Category: visual

MacArthur Fellow Trevor Paglen’s work shows the gaps “between what we can see and what is actively being hidden from us. Often by governments or military forces. And that edge is where we as citizens can try to investigate what governments want to hide from us.” – NPR

Board Vice Chair Warren B. Kanders is the owner of the tear gas manufacturer whose products were fired at the asylum seekers on the U.S./Mexico border. The protesters, who filled the lobby, brought banners, drums, and a cowbell, and burned sage, were “in solidarity with but separate from the nearly 100 Whitney staff members who signed a letter expressing their dismay at Kanders’s presence on the board and requesting a new policy around trustee participation in exhibitions.”  – Hyperallergic

Hannah Starkey didn’t start out with a feminist agenda, but she did go to art school when photography, especially portraiture, was dominated by men. “Though her photographs appear at first glance to be traditional observational documentary, they are deftly choreographed. Often she reimagines what she has observed on the street or in cafes, clubs and bars, using women she has hired to meticulously create stilled moments of female reverie, togetherness or fleeting interaction.” – The Observer (UK)

The  museum, in Dakar, is pan-African and also includes works from the Caribbean. A UNESCO official said, “This museum is a response to the aspirations of African children to better understand their memory and other cultures. It is also an important step towards the realization of an Africa with a strong cultural identity.” – AfricaNews 

A Malaysian financier siphoned millions of dollars and then bought everything from a $250 million yacht to a see-through grand piano. “It is one of the largest international kleptocracy cases the United States has ever pursued.It is so expansive that just tracking down, retrieving and maintaining the loot has become a complex multinational operation in itself.” – The New York Times

Even its name is a bit of a challenge, but there was far worse in its history. Did a five-year, $73-million remodel change things? Part of the problem: “Most of the collection of over 120,000 items comes from Congo, collected in colonial-era military campaigns, or by missionaries and scientific explorers.” – The New York Times

Borrowing against art poses specific problems because of its portability, its heterogeneous nature and difficulty in establishing a reliable price. And yet, according to a report published last year by Deloitte and ArtTactic, in 2017 the global total of loans outstanding against art was eye-popping: between $17bn and $20bn. – The Art Newspaper

“When both PS1 and the MoMA [headquarters] staged parts of a Bruce Nauman show, for example, the handlers in Manhattan, full-time members of the museum staff with benefits, were paid as much as $47 an hour. The top rate in Queens was $30 an hour. … The disparity led the art handlers in Queens, who do not receive health insurance or other benefits, to begin demonstrating outside the museum last month.” — New York Times

“Opening in 2021 on the[National Museum of American History’s] first floor, the Molina Family Latino Gallery will feature bilingual exhibits exploring the history and contributions of American Latinos.” — Washington Post