhibited in 2009, including depictions of Mao figures as a firing squad around a Christ figure, Mao kneeling, and Mao as a voluptuous woman with a long nose. The Law on Protection of Heroes and Martyrs was promulgated in 2018, more than ten years after the works were made. Gao has already been held for two years; that time will count if his pending appeal fails.

The founders of the alternative art fair Basel Social Club are bringing a new project to Japan during Art Week Tokyo. Tokyo Jazz Club will run 1–8 November in a former capsule hotel in the historic Jimbocho neighbourhood, mixing contemporary art, performance, music, and food. Co-founder Robbie Okuda Fitzpatrick said Tokyo is a “natural choice” as Art Week Tokyo has helped make the city a magnet for the global art community. Co-founder Yael Salomonowitz said the programme will “privilege experience over spectacle,” with artists activating spaces through “music, movement, sound and ritual,” blurring exhibition and performance. It’s held in partnership with Art Week Tokyo, which runs 4–8 November and spans 55 venues, with free buses connecting them.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York is planning a major exhibition on mid-century modernism in Africa next year, framed around the concept of “emancipatory art.” ARTnews reports “Freedom and Futures: Emancipatory Art in Africa, 1956–1982” will run May 2–August 14, 2027, bringing together around 250 objects, including 40 from MoMA’s collection. It’s curated by Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi with Erica DiBenedetto. Nzewi describes the period as a moment of political independence and decolonization, asking how artists created aesthetics that lent themselves to that change. The show highlights festivals and conferences, and includes Valente Malangatana’s 1973 Cry of Freedom, now owned by MoMA.

Thieves ransacked Spain’s Villena Museum in what local officials described as a lightning-fast raid, making off with much of the Treasure of Villena—one of Europe’s most significant Bronze Age gold collections. According to the Guardian, the alarm sounded around 5:20 a.m., and the thieves had escaped by 5:24 a.m. The treasure comprises around 66 Bronze Age objects dating to about 1000 BCE, including 29 bracelets, 11 bowls, three bottles, and other pieces, though it’s still unclear exactly how many were stolen. Villena’s mayor, Fulgencio Cerdán, said the thieves took “most of the treasure.” The stolen gold is estimated at €1.7 million, about one dollars million.

Merz Academy in Stuttgart, Germany, has filed for insolvency, though classes are expected to continue. The academy announced the filing on Wednesday, and Monopol reported that the application was approved on Tuesday by the Stuttgart District Court with a provisional self-administration order. The report links the insolvency to a failing financial model, declining student enrollment, and the end of key cooperation agreements. Merz Academy is operated by the independent, non-profit Merz Education Center and has been a state-accredited university since 1985. Only the academy is affected; the Merz School, Merz Vocational College, and Merz Education Center are legally independent and expected to continue operating. Managing director Andrea Zweifel told SWR the aim is restructuring to secure the academy’s future.

A copyright lawsuit is targeting painter Elizabeth Peyton, along with David Zwirner Gallery and Sotheby’s, over a painting of Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher. Hyperallergic reports Welsh music photographer Justin Thomas filed the suit on August 20 in the Southern District of New York, alleging Peyton infringed his 1995 photograph of the musicians. Thomas’s attorney, Terry Parker, calls Peyton’s “Earl’s Court (Liam + Noel)” (1996) a “slavish copy,” according to court documents reviewed by Hyperallergic. The filing says the painting resembles a zoomed-in portion of the photo, and alleges the “only transformation is the medium itself,” plus slight cropping, different coloring, and brush work. It notes Peyton added details such as a blue flower-patterned sleeve.

Frieze Abu Dhabi has announced 84 exhibitors for its inaugural edition, running November 19–22 at Manarat Al Saadiyat in Saadiyat Cultural District. ARTnews reports the fair will bring together galleries from 63 cities in 36 countries, including 36 galleries—around 43 percent—with locations in the SWANA region, such as Carbon 12 and The Third Line in Dubai, Gypsum in Cairo, and Sfeir-Semler Gallery in Beirut and Hamburg. International galleries include Gagosian, Pace, Thaddaeus Ropac, Victoria Miro, Galleria Continua, and Perrotin. The fair also includes Focus, offering bursaries, plus Global Futures curated by Tarini Malik, and Frieze Masters organized by Marika Sardar.

Margarita Konovalova, who performed under the alias Rita Flores as a member of Pussy Riot, says she was coerced into spying on other dissident artists for the last three years by Russia’s national security service, the FSB. Hyperallergic reports she fled Russia earlier this month with the help of her lawyer and spoke publicly for the first time in an exclusive interview with Port Media, an independent outlet for dissident Russian journalists. Konovalova said an FSB officer raided her apartment in February 2023, after which she was detained and threatened into cooperating. She also said she was threatened with criminal prosecution over social media posts criticizing fatalities during the Battle of Bucha in 2022, signed a non-disclosure agreement, and was assigned to research and write profiles on contemporary artists.

That’s it for today’s episode—links to every story are waiting in the show notes. Come back tomorrow for more news you can actually use, and until then: Chinga la migra

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